Motivation

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Motivation
Beliefs about Ability
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Questions

• What does it mean to be smart?
• What does it mean to be have ability?

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What is Motivation?

• DEFINITION From the Latin verb movere (to move).
• Motivation is the process whereby goal-directed
  activity is instigated and sustained.
• The GOALS that individuals pursue create the
  framework within which they interpret and react
  to events.
• Why do students set, instigate, or sustain goals?

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CAROL DWECK
A SOCIAL-COGNITIVE APPROACH TO MOTIVATION AND
LEARNING
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Types of Achievement Goals

• Mastery goals - generally focused on the task
• Performance (ego) goals generally focused on
  what your performance has to say about you
• Approach Wanting to do better that others (high
  need for achievement)
• Avoidance wanting to avoid failure (High fear
  of failure)

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Because they have different
IMPLICIT THEORIES
about the nature of intelligence
FIXED ENTITY VIEW INCREMENTAL VIEW
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Covingtons Self-Worth Theory

• Self Worth The appraisal of your own value.
• People are valued if they have ABILITY
• Ability is indicated by tasks being easy.
• THERFORE Effort becomes a double-edged sword.
• Failure is also an indication of lack of ability,
  THEREFORE students fear failure.

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Avoiding what Failure Means

• Self-handicapping
• Minimizing participation (false effort)
• Procrastination
• Setting Unattainable Goals
• Cheating
• Overstriving

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RESEARCH FINDINGS INDICATE THAT

• An incremental theory of intelligence is more
  consistently associated with adaptive
  motivational patterns
• Implicit theories may be at the root of
  maladaptive patterns of behavior

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Pulling it Together

• Goals and Perceptions of Ability
• What characterizes each type of goal orientation
• mastery (ability is developed incrementally)
• performance avoid (ability is an entity)
• performance approach (ability is an entity)
• What are the positive and negatives associated
  with each
• mastery
• performance avoid
• performance approach
• What can be done to support/diminish each
• mastery
• performance avoid
• performance approach