How can peer leaders help students to improve their intrinsic motivation

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How can peer leaders help students to improve
their intrinsic motivation?
Sylvia Ebalu, peer leader,
City College Of New York

DISCUSSION In my workshop, I noticed that co
operational learning was very Useful in my
workshop. When the students work in groups,
they're more participative in class. By helping
other people in class, they feel More motivated
because it seems that they know what they are
doing in the workshop. In some cases, students
that Contribute more to the class might feel they
are superior Other students in the classroom.
CONCONCLUSION Peer leaders should congratulate
students, make them feel Appreciated for their
contribution in class. This is a Very important
factor in improving intrinsic Motivation in
students
HYPOTHESIS Peer leaders can reinforce
intrinsic Motivation in peer students by
improving The students Independence and
appreciating their Accomplishments.
EXPERIMENT At the first session of the workshop,
I used the first thirty minutes of the class to
conduct the ICE BREAKING GAME. The students had
to be paired with another student and they had to
find out some information from their partners to
share with the class. The questions that were
asked where The partners name, Two things that
they had in common with each other and, The
reason why they are taking the class and what
they want to benefit from it. Also, every
workshop I paired them up with another student so
that they can learn from each other (an effective
way of Cooperative learning). Each student in a
group has its own share of the work, no one is
dependent of its partner. In other sessions of
the workshop, I also make sure that I do not give
any of them the answer key so that they can
solve the questions independently without any
external assistance. I also take the time to
congratulate the students who get a problem
correct and allow them to write their answer on
the board. RESULTS I found out that most of
them who were taking the class were pre-med
students and so when I addressed myself to the
class I informed them of the work of the course
and how important it is that they get a good
grade in the class. This made the students very
motivated for The workshop. Most of the students
did not arrive late to any workshop . Each time I
congratulated the student who got an answer
Correct, the student always wanted to answer a
question in the Class.
LITERATURE REVIEW Motivation can be described as
the engine that drives us or fails to. Motivation
can be classified into two parts- Intrinsic and
Extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation- the
use of rewards and punishments to induce someone
to take action. Intrinsic motivation- is when
people engage in an activity for its own sake,
without some external present. In 1987, Deci and
Ryan proposed that intrinsic motivation stems
from drive and like and human needs i.e. to be
autonomous, rather externally controlled. David
W. Johnson Roger T. Johnsons theory of
cooperational learning describe it as the type of
learning where each member of a team is
responsible not only for what is taught but also
for helping teammates learn. An element of co
operational learning include- Positive
Independence. Positive Independence- Each group
member has a unique contribution to the joint
effort of his group because of his resources and
task responsibilities. IMPLICATIONS Those
students who are motivated intrinsically show no
need of external dependence i.e answers key even
though they did not know the answers. This may be
because they want to learn the work without any
external assistance. They have less attention in
class. Those students who are not intrinsically
motivated always ask for answer keys because they
are more interested in what the answer will be
than learning the material themselves. They are
rewarded more in the class.
LITERATURE REVIEW Malone and Leppers theory of
motivation. Some factors that improve intrinsic
motivation Challenge People are best motivated
when they are Working toward personally
meaningful goals whose Attainment requires a lot
of work. Control People have a basic tendency
to want to control what Happens to them. It will
enable the learners that their work will lead to
powerful effects. Co-operation Learners feel
satisfaction by helping others achieve their
goals. This creates independency of ones
decision. Recognition Learners feel
satisfaction when others recognize and appreciate
their accomplishments. Curiosity Something in
the physical environment attracts the learner's
attention or there is an optimal level of
discrepancy between present knowledge or skills
and what these could be if the learner engaged
in some activity. Competition Learners feel
satisfaction by comparing their performance
favorably to that of others.
Important Idea 1) In the workshop, use extrinsic
rewards when necessary when students are given
rewards for little effort, it sends a Message
that little effort is needed in the class. When
students are rewarded for their hard effort, they
will learn to work harder and not be dependent
on external assistance like answer keys. 2) Have
an open ear to any idea that a student might
have. Remember, the importance of the workshop is
not how Much they know, but how much they learn.
When Students see that they are acknowledged in
the Classroom, it boost their self esteem and
thereby Increasing their motivation in the
class.
References Malone and Lepper Factors that
promote intrinsic motivation http//education.cal
umet.purdue.edu/vockel/Edpsybook/Edpsy5/Edpsy5_int
rinsic. Html Crol Brewstel Jennifer Fager,
Increasing students engagement
motivation Oct. 2000 http//www.nwrel.org
/request/oct00/textonly.html Deci and Ryan,
Motivation theory http//www.cpa.ca/cjbsnew/1996
/ful_enzle.html