ABSTRACT
The goal of this study was to research the relationships among intrinsic motivation and grades of university students. College students who are intrinsically motivated have a number of advantages such as finding working on an academic task is enjoyable and interesting. Interest and satisfaction are the ideal sources of motivation in the college classroom (Lei, 2010). Intrinsic motivation is associated with personal interest that provides deeper cognitive engagement (Pintrich & Schunk, 1996). The most critical factor involved with intrinsic motivation is self-determination. Self-determination is used interchangeably with the concept of autonomy (Ryan & Powelson,1991). Studies illustrated that students who are intrinsically motivated for doing school work and are more autonomous are more likely to stay in school and to achieve than are students with less self-determined type of motivation (Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier & Ryan, 1991). This paper has focused on the conditions that influence the intrinsic motivation and college grades with the illustration of theorists` research studies.
Keywords: Intrinsic Motivation; Self-Determination; Interest
INTRODUCTION
Knowledge about the nature of students` motivation has increased over the past four decades. During the past half century, beliefs, values and goals related to performance of college students, choice of activities and academic persistence have been examined. Although students have strong belief about their competent, they will not complete an activity without incentives (Lei, 2010). College students learn new knowledge and skills with two major categories, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Both type of motivation have different effect on student learning and performance at the college level. The objective of this study is to evaluate the benefits intrinsic motivation in relation to student achievement and