Students’ motivation affects their academic performance tremendously. As of today, the impact of COVID-19 has shown that the number of dropouts at universities has increased significantly. However, there is a lack of research examining whether students' motivational beliefs might be used to predict their status as dropouts in their studies. This study aimed to assess the level of learners’ motivation, which consists of motivational, expectancy, and affective components towards their perceptions of burnout and reasons for dropout. A total of 232 students completed a cross-sectional quantitative survey consisting of questions based on Pintrich and De Groot's (1990) model of learner motivation, Campos, Zucoloto, Bonafé, Jordani, and Maroco (2011) framework for burnout, and Shuja, Ali, Khan, Burki, and Bilal (2022) research on reasons for student dropout. The study’s findings show that 1) the levels of learners' motivation, expectancy, and affective components were moderate-high, and 2) the level of learners' perceived burnout was moderate-to-high. 3) The factors affecting dropouts, including the economic crunch, learning difficulties, and other issues, are low to moderate. 4) The Pearson correlation analysis shows a positive relationship between the motivational component and exhaustion, disengagement, e-learning difficulties, and other issues, with the strength of the relationship ranging from moderate to moderately strong. These findings support the hypotheses that predict a significant positive relationship between the motivational component and burnout and reasons for dropout. However, there is no significant relationship between the expectancy and affective components with economic crunch and other issues. The results suggest that interventions aimed at addressing motivational factors could potentially help to alleviate burnout and dropout. Overall, this study highlights the need to address burnout and dropout in e-learning and to consider the impact of motivational, expectancy, and affective factors in developing interventions to mitigate these issues.
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