Motivation & Instruction: The Portal to Post-Secondary Student Success

Margery B. Ginsberg, Ph.D.Raymond J. Wlodkowski, Ph.D.

Adult Student Recruitment and Retention Conference

University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

Guiding Values…To avoid higher education evolving into a system that

reinforces and increases social stratification and inequality,

and…To become a system that

enhances the education quality of learning for all students

Why is college success important…

….beyond the increased demands of a global economy and technology?

Why is retention an enduring concern?

• Persistent low-completion rates (40%)

• Challenges facing developmental education

• Disproportionality of low-income, students-

of-color who stop out or drop out.

• Policy research suggests what to do but not

how to do it on the ground.

Why is instruction foundational to academic success?

• 90% of social or academic engagement is in the classroom or online.

• Abstract & extrinsically reinforced systems of education do not work for at least 1/3rd of students.

• Access is inseparable from inclusion.

What is intrinsic motivation and why

is it essential to post-secondary

student success?

Reflect on your own experience.

The Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching

I AM COMPETENT

An Example of Instruction

Transformative ways for faculty & student services professionals…

‘We learn best from our experience, but we never directly experience the consequences of many of our most important decisions’,

Peter Senge (1990: 23)

Shadowing, interviews and sustained faculty development focused on instruction.

Faculty need what students need

Authentic community

Relevant learning experiences

Interesting ways to strengthen instruction

Supportive & evidence-focused feedback

Where there is a will, there is a way”

should be reversed and restated as

“Where there is a way, there is a

will.”

(p. 45). Anyon, 2005

What spoke to you?

What questions do you

have?

Thank you!