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Motivation in the Classroom
Chapter Outline and Summary
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Chapter 11: Motivation in the Classroom
Chapter Outline
- Class Structure: Creating a Learning-Focused Environment
Self-Regulated Learners: Developing Student Responsibility
- Developing Self-Regulation: Applying Self-Determination Theory
Helping Students Develop Self-Regulation: Instructional Strategies
- Teacher Characteristics: Personal Qualities That Increase Student Motivation and Learning
- Personal Teaching Efficacy: Beliefs About Teaching and Learning
Modeling and Enthusiasm: Communicating Genuine Interest
Caring: Meeting the Need for Relatedness
Teacher Expectations: Increasing Perceptions of Competence
Demonstrating Personal Qualities That Increase Motivation: Instructional Strategies
- Climate Variables: Creating a Motivating Environment
- Order and Safety: Classrooms as Secure Places to Learn
Success: Developing Learner Self-Efficacy
Challenge: Increasing Perceptions of Competence and Self-Determination
Task Comprehension: Increasing Perceptions of Control and Value
- Instructional Variables: Developing Interest in Learning Activities
- Introductory Focus: Attracting Students’ Attention
Personalization: Links to Students’ Lives
Involvement: Increasing Intrinsic Motivation
Feedback: Meeting the Need to Understand
Applying the Climate and Instructional Variables in Your Classroom: Instructional Strategies
Assessment and Learning: Using Feedback to Increase Interest and Self-Efficacy
- Technology and Learning: Using Technology to Increase Learner Motivation
- The Motivating Effects of Technology: Theoretical Explanations
Technology and Motivation: Cautions and Guidelines for Teachers
- Motivation and Diversity
- Motivation Problems: Student Perspectives
Motivation Problems: Possible Solutions
Chapter Summary
- Class Structure: Creating a Learning-Focused Environment
- Learning-focused environments focus on learning goals, goals those that emphasize increased understanding and mastery of tasks. Performance-focused environments emphasize performance goals, those that focus on demonstrating high ability, and particularly ability compared to others. Learning-focused environments increase student motivation, whereas performance-focused environments can detract from motivation for all but the highest achievers.
- Self-Regulated Learners: Developing Student Responsibility
- Self-regulation is students’ ability and inclination to accept responsibility for and control their learning. It includes setting and monitoring goals, metacognition and the use of learning strategies.
Self-regulation is developmental, and learners may initially set and monitor goals to receive rewards and avoid punishers. As their self-determination increases, they gradually demonstrate self-regulated behaviors because of utility value or because doing so is consistent with their self-schemas. Ideally, learners will eventually set and monitor goals for their own sake, which is intrinsically motivated behavior.
- Teacher Characteristics: Personal Qualities That Increase Student Motivation
- Personal teaching efficacy, modeling, caring, and having high expectations are personal characteristics that can increase student motivation. Teachers who are high in personal teaching efficacy believe they are able to help students learn, regardless of student background knowledge or other factors.
Modeling courtesy and respect is essential for motivation, and demonstrating genuine interest in the topics they teach is the essence of teacher enthusiasm.
Teachers demonstrate that they care about their students by being willing to spend personal time with them and demonstrating respect for each individual. One of the most effective ways to demonstrate respect is to hold students to high standards. Holding students to high standards also communicates that teachers expect all students to be successful.
- Climate Variables: Creating a Motivating Environment
- Motivating environments are safe, secure, and orderly places that focus on learning. In addition, students are successful on tasks they perceive as challenging. As they meet challenges, they get evidence that their competence is increasing and they feel an increased sense of control, both factors that increase intrinsic motivation.
In motivating environments, students understand what they’re expected to learn and why they’re expected to do so. Understanding what they’re learning and why further increases perceptions of control and contributes to task value.
- Instructional Variables: Developing Interest in Learning Activities
- Teachers attempt to increase motivation by beginning lessons with examples, activities, or questions that attract students’ attention and provide frameworks for the information that follows.
Attention and interest are maintained when teachers are able to make content personally relevant to students and keep them highly involved in learning activities.
Feedback about learning progress is essential for both learning and motivation. When feedback indicates that competence is increasing, self-efficacy and self-determination both improve, and intrinsic motivation increases.
- Technology and Learning: Using Technology to Increase Student Motivation
- Research indicates that technology can heighten learner motivation by increasing self-efficacy and self-esteem, improving student attendance, promoting more positive attitudes toward school and more enjoyment of out-of-class activities, and increasing student involvement in learning activities. Technology may be unique in its ability to increase learners’ sense of efficacy.
- Motivation and Diversity
- Research indicates that many students from minority groups perceive a lack of connection between classroom content and their lives and alienation from school. They tend to be uninvolved in classes and believe that their teachers are distant and inflexible.
Teachers who work successfully with minority students are enthusiastic, supportive, and have high expectations for student achievement; they create learner-centered classrooms with high levels of student involvement; and they make a special effort to connect classroom content to students' lives.
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