Effects of motivation on students' academic performance in secondary schools in Naivasha District, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on academic performance of secondary school students in Naivasha district. The study was founded on Social Cognitive Theory of motivation by Albert Bandura wliich assumes that human beings are rational species aware of their motivations and reasons why they act as they do. It has been doubtful whether the efforts of giving prizes and verbally commending students are achieving the desired effects of motivating students to better performance. Literature related to student motivation reveals that both forms of motivation, that is intrinsic and extrinsic, should result in higher overall performance. The study population was all students in secondary schools in Naivasha Districttotaling to 8727. Stratified random sampling was used to select the schools to participate in the study. Simple random sampling plan was then employed to collect data from 300 students. The study used causal comparative method of data collection. Secondary data collection was through the library research and students' progress records. The independent variable was intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The dependent variable on the other hand was academic performance. The analysis of the results revealed that there was a significant difference in the academic achievement of the genders for both the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Data collected was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study employed the use of a questionnaire as the instrument of data collection. The null hypotheses of the study were tested based on the level of significance of a = 0.05 margin of error.