Motivating Your Students

• Introduction
• Why is Motivation Important?
• More on Motivation Theory
  • Value 
  • Expectancy 
  • Feelings 

Introduction

Try to incorporate motivational elements throughout your course, in each component of every lesson.  Based on the information gathered during your learner analysis:

• Convince students of the importance and relevance of the lesson.  Offer them reasons to learn.  Stimulate curiosity with archetypal stories, problems or examples hat they can relate to.  Have each student reflect on his or her personal goals/objectives in learning the content of this lesson.
• Convince students that they are capable of achieving the learning objectives with a reasonable amount of commitment and effort.  They must believe that they will be successful and that success comes from "time on task" and goal achievement.
• Encourage positive feelings (e.g., pride) and reduce negative feelings (e.g., guilt, shame) that may be associated with their performance.

Why is Motivation Important?

Gaining your students’ interest and improving their motivation will increase the likelihood that they will commit the time and effort necessary to achieve the learning objectives (Clark, 1999; Dembo, 1994; Gagné, Yekovich, and Yekovich, 1993; Smith and Ragan, 1999).

More On Motivation Theory

According to Pintrich and DeGroot (1990), motivation depends on three variables:

1. Value -- Student question:  Why should I spend the time and effort on this lesson?
2. Expectancy -- Student question:  Can I achieve the objectives of this lesson?
3. Emotions -- Student question:  How do I feel about myself and the work required in this lesson?

Value -- Why should I spend time and effort on this lesson?

Students value learning that they consider meaningful and relevant.  According to Gagné and Driscoll (1988), instruction is relevant to learners when they can “relate what is being learned to their past experience, to something they want to accomplish in the present, and to whatever they consider worthwhile in their future” (p. 73).

Smith and Ragan (1999) suggest that motivation can be stimulated by encouraging learners “to explore the personal relevance of the lesson.  The information gathered in the learner analysis at this point will be very beneficial in helping you determine why learning may be important to the learner” (p. 116).  In addition the designer may wish to “stimulate curiosity in the goal through unusual anecdotes or graphics, or the designer may choose to present a challenging situation in which learning to achieve the goal will allow the learner to resolve the dilemma.”

Some research suggests that students will be more motivated when given some control over their learning goals (Clark 1998), although this is probably more true for high-achievers (Deci and Ryan, 1992).  Locke and Latham have shown that learners do not have to participate in their own goal setting as long as (a) the goals are assigned by a trusted authority who offers a good rationale for the learning, and (b) the learners get continuous feedback on their progress, including both positive reinforcement and corrective coaching (as cited in Clark, 1998).  It may also help to give students choices among tasks and activities required in the lesson (Gagné et al., 1993). 

Expectancy -- Can I achieve the objectives of this lesson?

When assigned any task, learners will consider whether they can successfully complete the task (Clark, 1998).  The answer often depends on what they believe about themselves and their previous successes and failures.  According to Weiner’s (1986) theory of attribution, students would point to one of four causal factors:  their ability, their effort, the difficulty of the task, or luck.  Learners tend to look at ability and task difficulty as stable in nature, while effort and luck can change.  In addition, ability and effort are considered internal causes, under the learner’s control, whereas task difficulty and luck are caused by forces external to the learner.

An individual’s pattern of attribution is learned over time, and can affect his or her motivation in school.  For example, if a student attributes past learning success to ability, he or she may gain confidence and be more willing to learn the next time.  On the other hand, if success was attributed to luck, confidence may not rise at all, because he or she takes no credit for it.  To offer another example, a student experiencing a learning failure might attribute it to poor effort.  This may not affect confidence at all, since he or she can try harder the next time.  However, if the student attributes the failure to a lack of ability, he or she will have less hope, since ability is considered relatively stable (Dembo, 1994).

Research supports Weiner’s theory that learners who make confidence-building attributions are more likely to succeed (Bar-Tal, 1978).  These studies also suggest that teachers can help increase student motivation by (a) learning what students believe about the cause of their successes and failures, and (b) encouraging them to make success-oriented attributions.  For example, if a student succeeds in an exercise, the instructor might help the learner attribute that to ability or effort with phrases such as “Good work!  You must have worked hard on this.”  Also, saying “You’re a hard working person” will help a student see their effort as a stable trait and lead to a greater expectation of future success.  In the case of a failure, the teacher might help the learner believe they can improve their ability with effort by saying, “Don’t worry.  You’ll get better at this with practice” (Gagné et al., 1993, p. 433).

Instructors can improve student motivation through careful use of feedback.  Students--especially the younger ones--want immediate gratification, and appreciate frequent informal comments about their performance (Caudron, 1997; Kirkhorn, 1988).  If they are doing something wrong, they respond better to immediate and positive coaching--comments that are performance-based (don’t get personal), and positively-phrased (tell them what you want, not what you don’t want).  Of course, most people prefer positive feedback, but Brophy (1981) has pointed out that offering praise for no good reason can undermine motivation and achievement.  He tells teachers to offer praise that is (a) contingent on agreed performance criteria, (b) specific about details, and (c) sincere and genuine.

Instruction can also be designed to build confidence through the use of small modules that increase the opportunities for success (Bar-Tal, 1978).  Teachers might include appropriate job aides (such as reference cards), and teach learning strategies appropriate for acquiring the knowledge in question (Gagné et al., 1993). 

Feelings --  How do I feel about myself and the work required in this lesson?

In his self-worth theory of achievement motivation, Covington suggests a person’s willingness to perform can be explained by how he or she attempts to maintain a positive perception of self-worth (as cited in Dembo, 1994).  For example, young children often enter school with the belief that a strong effort can increase their ability.  So, if they fail, there is no reason to feel bad.  Unfortunately, as children grow into adolescence, they develop lower feelings of competence and self-worth due to social comparisons.  In fact, Ames and Felker have shown that competition in the classroom magnifies the pride associate with success and the shame associated with failure (as cited on p. 159).  This environment can produce half a class of students who attempt to reduce the likelihood of failure by performing the minimal amount necessary, avoiding discussions with the instructor and fellow students, etc.

The concept of self-worth is especially important in teaching distance learners.  Many of these are older students who had unsatisfying experiences during their school years and are just now entering or returning to college (Boehler, 1999).  For these students, instructional environments can bring back negative perceptions of self-worth, and cause them to avoid active participation in learning.  The goal for teachers here is to reduce the negative emotions associated with school.

According to Hill and Wigfield:  “Test anxiety is one of the most important aspects of negative motivation” (as cited in Dembo, 1994, p. 162).  While the evidence is mixed, most researchers have indicated that a small amount of anxiety is a good thing, especially if the task is not difficult.  It helps the learner focus and perform efficiently.  But, a high level of anxiety will hurt both performance and persistence (Sieber, O’Neil, and Tobias, 1977; Stipek, 1988; Pintrich and De Groot, 1990).  On the other hand, research has also shown that when test elements are presented in ‘nontest’ situations, anxious students perform as well as others (Sarason et al., 1960).

Traditional testing and competition will be especially hard on “failure-avoiding” learners such as those students who have a negative self-concept.  These learners must be re-taught to believe that making mistakes is acceptable and expected.  One way a teacher can help is to focus learners on mastering the instructional objectives and self-improvement rather than out-performing their peers (Dweck, 1989).  With this in mind, it is not advisable to post grades or share scores with other members of the class.  Anxiety in education can also be reduced through effective instructional design that includes (a) detailed instructions that prepare the individual, (b) a comfortable pace that reduces opportunities for failure, and (c) generous use of positive feedback (Kearsley, 2001).  Learning tasks for the lesson should be neither too easy nor too hard.  Instructors should challenge students with tasks that will require a reasonable amount of effort.