The Influence of Intrinsic Motivation and Learning Styles on Research
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displayed ineffective communication whenever her concentration split. The interview results revealed that she probably could do the assignments better if she
was given longer time. She perceived the course positively. It meant that whatever the materials, whether she was interested in them or not, she tried to focus on
accomplishing the course objectives. Her perception about trial and error during the course did not hinder her to achieve a better result whereas some other
research participants felt frustrated whenever they found difficulties during the tasks accomplishment.
In relation to her learning behaviour, her wholistic characteristic and persistent intrinsic motivation facilitated her to maintain her concentration during
the course. It was observable from each meeting in which she tried to listen to both the lecturer’s explanations and her friends’ projects presentation. Besides,
instead of taking notes while listening to the lecturer’s explanations, she had a tendency to take notes only on the major parts. This occured in meeting 3, 4, 8,
and 9 as presented in Table 4.4.
Table 4.4: Learning Behaviour of Research Participant A1
Learning Behaviour Meeting 3: Took notes on the important details and major points of lesson.
Meeting 4: Focused on the lecturer’s explanation and took notes while listening if necessary.
Meeting 8: Took notes while listening if necessary. Meeting 9: Listened to the lecturer’s explanation and took notes if necessary.
In other words, she would listen to the explanation and then summarize the core whenever it was necessary. The observable classroom performance of
research participant A1 is summarized in Table 4.3.
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Table 4.5: Classroom Performance Summary of Research Participant A1
Research Participant A1 Meetings 1 up to 10
• Demonstrated constant emotional behaviour by showing steady state of self confidence in the tasks accomplishment.
• Exhibited effective conduct behaviour by appreciating other pupils’ projects presentation during the course.
• Displayed positive learning behaviour which supported the learning experience by showing persistence in carrying out the course objectives.
Almost similar to research participant A1, research participant A2 demonsrated a nearly steady state of self confidence throughout the course.
However, it was clearly seen that at some time during the course administration she had a tendency to be more dependent on the peers than to herself. This
condition contradicted her nature as a wholistic learner because wholistic learners would work individually. Further investigation by means of interview revealed
that she had tendency to perceive the the course more negatively. She thought that some of the available topics for discusion were not interesting. As a result, her
interest in the topics influenced her concentration and attention during the lesson. Therefore, in some meetings in which she was interested in the available topics
for discussion, she showed high state of self confidence by willingly put forward her opinion and actively involved in the classroom activities. On the other hand, if
she was not interested in the topics, she demonstrated ineffective emotional behaviour by exhibiting unsteady state of self confidence.
In relation to her conduct behaviour, her interest once again influenced the way she behaved to other pupils. She exhibited both verbal and nonverbal
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distraction to other pupils during the course. If she was not interested in the given topic for discussion, she frequently talked about other topics that were irrelevant
to the course with her peers. This could be traced in meeting 1, 4, and 8.
Table 4.6: Conduct Behaviour of Research Participant A2
Conduct Behaviour Meeting 1: Provided verbal disturbance for other pupils by talking noisily.
Meeting 4: Provided verbal nuisance for other students by talking loudly. Meeting 8: Provided noise diturbance for other pupils by talking loudly during
the course.
This also caused her attention to split among the lecturer’s explanation, classroom objectives, and her peers. This obviously also influenced her learning
behaviour. Successful learning behaviour would be indicated by individual’s persistent perception. At this point, it was noticed from the observation that she
sometimes well attended the lesson if the topics were interesting and, on the contrary, she neglected the classroom objectives if the topics were not interesting
for her.
Table 4.7: Classroom Performance Summary of Research Participant A2
Research Participant A2 Meetings 1 up to 10
• Demonstrated ineffective emotional behaviour by showing unstable self confidence in the tasks accomplishment.
• Exhibited unsteady conduct behaviour depending on her interest in the available topics for discussion.
• Displayed partially positive learning behaviour which supported the learning experience by attempting to accomplish the course objectives.
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Different from research participant A1 and A2, who were wholistic learners, research participant A3 was analytic learner. Based on the observations,
compared to the wholistic learners who mostly had tendency to take notes on the major parts of the lecturer’s instruction, most analytic learners had tendency to
take notes on all the lecturer’s explanation while listening to it, discussing with the peers, or doing other activities. This behaviour could be traced in meeting 1, 2,
4, and 5. Regarding her emotional behaviour, she exhibited a gradual development of self confidence in the classroom. For instance, in meeting 1 she hesitantly
performed the course objectives, in meeting 2 she started to accomplish the given tasks willingly, and in meeting 3 she began to work effectively by cooperating
with her peers in completing the available assignments.
Table 4.8: Learning Behaviour of Research Participant A3
Learning Behaviour Meeting 1: Listened to the lecturer’s instructions while taking notes.
Meeting 2: Paid attention to the lecturer’s explanations while taking notes. Meeting 3: Listened to the lecturer’s instructions while taking notes.
Meeting 4: Listened to the lecturer’s instructions while taking notes.
Additional information from the interview revealed that she considered some of the available topics for discussion were not practical. In other words, she
could not manage to apply the knowledge she obtained from the lesson to the real- life environment. She thought that the classroom activities were boring. Repeated
pattern of classroom activities such as explanations, instructions, discussions, and presentations sometimes made her fatigued. In addition, at some points in the
observations, it was seen that she was sometimes disrupted verbally and
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nonverbally by other pupils’ behaviour. Nonetheless, her positive perception sustained her concentration. Although sometimes she felt fatigued with both the
classroom assignments and activities, her gradually developed state of self confidence and trial-error effort facilitated her to remain focused on the course
objectives. She attempted concentrating on the assigned tasks. In conclusion, her positive perception significantly supported her learning behaviour during the
course.
Table 4.9: Classroom Performance Summary of Research Participant A3
Research Participant A3 Meeting 1 up to 10
• Demonstrated gradual development of emotional behaviour by showing stable self confidence in the tasks accomplishment.
• Exhibited effective conduct behaviour by attempting to stay focus on the course objectives although sometimes was distracted by other pupils’
behaviour. • Revealed positive learning behaviour which supported the learning
experience as a result of her positive perception regardless of all obstacles. Research participant A4 was similar to research participant A3 in terms of
learning styles; she was analytic learner. Nevertheless, the observation results were significantly different from other research participants belonging to group A.
It was true that every research participant was intrinsically motivated. However, there were several perceptible distinction on the research participants’ classroom
behaviours. In general, the major difference between research participants belonging to group A and research participants belonging to group B laid on the
persistence in accomplishing course objectives. This persistence resulted in positive learning behaviour that could support a better learning experience. Being
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attentive to the lecturer’s explanation, demonstrating interest in the available topics, and actively engaged in classroom activities were several examples which
indicated positive learning behaviour. Regarding the results of the observations and further investigation by
means of interview, research participant A4 was much different from other research participants belonging to group A. Research participant A4 had a
significant negative perception about herself as well as about the course. In comparison, research participants A1, A2, and A3 demonstrated a fairly steady
state of self confidence throughout the course. Meanwhile, research participant A4 exhibited a particular degree of uncertainty in the classroom. This was fairly seen
from meeting 1, 3, 5, and 10.
Table 4.10: Emotional Behaviour of Research Participant A4
Emotional Behaviour Meeting 1: Listened to what the peer group said.
Meeting 3: Greatly influenced by and dependent on peer group. Meeting 5: Speech defect, hesitation, and frequent short pauses in delivering
the presentation. Meeting 10: Hesitation, short pauses, and nearly inaudible voice during the
presentation.
In other words, she had a low self confidence even though sometimes she gradually became confident in performing the assigned tasks. Her unsteady state
of low self confidence was noticed several times during the observations. She had a tendency to be greatly dependent on her peers most of the times and left out the
assigned classroom objectives. When she delivered her projects presentation in front of the class, she was obviously nervous by showing frequent hesitation, short
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pauses, inaudible voice and other speech defects. This circumstance apparently influenced and discouraged her self confidence because from meeting to meeting
it was clearly seen that she exhibited great dependence on her peers and inconstant self confidence.
Furthermore, she also perceived that the available topics for discussion were not practical since she rarely found such a case in real setting environment. It
meant that she could not directly apply the knowledge she obtained from the lesson to her real life environment. As a result, most of the times when she felt
bored with the supplied topics, she preferred to have a chit-chat with other pupils and displayed some verbal and nonverbal nuisances to other pupils. Consequently,
the learning experience was fairly meaningless. Further investigation by means of interview revealed that research participant A4 undeliberately performed such
behaviours since she had less interest in the topics available for discussion. Therefore, she focused most of her attention only to parts that interested her and
had obvious relevance to her real life experience. She was willing to carry out the course objectives even though she was not interested in the available topics. The
degree of uncertainty affected the level of success in accomplishing the assigned task. Her performance was not as good as those of other research participants
belonging to the same group. In relation to her learning behaviour, she demonstrated common features
that analytic learners would do. She took notes on the lecturer’s explanations and instructions while doing other activities such as listening to the given explanations
and having discussion with other pupils. Therefore, sometimes she took notes on
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all details that were exlplained by the lecturer. Nevertheless, she still could not perform the course assignments satisfactorily. In order to become aware of what
actually she should do with the assigned tasks, she frequently inquired her peers about what to do and cooperated with them in accomplishing the tasks.
Table 4.11: Classroom Performance Summary of Research Participant A4
Research participant A4 Meetings 1 up to 10
• Demonstrated unsteady state of emotional behaviour by showing inconstant self confidence in the tasks accomplishment that might discourage better
learning process. • Exhibited detachable positive conduct behaviour by providing verbal and
nonverbal distractions and simultaneously showing appreciation to other pupils’ projects presentation.
• Showed partially negative learning behaviour due to her unsteady state of self confidence.
Afterwards, the focus of the discussion turned to research participants belonging to group B who were considered as average achievers. Three-quarter of
the research participants belonging to group B were analytic learners. Nonetheless, these similarities did not indicate the same classroom behaviours
among the research samples. Research participant B1 was analytic learner. She had a greatly negative
perception about the course. Initial investigation by means of observation revealed that she exhibited an explicit degree of uncertainty throughout the course. Her
repetitive emotional, conduct, and learning behaviours were evidently perceivable starting from meeting 1 up to meeting 10 see Appendix 2 for details. It,
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afterwards, became a pattern that interested the researcher to develop deeper investigation by means of interview.
The results of the interview showed that she was not interested in the available topics for classroom discussion, perceived the topics not practical to her
daily life, and considered the classroom activities boring. Her negative perception about the lesson greatly influenced her classroom behaviours. In relation to her
emotional behaviour, she exhibited a significantly low self confidence since she frequently was dependent on her peers in accomplishing the assigned tasks.
Several examples from the observations were represented in Table 4.12 below.
Table 4.12: Emotional, Conduct, and Learning Behaviours of Research Participant B1
Emotional behaviour Meeting 1: Paid more attention to the peers than to the lecturer’s explanations.
Meeting 5: Hesitation and short pauses occured during delivering the presentation.
Meeting 7: Hesitation and evident long pauses occured during delivering the presentation.
Conduct Behaviour Meeting 1: Frequent interruption and nonverbal interference to other pupils.
Meeting 2: Frequently gave verbal and nonverbal nuisance to other pupils. Meeting 7: Did not appreciated other pupils by not listening to their
presentations. Meeting 8: Caught up daydreaming and not focusing on the lesson.
Learning Behaviour Meeting 1: Took notes while listening and chitchatting with peer group if
necessary. Meeting 2: Kept busy doing irrelevant activities to the course and leaving out
the course objectives. Meeting 8: More discussion on irrelevant topics to the course with the peers.
From meeting to meeting, she continuously repeated these actions. Moreover, her low self confidence was also noticed from her projects presentation
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in front of the class or in a small group discussion. She exhibited numerous speech defects in delivering the presentation such as hesitation and frequent long
pauses. In addition, based on the observations, the presentation particularly did not provide adequate information about her topic.
Furthermore, she established a significantly ineffective conduct behaviour since she provided major verbal and nonverbal interference to other pupils during
the lesson over and over again. It obviously resulted in the decreased level of self concentration on the lesson. Due to the existing decreased level of self
concentration, she did not persist in carrying out the course objectives. She regularly left out the given tasks or passively engaged in the classroom activities
and preferred to have other activities such as daydreaming and chit-chatting with her peers. In addition, she was sometimes unaware of what to do and, therefore,
she often confirmed the peers what the lecturer’s instruction was. In conclusion, she evidently had problems in coping with self concentration because her
impersistence in completing the course objectives consistently emerged from time to time.
Table 4.13: Classroom Performance Summary of Research Participant B1
Research participant B1 Meetings 1 up to 10
• Demonstrated fluctuating emotional behaviour by showing inconstant self confidence in the tasks accomplishment that might discourage better
learning process. • Exhibited considerably negative conduct behaviour by providing frequent
verbal and nonverbal distractions. • Exhibited difficulties in handling self concentration that discouraged better
learning behaviour.
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Similar to research participant B1, research participant B2 was analytic learner. Nonetheless, he had a rather positive perception about the course.
Regarding his emotional behaviour, it was noticed since the initial period of the course administration that he possessed a remarkably high self confidence. It
could be inferred from his independence in completing most of the assigned tasks throughout the course. He had a tendency to learn rather cooperatively than
individually. Further investigation revealed that he considered some available topics for discussion not interesting and some classroom activities boring.
However, he attempted to work and concentrate on a topic of his own choice for his final project. Therefore, he frequently preferred to work individually because
he was merely not interested in the supplied topics. His nature of analytic learner came up later when he delivered the projects presentation see Appendix 2 and 3.
It was noticed that his presentation was remarkably outstanding in terms of delivery and preparedness. He did not indicate such a case of speech defect that
happened to other research samples during delivering their projects presentation. Apparently, he really put much effort in his presentation since it was structurally
ordered from the broad topic into narrow points, provided information adequately, and described the fine points clearly.
Table 4.14: Conduct Behaviour of Research Participant B2
Conduct Behaviour Meeting 2: Provided physical aggression and nonverbal interference to other
pupils. Meeting 4: Did not appreciate other pupils’ presentation by doing irrelevant
activities to the course. Meeting 6: Daydreamed at some times during the lesson.
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Concerning his conduct behaviour, he demonstrated verbal and nonverbal distraction as well as physical aggression excessively. Further investigation by
means of interview revealed that he was more interested in the peers activities than in the available topics for discussion and the classroom activities. He, by
some means, did not skip the course objectives but that he was obviously a distraction source for other pupils. Unfortunately, he exhibited this behaviour
repeatedly from meeting to meeting and it obviously interfered other pupils’ concentration.
In relation to his learning behaviour, he was not different from other research participants who were analytic learners. He mostly took notes on all
details given by the lecturer while doing other activities. He sometimes could not follow what to do about the assigned tasks because in some meetings he came
late. Nevertheless, his constant self confidence encouraged him to be actively involved in the classroom activities in a positive way inspite of all distraction he
provided for other pupils.
Table 4.15: Classroom Performance Summary of Research Participant B2
Research participant B2 Meeting 1 up to 10
• Demonstrated established emotional behaviour by showing constant self confidence in the tasks accomplishment throughout the course.
• Displayed significant disruptive conduct behaviour by providing frequent verbal and nonverbal interference as well as physical aggresion to other
pupils. • Exhibited partially negative learning behaviour due to his being not
interested in the topics available for discussion.
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Previously, it was mentioned that the major difference between research participants belonging to group A, who were considered high achievers, and
research participants belonging to group B, who were considered average achievers lay on the persistence in carrying out the course objectives. Research
participants belonging to group A generally were predisposed to be more persistent in accomplishing the assigned tasks. Nevertheless, there were various
outcomes from every research participant. When the discussion focused on research participant A4, she exhibited specific responses due to several specific
reasons such as demonstrating unsteady state of self confidence especially in delivering the presentation and becoming more dependent on the peers than to
herself. These responses were caused by her considerably negative assumption about the lesson; it was not practical and did not have direct relationship with her
life. Regarding the various outcomes which could occur during the research, it was necessary to highlight specific reactions from research participant B3 when
the focus of discussion exposed the research participants belonging to group B. Research participant B3 was considered as analytic learner and, therefore,
he behaved mostly similar to other analytic learners. One aspect that distinguished him from the other research participants belonging to group B was his self
persistence in fulfilling the course objectives. Besides, his positive perception about the course also promoted a better learning experience. Early from the
beginning of the course administration, he displayed a remarkably steady state of self confidence and gradually developed self concentration during the lesson. His
nature as analytic learner did not hinder him to work independently.
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Table 4.16: Emotional, Conduct, and Learning Behaviours of Research Participant B3
Emotional Behaviour Meeting 1: Carried out the course objectives fairly independent.
Meeting 2: Carried out the course objectives independently.
Conduct Behaviour Meeting 1: Verbally distracted by other pupils yet he tried to stay focus on the
classroom objectives. Meeting 2: Frequent discussion with peers on the assigned topics.
Meeting 5: Appreciated other pupils by listening and responding their presentations.
Learning Behaviour Meeting 4: Always took notes on both major and minor parts while listening to
the explanation. Meeting 5: Active participation and critical questioning in the classroom
discussion. Meeting 8: Paid attention well on the lecturer’s explanation and classroom
objectives.
His self confidence was represented by frequent active involvement in both classroom discussions and small group discussions. Once he came late to
class but he tried to concentrate on the missing instruction by inquiring his peers and directly adjusted himself. His sense of cooperation encouraged him to be
significantly well-mannered in responding to other pupils’ projects presentation. Furthermore, he managed to keep his concentration on the supplied tasks even
though he was evidently distracted both verbally and nonverbally by other pupils. Compared to the other research participants belonging to group B, he
demonstrated the most productive emotional, conduct, and learning behaviours. In conclusion, this persistence obviously resulted in supportive learning behaviour.
He actively engaged in the classroom activities, frequently involved in both classroom discussion and small group discussion, provided minor distraction to
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other pupils, and exhibited self consentration on the lesson. Therefore, he could undergo a more meaningful learning experience compared to the other research
research participants belonging to group B.
Table 4.17: Classroom Performance Summary of Research Participant B3
Research participant B3 Meeting 1 up to 10
• Demonstrated noteworthy emotional behaviour by showing constant development of self confidence in the tasks accomplishment throughout the
course. • Displayed significant positive conduct behaviour by highly appreciating
other pupils’ project presentation. • Exhibited effective learning behaviour that without a doubt promoted a
better learning experience. Among all research participants belonging to group B, research participant
B4 was apparently different from the other research participants in terms of learning styles. Three quarters of the research participants belonging to group B
were analytic learners; they were research participants B1, B2, and B3. On the other hand, research participant B4 was wholistic learner. It was mentioned that
research participant B3 exhibited specific responses due to several specific reasons. At this point, it was worth noting that research participant B4 also
displayed a number of distinctive outcomes due to particular specific reasons. Generally, wholistic learners had tendency to work independently than
cooperatively. Besides, based on the findings on research participants A1 and A2, they could manage to adapt quite well to the unfamiliar learning environment. As
a result, wholistic learners exhibited a gradual development and steady state of self confidence. Compared to research participants A1 and A2, who were
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considered wholistic learners, research participant B4, who was also considered a wholistic learner, apparently exhibited fairly different behaviours. Research
participant B4 did not show a significant progress of elevated self confidence during the course. From meeting to meeting, her degree of self confidence was
fairly stagnant. Instead of accomplishing the assigned tasks independently, she mostly depended on her peers. Furthermore, her projects presentation was fairly
poor because she demonstrated the state of unpreparedness by showing frequent hesitation, short pauses, and other speech defects.
Table 4.18: Emotional Behaviour of Research Participant B4
Emotional Behaviour Meeting 1: More dependent to the peers than to the lecturer.
Meeting 3: Listened to what the peer’s explanation about the course.
Further investigation through interview revealed her partial negative perception on the course. She was encouraged to try trial and error strategy in
accomplishing the supplied tasks. However, she perceived that some of the available topics for discussion were impractical. Moreover, she also considered
the repetitive classroom activities such as explanations, discussions, and presentations boring. These perceptions evidently brought negative impact to her
emotional, conduct, and learning behaviours. In relation to her conduct behaviour, she exhibited a significantly low self appreciation to other pupils’ projects
presentation because she fairly paid no attention to the presentations and hardly involved in the classroom discussion. Besides, her boredom led to both disruptive
conduct behaviour such as verbal and nonverbal interference as well as physical
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aggression and non-disruptive conduct behaviour such as daydreaming and frequent inattention to the on-going lesson.
This circumstance obviously worsened her learning behaviour. As it was observed, she repeatedly left out the course objectives and preferred to have out-
of-task discussion with her peers. Sometimes, it was perceptible that she encountered difficulties in focusing and concentrating on the lesson even though
at some points it was also noticed that she exhibited interest in particular topics and activities. However, the instability of self confidence and self concentration
on the lesson greatly influenced her classroom behaviours. This became another proof that illustrated how impersistent research participants belonging to group B
were in general.
Table 4.19: Classroom Performance Summary of Research Participant B4
Research participant B4 Meeting 1 up to 10
• Demonstrated unstable emotional behaviour by showing inconstant self confidence in the tasks accomplishment throughout the course.
• Displayed negative conduct behaviour by frequently exhibiting both disruptive and non-disruptive behaviours to other pupils.
• Exhibited impersistent learning behaviour that clearly discouraged a better learning experience.
Each research participant demonstrated various tendencies and discrepancies during the learning. The findings revealed that there were evident
and divergent responses that occured in the process of learning even when the research participants shared the similar characteristics. This conclusion could be
inferred from the continuous observations of each research participant’s
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emotional, conduct, and learning behaviours during the course. Table 4.11 represented the general comparison among all research participants and provided
a broad summary of each research participant’s classroom behaviours. Appendix 4 provided more details about the referred to observations.
Table 4.20: Classroom Behaviours Summary of Research Participants
GROUP A: GPA 3.3 in scale of 4.0 Research
participant A1 Research
participant A2 Research
participant A3 Research
participant A4
Meeting 1-10
Demonstrated effective, steady,
and constant emotional,
conduct, and learning
behaviours which supported the
learning process.
Meeting 1-10
Demonstrated ineffective
emotional, conduct, and
learning behaviours only
at initial times which hindered
the learner to gain better learning.
Meeting 1-10
Demonstrated gradual
development of effective
emotional, conduct, and
learning behaviours which
sustained the learning process.
Meeting 1-10
Demonstrated unsteady state of
emotional, conduct, and
learning behaviours which
discouraged better learning process.
GROUP B: GPA ranges from 2.75 up to 3.29 in scale of 4.0 Research
participant B1 Research
participant B2 Research
participant B3 Research
participant B4
Meeting 1-10
Demonstrated ineffective and
fluctuating emotional,
conduct, and learning
behaviours which greatly hindered
the learner to gain better learning.
Meeting 1-10
Demonstrated significantly
ineffective emotional,
conduct, and learning
behaviours during the course which
strongly influence the successful
learning process.
Meeting 1-10
Demonstrated considerably
effective and steady state of
emotional, conduct, and
learning behaviours
throughout the course which
promoted better learning.
Meeting 1-10
Demonstrated unsteady state of
emotional, conduct, and
learning behaviours during
the course which obstructed better
learning experience.
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Intrinsic motivation could influence each research participant’s classroom performance differently. Intrinsic motivation promoted more positive attitudes
and perceptions about learning experience. However, occasionally the research participants’ intrinsic motivation was greatly influenced by the level of interest in
the given tasks and classroom activities. Moreover, supported by the existing intrinsic motivation, each research participant was able to acquire new knowledge
through the learning experience. However, there were distinct responses of classroom behaviours due to the existing different interest in the topics and
classroom activities.