Fattah Hanurawan
Makalah disajikan dalam the International Seminar Instructional Strategy in Higher Education.
Dies Natalis UNS 27 March 2010
Introduction
One of the important problems that becomes interest of Indonesia teachers and other educators is students’ academic failure. Rafoth (2004) states prevention of academic failure is a serious task of schools, teachers, and educators. It can be a serious task because students who fail academically experience significant psychological, social, and economic challenge throughout their lives. An understanding of educational process can help schools, teachers, and educators to predict students effective learning participation.
In this context, one of causes of academic failure is motivational problems as well as familial, socioeconomic, and cultural issues. In effort to decreasing students’ academic failure Indonesia teachers should improve learning motivation in their students. The improvement learning motivation can help them to achieve effectively successful achievement in their school. Learning motivation can be developed by active instructional strategies.
Psychological Characteristics of Indonesia Secondary School’s Students
Most of Indonesian Indonesia secondary schools’ students are 13-18 years-old. In the context of human development we can see that they are in the adolescent development period. The adolescent development period of Indonesian secondary schools’ students can be seen in the three phases. They are early adolescence, middle adolescence, and later adolescence phases. The three phases can be described as follows:
- The adolescent development period begins with puberty phase. The puberty phase as an early adolescence time is a time of rapid physical, social, and intellectual development.
- Middle adolescence is a more stable period of adjustment to and integration of the changes of early adolescence.
- Later adolescence is marked by the transition into the responsibilities, choices, and opportunities of adulthood.
During adolescent development period, adolescents try to develop their identity. One of the signs of adolescence is the appearance of reflectivity, i.e. tendency to what is going on in one’s own mind and to study oneself. In the context of education, Indonesian students as adolescents try to build identity as learners. In effort to achieve status as adult learners they should develop intrinsic motivation in them. This status can help them solving some real problems during the period of transition, e.g. emotional disorder, bullying, dropping out, drug and alcohol abuse, delinquency, risk of pregnancy, and sexual orientation.
Intrinsic Learning Motivation
Learning motivation has long been an important topic of interest to both educator and educational psychologist. Generally speaking, motivation is a basic psychological process. Colman (2006) states that motivation is a driving force responsible for the initiation, persistence, and direction of directed behavior. Motivation is a hypothetical construct that is used to help explain behavior. Motivation is a process that starts with a psychological or physiological need that stimulates behavior or drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive.
The research of motivation is concerned with the influences that govern the initiation, direction, intensity, and persistence of behavior (Strickland, 2001). It means that the study of learning motivation can used to understand, predict, and control learning behaviour. In this context, effective learning behaviour can be seen as one of the important factors influenced students’ successful academic achievement.
Rafoth (2004) states intrinsic motivation is the desire to engage in some behaviours to gain inside rewards such as insight and satisfaction. Different from intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation is the desire to engage in some behaviours to gain outside rewards such as high grades, praise, and money.
On basis of above definitions of intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation in the learning areas we can described that:
- Intrinsic motivation in learning is the desire to engage in some learning behaviours to gain inside rewards such as insight and satisfaction. Intrinsic motivation in learning is the type of motivation that is satisfied by internal reinforcers and is not dependent on external goals.
- Extrinsic motivation in learning is the desire to engage in some learning behaviours to gain outside rewards such as high grades, praise, and high rank. Extrinsic motivation in learning is the type of motivation that is satisfied by external reinforcers and is dependent on external goals (Sprinthal & Sprinthal, 1993).
One of psychological perspectives related to the intrinsic motivation is humanistic psychology perspective. The main concerns of humanistic psychologist is to achieve ultimate meaning of human existence and to search self-actualization. The struggle of individual toward self-actualization has extended the frontiers of motivation beyond the biological and social motives (extrinsic motivation).
One the famous humanistic psychology thinker, Abraham Maslow (in Smith et. al., 1982) thinks that human needs could be arranged in human needs hierarchy ranging from the most necessary requirements for survival at the bottom to the most important of human potential at the top. The human needs hierarchy can be described as follows:
- Physiological needs
The physiological needs are the most basic level of the human needs hierarchy. The needs of thirst, hunger, sex, and sleep are some of the physiological needs.
- Safety needs
The second level of needs is equivalent to security psychological safety. Abraham Maslow stressed emotional as well as physical safety.
- Belongingness and love needs
The third level of needs is equivalent to affiliation and acceptance affective needs.
- Esteem needs
The fourth level of needs represent the higher needs of humans. The esteem needs include the needs for power, status, and achievement. Abraham Maslow argued that the esteem needs level contains both self-esteem and esteem from others.
- Aesthetic and cognitive needs
The fifth level of needs also represent the higher needs of humans as well as fourth level of needs. The Aesthetic and cognitive needs include the needs for knowledge understanding, goodness justice, beauty order, and symmetry.
- Self-actualization needs
The sixth level of needs represent the highest needs of humans. This level represents the culmination of all lower human needs (i.e. physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, aesthetic and cognitive needs). People who have become self-actualized are self fulfilled and have realized all their potential. Human self-actualization is characterized by acceptance of self and others, openness, spontaneity, relatively deep but democratic relationships with others, creativity, humor, and independence (psychological health) (Slavin, 2006).
In the area of education the Maslow’s need hierarchy can be applied in the process of developing students’ motivation in learning. It means that teachers can motivate students’ motivation based on the physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, aesthetic and cognitive needs, and self actualization needs. Basically speaking education can help students to achieve their peak educational performance becoming self-actualized students. Students who have become self-actualized are self fulfilled and have realized all their potential.
Specifically interested in the highest level of needs, Maslow thought the highest of all human needs was self-actualization. In the context of education and teaching, in effort to achieve self-actualization students should develop intrinsic motivation in themselves. Through developing intrinsic motivation, students engage in some learning activities because they are enjoyable or rewarding in and of themselves. The learning activities comprise reading, writing, observing, interviewing, and counting.
In the context of Indonesia education, Indonesia’s teachers and other educators should develop in their students intrinsic motivation. The development of intrinsic motivation can help Indonesia students become mature and independent learners. The mature and independent learners will serve effectively in the long life education’ s philosophy of education (Hanurawan, 2006). As consequence, it also can help them becoming a self actualized people or in the Indonesia philosophical context it can help them becoming comprehensive human (manusia seutuhnya).
The Role of Active Instructional Strategies For Enhancing Indonesia Secondary Education Students’ Intrinsic Learning Motivation
Active instructional strategies are the instructional strategies which are used by teachers that encourages students’ active participation in learning, foster self regulated learning, results in increased competency and understanding, and makes learning meaningful, interesting, and enjoyable. The active instructional strategies can foster an intrinsic motivation for learning within students because of interactive and collaborative approaches of the strategies (Andrew, 2004).
One of the motivation teachers and other educator have in focusing on the active teaching and learning is to develop positive thinking, feeling, and behavior about learning. In classrooms with motivating curriculum and instructional strategies employed, learning problems are minimal. Teachers who are trained and committed to implementing different active instructional strategies those that motivate will be successful with students. Examples of active education are inquiry learning and cooperative learning.
The Indonesian education system operates according to national policy within a national curriculum and a centralized national examination system. The Indonesian education curriculum encourages approaches to teaching and learning on active learning and student participation in educational environment. Whether the system is able to accommodate these approaches is, however, compromised by other constitutional requirements and practical consideration (Hanurawan & Waterworth, 2007).
A Classroom instruction or classroom teaching must enhance intrinsic motivation a much as possible. Increasing intrinsic motivation can help for students’ learning, whether or not extrinsic rewards are in use. Classroom instruction or classroom teaching effectives to enhance intrinsic motivation is active instruction. To best teach all students, Indonesian teachers need to be equipped with a large repertoire of active instructional strategies that can be applied to enhance internal motivation across the curriculum.
An example of an important role of intrinsic motivation in students’ learning participation can be described as follows: Some of the Indonesia of higher schools’ students like to learn about particular topics such as popular heroes in Indonesia’s history and need few encouragement or reward to do so. For theses Indonesia’s students the interesting topic itself has enough intrinsic incentive value to motivate them to learn.
Sprinthal & Sprinthal (1993) state that there are five principles for education in fostering intrinsic motivation in students. They are:
- Provide a novel and diverse home environment.
- Provide learning experience in which students may have an effect on their environments.
- Provide environments that are responsive to a student’s actions.
- Respond positively to students’ questions while still encouraging them to seek their own solutions.
- Reaward student with praise, which gives them a feeling of competence.
In effort to achieve the objective enhancing students’ intrinsic motivation to learn, teachers can apply some specific strategies in implementing active instruction or active teaching. The specific strategies can be described as follows:
- Stimulating interest.
It is important for Indonesia teachers to convince students of importance and interest level of the material that is presented. It can be conducted through introducing lessons emphasized by teachers. The introducing lessons with examples relating the material to students’ cultural background can be particularly effective (Slavin, 2004). It is important for teachers to emphasize the value of learning in their students. The intrinsic motivation is enhanced when learners understand how they can use what they are learning and how it help them in the future. An example of the introducing lessons from teachers can be described as follows: Teachers introduce the heroes from Javanese ethnic such as Diponegoro to the students from Javanese ethnic background in Yogyakarta or in Surakarta region. The objective of this introduction is to stimulate students’ curiosity about Indonesian history lesson to come and also to enhance intrinsic motivation to learn learning material. Another strategy to stimulate enhance Indonesia students’ interest motivation is to give them some choice about the learning material they will study. The students’ stimulated interest can enhance students’ intrinsic motivation.
- Maintaining curiosity.
An intentional teacher uses a variety of ways to maintain students’ curiosity or students’ interest in the course of the lesson. Challenging the students’ current understanding make them continuously curious about an issue they never before considered. It can be done through problem based learning, project based learning, cooperative learning, and inquiry learning. Through these learning experience students can increase their learning skills and also increase their intrinsic motivation.
- Using a diverse of interesting presentation modes.
Students’ intrinsic motivation to learn learning materials is enhanced by diverse in mode presentation. It can be done through some presentation alternatives when teachers teaching a subject of Indonesia political system in Pancasila and citizenship education (Pendidikan Kewarganegaraan dan Pancasila), e.g. through historical-theme movie, role play, simulation, game, discussion, writing tasks, and investigation. In our information age use of computers can enhance most students’ intrinsic motivation to learn. Specifically, a role play or simulation is an exercise in which students can take on roles and engage in activities appropriate to those roles (Slavin, 2006).
- Encouraging students set their own goals.
Encouraging students set their own goals is very important for enhancing Indonesia students’ intrinsic motivation. One basic principle of learning motivation is that students learn harder for goals that they themselves set than for goals set for them by others, e.g. by teachers or parent. Students can make a project with some goals in one semester (reading 3 books or achieve some minimum score on some test). In this situation, Indonesia teachers might help students learn to set ambitious but realistic goals and would praise them for setting and then achieving their goals. Research that was conducted by Shih and Alexander (in Slavin, 2006) found that goal-setting strategies have been found to increase Taiwanese students’ academic performance. Challenging and attainable goals help students to build self-efficacy as students perceive that they are making progress (Schunk, 2004).
References
Andrew, J.J.W. 2004. Teaching Effectiveness. Dalam C. Speilberger (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology (535-539). New York: Elsevier Academic Press.
Hanurawan, F. Samawi. A., & Syam, M.N. 2006. Filsafat Pendidikan. Malang: Fakultas Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Negeri Malang.
Hanurawan, F. & Waterworth, P. 2007. Teachers’ Perception of Developing Students’ Critical Thinking Through Controversial Issues Discussion. Jurnal Ilmu Pendidikan, 14 (3): 185-194.
Rafoth, M.A. 2004. Prevention of Academic Failure. Dalam C. Speilberger (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology (1-7). New York: Elsevier Academic Press.
Strickland, B.R. (Ed.). 2001. Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology. Farmington Hills M.I.:
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Schunk, D.H. 2004. Achievement Motivation in Academics. Dalam C. Speilberger (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Applied Psychology (35-40). New York: Elsevier Academic Press.
Slavin, R.E. 2006. Educational Psychology. Theory and Practice. Boston: Pearson.
Smith, R.E., Sarason, I.G., & Sarason, B.R. 1982. Psychology: The Frontiers of Behaviour. New York. Harper & Row, Publishers.