Master student and master thesis: How to keep up the motivation

Abstract

Motivating students is a complicated process and one of the hardest challenges supervisors face. Within a research project, there is no straight line leading to the ultimate results. Therefore, staying motivated is a necessity. Motivation is controlled by different extrinsic and intrinsic factors that have different impacts on different people. In this report, we are discussing the issue of scientifically strong master thesis students losing the motivation. We are discussing different motivation strategies that a supervisor can apply to motivate and improve the performance of the students. We also describe actual examples where the extrinsic factors were inherently high. The supervisor then focused on increasing intrinsic motivation by allowing for autonomy, recognising the students and increase enthusiasm. The outcome was motivated students that successfully completed their master thesis.