Motivation to Study from Home: Balancing Alderfer’s Theory

Abstract

Motivation is a key element in learning. It plays a pivotal role in the educational journey of students, contributing significantly to their academic accomplishments and selfempowerment. With abrupt stay-at-home order due to COVID-19, learning physically at the university has transition to learning online. Due to the transition, it is imperative to understand the students' motivation when they are studying from home for effective teaching and learning. So, this study was conducted with the purpose to explore students' motivation when studying from home according to Alderder's ERG theory (1969), ecompassing existence (E), relatedness (R), and growth (G). This study interpretes existence through the lens of flexibilty, relatedness by achieving a balance between study and personal life, and growth via enhanced learning performance. The research design of this study was a survey descriptive research. An online survey was employed to gather data, comprising four sections with a total of 32 items. The survey was completed by 100 undergraduate students enrolled in the Mechanical Engineering programme at a public university in Malaysia. From the response, it is found that the students' motivation to learn online is positive and they sucessfuly meet all of the needs. Students are motivated to learn online because it offers flexibility to study, regardless of the time and location. They can also manage their time effectively between study commitments and family responsibilities. This study suggest implications such as reducing assigned classwork and ensuring a conducive learning environment to enhance the students' learning experiences.