espository essay

FACTORS RAISE THEORIES

Conflict between Theories

There are two main factors which influence the achievement motivation of the students to gain successful learning. Those factors raise theories of psychology in education. The first factor is extrinsic factor which means the factors that come from outside the learner. This factor raises a theory in psychology and education which is called Behaviorism. The second factor is intrinsic factor which means the factors that come from inside the learner. At the opposite, this factor rises a theory in psychology and education which known as Cognitivism. In the middle of the conflict between those two theories, a new theory comes. The theory is called Constructivism which takes the good points between the two previous theories. According to Hill (2002), there are two values of the theories. The first is providing us with vocabulary and conceptual framework for interpreting the example of learning that we observe. The second is suggesting where to look for solutions to practical problems. But the questions are: How do the factors raise the theory? How do the theories influence the learner especially in their achievement motivation? And how does a conflict raises a new theory in psychology and education?

Behaviorism is a theory which focuses only on the objectively observable aspect of learning (Wikipedia, 2008). Related to extrinsic factor, it is because this theory believes that a human is born with nothing. Human’s ability is influenced by the behavior and environment. A child needs to develop their own intelligence through behavior and environment. In this case, extrinsic factors become the most important thing. This theory was developed by B.F. Skinner. The other theorists are Pavlov, Thorndike, Tolman, and Hull. According to Wikipedia (2008), there are three basic assumptions in Behaviorism. First, learning is manifested by a change in behavior. Second, the environment shapes behavior. And third, the contiguity and reinforcement are central to explaining the learning. This theory is also strengthen by two types of conditioning. The first is Classical Conditioning which was developed by Pavlov. Pavlov used dogs in his experiment. He sounded a bell in association with meal so that the dogs learned to associate the sound with food. The second is Operant Conditioning. In this conditioning, behavior operates on the environment. Reinforcement increases the motivation, and punishment decreases the motivation. From those two types of conditioning, behaviorists believe that achievement motivation of the students is influenced by behavior and environment. In this case, the students should get more exercises from the teacher to develop their ability in learning. There is no intrinsic factor because they believe that a human is born with nothing.

At the opposite, Cognitivism is a theory which looks beyond the behavior. Related to intrinsic factor, it is because a human is born with an innate capacity. This innate capacity will influence the cognitive development of the human. According to Wikipedia (2008), this theory was published in 1929 by Bode and developed by Piaget and Vygotsky. There are two assumptions in this theory. First, memory system is an active organized processor of information and second, prior knowledge plays important role in learning. From these two assumptions, cognitivists believe that intrinsic factor is the most important thing in influencing the achievement motivation. They do not agree that behavior influences the students’ ability. As a child gets older, they develop their own innate. The proof is that every student has different achievement motivation with another. A student may understand the material which is given by the teacher faster than the other students. This is because every student has different innate capacity.

From the conflict between the two theories, a new theory was born. The theory is known as Constructivism. Constructivism views learning as a process in which the learner actively constructs or builds new ideas or concepts based upon current and past knowledge. Learning involves constructing one’s own knowledge from one’s own experience (Wikipedia, 2008). It means that achievement motivation is influenced by both behavior and cognitive (innate capacity) of the students.

From those three theories, we can conclude that achievement motivation of the students is influenced by both extrinsic and intrinsic factors. It depends on how the behavior and environment (as extrinsic factors), and innate capacity (as intrinsic factor) influence the way of students to gain a successful learning.