Factors Affecting Academic Motivation of Medical Library and Information Science Students: A Case Study of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Iran

Purpose: Academic motivation is one of the most essential psychological concepts in education and one of the most important issues affecting academic achievement. Lack of interest and motivation is the main educational problem. Therefore, in order to improve the quality of education, studying the academic motivation and the factors affecting it seems necessary. Methods: This study was conducted via an analytical survey method. The study population included all students of the Medical Library and Information Science at Hamadan University of Medical Sciences (Iran) who were studied by census method. The data collection was done through a questionnaire. For analyzing the data, descriptive and inferential statistical methods, as well as SPSS-20 software, were used. Results: The average score of the academic motivation of Medical Library and Information Science students was 130.18 (out of 196). The total score of average academic motivation for students under 22 years of age was 30.54 and for students with 23 years of age and older was 45.63, which was statistically significant (p-value = 0.004). The results also showed that the academic motivation score of male students was higher than female students, graduate students more than undergraduate students, and local students more than non-local students. Also, being non-local and living in the dormitory can be considered as the most important factor of academic amotivation. Conclusion: The total score of students\u27 academic motivation in this study was relatively good. However, the motivation score was also significant, which requires planned educational actions. It is suggested that educational systems should pay more attention to individual and environmental factors affecting academic motivation