Abstract
Motivation to learn is an important psychological process at all levels of formal education. Therefore, it is useful to know what teachers and students think about this psychological process if one seeks to achieve a more effective higher education. The present study aimed to analyze the implicit theories of university professors of teacher training courses on the motivation of their students to learn. In-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out with 32 professors from public and private universities in the area of education in Brazil. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and subjected to content analysis, based on the conceptual framework of the implicit theories about teaching and learning. The results suggest that teachers mostly adopt interpretive theory, which is in agreement with previous studies. In addition, the responses classified as Direct Theory tend to blame the characteristics of the students, while those of the Interpretive Theory tend to include the learning context as an influencing factor in motivation. These data, which are clarified through the presentation of fragments of the answers, suggest the need to build more elaborate conceptions about motivation.
Highlights
Motivation to learn is an important psychological process on all levels of formal education
It is useful to know what teachers and students think about this psychological process if to achieve a more effective higher education is sought
Pero la motivación de las personas no es accesible directamente, ni siquiera por ellas mismas, algo muy relevante para la comprensión y análisis de los datos de este estudio: “Como proceso, no observamos la motivación directamente, sino que inferimos su presencia a partir de acciones y verbalizaciones” (Schunk, Meece & Pintrich, 2014, p. 5)
Summary
De tipo descriptivo, tras realizar un estudio piloto para garantizar que las preguntas serían comprensibles, se diseñó una entrevista en profundidad y semiestructurada, en la que el entrevistador dispuso de un guion básico de preguntas que se cumplió con todos los entrevistados. El guion contenía 27 preguntas, distribuidas en cinco apartados temáticos, además de un apartado introductorio para efecto de “calentamiento” (rapport). Los temas explorados fueron: requisitos para aprender, organización de la enseñanza, motivación para aprender, dificultades en el aprendizaje y evaluación del aprendizaje. El apartado acerca de motivación, foco del presente estudio, se componía de cinco preguntas: 1. ¿Cómo evalúa usted el empeño de sus alumnos para aprender en su disciplina?. 3. ¿En qué medida eso interfiere en el aprendizaje de los alumnos? 4. ¿En qué medida eso interfiere en su manera de enseñar? Todas las entrevistas fueron realizadas por el primer autor de este trabajo, grabadas en audio y posteriormente transcritas
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