Educational environment as a significant motivational factor

Kompaneeva Liudmila Gennadievna ORCID: 0000-0001-8328-013X PhD in Pedagogy Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, Volgograd Institute of Management – branch of RANEPA 400078, Russia, Volgograd region, Volgograd, Herzen str., 10, room 407 kompaneyeva@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Maslova Alesya Dmitrievna ORCID: 0000-0002-4791-5852 PhD in Philology Senior Lecturer, Department of Linguistics and Intercultural Communication, Volgograd Institute of Management – branch of RANEPA 400078, Russia, Volgogradskaya oblast', g. Volgograd, ul. Gertsena, 10, aud. 407 prostozachem@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Davydov Denis Aleksandrovich Student, Volzhsky Polytechnical Institute (branch of VSTU) 42a Engels str., Volzhsky, Volgograd region, 404121, Russia denis150105ddd@yandex.ru

Introduction

Rapid development and intensive transformation of new informational technologies and human society put forward new challenges and needs. To adapt to emerging challenges and to deal with them, people have to constantly improve their skills and learn something new. That’s why the need for lifelong learning arises and becomes one of the most important aspects in the transitive society, transforming the system of education. In our point of view, the universities of the future could probably become educational institutions where students would spend their entire lives, constantly improving their skills or acquiring new qualifications, due to the emergence of innovative professions. To enable a person to learn continuously, it is necessary to develop a motivation for learning from his or her school years.

Motivation is usually understood as a combination of internal and external factors that stimulate a person to act. Many students believe that motivation is the main factor of successful learning and achieving its goals, because motives can encourage people to pursue specific goals ^[1-3]. Students with high level of motivation usually have a positive attitude towards the subjects being studied, are attentive during their classes, are actively involved in the learning process and always complete their homework. As a consequence, they are more successful in their activities and achieve strong results. Motivation can be internal or intrinsic (which comes from within a person, i.e. proceeds from personal goals), and external or extrinsic (which comes from a source outside). It was found out that each kind of motivation has a different influence on a person’s behavior and pursuit of goals. Intrinsic motivation is associated with students’ interest in a subject or activity. Intrinsically motivated students enjoy learning, and they are willing to make an effort to succeed. Intrinsic motivation enhances online group creativity via promoting members’ effort, not interaction. Furthermore, students with high intrinsic motivation show higher flexibility on the creative tasks and spend more time looking at their own ideas while they are doing different online and offline projects ^[4]. Extrinsic motivation is associated with external rewards or punishments. Externally motivated students act only to obtain external benefits, such as grades, praise, or avoidance of punishment. While scientists consider intrinsic motivation as the most appropriate form and associate it with various benefits, such as enjoyment, perseverance in learning and psychological well-being, extrinsic motivators are considered to be helpful to promote actions, that are not intrinsically interesting ^[4,5].

It should be also mentioned that the environment, which includes the family environment, friends, community, and school environment greatly influence the behavior of teenagers and their behavior and achievements at school ^[6]. One of the fundamental factors in the formation of motivation of senior school students is the development of a comfortable school or educational environment, as the school becomes the center of education in preparing the young people to become useful individuals in the future.

Methodology

This research is devoted to the study of main characteristics of educational environment and the level of its influence on the learning motivation of secondary education students. The purpose of the study is to determine how to create a favorable educational environment that meets the needs and interests of students and creates positive motivation. Within the framework of this study, we rely on a personalized, as well as value-based approach to the organization of learning process. We used a number of general and private methods of scientific knowledge, including system analysis, generalization, comparison, theoretical analysis of scientific literature, describing the studied issues. Also, we used the questionnaire method to analyze the possibilities of implementation of theoretical results in practice. We have conducted an anonymous survey of 178 students from the 8 till 11 grades of 5 schools in the city of Volzhsky, (Russian Federation) in December 2023 to find out the level of the motivation of students.

Scientific originality

Scientific originality of this research is determined by the lack of detailed studies of this issue and by the unique results of the survey, conducted in schools of the city of Volzhsky (Russian Federation) for the first time.

Theoretical background

Theoretical background of our research is based on scientific works of H. Bakhshialiabad, B.N. Bodenko, L.A. Bodenko, G.I. Chizhakova, Y.V. Gvozdenko, A. Hafızoglu, K.S. Kazakova, L.V. Kovtunenko, O.P. Kuchumova, V.A. Slastenin, V. I. Slobodchikov, M.S. Solomatin, A.V. Vindilovich, S. Yerdelen, V.A. Yasvin and other scientists, analyzing the connection between educational environment and motivation of students through the prism of practical approaches.

Scientists define the educational environment in different ways. According to V. A. Yasvin and V. I. Slobodchikov, it can be understood as a system of conditions and opportunities for the development of a person, contained in the spatial-temporal and social environment ^[7,8]. In accordance with this approach, A. I. Savenkov defines the educational environment as a system of psychological and pedagogical conditions and influences that create the opportunity for the development of both the existing abilities, interests and personal traits of students, and not yet manifested ones ^[9]. B. N. Bodenko & L. A. Bodenko put more emphasis on pedagogical conditions, H. Bakhshialiabad considers the atmosphere of the school space as the most important one ^[10,11]. In the opinion of V. A. Slastenin and G. I. Chizhakova, educational environment represents the combination of existing external conditions, influences, opportunities that contribute to the education of the individual ^[12]. According to modern research, the educational environment appears to be in the form of several components: social, informational, spatial-subjective ones. The social component consists of the opportunities and conditions created by interpersonal interaction between the subjects of the educational process. Information component includes laws of the state and statutes of educational institutions. The spatial-subjective component reflects the number of active components, such as out-of-school educational institutions, educational projects, programmes, educational TV channels and websites, publications, etc. in an exact territory ^[13].

The role of information is of great importance, therefore, some scientists equate the concept of «educational environment» to the term «information educational environment» ^[14]. The development of digitalization transforms all spheres of human society, including education. That’s why the concept of digital educational environment has arisen in pedagogical science recently, which such researchers as L. V. Kovtunenko, M. S. Solomatin, L. G. Kompaneeva, E. V. Gulyaeva, Y. G. Semikina define as a set of information, digital and educational resources and their application technologies ^[15,16].

Educational environment components

In our research we consider educational environment as a set of conditions in which the educational process takes place, including the following components:

Goals and objectives of education. If the goals and objectives of education meet the needs and interests of students, it will help to increase their motivation. Most students do not understand the reason why they need to study various disciplines. The main task of the teacher is to explain that studying any subject allows them to develop a versatile personality, which is extremely necessary in modern conditions.

Methods and forms of education. The methods and forms of education should be aimed at activating the cognitive activity of students and increasing their interest in learning. The process of teaching must be beneficial, interesting, encouraging, inventive and has to provide educational tools that can be applied to the students’ real life ^[17].

Pedagogical style. The pedagogical style should be focused on creating a favorable atmosphere in the classroom and on supporting students. There are three main pedagogical styles. An authoritarian pedagogical style is a set of rules and norms set by the teacher that students are required to follow. In such a style the teacher uses rewards and punishments to control students’ behavior. It is most commonly used by teachers of the older generation. The use of this style develops self-doubt, fear of education, and reduces motivation to learn. The opposite of this style is pedagogical communication. Using this style lets achieve relaxed relationship, but it may lead to losing of the teachers’ control over the students’ behavior. The so-called democratic pedagogical style assumes equality between participants in the educational process, the possibility of arguing with the teachers’ decisions. In this pedagogical style various educational techniques are used that take into account the individual characteristics of students ^[18]. A democratic style, which is more often used by younger teachers, helps to activate the student in the educational process, to increase self-esteem, and to develop the personality of the student.

School atmosphere or learning environment is a set of conditions that are formed in a particular school and that can influence the behavior and the development of students. Learning environment indicators include school culture, school ethos, interactions between individuals. The school atmosphere can have both positive and negative impact on student motivation ^[19,20]. The positive impact lies in the creation of a supportive atmosphere of acceptance, increasing the motivation to learn, and forming a sense of belonging to this system. Internal motivation can emerge in such an educational environment that promotes the development of students’ interest in learning, independence, and critical thinking.

The premise and all facilities for daily learning activities. School facilities include interactive equipment, multimedia materials, digital laboratories, teaching aids, sports facilities, halls and classrooms for extracurricular activities. A comfortable physical environment affects students' ability to focus on learning, emphasise their desire to spend more time at the educational institution and their motivation to learn ^[21]. However, if an educational environment does not sufficiently develop motivation, it leads to the situation where the students simply unemotionally fill themselves with information.

Interest in learning can be formed only in an educational environment that really provides students with opportunities for choice, independence and creativity. For example, it can be formed when the students can choose subjects and topics to study by themselves, can independently complete assignments and projects, and have a chance to participate in creative competitions and contests. The development of independence is facilitated by an educational environment that provides students with opportunities for individual work and problem solving, for instance, when students can choose either to work in groups, or to complete the tasks independently and to conduct research by themselves. An educational environment that encourages students to ask questions and find answers contributes to the development of critical thinking. Participation in discussions, debates, and problem-solving tasks teach them to critically evaluate the information they read or hear, to develop and defend their own point of view, and it also provides the opportunity to reveal and fulfill their identity.

External motivation can be used to support student motivation, but it should not be its main factor. Rewards should be meaningful to students and should be aimed at increasing their interest in learning. They can be expressed in the form of praise, gratitude, appreciation of students’ achievements. Punishments in the form of remarks, reprimands and suspension from classes should be fair and have to be aimed only at correcting students’ behavior. Adolescents spend most of their time at school, and that’s why one of the main factors influencing motivation is a comfortable school atmosphere, which is formed by the attitude towards students, school events and the material and technical base of the educational institution.

Results and discussion of the survey

To determine the validity of the theoretical positions described above, and to find out the level of motivation of students, we conducted an anonymous survey of 178 students from the grades 8-11 of five schools in the city of Volzhsky, Russia, in December 2023: Municipal Educational Institution Secondary school №5, Municipal Educational Institution Secondary school №30, Municipal Educational Institution Lyceum №1, Municipal Educational Institution Secondary school №17, Municipal Educational Institution Secondary school №24.

Schools №24 and №17 have already worked for over 40 years and they are traditional schools. In the 10th and 11th grades of these schools, there are classes where students have elective subjects. According to the results of the survey, among the students, learning in schools №24 and №17, only 61% and 68% of the adolescents in the 10th and 11th grades respectively, and in 38% and 43% of the students in 8-9th grades consequently, have intrinsic motivation. According to students’ feedback, they do not like the teaching style (78%) and, in particular, the learning environment, the premise, school facilities and technical equipment of the schools (86%).

School №30 is a comprehensive school with in-depth study of such subjects as mathematics, computer science and physics. The school has a rating system. Classes are formed according to the level of academic achievement in the main subjects (for example, their brightest students study in class «A», and the weaker students study in class «B» and so on), and students are transferred from one class to another in the parallel according to their achievement level. The admission to the high school is also competitive. The school constantly encourages students to participate in various city, regional, and all-Russian Olympiads, and creative projects. Despite the fact that the school building is about 40 years old, the school has well-equipped classrooms for major subjects: computer science, mathematics and physics. According to the results of the survey, the motivation among these students to study well is 83% among high school students and 61% among the students of grades 8-9th. Nearly 60% of the participants appreciated their teachers’ methods and style of conducting the lessons and 52% were satisfied with the learning environment.

Lyceum №1 provides secondary general education with specialization in the following areas: technological profile, socio-economic profile, and universal profile. The equipment and the facilities of the lyceum are constantly being updated, 80% of classrooms are fitted with projectors, computers, and interactive whiteboards, which allow teachers to use various interactive and digital technologies in the learning process. An undoubted disadvantage is the lack of proper equipment for laboratories of natural science subjects, but the availability of video equipment allows students to watch video records of different experiments. Students showed a high level of motivation according to the survey: 71% among high school students and 52% among middle school students. However, students were more satisfied with the school digital equipment, premise and all facilities (78% and 84% of the participants), than with the pedagogical style and school atmosphere (45% and 41% consequently).

School №5 had been opened just three months before the survey was conducted. It has modern equipment and relatively young teaching staff. The school has a democratic management style, high school students actively participate in school affairs and in the organization of educational and entertainment events. Students particularly noted within the survey that they enjoyed the democratic style of their teachers, the creative attitude of young teachers to the educational process and a high level of professionalism of experienced teachers (72% and 78% of the respondents respectively). School №5 is the first new school in the city of Volzhsky that has been opened since 1988. That is why all students who has come to this school from other educational institutions note comfortable spacious corridors and classrooms, the latest digital equipment in each classroom, and modern equipment in the laboratories (100% of the surveyed). Consequently, the indicators of the level of student motivation within this school are significantly higher: 80% and 67% respectively.

Conclusion

Summing up the results of our research we would like to say that the educational environment is a significant factor that determines the success of learning, contributes to the development of students’ interest in learning, their independence and critical thinking, and increases their internal motivation. In the context of digitalization, education needs a comprehensive information infrastructure, including access to different information. Also, it needs to form a motivation system for complex self-development of an individual. To increase students’ motivation, it is necessary to create a favorable educational environment that meets the needs and interests of students. This can be achieved through the following actions:

‒ making clear definitions of the goals and objectives of education that would be understandable and achievable by the students;

‒ using teaching methods that promote the activation of students' cognitive activity and increase their interest in learning;

‒ using of a pedagogical style focused on creating a favorable atmosphere in the classroom and on supporting students;

‒ forming of such an atmosphere in the general school, that contributes to increasing students’ motivation to learn.

Also, the modernization of old schools, i.e. their re-equipment of educational buildings, providing them with sports facilities and digital technologies and other progressive systems for learning, are necessary too. Students’ perception of the educational setting is an important source for improving and applying changes to the educational environment.

In addition, it is necessary to improve the prestige of the teaching profession and to increase the economic motivation of the teaching staff, that will help to attract more young professionals to schools and raise the quality of education.