Motivation is regarded as being one of the most influential agents on the learning process. Several researchers state that motivation can be considered as the ‘will to learn’ and is at the heart of the learning process (Johnston, 1996, cited in Harlen and Crick, 2003) and always will be integral to the teaching and learning process (Martin et al., 1997). Motivation is also a key concept in successful learning (Reece & Walker, 1997; Givvin, Stipek, Salmon & MacGyvers, 2001; cited in Zoldosova and Prokop, 2005) and is influential in student achievement (Rudduck and Flutter, 2004, p.44).

Motivation cannot be explained using only one dimension. According to Bouffard and Couture (2003) motivation is based on a variety of elements. Brophy (1999), for instance, states that several lines of theory and research suggest that matches between learners' perceptions of themselves and their perceptions of learning opportunities have strong potential for fueling motivation to learn. On the other hand, instructors have a significant responsibility to increase motivation through the learning atmosphere or to improve the current level of motivation. Linnenbrink and Pintrich (2003)have pointed out that, it is interesting for teachers to have students with different levels of motivation and therefore becomes more challenging. Even though one of the most important components of learning is motivation (Yükseltürk and Bulut, 2005, p.96), one of the most common questions academics ask of educational developers is how to motivate students in their learning (Kember, Ho and Hong, 2008). This suggests that motivating students is not easy task for teachers even though they also agree that motivation is a very important factor in classroom learning (Moore, 1998). Teachers might affect students’ motivation directly or indirectly (Reeve, 1996; cited in Hardre et al., 2006). Capel et al., (1995, p.94) points out that the central aim for teachers is to motivate pupils enough to make them want to learn. In a similar way, Hardre et al., (2006) argue that the decisions made by teachers during the instructional process influence the student’s level of motivation. In a sense, the crucial point here is that: what should teachers do to motivate all the students in the teaching and learning atmosphere? According to Moore (1998) many factors might have an effect on students’ motivation. An attractive room, good communication, teacher movement, group activities and student-centered teaching strategies such as cooperative learning, the use of individualized instructional strategies, gestures, for example, might be motivational factors.

Although the factors which affect learning have been frequently discussed in the related literature, the studies on motivation are mainly theoretical, and there appears to be less practical research in this area. From this point, in this study, motivation is investigated in relation to effective teaching strategies based on prospective teachers’ views which is different viewpoint towards the research on this area. Based on the related literature, the main aims of the study is to identify the prospective teachers’ views on the impact of effective teaching strategies towards students’ motivation.

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