Designing your course and
assignments to drive student
motivation and learning
David MCCONNELL, North Carolina State University
With contributions from: David Budd, University of Colorado at Boulder; Ann
Bykerk-Kauffman, California State University, Chico; Lisa Gilbert, Williams
College; Megan Jones, North Hennepin Community College; Catharine Knight,
University of Akron; Katrien Kraft, Mesa Community College; Matthew Nyman,
University of New Mexico; Dexter Perkins, Jaakko Putkonen, and Ronald
Matheney, University of North Dakota; Jennifer Stempien, Washington and Lee
University; Tatiana Vislova, SUNY Oneonta; Karl Wirth, Macalester College
This material is based upon work supported by the National
Science Foundation under grants 0914404 and 1022917.
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Affective Domain
Cognitive Domain
The feelings,
emotions, and general
moods a learner
brings to a task or
that are generated in
response to a task1.
Addresses inaccurate
student conceptions and
learning skills.
Typically addressed
through a variety of
pedagogical
interventions.
Educational psychology research reveals that student adoption of cognitive
strategies may be influenced by affective factors such as motivation,
attitudes, feelings and emotions.
Students leaving STEM fields often cite affective factors such as loss of
motivation or interest in topic or development of interest in another field2.
1
Ormond, J., 2006, Essentials of Educational Psychology; 2 Seymour & Hewitt, 1997, Talking about
leaving: Why undergraduates leave the sciences.
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Student Affect
Principal reason students leave STEM disciplines1:
 Students became unmotivated as they lost the
feeling that STEM disciplines were interesting or
enticing;
 Students became more interested in other majors.
Student Performance and the Affective Domain2,3:
 Student adoption of effective cognitive strategies
is either limited or promoted by affective factors
 Student performance in introductory science
courses was strongly correlated to self-efficacy
1Seymour
and Hewitt (1997); 2Vanderstoep et al. (1996); 3Zusho et al. (2003)
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
GARNET Project
Hypotheses:
 The affective domain is a major control on student
learning.
 What we do in our classrooms can significantly change
students’ affective behavior.
Goals:
 To use a common instrument (MSLQ) to investigate how
aspects of the affective domain vary for students in
physical geology courses at multiple institutions.
 Identify if and how those aspects vary with instructor,
learning
First data of its kind to compare a diverse array of student
values, beliefs, and learning strategies across multiple general
education geoscience courses.
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Participating Institutions
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
MSLQ Instrument
Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire3 (MSLQ) used to
investigate how aspects of the affective domain varied for students.
Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire
Categories
Subcategories
Subscales (# of questions)
Intrinsic goal orientation (4)
Value
Extrinsic goal orientation (4)
Task value (6)
Motivation
Scales
Expectancy
Affect
Control of learning beliefs (4)
Self-efficacy (8)
Test anxiety (5)
Rehearsal (4)
Cognitive strategies
Elaboration (6)
Organization (4)
Critical thinking (5)
Cognitive
Scales
Metacognitive strategies
Metacognition (12)
Time/study management (8)
Effort regulation (4)
Resource Management
Peer learning (3)
Help seeking (4)
3
Pintrich, P.R., Smith, D.A.F., Garcia, T., and McKeachie, W.J., 1991, NCRIPTL Report 91-B-004
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
MSLQ Instrument
For each subscale, students are asked to rate the subscale statements on
a 7-point scale where 1 = Not at all true of me to 7 = Very true of me.
The example below is the Intrinsic Goal Orientation subscale (= student’s
perception of why he/she is engaging in a task). Higher scores indicate an
approach to learning with emphasis on challenge, curiosity, and mastery.
In a class like this, I prefer course material that really
challenges me so I can learn new things.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
In a class like this, I prefer course material that
arouses my curiosity, even if it is difficult to learn.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
The most satisfying thing for me in this course is trying
to understand the content as thoroughly as possible.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
When I have the opportunity in this class, I choose
course assignments that I can learn from even if the
don’t guarantee a good grade.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Key Finding 1
Overall trends are similar across institutions,
especially institutions of similar type
Shift in student motivations and
learning strategies over a single
semester.
Determined by paired t-test for each institution. Black
arrow indicate significant with alpha of 0.05, red arrows
indicate strongly significant with alpha of 0.01.
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Key Finding 1
Overall trends are similar across institutions,
especially institutions of similar type
Shift in student motivations and
learning strategies over a single
semester.
• No change or decline in eleven
subscales, including all motivation
scales.
• Consistent increases in only two
subscales (rehearsal, peer learning).
• Results consistent with previous
research on science courses.
Determined by paired t-test for each institution. Black
arrow indicate significant with alpha of 0.05, red arrows
indicate strongly significant with alpha of 0.01.
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Key Finding 2
Differences occur between different instructors at
the same institution
Summary of the shift
in student scores over
a single semester, for
individual instructors
at research
institutions.
Black arrow indicate significant with
alpha of 0.05, red arrows indicate
strongly significant with alpha of 0.01.
Direction of arrow indicate direction of
shift in MSLQ score (down= decrease in
score; up=increase in score)
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Key Finding 2
Differences occur between different instructors at
the same institution
Summary of the shift in
student scores over a
single semester, for
individual instructors at
research institutions.
• More studentcentered classes
have fewer
declines
Black arrow indicate significant with
alpha of 0.05, red arrows indicate
strongly significant with alpha of 0.01.
Direction of arrow indicate direction of
shift in MSLQ score (down= decrease in
score; up=increase in score)
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Key Finding 3
Self-efficacy is the most important affective factor
in determining grade
Student
performance is
most strongly
correlated with
score on the
self-efficacy for
learning and
performance
subscale.
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Key Finding 3
Self-efficacy is the most important affective factor
in determining grade
• Self-efficacy is
a better
predictor of
performance
than SAT, GPA,
or GCI scores
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Post-Course
Correlations for MSLQ
Self-Efficacy correlates strongly with
• Intrinsic Goal Orientation
• Task Value
• Control of Learning Beliefs
IG
EG
TV
CB
SE
TA
R
E
O
CT
MC
TS
ER
PL
HS
EG
TV
High
>0.5
Medium 0.30.5
CB
SE
TA
R
Strong
Correlation
Weak
Correlation
E
O
CT
MC
TS
ER
PL
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Self-efficacy for Learning and Performance
• Performance expectations on assigned tasks
• Judgment about ability & confidence to perform tasks
Examples
I believe I will receive an excellent grade in this class.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I am confident I can understand basic concepts taught in this course.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Considering the difficulty of this course, the teacher, and my skills, I
think I will do well in this class.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I’m confident I can do an excellent job on the assignments and tests in
this course.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Self-efficacy for Learning and Performance
• Performance expectations on assigned tasks
• Judgment about ability & confidence to perform tasks
Examples
I believe I will receive an excellent grade in this class.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I am confident I can understand basic concepts taught in this course.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Considering the difficulty of this course, the teacher, and my skills, I
think I will do well in this class.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I’m confident I can do an excellent job on the assignments and tests in
this course.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Teaching Strategies:
• Use formative assessments to confirm student understanding.
• Promote mastery of challenging tasks through small-group activities.
• Use rubrics to define the quality of work expected from students.
• Provide feedback and multiple opportunities to complete assignments.
• Show students examples of successful peer models (e.g., as class tutors).
• Rewards should be greater for more challenging tasks, few penalties for errors.
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Control of Learning Beliefs
• Outcomes are contingent on student effort
• Time and study strategies control performance
Examples
If I study in appropriate ways, then I will be able to learn the material for
this course.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
It is my own fault if I don’t learn the material for this course.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
If I try hard enough, then I will understand the course material.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
If I don’t understand the course material, it is because I didn’t try hard
enough.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Control of Learning Beliefs
• Outcomes are contingent on student effort
• Time and study strategies control performance
Examples
If I study in appropriate ways, then I will be able to learn the material for
this course.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
It is my own fault if I don’t learn the material for this course.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
If I try hard enough, then I will understand the course material.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
If I don’t understand the course material, it is because I didn’t try hard
enough.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Teaching Strategies:
• Model effective learning strategies in class.
• Explain that effort often has greater impact on performance than prior ability.
• Solicit feedback on course practices (GIFT technique) and adjust accordingly.
• Provide students with opportunities to make choices about nature of assignments,
classroom rules, due dates, character of grading rubric, etc.
• Show students examples of papers or projects earning high and low grades so that
they can see what is valued.
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Task Value
• Student beliefs about usefulness and/or importance of
course material
Examples
I think I will be able to use what I learn in this course in other courses.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I am very interested in the content area of this course.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I think the course material in this class is useful for me to learn.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Understanding the subject matter of this course is important to me.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Task Value
• Student beliefs about usefulness and/or importance of
course material
Examples
I think I will be able to use what I learn in this course in other courses.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I am very interested in the content area of this course.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
I think the course material in this class is useful for me to learn.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Understanding the subject matter of this course is important to me.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Teaching Strategies:
• Collect information on student interests and design activities related to those topics.
• Create assignments based around current events or emotionally charged events.
• Make explicit reference to relevance of learning tasks and skills for future
professional or personal goals.
• Vary the character of tasks to match different student learning styles and sustain
student interest.
• Provide sufficient and support to ensure students have a chance to complete the
task successfully.
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Intrinsic Goal Orientation
• Student’s perception of why she is engaging in a task.
• Learning driven by need for challenge, mastery.
Examples
In a class like this, I prefer course material that really challenges me so
I can learn new things.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
In a class like this, I prefer course material that arouses my curiosity,
even if it is difficult to learn.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
The most satisfying thing for me in this course is trying to understand
the content as thoroughly as possible.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
When I have the opportunity in this class, I choose course assignments
that I can learn from even if the don’t guarantee a good grade.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Intrinsic Goal Orientation
• Student’s perception of why she is engaging in a task.
• Learning driven by need for challenge, mastery.
Examples
In a class like this, I prefer course material that really challenges me so
I can learn new things.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
In a class like this, I prefer course material that arouses my curiosity,
even if it is difficult to learn.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
The most satisfying thing for me in this course is trying to understand
the content as thoroughly as possible.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
When I have the opportunity in this class, I choose course assignments
that I can learn from even if the don’t guarantee a good grade.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Teaching Strategies:
• Encourage students to set their own learning goals and rank your course goals.
• Emphasize understanding rather than memorization of material.
• Highlight situational interest by demonstrating enthusiasm, featuring novelty,
variety, creativity, or controversy in lessons.
• Have students role play in context of a lesson.
• Assign grades on basis of clear criteria, not norm-referenced grading.
GARNET: Geoscience Affective Research Network
Summary
• Improving student motivation can enhance
student performance
• Focus on adopting strategies that will
increase student
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Self-Efficacy for Learning and Performance
Task Value
Intrinsic Goal Orientation
Control of Learning Beliefs