Emotional Processes in Learning Situations

4Motivation and Academic Learning

Evelyne CLÉMENT¹ and Alain GUERRIEN²

¹PARAGRAPHE, CY Cergy Paris Université, Gennevilliers, France

²PSITEC, Université de Lille, France

4.1. Introduction

Motivation, defined as the internal and/or external forces that initiate the triggering, direction, intensity and persistence of behavior (Vallerand and Thill 1993), is often cited as one of the determinants of success in various areas of personal, professional or academic life. It is linked to emotional processes and contributes greatly to learning. We will see, for example, that it can lead to the persistence of efforts made by students and positively influence the emotional reactions they experience when they encounter difficulties during learning. Thus, the major questions that drive psychological research on the links between motivation and academic learning cover a wide spectrum.

Without claiming to be exhaustive, we can define these research questions in the following way. What factors are implied in the student’s involvement in academic learning? What is the respective part played by the student’s psychological dispositions and educational practices in this involvement? What are the consequences of motivation on academic success and perseverance when students are faced with difficulties or challenges? What are the consequences of motivation on school persistence or school drop-out? What consequences on student’s well-being and their emotional state? How do these consequences feed back ...