Evaluation and its motivational impact. Case study - future primary school teachers

Our study starts from the assumption that a major issue of the Romanian education is the issue of motivation. As Drago. Grigorescu put it, "in the context of research in the field of education sciences, the idea of motivation is forever present, almost every treatise on pedagogy or the psychology of learning comprises a section that is dedicated to motivation." (Grigorescu, 2020, p. 16) In terms of learning, we accepted Chirca/ Panisoara's perspective: "Learning may be defined as "a process that leads to change, which occurs as a result of experience, and increases the potential of improved performance and future learning" (Ambrose et al., 2010, p. 3). This change takes place within an individual's opinions, beliefs, knowledge, skills, attitudes, interests, habits etc. (Mangal, 2007). Thus, learning goes beyond the simple acquisition of information and generates continuous transformation of human behaviour." (Chirca/ Panisoara, 2020, p. 43) The SDT (Self Determination Theory) laid the theoretical grounds and the issue addressed was that of the influence of oral exams on the intrinsic motivation of freshmen majoring in Education Sciences, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiesti, Romania (105 female students); our interest was piqued by the fact that these students are aspiring preschool and primary school professors, which means they will have a significant influence on shaping the minds and behaviors of children between 3 and 10 years of age, i.e. when their brain plasticity is very high; also, their evaluative behavior will significantly influence the self-perception of these children. The 105-students sample was divided into two groups: the first counted 57 students and filled in a 10 items questionnaire, before the examination took place; the second group counted 48 students who filled in the same questionnaire, but after the examination took place.