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Motivating yourself to learn An American professor of educational psychology who has studied the effects of student motivations and beliefs on learning, Brett Jones (2009), has devised what he calls the ‘MUSIC’ model of academic motivation, building on a wealth of different motivational research. He argues that you are most likely to be engaged in your learning, and to be motivated to study, if:  You are eMpowered – this means that you have some control over your own learning. For example, you will feel more motivated if you are able to choose some modules on your course, or you can choose to study a specific topic in more depth for your assessment. You can also experience empowerment if you are able to have some input into what you learn, so it can be a good idea to set up a study group alongside class, and negotiate between you which topics from the course you will study and discuss in depth each time you meet.  You can see that the subject you are learning is Useful – this means that you can see the relevance of the topic either to your career goals, or to everyday life. Psychology is full of useful information, but its usefulness is not always made explicit by tutors, so you may need to identify its usefulness for yourself. Try to think about applications of the psychology you are learning, as we are doing in this book, and this may help to increase your motivation.  You believe that you can Succeed – in other words, you feel that you can develop the knowledge and the skills required to pass the course. This can be challenging if you are finding the content difficult, but if you are feeling demotivated and struggling, stop and think about how you can increase your chances of success. Remember that learning is a process .You need to acquire knowledge and skills throughout the module; no-one starts out with everything in place at the start. Try reading around the topic, ask your tutor for help, or perhaps work with a study buddy. Spend time reflecting on feedback you have received, and develop an action plan to get yourself back on track. It can help to look back at work from earlier in your course, noting how much you have improved during your studies. If you can see how much you have learned already, you will start to believe in your ability to improve further and overcome any difficulties you might encounter along the way.  You are Interested in the subject – and again, this can be difficult if you are studying a dry topic that you don’t instantly connect with. However, reading around the topic can help. Rather than just sticking to the curriculum, try to find ways in which the subject connects to areas that you do find interesting. For example, if you are learning about research methods, but you want to become a counselling psychologist, try to find out about how the methods you are studying have been used to evaluate different counselling techniques with different client groups. This will have the added advantage of helping you to see the usefulness of the topic.  You feel that your tutor Cares about whether you succeed or fail. You are unlikely to get to know every tutor on your course, especially if you are a member of a large class, but most universities offer a personal tutor or academic advisor to their students. It is worth investing some time and effort into getting to know your personal tutor. Attend tutorials or

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