[Podcast] Factors affecting students’ learning motivation

6 March, 2025

Keywords: Learning motivation, goal orientation, learning methods, teaching methods, lecturer behavior, learning outcomes, UEH Mekong

Learning motivation is a core factor that determines learning performance and contributes to shaping students’ personal development in a modern educational environment. At Vinh Long Campus of University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH Mekong), researching the factors affecting learning motivation is of great importance to improving the quality of training that meets the requirements of high-quality human resources in the Mekong Delta. To clarify the connotation of “motivation”, in the current study, the research group from UEH Mekong has analyzed and pointed out factors affecting and solutions to promote and to create an effective learning environment for students.

Learning motivation and its significance in modern education

Learning motivation is a crucial factor that determines students’ ability to absorb knowledge, their attempts and learning outcomes. In the context of modern education, as learning is no longer constrained to acquiring knowledge but also requires creative thinking skills, autonomy and practical application, learning motivation becomes a core factor in helping students develop comprehensively.

Above all, student satisfaction is one of the indicators that helps universities measure the level of meeting students’ needs, giving schools the opportunity to make adjustments to create a higher level of satisfaction for those they serve. Cónequently, satisfying learners’ needs creates a positive attitude, learning motivation and a healthy competitive environment in learning, research and development.

However, learning motivation is not formed naturally but from various aspects. Motivation can come from within the school, from the outside society and from the students themselves. To improve the effectiveness and quality of education training, analyzing the factors affecting motivation to improve learning outcomes is essential. It is also necessary to find out which factors affect learning motivation and provide solutions to improve that problem of students.

Factors affecting learning motivation of UEH Mekong students

This study focuses on the factors affecting the learning motivation of UEH Mekong students, providing management implications to aid leaders, lecturers and learners to have good orientations to improve their motivation as well as learning outcomes.

The research results identified that there were 5 factors affecting the learning motivation of UEH Mekong students: lecturer behavior, learning goal orientation, learning environment, teaching methods, and teaching methods with practical research applications.

Lecturer behavior: Lecturers are those who inspire and guide students in the learning process. The dedication, enthusiasm and appropriate teaching style of the lecturer will create strong motivation for students to be more interested in learning.
Learning goal orientation: Students’ personal goals, listed as achieving high grades, preparing for a career or developing professional skills, play the most important role. When students are clearly aware of their goals, they tend to make more efforts to achieve their desired learning achievements.
Learning environment: A dynamic learning environment that encourages participation, healthy competition and support among the classroom members creates conditions for students to develop comprehensively.
Teaching methods: Flexible, modern and practical teaching methods can provide students with easy access to knowledge and application in practice. The combination of theory and practice, the use of technology and practical research will be facilitative to enhancing student learning motivation.
Teaching methods with practical research applications: This method is associated with projects or real-life situations, helping students apply knowledge to solve practical problems. At UEH Mekong, the combination of practical research in teaching not only increases the attractiveness of the lesson but also promotes learning motivation as they recognize the practical value of knowledge.

Of the 5 factors, the factors that guide students’ learning goals had the strongest impact on learning motivation, followed by teaching methods and lecturer behavior. The remaining 2 factors had a weaker effect on learning motivation, including learning environment and teaching methods with practical research applications.

Policy implications inferred from the study

In accordance with the research results, the authors have suggested implications to help leaders, lecturers, and learners have orientations to improve learning motivation for learners:

For UEH Mekong leaders: Increase investment in facilities, create a friendly and modern learning environment, and organize soft skills training programs, career orientation and extracurricular activities matching students’ needs.
For lecturers: Innovate teaching methods, combine theory and practice, support students to clearly define their learning goals, and create attractive, highly interactive teaching activities.
For learners: Build a clear study plan and actively participate in learning and extracurricular activities. It is also necessary to learn how to manage time effectively and maintain a positive learning attitude.

Conclusion

Learning motivation plays a key role in motivating students to achieve high learning outcomes. Moreover, learning motivation has an explicit and strong relationship with students’ learning outcomes. When students are motivated, they will be proactive and actively participate in the learning process, from preparing lessons to finding additional supporting materials. Motivation not only helps students maintain perseverance in learning but also encourages them to achieve outstanding results.

In addition, motivated students tend to achieve better learning outcomes as they always strive to overcome challenges and proactively seek learning opportunities. On the contrary, a lack of learning motivation will lead to indifference, disinterest and ignoring opportunities that come to them, hence negatively affecting their outcomes. Therefore, learning motivation is vital to promote effective learning and assist students in achieving high results.

In addition, strong motivation encourages students to set clear learning goals and strive to achieve them. This is especially important in the context of modern education, where creativity, critical thinking and self-learning ability are considered decisive factors for success. Therefore, educational institutions must take learners as the center, having teaching methods appropriate for them to improve training efficiency through learner satisfaction. Last but not least, this study enriches the literature on creating learning motivation for learners in training at educational institutions, meeting human resource requirements in the context of digital transformation and international integration today.

The full research article on Factors affecting students’ learning motivation: A case study at University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City – UEH Mekong can be accessed HERE.

Authors: Nguyen Vu Tram Anh, Vo Thanh Truc, Dang Thi Thuy An – University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City

Towards the new journey of UEH Mekong – the article series spreading research and applied knowledge with the message “For a More Sustainable Mekong” has officially been launched with the goal of spreading knowledge and contributing to the sustainable development of the Mekong.

This article is also part of the series spreading research and applied knowledge from UEH with the message “Research Contribution For All”. UEH cordially invites readers to read the next UEH Research Insights newsletter.

News, photos: The authors, UEH Mekong Department of Admissions and Communications, UEH Department of Communications and Partnerships

Audio: Thanh Kieu