Influence of Motivation on Academic Progression of Students: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Motivation is very vital in learning and is a great enabler as it functions on multiple dimensions and paves way to conquer impediments in the path of success. An attempt has been made through this study to scrutinize the convictions related to motivation and the deployment of strategies in the learning process of students. Aim: To find the relation if any, between academic achievement and the motivation level with the students of College of Medicine, Majmaah University, Majmaah, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: Academic Motivation Scale (AMS) questionnaire was distributed to 250 students who were selected based on stratified random sampling. There were 233 students who participated in the study out of which there were 147 males and 86 females who completed the questionnaire. Motivation of student towards education was assessed in three domains, namely Intrinsic, Extrinsic and Amotivation. After ethical approval from institutional review board, questionnaire was distributed and results recorded in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 25. Qualitative variables were represented with frequencies and percentages and quantitative variables with mean and standard deviation. Student's t-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were applied to compare the means. Results: Comparison of motivational scores between students in different years showed no significant difference in the mean scores across all dimensions of motivation except Extrinsic Motivation-Regulation. The mean score of 2nd year students was 16.63 and it increased over the years. The mean score at 6th year was 22.03 and it decreased during internship with mean score of 20.58. Conclusion: The study of various stimulators which affect the learning experience of the student provides good insight on motivation and its influence on academic performances.