ABSTRACT
The following comment was made back in 1980 and demonstrates that motivating students has for many years been an important issue for researchers of student learning:
When teachers in higher education discuss their problems a fairly frequent complaint is that students are not motivated. Teachers who say this explain that students lack an urge to work independently, applying themselves only if external pressures are exerted. When invited to give examples or expand their comments, they may add that students these days are not interested in the courses they have selected but simply ‘want a qualification and a good job’.
(Beard and Senior, 1980, p.l)