2.1.4. Motivation
The concept of motivation plays a significant role in educational activity,
and is gaining acceptance in current educational literature.
Anderson et al. (1975) define motivation as the ``arousal, direction,
and continuance of behavior.'' In other words, motivation is concerned with
behavior regulation: what drives action, how action is directed, and what
action is under voluntary control \cite{Chan96}.
In contrast to cognitive and psychomotor factors, which have always been the focus of learning research, the affective parameter is often overlooked in educational practice and evaluation. Motivation, however, certainly relates to learning and should be a very important characteristic of learning environments designed for students. It concerns whether a student is willing to learn, not whether the student is able to learn \cite{Chan96}. The learning environment should be designed to foster intrinsic, self-initiated interest as well as continuing engagement. Interest and knowledge come hand in hand, but the correlation is not always a straight line. Over a period of time, if learners have increased interest, their knowledge might also increase. It is not always the case, however, that students' interest will remain high if they continue acquiring knowledge. Of particular significance, in this case, is the study of continuing motivation: the student returning to the use of a system without external constraints to do so.
In the last few years there has been a considerable shift towards providing motivating learning settings and the building of learning environments that nurture motivation. The entrance of the computer onto the learning scene and its impact on young users has resulted in the research of motivation in relation to computers, especially computer and video games \cite{Provenzo91,Malone80,Kafai95}. The computer is considered by many as an important motivator for learning, and this affective quality has lead many to believe that computers are more advantageous to educational activity than other, more traditional, pedagogical methods. Malone (1980) describes three primary characteristics of computer games that directly contribute to motivation: providing a challenge (a goal), creating fantasy (an environment or situation not otherwise available), and provoking curiosity (to make the strange familiar). Malone and Lepper (1987) expand this framework to add confidence and control as aspects of motivation. Related to confidence, Papert talks about empowerment. The role of the computer, he notes, has less to do with information and more with giving children a greater sense of empowerment \cite{Papert80}.
As important as motivation is, it is not an end unto itself. For example, many popular computer games containing violence are engaging and motivating for a large population of children \cite{Provenzo91}, but they are not usually educational. Issroff and delSoldato \cite{Issroff96} make a distinction between motivation to use a tool and motivation to learn a subject. The study of affective parameters, such as motivation, should strive to gain a deeper understanding of what is engaging in learning without compromising educational value.
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