Student motivation may be the single most-powerful indicator of a student's
likelihood of persisting. Retention professionals agree that there is a
tremendous difference between being academically prepared for college and being
ready to persist and succeed academically. Because the internal processes that
drive students' decisions are not readily apparent, many students may drop out
before the institution is even aware of their needs.
The goal of student-motivation assessment is to help students direct their
energies toward academic and social integration into the campus. This
integration allows each student to maximize opportunities for both intellectual
and personal growth.
Many potential sources of student-motivation data exist on most campuses. The
challenge is to collect student-specific data early in the student's first term.
Examples of potential student-motivation data include:
- Student participation in orientation.
- Completion of orientation surveys.
- Scores on academic-placement tests.
- Class attendance during the first week.
- Participation in cocurricular activities.
- Academic plans.
Nationally validated motivation-assessment tools help many institutions
enhance their local data pool. These instruments provide multiple measures of
student motivations and have gained broad acceptance with colleges and
universities over the past decade. Three of the most popular tools include: