Evaluation of Relationship between Academic Motivation and Achievement in Students of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Yousefi, Atefeh Nejad, Aalie Jamshid Moatamed, Nima
Copyright Year	2018
Abstract	Background & Objective: Considering the significant importance of academic achievement of medical students in the improvement of society health, this study aimed to evaluate academic motivation and its relationship with academic achievement. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional research was conducted on junior students in fields of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran in 2016. Subjects were selected through convenience sampling and filled Herman’s motivation questionnaire. Data analysis was performed in SPSS using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and t-test (P<0.05). Results: In this research, 85% of the students were within the age range of 24-26. In total, 53.1% of students were male and 46.9% of them were female. In terms of marital status, 85% and 15% of the participants were single and married, respectively. Moreover, 25.9% of the students had a quota and 74.1% had no quota. Furthermore, 52.4% were living in dormitories and 47.6% were residing in other places. After the evaluation of the medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry students, their academic motivation score was 2.83, 2.87, and 2.86, respectively. According to the results, students residing in places other than dormitories had a higher motivation level, compared to those living in dormitories. Moreover, a significant relationship was observed between motivation and score of basic science GPA. Conclusion: Given the fact that only living in dormitories reduced motivation in students, it is recommended that counseling meetings be held to familiarize students with this type of life and facilities in dormitories be improved to increase the motivation of students residing in dormitories. D ow nl oa de d fr om z um s. ac .ir a t 8 :4 0 IR S T o n S at ur da y O ct ob er 1 9t h 20 19 [ D O I: 10 .2 92 52 /e dc j.1 1. 29 .5 4 ] 67 yousefi Jordehi et al Journal of Medical Education Development , Vol 11, No 29 Spring, 2018 Introduction The problem of success or failure in education is one of the most important concerns of any educational system. Success and academic achievement in each society demonstrate the success of the educational system in the targeting and focusing on the individual needs. Among the most important concerns of professors, education managers of universities and families of students are the academic achievement and prevention of students' academic failure (1). Academic achievement refers to the learned or acquired ability of an individual in academic subjects, which is measured by standardized or teachermade tests (2). Continuous evaluation of the educational status of students during the education period and assessment of the associated factors is one of the essential and inevitable aspects of improving the educational system quality, especially in universities, which is among the priorities of education development programs all over the world (3). Academic failure is the opposite of academic achievement, which according to several studies, has a significant impact on the fate of individuals, imposing a huge burden on the family and the community (4). It has often been observed that while students are very similar in terms of learning abilities and talents, they greatly differ in academic achievement. This difference is not just observed in learning of academic courses and can also be found in other non-academic activities (5). A literature review revealed that academic achievement is affected by the interaction between situational variables, such as program, educational methods, emotional and physical conditions of the educational environment, attitude toward educational issues and academic motivation of learners (6). Motivation is one of the most important powerful resources that affect the behavior of learners in the school, determines the strength and stability of the behavior, and empowers students to achieve their goals and acquire the abilities to perform necessary tasks in specific situations (7). In a teaching-learning situation, there is a correlation between motivation and willingness, readiness and effort of learners (8). Achievement motivation is the tendency to attempt at selecting and carrying out activities, the purpose of which is to achieve success or to avoid failure. The implication of the achievement motivation on this intrinsic state implies its widespread impact on various behaviors and academic activities and other personality traits of individuals (2). D ow nl oa de d fr om z um s. ac .ir a t 8 :4 0 IR S T o n S at ur da y O ct ob er 1 9t h 20 19 [ D O I: 10 .2 92 52 /e dc j.1 1. 29 .5 4 ] Study of progress motivation and its relationship with academic achievement 68 Journal of Medical Education Development , Vol 11, No 29 Spring, 2018 Motivation is an inherent phenomenon that is affected by four factors, namely, the situation (environment and external stimuli), temperament (internal mode and state of the organism), purpose (the goal of behavior, purpose, and tendency), and tools (means of achieving the goal) (9). Experts in this field have divided motivation into two main groups of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The intrinsic motivation components are internal and personal reinforcements that create the necessary attractiveness of an activity. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation elements are external reinforcements that motivate individuals to achieve an independent goal. The combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations directs academic behaviors and activities of learners (10). After the evaluation of previous studies, it concluded that an association exists between learning and motivation in a way that previous knowledge of learners affects their academic motivation (11). Identification of academic motivation and its effective factors on the learning process of students helps the professors adopt more efficient techniques in designing and implementing their curriculum. Various questionnaires have been used to assess the level of academic motivation of students and its different dimensions in previous studies. In some studies, a significant relationship was found between academic motivation and factors such as age (12, 13), gender (9, 13, 14), marital status (15), and field of education (16). In addition, a few studies found that academic motivation affects the level of academic success of students in various fields of study (9, 13, 14). However, little research has been conducted on the role of motivation in academic achievement in the field of medical sciences (14-16). Considering the significant role of the graduates of medical sciences in providing health to people of the community, and given the importance of training successful people in these fields to promote the health of the community, and with regard to the current gap specifically in the area of recognition of academic motivation of medical students in the country, especially in Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, this study aimed to evaluate the academic motivation and its role in the academic achievement of students in the fields of dentistry, medicine and pharmacy of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences in 2016. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional research was conducted D ow nl oa de d fr om z um s. ac .ir a t 8 :4 0 IR S T o n S at ur da y O ct ob er 1 9t h 20 19 [ D O I: 10 .2 92 52 /e dc j.1 1. 29 .5 4 ] 69 yousefi Jordehi et al Journal of Medical Education Development , Vol 11, No 29 Spring, 2018 to evaluate the motivation for academic achievement of students and its relevance to the academic success of these individuals in Zanjan University of Medical Sciences in 2016. Subjects were selected from all junior students in fields of dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy through non-randomized convenience sampling. The inclusion criterion was being a junior student studied in the mentioned fields, whereas exclusion criteria were being a transferred or guest student or not having to a willingness to participate in the study. Research tool included the Hermans questionnaire measure of achievement motivation, which is a 29-survey and evaluates nine features of wish level, motivation for improvement, resistance to tasks with moderate difficulty, dynamic perception of time, the desire to try again in performing half-finished tasks, futuring, attention to the criterion of competence and compassion in selecting friends and colleagues, recognition through good performance, and performing the job perfectly (17). Items of the questionnaire were incomplete sentences and 4 options were provided for each item. In addition, 4 options were given for each of the 29 items to unify the value of questions. These items were scored based on the severity of achievement motivation from high to low. Therefore, some items were positive and some were negative, where the scope of changes was 1 to 4 for each item and all of the items are between 29 and 116. It is notable that the test was interpreted based on the total score. Therefore, the total score of an individual higher than the average was indicative of the higher level of motivation while scores below the mean level represent the low level of achievement motivation. Designing of the items of this questionnaire based on previous studies on academic motivation and estimation of the correlation coefficient of the questionnaires with successoriented behaviors confirmed the validity of the tool (r=0.88). Reliability of the tool was estimated by various researchers within the range of 0.67-0.93 (9, 13-16). In the present study, the reliability of the survey was estimated at the Cronbach’s alpha of 0.56 after collecting the data from 30 students at three-week intervals. After the approval of the research by the ethics committee, Hermans questionnaire was delivered to the students in-person and was immediately collected after being filled through self-report. Participants of the research were ensured of the confidentiality terms regarding their p
Starting Page	54
Ending Page	62
Page Count	9
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DOI	10.29252/edcj.11.29.54
Volume Number	11
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://zums.ac.ir/edujournal/article-1-892-en.pdf
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Alternate Webpage(s)	https://doi.org/10.29252/edcj.11.29.54
Language	English
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Resource Type	Article