Motivating the Unmotivated

1. Motivating the Unmotivated Lorin W. Anderson The Anderson Research Group andregroup@sc.rr.com

2. To Truly Improve Teaching Effectiveness, we must look at schooling through the eyes of the students.

3. What is Motivation? • From a practical perspective, motivation is putting forth the effort needed to be successful at something. • Students who don’t pay attention, don’t do their work, and don’t hand in homework are said to be unmotivated.

4. What Explains Student Motivation? • A rather simple equation. M = f (V, E) • Motivation is a function of the value a student attaches to something and the student’s expectancy of success in achieving that something.

5. So How Does It Work?

6. So How Does It Work? • Example 1: Cheerleading • For Bert, becoming a cheerleader is very important (high value) • Initially, Bert experiences great difficulty learning the cheers and is a little awkward in performing them (little success). • However, because cheerleading is veryimportant to him, Bert practices cheerleading two hours every day (motivation). Eventually, he makes the cheerleading team (high success). • Lesson: Value can trump lack of initial success.

7. So How Does It Work? • Example 2: Dating • Ernie “values” Tanya (that is, he is interested in “getting to know her better”). • However, Bert, Ernie’s best friend, tells him that he doesn’t have a chance with Tanya (that is, he is not likely to be successful in his attempts to date her) • Even though Bert values Tanya, he doesn’t put any effort into getting to know Tanya better because he believes he will not be successful. • Lesson: At other times, a fear of failure can trump value.

8. So How Does It Work? • Example 3: Mathematics • Bert does not believe that mathematics has any relevance in his life (that is, he does not value it). • Despite this fact, Bert initially tries to learn math, but after several months he realizes that he “just can’t seem to get it” (that is, he is not successful). • With no perceived value and no expectation of success, Bert is unmotivated to learn math. He stops paying attention in class and rarely turns in completed assignments. • Lesson: When both value and success are “negative,” motivation will almost always be lacking.

9. So How Does It Work? • Example 4: Reading • Ernie thinks that reading is just about the best thing in the world (that is, he values it greatly). • In addition, Ernie is a very good reader (that is, reading comes easy to him and he is a “successful” reader). • During free time at school or at home, Ernie is more likely to read a book than do anything else. • Lesson: Value + Success = MOTIVATION

11. Exploring Value • The student values the thing itself (intrinsic) • Bert studies science because he thinks science is important • The student values the rewards associated with the thing (extrinsic) • Bert studies science because he gets good grades in science • The student values the thing because “valuable” others believe the thing to be valuable (socio-emotional) • Bert studies science because his father is a scientist and he wants to be like his father

12. Exploring Expectations of Success • The best predictor of future success is past success. In other words, past success will most likely lead to expectations of future success. Conversely, past failure will most likely lead to expectations of future failure. • Success, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. It is NOT objective reality. Students must see themselves as successful. If a student answers 10 incredibly easy questions correctly, he or she is not likely to perceive himself or herself as successful. A certain amount of challenge is needed before a student is likely to see himself or herself as successful.

13. To Motivate the Unmotivated Then We Must Find Ways of • Increasing the value they attach to various aspects of schooling, AND • Increasing their expectancies of success.

14. Five Ways of Increasing Value • Establish personal, caring relationships with students (social-emotional) • Talk with each student one-on-one for five minutes every month with an emphasis on listening to them • Show students that you are human; for example, make mistakes purposely and have students catch them, and don’t be afraid to say that you don’t know something.

15. Five Ways of Increasing Value • Incorporate student interests whenever possible, offering limited choices (intrinsic) • Use popular song lyrics to introduce a unit on poetry; use familiar objects to introduce counting, adding, and multiplying. • Give students a selection of five research projects from which to choose.

16. Five Ways of Increasing Value • Connect schooling with their out-of-school experiences (intrinsic) • Use cereal boxes to introduce a unit on vitamins and minerals (or other appropriate concepts). • In discussing a character in a story, ask students if they know someone who reminds them of that character.

17. Five Ways of Increasing Value • Arouse curiosity using mystery, controversy, and contradictions (intrinsic) • Use Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) materials in science. • Use mysteries to teach reading and ELA.

18. Five Ways of Increasing Value • Give reward and recognition (extrinsic) • Strive for a goal of 4 positive comments to 1 negative comment for each student. • Initially recognize and reward improvement, rather than some absolute level of performance. Sometimes you can’t get there from here directly.

19. Five Ways of Increasing Success • Provide challenging, yet attainable, assignments • Use Vygotsky’s “zone-of-proximal development” as the basis for determining appropriate assignments. This may require that different assignments are given to different students. • Provide encouragement and assistance to those who have struggled with assignments in the past.

20. Five Ways of Increasing Success • Establish clear and reasonable criteria of success on assignments • When assigning a worksheet or problem set, establish X-in-a-row correct as the criteria for completing it (e.g., 5 in a row, 7 in a row, etc.). • On longer assignments, distribute rubrics and “model” papers or projects so help students understand your expectations. Also, require students to hand in pieces of the assignment or drafts of projects on a regular basis.

21. Five Ways of Increasing Success • Give corrective feedback • Have students correct errors and misunderstanding when the occur so they don’t accumulate and interfere with future learning. • Provide clues to help students correct their errors and misunderstandings on their own, rather than correcting them for them.

22. Five Ways of Increasing Success • Provide “worked out” examples • When giving students a problem set, include a sheet on which a couple of problems are worked out. This allows students to go back periodically and check how they’re doing. • Help students learn to use the textbook as a resource or reference book. Move away from having students read chapters as though they were reading fiction.

23. Five Ways of Increasing Success • Have students work with partners • Have students correct each other’s papers as you give the correct answers. Then, have them work together to correct errors on each paper. • Have students engage in paired reading, stopping periodically to ask and answer questions about the meaning of what they read.

24. Two Final Thoughts • Even when students engage in strategies that are ultimately self-defeating (such as withholding effort, procrastination, cheating, and so on), their goal is actually to protect their sense of self-worth. • Students must be helped to see the connection between effort and accomplishment. Work harder, learn more.