Why?

There are several reasons why Calvin exhibits low motivation and a lack of interest in learning. Calvin doesn't have a lot of autonomy to choose; he doesn't feel like he knows what he's talking about, and feels left behind by his peers. 

Comic 1 & 2

In the first comic, Calvin is pretending to be a robot as he feels trapped and like he doesn't have any autonomy. This causes him to be less motivated overall. However, looking at the second comic, we can see that Calvin is enthusiastic about learning about dinosaurs. This shows that Calvin does want to learn and is excited about learning; he just doesn't feel like he has the autonomy to choose what he's learning about, which makes him feel unmotivated to learn. 

Comics 3 & 4

This comic shows Calvin clashing with his peers and feeling incompetent. When his classmate asks what Calvin got on his test, Calvin becomes defensive, showing that he doesn't want to reveal his score. Calvin's classmate believes that Calvin got a frowny face, making Calvin upset. At the end of the comic, Calvin reveals to us that he got a barfing face, which he didn't even know was made. This makes him feel isolated from his classmates, as Calvin received a much lower score. Calvin also feels bad because the sticker is for an awful score, and the sticker made him feel incompetent and lowered his confidence. Additionally, Mrs. Wormwood undermines Calvin’s intrinsic motivation with inappropriate rewards in this comic. By giving him a barfing face sticker, it makes him feel incompetent and upset, which hinders his motivation.

The above interactions with Ms. Wormwood and a classmate of Calvin's shows that all three basic psychological needs are not being met or fostered for Calvin in the classroom. He feels incompetent, a feeling that is perpetuated by Ms. Wormwood and his peers, and because of that he does not feel a relatedness to his peers. Calvin's autonomy is also inhibited by the structuring of assignments and the lack of options for how he can improve his performance. Ms. Wormwood presents "working harder" as the only way to improve grades, further stripping Calvin's ability to feel autonomous within the classroom setting.

Comic 5

This comic shows Calvin talking about how he has to write a book report. Calvin doesn’t get to choose the report topic, so he isn't interested in doing it. Additionally, he knows nothing about bats, which makes him feel like he is behind and further demotivates him to work on the project. We have, however, seen that he is excited to learn, so if the project were related to dinosaurs, he would be more motivated to complete it.

Summary

These comics illustrate that the three psychological needs are not being met in the classroom, and this is having a negative impact on Calvin’s overall motivation. He feels like he lacks autonomy in school and on his projects. Calvin feels isolated and left behind by his classmates. Calvin feels incompetent because he has bad grades and has been told that grades are all that matter.