Motivating Students to Learn

1. Motivating Students to
Achieve
By: Crystal Hodges
SOE 115 Psychology of Teaching and Learning
February 13, 2018

2. OVERVIEW OF THE STRATEGY
• Poor student achievement is often attributed to a lack of motivation and
rewards are given in an attempt to increase that vital student motivation.
When rewards are given, they have the opposite effect of what was
intended. High student achievement comes from students who are
motivated from within. Instead of giving rewards, teachers need to
consistently teach students to become intrinsically motivated.
• Students motivation affects every aspect of school life, from attendance, to
academic performance, to extra-curricular activities.
• Students with learning disabilities face even greater challenges every day
because they struggle with the easiest tasks presented by teachers.

3. CREDIBLE SOURCE #1
• Motivation involves a constellation of beliefs, perceptions,
values, interests, and actions that are all closely related. As a
result, various approaches to motivation can focus on cognitive
behaviors (such as monitoring and strategy use), non-cognitive
aspects (such as perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes), or
both. Gottfried (1990), defines academic motivation as
“enjoyment of school learning characterized by a mastery
orientation; curiosity; persistence; task-endogeny; and the
learning of challenging, difficult, and novel tasks”.

4. CREDIBLE SOURCE #2
• Motivation is probably the most important factor that educators
can target in order to improve learning. Numerous cross-
disciplinary theories have been postulated to explain motivation.
While each of these theories has some truth, no single theory
seems to adequately explain all human motivation. The fact is
that human beings in general and students in particular are
complex creatures with complex needs and desires. With
regard to students, very little if any learning can occur unless
students are motivated on a consistent basis. The five key
ingredients impacting student motivation are: student, teacher,
content, method/process, and environment.

5. CREDIBLE SOURCE #3
• Together with motivation, engagement is viewed in the literature
as very important for enhanced learning outcomes of all
students (Schlechty, 2001; Woolfolk & Margetts, 2007).
Motivation is seen as a pre-requisite of and a necessary
element for student engagement in learning. Student
engagement recognizes the complexity of engagement beyond
the domains of cognition, behavior, emotion or affect, and in
doing so encompasses the historically situated individual within
their contextual variables (such as personal and familial
circumstances) that at every moment influences how engaged
an individual (or group) is in their learning.

6. ANALYSIS
• In general, children appear to enter school with high levels of
intrinsic motivation, although motivation tends to decline as
children progress through school. Motivation also becomes
increasingly differentiated over time, both within and between
school subjects. As students grow older, they are increasingly
capable of accurately perceiving relative strengths and
weaknesses across subject areas. Also, children increasingly
develop a more nuanced perception of different types of
motivation so that by the age of 8 or 9, children can distinguish
between engaging in an activity for enjoyment and performing a
task because they have been told to do so.

7. CONNECTIONS
• If students are not motivated and interested in their work, they
lack the ability to authentically engage in tasks that lead to
deeper understanding and learning. Teachers must be aware of
the ways they influence motivation and engagement in the
classroom. While there are many instructional strategies and
practices that promote motivation and engagement, teachers
must attend to the emotional needs of students or themselves
or risk disengagement even before instruction begins.

8. CONNECTIONS (CONT.)
• Teachers can reflect on their attitude and behaviors in the
classroom and the ways in which they impact students.
Listening to the voices of students about teacher practice
provides a rich and valuable opportunity for self-reflection and a
call to action for improvement if teachers find their actions and
beliefs are not aligned with student perceptions and needs.

9. CONCLUSION
• Several challenges arise when assessing motivation, especially
in children, who may not be capable of providing unbiased,
generalized responses regarding their goals, values, interests,
and effort. As teachers, providing learning experiences that
children can benefit from and are motivated to stay in tune.
Being involved, paying attention, challenging students, and
ensuring there gaining the most out of what's being taught is
very important. Have goals set and planned out, provide various
methods to your everyday teaching. Stick to the five key
ingredients that impact students motivation.

10. REFERENCES
• Gottfried, A. E., Fleming, J. S., & Gottfried, A. W. (2001). Continuity of
academic intrinsic motivation from childhood through late adolescence: A
longitudinal study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93(1), 3–13.
• Williams, Kaylene C. and Caroline C. Williams (2011), “Five Key
Ingredients for Improving Student Motivation,” Research in Higher
Education Journal, 12, August, 104-122.
• Schlechty, P. C. (2001). Shaking up the schoolhouse. San Fransisco, USA:
Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Woolfolk, A., & Margetts, K. (2007). Educational psychology. NSW,
Australia: Pearson. Prentice Hall.