Academic Motivation: Analysis of the Extrinsic Factor by External and Intrinsic Control for Learning in University Students Marcos Antonio Santos de Jesus, Luiz Antonio Ferraro Mathias, Juliana Brunelli Stoco Santos, Antonio Carlos Marques Amaral Guerra, Alexandre Sobrino Ganança, Fernando José Cesilio Branquinho, José Avelino dos Santos Moura

Abstract

 Each and every human being, when carrying out any activity in their life, whether individual or collective, is subject to the influence of their own motivation or external motivation. Without a doubt, it is clear that personal motivation to carry out an activity, in most cases, is influenced by extrinsic (related to factors external to the individual) and intrinsic (related to factors internal to the individual). The objective of this research was to analyze the relationships between extrinsic factors (Extrinsic Motivation by External Control) and intrinsic factors (Intrinsic Motivation to Know) present in the motivation of students studying engineering. 640 university students from civil, mechanical and chemical engineering courses participated in this study, with 287 (sample 1) enrolled in the 1st (first) semester of the course and 353 (sample 2) in the 3rd (third) semester. The Academic Motivation Scale (EMA), developed by (VALLERAND ET AL., 1989) and adapted into the Portuguese version by (SOBRAL, 2003), was used for data collection. Composed of 28 items, subdivided into seven subscales, three corresponding to extrinsic motivation, another three corresponding to intrinsic motivation and the last one indicating the presence of demotivation. The present research followed an explanatory and non-experimental quantitative model, with quantitative analysis of the variables. α=0.05 (significance level) was established. Among the results, it was confirmed that there was no statistically significant difference between the mean scores in intrinsic motivation to know in relation to the semesters, (p>0.05). There was also no statistically significant difference between the mean scores in extrinsic motivation due to external control in relation to the semesters (p>0.05). It was concluded that in these two factors of academic motivation analyzed, students improved during the semester in the course, but maintained the average motivation score. This fact is interesting since motivation directly influences the teaching and learning process and also the student's retention in the course.