1

Week 3: Motivation – Inputs/outcomes/context

2/19/07

Question of the day:What are your goals for today’s class?

In spite of being “professional students” at this stage in your education, you may not have thought explicitly about what your goals are for any particular class. Please spend some time thinking about this now and jot down a couple notes as to what your goals are. In particular, list goals that you think you have implicitly for most classes (i.e., your usual goals in a classroom setting that you don’t necessarily think about) as well as goals that you think of consciously and explicitly for today’s class.

2

Where we are & where we are going

MotivationOverarching theoriesComponentsParadoxes & special issues

Person perception Interpersonal relationships

3

Motivation: Big theories from last time Ryan & Deci = Autonomy, competence,

relatedness Ford = goals x emotions x personal agency

beliefs (personal & situational) Eccles = Expectancies & Values

4

Overview Goals for individuals/Goals for class Review proposed interventions from last time Inputs/outcomes/situations:

GoalsEfficacyAttributions/attribution theorySpecial cases:

Delay of gratification Milgram

Class norms

5

Goals for class My goals for class (for me)

Collaboratively develop list of motivating, empirically/theoretically defensible social norms for class to experiment with for the semester

Improve my ability to pose the “right” question to promote thinking & discussion

Get at least one new idea for a pedagogical practice that I might use or pass on to others that is grounded in motivational research

My goals for class (for you) Continue varied participation Think about motivation in both person & environment terms See role of motivation in multiple studies Introduce some prominent motivation-related debates

Get you to think about how they have emerged in your personal/professional lives?

Get you thinking about how these debates play out in practical terms in educational settings

6

Types of goals i.e., “orientations”

Mastery goals – trying to develop ability, improve over time, effort

Performance goals – trying to demonstrate ability, show others you are smart, avoid looking stupid

Type of goal

Mastery Performance

7

C. Ames Motivational

climate Personal goals Classroom goal

structures

Type of goal

Mastery Performance

Goal locus Personal PM PP

Classroom CM CP

Is it possible to be high on both mastery and performance goals*?

8

The universe of possibilities

Type of goal

Mastery Performance

Hi Lo Hi Lo

Goal locus Personal HiPM LoPM HiPP LoPP

Classroom HiCM LoCM HiCP LoCP

9

Other types of goals of note…

Social goals Approach/avoidance Implicit/explicit Intrinsic/extrinsic

10

Self-efficacy

Beliefs about ability to produce effects Confidence/expectancies for success/personal agency

beliefs/exercise of control Basis: personal ability & environmental affordances Albert Bandura

Past performances Social modeling Persuasion Physiological cues

11

Attribution Theory

Internal – external Stable – unstable Global – local Controllable – uncontrollable

12

Areas of interest for attribution theorists School achievement

EffortAbility

Conflict – how are neutral events perceived?

13

Special Case #1: Delay of Gratification Some things that seem to help:

Distracting thoughtsBetter rewardsIntelligenceAbstractions of the rewards

“hot” stimulus vs. “cool” symbols

What would a motivation theorist say about any of these factors? What elements of motivation are at play?

Why would delay of gratification lead to such great outcomes down the road?

14

Special case #2: Milgram

Video What motivates the “teachers” to keep going? What motivational lessons can we extract for

the classroom (or your favorite learning environment)?

15

What can you do as an educator?

Tasks – challenge, interest, perceived control, social, complex/multi-faceted

Evaluation & Recognition – information, minimize social comparisons, opportunities to improve, very selective use of rewards

Authority – choices for students, locus of discussions, decision-making, self-management

16

Class norms: Discussion #1

No hand raising policy (Yes/no)Exemption for clarification questions

How to monitor ourselves on caliber of participation (Open-ended)How to have a check on talking for the sake of

hearing themselvesInstructor directed vs. group directed participation

17

Class norms: Discussion #2

Should people be held accountable for their presence in class? (by instructor, by class, not at all)Body posture & gesturesAttention

Requisite vs. voluntary participation policy (Choose one or compromise)Can the instructor (cold) call on people?

18

For next time – Readings Iyengar & Lepper

Lab + field Thinking through all relevant variables Advancing theory (connection to your grant proposals)

Dweck & Leggett Entity vs. incremental view of intelligence Connection to attribution theory Connection to goal theory

Recipes from the website Case Meet with MB or HG

19

Mastery or Performance?

Go Back