Chapter 10
Motivation in Learning and Teaching
Overview
What Is Motivation?
 Four General Approaches to Motivation
 Goal Orientation and Motivation
 Interests and Motivation
 Self-Schemas
 On TARGET for Learning
 Strategies to Encourage Motivation
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Concept Map for
Chapter 10
Motivation
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Motivation defined:
Internal state that arouses, directs, maintains behavior
Choices (homework or TV?)
Getting started (now or later?)
Intensity (deep or surface involvement?)
Persist or give up (keep going or give up?)
Thoughts & feelings (enjoyment? worry? frustration?)
Intrinsic/Extrinsic – most things we do are a mix of these
Locus of causality – you can’t see it; you might infer it
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Four General Approaches to Motivation
Behavioral
 Humanistic
 Cognitive
 Sociocultural
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Behavioral Approach
Rewards are consequences of behaviors
 Incentives encourage or discourage behaviors
 Have to understand what your students value
 Goal: reinforcement creates habits
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Humanistic Approaches
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Third force psychology (1940s; reaction to behaviorism & psychodynamic theory)
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Emphasis on personal choice/Self-determination
Motivated by inherent need to self-actualize
Maslow’s hierarchy (review diagram slide posted on course website)
How does the hierarchy affect the classroom atmosphere?
Cognitive Perspective
Focus on thinking (another reaction to behaviorism)
 People are active and curious
 Plans, goals, schemas, and expectations
 Key to response is the individual’s interpretation of the
event
 Emphasizes intrinsic motivation
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theories – explanations, justifications, & excuses
influence motivation (locus, stability, responsibility)
 Attribution
Examples of Attribution Theory
 Internal locus, stable, controllable:
 I am good at studying for multiple choice tests, so I will do well
on the next Educational Psychology Exam.
 Internal, stable, uncontrollable:
 Essay tests are always hard for me, so I won’t do well in
American Literature.
(See table 10.1, p. 359)
Sociocultural Conceptions of Motivation
(“community of practice”)
 Identity is central – how do students see themselves?
 Emphasizes participation in communities of practice (e.g.,
the classroom)
 Legitimate peripheral participation
 Beginners
are involved and then move to a central role (scientist,
writer, musician)
See table 10.2, Woolfolk, p. 362 for a comparison of all four approaches
Why Goals Improve Performance
Goals motivate people to reduce the discrepancy
between real and ideal.
(I want an “A” on my test, but I haven’t read the chapters.)
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Locke & Latham (1990):
 Direct attention to the task at hand
 Mobilize effort
 Increase persistence
 Promote development of new strategies
Goals: Types & Kinds (How should teachers set goals?)
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Types of goals we set influence motivation (e.g.,specific, attainable, shortterm = motivating)
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Four Kinds of Goals:
 Learning goals/task-involved
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Master the task
 Performance
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goals/ego-involved (p.363)
Concerned with others’ opinions/ winning
 Work-avoidance
goals
Success = didn’t have to do much
 Social goals (help & hinder learning)
 Related to a feeling of belonging
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Interest and Emotions Affect Motivation to Learn
– hot cognition
(cold cognition = thought & reason)
 Student interests linked with
#1 reason given for failures)
 Fantasy
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success in school (lack of interest
to stimulate challenge and interest
Ensure that “interesting/ seductive details” are legitimately
tied to learning
 Don’t
rely too heavily on trivia or anecdote
(See Guidelines, Woolfolk, p. 367)
Arousal: Excitement and Anxiety in Learning
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Arousal: excitement, alertness, attention
 What happens if too high? Too low?
 Review Yerkes-Dodson Law, p. 368
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Curiosity: novelty and complexity
 Can
increase arousal & interest
 Want to fill in the gaps in knowledge
 The more we learn the more we want
to know
Arousal: Excitement and Anxiety in Learning
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Anxiety: uneasiness, tension, stress (cause and effect of school
failure)
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Anxiety and effects on achievement
 Research
consistently indicates a negative correlation between anxiety and
school achievement
 Tobias’ Model (p.369)
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Attention, learning, memory disrupted by anxiety
Coping with anxiety
 Problem solving – make a plan
 Emotional management – relax, talk it thru (be careful!)
 Avoidance – food, TV, phone, cleaning
How Teachers Can Help Anxious Students
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Help them select appropriately challenging tasks (avoid
failure or lack of satisfaction)
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Help them set appropriate long-term and short-term goals
(increases motivation & success)
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Help them set a moderate pace for working, especially on
tests (errors or incomplete assignments)
Interests and Emotions: Lessons for Teachers
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Keep level of arousal right for learners
 How
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do you know if arousal is at a good level? (sleepy? freaked?)
Sleepy students?
 Introduce variety
 Arouse curiosity
 Surprise them
 Wiggle break
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Overly excited students?
 Limit competition
 Limit presentations
 Give clear instructions
 Avoid unnecessary time
pressures
(see Guidelines p. 370)
TARGETT for Learning – Influencing Motivation
to Learn (review chart on p.380-381)
Task
 Autonomy
 Recognition
 Grouping
 Evaluation
 Time
 Teacher Expectations
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