Developing and strengthening learning motivation: Evidence from a project for primary education in Greece

This study reports the results obtained from the implementation of an educational program for primary education in relation to the development or enhancement of students’ learning motivation. The publication of a school journal by 24 6th grade students at a public primary school in Greece and their teacher was the main project of the project. The students worked in a communicative and collaborative environment and were encouraged to actively participate in all stages of writing and publishing the magazine. The study describes the pedagogical approach followed by the teacher and the main topics of the journal. The way of collecting the qualitative and quantitative data of the research conducted and the analysis of the data are also mentioned. In relation to the quantitative data, the students’ motivation index (SMI) was calculated before and after the educational project. The results of the quantitative analysis showed that after the implementation of the program, SMI had increased, and the results were statistically significant for both boys and girls. Qualitative data collected agreed with the quantitative results.