Running head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Motivation and Learning: Annotated Bibliography
By: Amanda Leger
Educational Psychology
Dr. Shaunda Wood
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Abstract:
Motivation is key to learning and understanding. It is important to keep your
students motivated and engaged in learning so that they can strive to be their best. The
articles in this bibliography take motivation and apply it to the classroom. They look at
different ways to motivate children to learn and the importance of motivation in learning.
It is important for teachers to know about motivation and learning because it is something
that they will have to encounter all the time in their classrooms. We all want our students
to succeed and learn, but if they are not motivated to learn it is difficult for them to take
in the information and create a deeper understanding of it.
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1. Nichols, D. J. (2006) Empowerment and relationships: A classroom model to enhance
student motivation. Learning Environ Res (9). 149-161.
Summary:
This article discusses classroom practices and how they effect the
motivation of students in the classroom. The author looked at a classroom
model of motivation where the source of student motivation was based on
internal mechanisms or structures. The author points out how a learnercentred classroom has become more prevalent in the recent years based on
research done on teaching models. It is believed that a learner-centred
classroom creates a positive environment, which thus in turn creates high
motivation among students. This is because students are taking control of
their learning and this seems to be a source of internal motivation for
them.
The results that came out of this research show that there needs to be a
discussion among teacher to reflect on classroom learning. The results
also show and support that providing a classroom environment that is
based on positive social relationships could be an initial step toward
improving student motivation in the classroom.
Implications to teaching:
It is important for teachers to have a positive attitude toward social
relationships. Teachers also need to encourage and create a positive
learning environment within their classrooms. This will transfer to the
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students in the classroom and empower their students to achieve their full
potential.
2. Miller, S., D. & Meece, J., L. (1997). Enhancing elementary students’ motivation to
read and write: A classroom intervention study. The Journal of Educational
Research, 90 (5). 286-299.
Summary:
The authors created this study to look at the effects of classroom
intervention on student’s motivational goals. They looked at 3rd grade
students and collected information from 8 different teachers and their
students. There was a high-implementation group that had a great amount
of intervention and there was a low-implementation group that had less
amount of intervention. The intervention included more opportunities for
the students to collaborate with their peers, to assess their own progress,
and to write more complex prose. The study found that students in the
high implementation classes were less likely to state that their goals were
to outperform others and the students received more support and
encouragement to stay focused on their learning goals. Essentially, having
an integrated curriculum and lowing the amount of piecemeal assignments
had a positive effect on the students’ motivation.
Implications to teaching:
This is important for teachers because this study lets us know that there
are ways to motivate children to read and write. We need to take this
study and use the strategies in order to motivate our students. Motivation
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is an important part of learning and we as teachers are constantly striving
to guide our students through learning.
3. Kiemer, K., Groschner, A., Pehmer, A-K., & Seidel, T. (2015). Effects of a classroom
discourse intervention on teachers’ practice and students’ motivation to learn
mathematics and science. Learning and Instruction, 35. 94-103.
Summary:
There has been a decrease in interest and motivation to become involved
in STEM programs over the recent years. This article looks at ways to
increase the motivation of students in math and science courses. The
authors speak about how students are more motivated when they are
interested in the content and subject matter. They also speak of how
interest-based motivations provide the best learning outcomes.
Throughout the article the authors argue that if teachers can engage their
students in classroom discourse, then they are more likely to engage them
in more meaningful classroom experiences. The authors looked at 10
math and science teachers. Of those teachers, 6 chose to be involved in
the intervention and 4 chose to be involved in the traditional teaching
professional development. The intervention group had workshops on
scaffolding, adapting lesson plans, classroom dialogue, providing students
with feedback, and clarifying. The control group had roundtable
discussions on classroom communication and student motivation. The
authors found in this study that there were positive changes in students’
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experiences in intrinsic motivation when their teachers participated in the
intervention group.
Implications to Teaching:
This is important to teaching because it tells teachers that it is important to
have a positive learning environment. It also tells teachers that it is
Important for teachers to provide students with effective feedback and
have a student-centred class. It’s important to keep the students interested
in what it being learned and thus increasing their motivation.
4. Daniels, E. (2010). Creating motivating learning environments: What we can learn
from researchers and students. The English Journal, 100(1). 25-29.
Summary:
In this article the author discusses how once students get to the middle and
high school level of education, they often become unmotivated to learn.
These students seem to not really care to understand what they are being
taught. Daniels goes on to discuss when students feel motivated to learn
and how you can apply that to the classroom. She discusses constructing
meaning, relevance, and managing stress. In constructing meaning,
Daniels discusses giving students the choice in how they will make
meaning of the content. If students have choice in how they can convey
their understanding, then it produces motivation in the student. For
relevance, Daniels discusses how teachers should try to connect the
content to the student’s lives. They become uninterested if there is no
connection to their life outside school. When Daniels talks about
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managing stress, she discusses how these older students often have other
things going on outside of school and how that needs to be taken into
consideration. Stress can largely effect a student’s motivation and
learning.
Implications to Teaching:
This article is great for teachers because it gives a lot of strategies to use in
the classroom in order to promote motivation among the students. A
teacher can give students choice in their assignments, making the content
and learning relevant to the students’ lives, and making sure your students
are not too stressed. It is important to actively involve your students in
their learning in order to enhance motivation in the classroom.
5. Madden, L., E. (1997). Motivating students to learn better through own goal-setting.
Education, 117(3). 411-414.
Summary:
This article discusses how elementary level teachers motivate their
students. It was found that these teachers either allowed students to make
their own goals for learning or were provided with the standard learning
outcomes. The majority of the teachers that were surveyed said that they
allowed their students to make their own goals. It was found that since
students are setting their own learning goals, then they take more initiative
in their learning and are motivated. With the teacher directed learning
objectives, students still seem to strive to reach those goals, but if they do
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not make it, then they will give up. This shows us those students made
goals are more beneficial when it comes to student learning.
Implications to Teaching:
This is important to teaching because it shows when a student is motivated
to learn. This also tells teachers what we can do to help motivate students
in their learning. Student made goals have to be made in relation to their
level and their ability to achieve those goals. The teacher will have to
model and show the students how to develop a good learning goal for
themselves in order for it to have a full effect. Teachers also need to
provide feedback and support when their students are working toward
their goals otherwise they may fail to reach it and become discouraged and
unmotivated to learn.
6. Campbell, C. & Jane, B. (2012). Motivating children to learn: the role of technology
education. International Journal of Technology & Design Education, 22(1). 1-11.
Summary:
This article looked at motivation and how it can engage students in a task
involving technology. Students were given an open-ended design for their
technology assignment. The technology was fairly new to the school and
the students were very engaged and intrigued with it. The researchers got
information from the students through having them fill out booklets.
These booklets provided the researchers with a lot of information on what
the students enjoyed about the task they were given. They believed it was
a fun task and that they really enjoyed being able to work with their peers
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to share ideas. These two items show that students were motivated both
internally and externally.
Implications to Teaching:
This is important to teaching because it tells teachers that having activities
that engage the students and are fun and relevant to the student increase
motivation. Activities that include technology are becoming more and
more important in the classroom because students living in today’s society
are experiencing technology more and it is becoming more relevant.
Therefore, the use of technology motivates students to learn because it is
relevant to their lives. Working with peers is also important because it
helps students share their ideas and cooperate with others in order to
improve their own learning. Students enjoy this and can relate to their
peers when they are learning from them. This therefore motivates students
to learn.