Keyword: motivation

ABSTRACT: The integration of digital technologies has enhanced language learning by improving access to resources, interaction, and learner autonomy in Rwanda. National Information and Communication Technology initiatives support competence-based education, yet the use of digital tools in classrooms remains uneven. Despite these efforts, many students are not fully engaged or motivated when using digital language learning tools. This study therefore sought to examine students’ perceptions of digital language learning and their influence on academic engagement and motivation in Rwandan secondary schools. A quantitative approach using a cross-sectional explanatory design was adopted. Data were collected from 200 secondary school students in Kamonyi District through a structured questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale. Descriptive and inferential statistics, including correlation, regression analysis, and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), were used to analyze relationships among perception, engagement, and motivation. The results revealed that students have highly positive perceptions of digital language learning tools, particularly in enhancing understanding, confidence, and independent learning. Significant positive relationships were found between perception and engagement (r up to 0.66) and between perception and motivation (r = 0.64). Regression analysis showed that perception (β = 0.49) and engagement (β = 0.37) significantly predict motivation, explaining 54% of its variance. SEM findings further confirmed that engagement partially mediates the relationship between perception and motivation. The study concludes that positive student perceptions significantly enhance engagement and motivation in digital language learning. It implies that improving students’ experiences with digital tools is essential for better learning outcomes. The study recommends increased investment in digital infrastructure, enhanced teacher training, and the integration of interactive, learner-centered digital strategies to optimize language learning in Rwandan secondary schools. 

ABSTRACT: This article aims to examine the role of emotional intelligence in the educational context by exploring how its five core dimensions—emotional self-awareness, emotional self-regulation, empathy, social skills, and intrinsic motivation—contribute to students’ and teachers’ academic success, emotional well-being, and interpersonal effectiveness. This is a theoretical reflection based on a narrative literature review. It integrates key findings from recent and foundational studies in emotional intelligence applied to education, offering a comprehensive understanding of how emotional competencies support learning and adaptation in increasingly complex and technology-driven school environments. The reviewed literature suggests that the structured integration of emotional intelligence into the school curriculum enhances academic performance, fosters self-regulation and resilience, and promotes more collaborative and inclusive learning environments. Teachers also benefit by developing stronger emotional competencies that help them manage classrooms more effectively and respond more sensitively to students’ needs. This article offers a multidimensional approach to emotional intelligence in education, emphasising its relevance in preparing students and educators for the demands of the 21st century. By highlighting the connection between emotional competencies and school success, the paper contributes to current discussions on how education systems can support the holistic development of learners and teaching professionals alike.

ABSTRACT: Motivation drives students' effort, persistence, and deep learning, while empathy underpins trust, inclusion, and emotional safety in diverse classrooms. In undergraduate physics education, where courses are often perceived as difficult, selective, and abstract, understanding how teachers’ and students’ motivation and empathy are related is crucial for creating supportive learning environments. This study explores how lecturers and students in undergraduate physics make sense of the interrelationships between teachers’ and students’ motivation and empathy. This study employed a qualitative exploratory design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with physics education lecturers and undergraduate physics students. Lecturers were invited to describe their teaching motivation, their empathy towards students, and how they perceived these qualities as influencing students’ learning and well-being. Students were asked to describe their learning motivation and empathy and to reflect on how they experienced their lecturers’ motivation and empathy in everyday classroom interactions. The interview data were analysed inductively using thematic procedures to identify recurring patterns and relational dynamics between teachers’ and students’ motivation and empathy. The analysis reveals that lecturers who describe themselves as intrinsically motivated and caring tend to recount practices such as adapting explanations, providing emotional support, and giving individual attention, which students experience as motivating and affirming. Students often link their own motivation in physics to whether they perceive their lecturers as enthusiastic, approachable, and empathetic, particularly when facing conceptual difficulties. At the same time, some accounts suggest that tensions can arise when strong academic expectations and performance pressures coexist with limited emotional resources, complicating the enactment and experience of motivation and empathy. Overall, the findings illuminate how lecturers’ motivational and empathic stances are perceived to shape students’ motivation and empathy in undergraduate physics, highlighting the need for pedagogical approaches that intentionally cultivate both.

ABSTRACT: Traditional education alone is no longer adequate to prepare students for the challenges of a globalized and diverse society within the context of sustainable development. The European Higher Education Area places a strong emphasis on educational methodologies to achieve its goal of fostering the holistic development of university students as competent professionals and responsible citizens and cooperative learning appears to be a more effective methodological approach to address this evolving reality. This study explores whether a collaborative learning approach promotes meaningful learning and skill development among university students. We compared two groups using different learning strategies: traditional and cooperative. The statistical analysis was conducted in two phases. First, a survey was distributed to students in both groups. A t-test was then applied to examine the differences between the two groups. The findings indicate that the cooperative group outperformed the traditional group in terms of motivation, personal skills, and self-assessment confirming that cooperative learning is more effective in developing the skills necessary for a sustainable society.

ABSTRACT: Anxiety about learning mathematics and accompanying low grades in mathematics has caused many students to the extent that they wish never to learn mathematics again. This level of apathy epitomised by students’ demotivated participation and low performance in learning mathematics reflects the general level of learning despondency among adolescent students. Although the literature suggests that the tide of learning despondency can be assuaged if students’ achievement motivation is heightened, studies exploring the mathematics achievement motivation of high school students in Ghana are scarce. To address this gap in the literature, this study, conducted within a positivist paradigm, focused on examining the relationship between perceived mathematics learning, achievement motivation, and mathematics anxiety while controlling for learning styles and gender of 322 high school students. The results showed that the motivation to strive and the motivation to participate were respectively the most substantial and minor drivers of students’ mathematics achievement motivation. Based on the correlation and regression analysis, achievement motivation positively predicted mathematics learning whiles both achievement motivation and mathematics learning were negatively related to mathematics anxiety. The study’s results further showed that mathematics anxiety dampened the extent to which achievement motivation positively influenced mathematics learning in the regression analysis.