Motivating Students

Susan YagerAssociate Director, CELT

August 16, 2005

Motivation is a tricky thing…

…but I know it when I see it

What is motivation?

• A reason or incentive• A feeling of interest or enthusiasm• Forces that activate and direct behavior

Biological Emotional Cognitive Social

Where does it come from?

Motivation can be intrinsic…

When a child is self-motivated, the teacher cannot keep him from learning.

- C. John Sommerville

or extrinsic…

If you must have motivation, think of your paycheck on Friday.

- Noel Coward

Intrinsic motivators are strong

• Readiness to act, perform, or learn• Curiosity, desire for new experiences• Exposure to and comfort with complexity• Feelings of competence

…and they last longer

Extrinsic motivators include

• Environmental factors• Desire to gain skills or abilities• Need to qualify for other courses or

internships• Incentives: privileges, approval, praise

(but:

excessive praise can decrease motivation).

A hard lesson… …

…not everyone is motivated

Who is and isn't motivated?

• Students who are tend to see the use, or intrinsic worth, of what they are studying; tend to be confident and persistent; and tend to want to achieve.

• Students who are not tend to resist new information; may make "snap" judgments; and may be reluctant to revise their thinking (Cashin, 1979).

How can we maintain or increase motivation?

• Establish a caring and respectful, but businesslike, classroom atmosphere.

• Be organized at every level - class, unit, course. Examples: ground rules for classroom behavior; return work quickly and with useful feedback; maintain office hours.

• Demonstrate your interest in and respect for your students. Share your enthusiasm for the subject.

How else?

• Make the class optimally challenging, but not out of reach (tough but not impossible). Help students set realistic, achievable goals.

• Focus on increasing intrinsic motivation, but create consequences for work that's not done.

• Try to prevent student passivity - this can limit or hamper motivation!

How else?

• Provide consistent and timely feedback. It doesn't have to be graded.

• Offer negative feedback as a "sandwich." Bread: positive, second-person comments ("You clearly understand the principle…"). Filling: negative, third-person comments ("The report isn't clear…"). More Bread: positive and second-person ("Once you apply what you've learned here, you will be able to…").

How else?

• Vary teaching activities - role-playing, problem-solving, any kind of student interaction.

• Use different methods of presentation and multiple examples. If possible, offer multiple ways of fulfilling an assignment.

• Students may be more motivated in a problem-based learning course than a traditional, lecture-based course, perhaps because they feel a higher degree of self-efficacy.

How else?

Resources• General Principles of Motivation

http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/motivate.htm

• Cashin, W. E. "Motivating Students." Idea Paper, no. 1. Manhattan: Center for Faculty Evaluation and Development in Higher Education, Kansas State University, 1979.

• McKeachie, W. J. Teaching Tips. (10th ed.) Lexington, Mass.: Heath, 1999.

• "Motivating Students." Teaching Tips Resources. http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.htm