Abstract:

For several decades, motivation has been studied as one of the determining factors within the learning process and can be determined by very diverse personal and contextual variables. Recently, it has been observed that this motivation could be influenced by teaching methodologies and by the resources or tools used.

Methodology:
380 students in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th years of the Psychology Degree of the assessment subjects (Psychological Assessment and Psychological Assessment applied to clinical contexts) from the Complutense University of Madrid, Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Jaume I University of Castellón, University Autónoma de Madrid and CES Cardenal Cisneros (center attached to the UCM) voluntarily participated by filling out a survey on initial motivation towards the subject.
The general objective of the survey was to evaluate both quantitatively and qualitatively the motivation that students had concerning the subject and the factors that could be affecting this motivation.

Results:
Motivation in general before starting the course was high or very high in more than half of the respondents 59% (224). As reported by the participants, motivation was quite or completely related to the teacher in 49% (186) or the experience of classmates in 11.1% (42). On the other hand, when the students were asked how important for their future they considered the assessment subject, 86.6% (329) considered it as “Quite a bit” or “Very important”, the information provided both quantitatively and qualitatively. Initial motivation is significantly related to the importance given by participants to the subject, obtaining a Rho coefficient of .40 (sig. <0.001). 70.4% (205) of the students showed positive motivation due to intrinsic factors, and 18.5% (54) due to external factors. 9.53% (28) of the students said they had a negative motivation towards the subject, 1% (3) due to external factors.

The work shows the quantitative and qualitative results and makes a reflection on the importance of motivation, the factors that influence it and the importance of knowing all this factors to make a better approach to the teaching.

Keywords:

Initial motivation, learning, intrinsic factors, extrinsic factors.