PSY201/spring 2007
Chapter 6: Engaging Students in Learning
Chapter Overview
I.
Engagement
A.
B.
What Engagement Looks Like
1.
Behavioral Engagement
2.
Emotional Engagement
3.
Cognitive Engagement
4.
Voice
5.
Why Engagement is Important
Two Approaches to Promoting Motivation and Engagement
1.
C.
II.
Student-Teacher Dialectic
Engaging Diverse Learners
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
A.
Hidden Costs of Rewards
B.
Using Extrinsic Rewards Effectively
1.
Praise
C.
How to Motivate Students with Mental Retardation: Intrinsically or
Extrinsically?
D.
Types of Extrinsic Motivation
III. Psychological Needs
A.
B.
C.
Autonomy
1.
How Teachers Support Autonomy
2.
Why Supporting Autonomy is Important
3.
Why Are Teachers So Often Controlling?
Competence
1.
The Pleasure of Optimal Competence
2.
How Teachers Support Students' Competence
3.
Flow
Relatedness
1.
D.
Why Supporting Relatedness is so Important
The Engagement Model
1.
What Makes for a Good Day at School
E.
Motivating Students during Uninteresting Lessons
1.
Increase Valuing
2.
Increase Interest
IV. Curiosity, Interest, and Positive Affect
A.
V.
Sparking Curiosity
1.
Guessing-and-Feedback
2.
Suspense
3.
Controversy
B.
Inducing Positive Affect
C.
Using Technology to Promote Engagement
Calming Anxiety, Protecting Self-Worth, and Overcoming Fear of Failure
Learning Objectives
As a result of your experiences with this chapter, you should be able to answer these
questions and meet the indicated competencies:

What is engagement, and why is it important?
o Expected Student Competencies: Define engagement; be able to distinguish
among behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement; note the role of
voice in engagement; detail the significance of engagement in the classroom

What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?
o Expected Student Competencies: Define intrinsic and extrinsic motivation;
identify the sources of each; generate a list of common positive classroom
reinforcers

How can teachers support students’ psychological needs?
o Expected Student Competencies: Define autonomy, competence, and
relatedness; explain the significance of each

How can teachers motivate students during uninteresting activities?
o Expected Student Competencies: Develop techniques for enhancing students’
sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness; understand the effective use
of extrinsic motivation, and weigh the hidden costs of rewards in classroom
activities; explain the value of using extrinsic rewards in informational ways

In what ways can teachers spark students’ engagement?
o Expected Student Competencies: Define curiosity, interest, and positive
affect; describe the contributions of each toward engagement; outline
approaches that teachers can use to enhance curiosity, interest, and positive
affect

In what ways can teachers calm students’ anxieties and fears?
o Expected Student Competencies: Define anxiety, self-worth, and fear of
failure; examine the mastery model program for approaches that reduce
students’ anxiety, promote self-worth, and allay fear of failure

How can teachers engage diverse learners and learners with special needs?
o Expected Student Competencies: Relate how teachers can help balance the
expectations of schools with the interests and perceptions of success held by
diverse learners; balance the benefits and limitations of extrinsic motivators
for students with special needs; examine the use of a dialectical approach to
motivation for those students
Key Terms
anxiety
autonomy
autonomy-supportive environment
autonomy-supportive motivating style
behavioral engagement
challenge-feedback sandwich
cognitive engagement
cognitive evaluation theory
competence
controlling motivating style
controversy
curiosity
dialectical approach to motivation
emotional engagement
engagement
extrinsic motivation
failure tolerance
flow
guessing-and-feedback
hidden cost of reward
individual interest
interest
intrinsic motivation
perceived locus of causality
positive affect
praise
psychological need
rationale
relatedness
self-handicapping
self-worth
situational interest
suspense
voice