YOU HAVE TO SELL YOUR
CHICKEN TO VEGETARIANS!
STATS
I don’t want your
chicken because
it is:
Boring
Useless
I CAN’T DO IT!
Unless the student believes he can do something
(self-efficacy),
the student will not engage in that something.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman.
SELL YOUR CHICKEN!
HOW TO GET STUDENTS MOTIVATED
TO LEARN
M.E. McWilliams, AARC 2012
•I too didn’t understand the lecture!
•I too felt stupid!
•I too felt hopeless!
Yep, even me! EVERYONE struggles
with at least some class.
1980
YOUR BRAIN CAN LEARN THIS
STUFF! YOU MIGHT NOT MAKE
AN A—OR EVEN A B—BUT YOU
CAN GET THE JOB DONE!
I was once you!
SELF-EFFICACY MATTERS!
A random experiment is
any repeatable process
which must result in
exactly one outcome of
a well-defined set of
observable outcomes,
none of which can be
predicted with certainty.
I failed the first
test. I get the
message: I am a
loser. I was not
born to do math. If
I don’t have what it
takes, why am I
even coming for
tutoring?
Poof!
THE METHOD
1. COPING MODEL
If I can do this stuff, you can too!
2. DEMONSTRATION OF SUCCESS
See, You ARE doing it!
COPING MODEL: YA YA!
I used to think I was not good at math at all. Why?
First, I always got Fs on my tests (40-68) for several
years. the worst test grade I ever made was 5!
However, I am a good student, I went to class every
day, and I did my homework every night. My teacher
always wanted me to stay in the school during lunch
(I was so hungry!).
All the effort I made didn’t count at first when it
came to tests. The only thing did right is keep
consistent and do my best. I thought somehow all
my effort would pay off sooner or later. And it did.
Now, I am a math tutor. I tell my students that to
make a good grade they need to keep consistent,
practice, and do their best.
COPING MODEL: KIMBERLY!
In my freshmen year, I took MTH 139. I
went in thinking I was really good at
math and I didn't need to study.
Needless to say I was wrong. I ended
up making a C on the first test.
So I started going to my SI (Austin
Clark was my SI Leader) and I went to
my professor’s office. I ended up
pulling an A out of the class—just
barely—but it was an A.
COPING MODEL: CHRISTEN!
In my senior year of completing my math degree, I
was misadvised and found out a week before classes
started that I was short 5 hours to graduate. I was
DEVASTATED.
Instead of pushing back my graduation, I just added
the 5 hours to my course load making it 20 hours each
semester with 3 advanced math classes each semester
and an advanced chem class on top of working parttime, planning my wedding, and getting married.
It was a struggle! But I graduated in 3 years with
honors. Ever since then, no matter what life has
thrown at me I've known that I'll get through it
because I've been superwoman before and I can
always throw my cape on again!
COPING MODEL: PAIGE!
In my second semester I had an 8
am Business Communications class. I got up and went
to class, read, and did what I was supposed to.
When it came time to take the test, I thought I did
great! When I got the score back however... I had
failed! So I worked harder and read more. Next
test? Failed that one too!
After not failing anything in my life, I was so stressed
thinking there was no way I could do good in this
class. So I talked to the professor and told her ALL of
this and more. She worked with me and calculated
my possible grades. Knowing she was on my
side, made me more confident. I did GREAT for the rest
of the semester, and got an A in that class!! Moral of
the story?
ALWAYS TALK WITH YOUR PROFFESSORS!
COPING MODEL: DAMON!
When I was a freshmen, I struggled to get the online
homework for a class. For the life of me I could not get it to
work. I would have the correct answer, but it wasn't the way
that the software wanted the answer to be written.
After failing the first few assignments because of writing my
answers in a different way than what the software wanted, I
finally decided to buck up and see the professor. Dr. Long
and I talked about what was wrong with my answers. I
learned that my answers were correct, but that the software
wanted extra parenthesis. It also wanted the problems in a
certain order.
After talking with her I passed all of my homework problems
with 100% after that, and never had any more issues.
Go see the professor! It can make all the difference.
COPING MODEL: DANIEL!
When I changed my major, I changed it to the thing that I
knew would give me the greatest challenge in my life:
Biochemistry. I took my first chemistry class in my life from
Dr. Langley and boy was that a huge wake up call. I went to
class, took notes, did homework, and when it came to the first
test, I was floored when I got the result. I got a 25 on my first
ever chemistry test! I was stubborn, so I kept going. I
neglected the all-caps-in-sharpie advice that Dr Langley wrote
on the last page - "COME TO OFFICE HOURS.“ Did I go? No.
I went to take his retake and did worse. I got a 12 . Again, he
wrote "Come to office hours" on the last page.
Did I go? No. On the next test I got a 40. He wrote on the last
page "Why haven't you come in yet?" After that day, I came
to every single one of his office hours and went to the AARC
to receive tutoring from Katya and Whitney.
I got a C in the class. Now, I am a Senior level Biochemistry
major. By the way, I retook that class this summer and did not
get below a 100 on a single test all semester.
THE METHOD
1. COPING MODEL
If I can do this stuff, you can too!
2. DEMONSTRATION OF SUCCESS
See, You ARE doing it!
YOU HAVE TO SELL YOUR
CHICKEN TO VEGETARIANS!
Unless the student believes he can do something
(self-efficacy),
the student will not engage in that something.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman.