Understanding the Motivation Problems of At-Risk College Students.

Abstract

■ Many developmental college reading students are at risk for academic failure. Some believe, correctly or not, that their failures are caused by a lack of ability; others simply do not persevere in the face of difficulty. While many of these students do work hard in order to exit from developmental studies programs, a large number are not successful because their academic motivation and self-concept are low, contributing to their poor academic performance. These students lack both the learning and metacognitive strategies that they need to compensate for deficits. Until at-risk college reading students are motivated to take responsibility for their own learning, until they attribute their success to their own efforts, until they see themselves as learners, they be unable to take advantage of strategic learning instruction. According to Paris, Lipson, and Wixson (1983), there are three key areas of strategic learning: (a) whether studying and performing well on tests is meaningful to the students, (b) how students perceive the usefulness and efficiency of strategic learning, and (c) how well students can manage their time, study behavior, etc. The authors indicate that strategy use represents the fusion of cognitive skills and motivational will (p. 310). Indeed, each of the three behaviors has a strong motivational component. In order to understand how achievement motivation