Abstract
This study aimed to characterize the motivational orientation of Technological higher education students towards their learning process. The research involved 288 students from public and private higher education institutions. The questionnaire used as a tool for this research was the Scale for Evaluation of Motivation to Learn for Higher Education Students (SML (Boruchovitch & Neves, 2005). This tool evaluates the motivational orientation of the higher education student considering intrinsic and extrinsic levels of motivation related to learning. It was also applied a Brazilian adaptation of the Social Desirability Scale of Marlowe-Crowne (Ribas Jr., Hutz, & Moura, 2004). The main theoretical bases for this study are the sociocognitive, self-fulfillment and achievement goals theories. It was found that student's Intrinsic Motivation means was (IM) 45.23, indicating autonomy and interest in learning. The Extrinsic Motivation mean was (EM) 28.5, which indicates need for external recognition.
Keywords:
School Psychology, higher education; motivation.
