Leslie Rodgers, Chad Hahn, Brad Benner, Rachel Schmidt, Joel Guetschow

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Chapter 13Motivation

• Leslie Rodgers, Chad Hahn, Brad Benner, Rachel
  Schmidt, Joel Guetschow

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Motivation

• Motivation involves the processes that energize,
  direct and sustain behavior.
  
• Different perspectives of motivation describe it
  in different ways.
  
• Perspectives of motivation include four
  categories
  
• Behavioral, Humanistic, Cognitive, and Social

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Perspectives of Motivation

• The behavioral perspective emphasizes external
  rewards and punishments as keys in determining a
  students motivation.
  
• A term closely associated with this perspective
  is incentive. Incentives are positive or negative
  stimuli or events that can motivate a students
  behavior.
• The humanistic perspective stresses students
  capacity for personal growth, freedom to choose
  their destiny, and positive qualities (such as
  caring for others.)
• Abraham Maslows hierarchy of needs is closely
  associated with this perspective.
  

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Hierarchy of Needs

• Maslow developed this hierarchy of needs to
  show how we have to satisfy certain basic needs
  before we can satisfy higher needs. He felt that
  needs should be met in this order.

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Perspectives of Motivation

• The cognitive perspective focuses on such ideas
  as students internal motivation to achieve,
  their attributions, and their beliefs that they
  can effectively control their environment.
• The term competence motivation correlates with
  the cognitive perspective. Competence motivation
  deals with the concept that people are motivated
  to deal effectively with their environment,
  master their world, and to process information
  efficiently.
• The social perspective involves establishing,
  maintaining, and restoring warm, close personal
  relationships.
  
• A concept closely related to the social
  perspective is the need for affiliation. The need
  for affiliation is the motive to be securely
  connected with other people.

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Other Cognitive Processes

• Attribution When individuals are motivated to
  discover the underlying causes of their own
  behavior and/or performance to find out the true
  meanings of them.
• Example When a student asks, Why am I not
  doing well in this class?, Did I get a good
  grade because I studied hard or the teacher made
  up an easy test, or both?

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Other Cognitive Processes

• Bernard Weiner identified three different
  portions of attributions.
  
• Locus A students perception of success or
  failure as due to internal or external factors
  influences the students self esteem.
  
• Stability A students perception of the
  stability of a cause influences his/her
  expectation of success.
  
• Controllability A students perception of the
  controllability of a cause is related to a number
  of emotional outcomes such as anger, guilt,
  pity, and shame.

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Other Cognitive Processes

• Mastery Motivation
• When a student can focus on a specific task
  rather than on their ability, have positive
  affect, and generate solution-oriented strategies
  that help improve their performance.
• Example These students can usually instruct
  themselves to pay attention, to think carefully,
  and to remember strategies that have worked for
  them in the past.
• Self-Efficacy The belief that one can master a
  situation and produce positive outcomes.
  
• It is believed that self efficacy is a critical
  factor in whether or not students achieve.
  
• It is very similar to master motivation.
• Example When a student says I know that I will
  be able to learn the material in this class, I
  expect to be able to do well at this activity.
  

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Other Cognitive Processes

• Strategies for improving students self-efficacy
• Teach specific strategies
• Guide students in setting goals
• Consider mastery
• Combine strategy training with goals.
• Provide students with support
• Make sure that students are not overly aroused
  and anxious
  
• Provide students with positive adult and peer
  models

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Other Cognitive Processes

• Goal Setting, Planning, and Self-Monitoring
• Example When students are encouraged to set
  challenging goals. A challenging goal is a
  commitment to self improvement.
  
• Example Giving students a calendar/planner for
  the term on which they can write down their
  assignments and important dates.
  
• Example High-achieving students self monitor
  their learning more and systematically evaluate
  their progress toward a goal more than
  low-achieving students do

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Other Cognitive Processes

• Effective strategies for helping students manage
  their time
  
• Be proactive, not reactive
• Set regular study times
• Use a regular study area that is well lighted and
  free from noise
  
• Learn to say no to distractions
• Reward students for their success

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Motivation to Achieve

• Extrinsic Motivation
• External Motivation
• Doing something to obtain something else (A means
  to an end)
  
• ex. A student studies hard to gain a good grade
  in a course
  
• ex. Working hard to get a Holiday bonus
• Emphasized in the Behavioral Perspective

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Motivation to Achieve

• Intrinsic Motivation
• Internal Motivation
• Doing something for its own sake (An end in
  itself)
  
• ex. Studying hard because you enjoy the course
• ex. Working hard because you love your job
• Emphasized in the Humanistic and Cognitive
  Approaches.

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Motivation to Achieve

• Two types of Intrinsic Motivation
• Self-determination and personal choice
• Optimal experience and flow

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Motivation to Achieve

• Self Determination and Personal Choice
• In this view of motivation, students want to
  believe that they are doing something because of
  their own will, not because of external success
  or rewards.
• Researchers believe that Internal Motivation
  Increases when students are given choices
  
• ex. Students show more interest and care in their
  projects when the teacher allows them to organize
  their own project than when a detailed plan is
  given
• Students also set their own goals on projects

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Optimal Experience and Flow

• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi studied the ideas
  surrounding optimal experience on flow
  
• Optimal Experience involves feelings of deep
  enjoyment and happiness.
  
• Csikszentmihalyi used the term Flow to describe
  optimal experience throughout life. He found
  that flow occurs most often when people develop
  mastery and are absorbed in a state of
  concentration while they engage in an activity
• He also states that flow occurs when students
  find a task neither to challenging nor too simple

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Rewards and Competence

• It is important to understand that when rewards
  are tied to competence they will promote
  motivation and interest.
  
• When the reward is not tied to competence it is
  unlikely to raise motivation and may diminish it
  once the reward is withdrawn

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Anxiety and Achievement

• Anxiety is a vague, highly unpleasant feeling of
  fear and apprehension
  
• It is normal for students to feel some form of
  anxiety in the classroom.
  
• ex. Slight Test anxiety
• However some students have high levels of anxiety
  and worry constantly.
  
• this type of test anxiety affects the performance
  of 10 million yearly.

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Sources of Anxiety

• Parents unrealistic expectations and pressure,
  especially if sibling performs well.
  
• Anxiety increases as grade level increases
  because of
  
• more frequent evaluation
• social comparisons
• school created experiences
• ex. Standardized testing

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Sources of Anxiety

• Ways to Reduce Student Anxiety
• Programs that institute relaxation techniques.
• While these programs work to relax they do not
  always lead to improved achievement.

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Teacher Expectations

• Has been shown to influence student performance
• Often have more positive expectations for
  high-ability students than low-ability
  
• these expectations influence performance ex.
  Student does as well as expected.
  
• Ex. Teachers require high-ability students to
  work harder, wait longer for them to respond,
  praise them more often, criticize them less and
  are more friendly to them.
• It is important for teachers to avoid this by
  having positive expectations for all students.
  
• Researchers found that raising expectations in
  low-ability students raises performance.

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Motivation, Relationships, and Sociocultural
Contexts

• Social Motives
• Social Relationships
• Sociocultural Contexts

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Social Motives

• Are needs and desires that are learned through
  experiences with the social world
  
• Need for affiliation.
• This is the motive to be with other people. This
  involves establishing, maintaining, and restoring
  warm, close personal relationships
  
• Both teacher approval and peer approval are
  important social motives for most students.

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Social Relationships

• Students' relationships with parents, peers,
  friends, teachers, mentors, and others can have
  profound effects on their achievement and social
  motivation.
• Parents
• Demographic Characteristics
• Child rearing practices
• Provision of specific experiences at home
• Peers
• Peers can affect a student's motivation through
  social comparison, social competence, and
  motivation, peer co-learning, and peer group
  influences
• Students who are more accepted by their peers and
  who have good social skills often do better in
  school and have positives academic achievement
  motivation
• Teachers
• Students' motivation is optimized when teachers
  provide them with challenging tasks and includes
  good emotional and cognitive support

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Sociocultural Contexts

• Socioeconomic Status and Ethnicity
• Special concerns focus on valuing diversity in
  any cultural group.
  
• The quality of schools for many socioeconomically
  impoverished students is lower than for their
  middle income counterparts
  
• Gender
• Gender differences in achievement involve
  attributions,. beliefs, and values.
  
• Special concerns are gender differences in
  teacher-student interaction, curriculum and
  content, sexual harassment, and gender bias

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Hard-to-reach, Low-Achieving Students

• Jere Brophy (1998)
• Described strategies for improving motivation in
  students that
  
• Are discouraged and lack confidence.
• Are uninterested or alienated.

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Hard-to-reach, Low-Achieving Students

• Types of Discouraged Students
• Low achiever, low ability.
• Failure syndrome.
• Obsessed with avoiding failure.

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Low-Achievers,Low Ability.

• Students with low expectations for success need
• Constant reassurance.
• Help and support.
• To be required to make real effort.
• Individualized instruction/activities.
• Set learning goals.
• Make effort regardless of ability level.

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Failure Syndrome

• Low expectations for success.
• Give up at first sign of difficulty.
• Low self-efficacy.
• Strategies to increase motivation
• Cognitive retraining methods.
• Efficacy Training
• Attribution and Achievement Orientation
  Retraining.
  
• Strategy Training

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Failure Syndrome

• Efficacy Training
• Set and strive for specific goals.
• Monitor progress.
• Support with positive reinforcement.
• You can do it!
• Adult and peer modeling.
• Individualized instruction.
• View students as challenges, not losers.

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Failure Syndrome

• Attribution and Achievement Orientation
  Retraining.
  
• Attribute failures to factors that can be
  changed.
  
• Insufficient knowledge/effort.
• Ineffective strategies.
• Mastery orientation vs. performance orientation.
• Focus on learning vs. the product
  (winning/losing).

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Failure Syndrome

• Strategy Training
• Improve learning and problem-solving strategies.
• Teach students
• What to do.
• How to do it.
• When and Why to do it.

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Obsessed withAvoiding Failure

• Students interested in protecting their
  self-worth.
  
• Nonperformance.
• Why even try?
• Sham effort.
• Appear to participate only to avoid punishment.
• Asking a question when the student already knows
  the answer.
  

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Obsessed withAvoiding Failure

• Procrastination
• Postponing studying for a test (or writing a
  presentation!) can be blamed on poor time
  management, moving the attention away from
  lazyness.
• Taking on so many activities to have an excuse
  for not doing something else.
  
• Setting unreachable goals.
• Academic wooden leg.
• Admitting to a minor personal weakness to avoid a
  greater feared weakness of incompetence.
  
• Blame failing a test on anxiety.
• Test anxiety is more desirable and easier to
  admit than a lack of ability.

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Obsessed withAvoiding Failure

• Tips for improvement
• Give interesting and stimulating assignments.
• Assign challenging (but not overwhelming) tasks.
• Establish a reward system.
• Make learning desirable.
• Set challenging, realistic goals.
• Encourage students to take pride in their work.
• Guide and support learning dont be a dictator!

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Uninterested or Alienated Students

• Most difficult motivating problems.
• Uninterested in learning.
• Alienated from school learning.
• Achievement is unimportant.
• Reaching requires sustained efforts.
• Resocialize attitudes toward school achievement.

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Uninterested or Alienated Students

• Develop a positive relationship with the
  student.
  
• If they dont like you, they wont care.
• Be patient but push for steady progress.
• Make learning intrinsically interesting.
• Discover interests and include them in
  assignments.
  
• Make learning enjoyable.
• Students are causing their own problems.
• Guide them into taking pride in their work.
• Find a mentor.
• Find someone the student will respect.

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MotivationSome things to consider.

• Are you intrinsically motivated?
• Do you have high expectations and standards for
  success?
  
• Are you aware of the people in your life who have
  motivated you the most?
  
• Do you set specific, attainable goals?
• Are you good at time-management?
• Do your emotions get in the way of being
  motivated?
  
• Are you able to learn from your mistakes?
• Do you have a good motivational support system?
• Are you aware of your priorities?
• Do you succeed because you aspire to, or because
  youre protecting your self-worth or trying to
  avoid failure?