The Relationship among the Learning Motivation, the Characteristics of Multiple Intelligence and Academic Achievement in Medical School Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship among medical students’ learning motivation, characteristics of multiple intelligence, and academic achievement. The participants were 144 medical students. The data were collected by administering learning motivation tests (self-confidence, self-efficacy, level of task, emotion of learning, learning behavior, failure tolerance, task difficulty, and academic self-efficacy), a multiple intelligence test (linguistic intelligence, logical-mathematical intelligence, musical intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, spatial intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, and naturalistic intelligence), and two semesters of grades. There is a correlation between multiple intelligences and learning motivation. Among academic self-efficacy of academic motivation, the self-control efficacy (0.28) and behavior (0.18) subscales are significantly positively correlated with academic achievement. However, the emotion subscale (-0.18) was significantly negatively correlated. Learning motivation was correlated with two of the eight multiple intelligence profiles: the intrapersonal intelligence (0.18) and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence (-0.19). The structural equation modeling analysis showed that the behavior and self-control efficacy subscales of intrapersonal intelligence had an impact on academic achievement. An analysis according to the academic achievement group showed significant differences in self-control efficacy and emotion subscales with intrapersonal intelligence. A positive relationship can be observed between learning motivation and some characteristics of multiple intelligence of medical school students. In light of the findings, it is worth examining whether we can control medical students’ learning motivation through educational programs targeting self-control efficacy and intrapersonal intelligence.