This research seeks an alternative to improve the motivation of students to learn science according to two motivational models, little explored in the scope of teaching, especially in Brazil. The first model considers three levels of motivation: extrinsic, intrinsic and transcendent. The second model is the person in four dimensions. Both models presented positive results in the business context, were tested in some educational institutions and have, in common, two central features: the search for meaning and altruism. The data of this research were collected, mainly, through two questionnaires, applied to a group of 102 students from three Engineering areas of a public college. The analyzes of the results give indications that the search for meaning and altruism, central features of the two motivational models, were considered relevant by the students, who studied the discipline of Physics.