Motivating Students

1
Motivating Students

• Heidi Wolfe
• TE891
• Final Project

2
Overview

• I began my research on motivating students to
  learn with a couple of common types of motivation
  problems in mind. I chose this topic to study
  because it is one which can and does affect a
  variety of learners in a variety of ways. I came
  up with some initial questions that seem to be
  prevalent among the educators I questioned. The
  main issue is with students who lack confidence
  which ultimately affects their motivation to
  learn. I chose two students to observe for this
  study one is Helpless Sarah and the other is
  Play it Safe Jane
• Questions
• What teaching procedures increase motivation ?
• What is the role of rewards when it comes to
  motivation for this type of learner?

3
Rationale for this study

• While I was teaching full time, I noticed that
  the same sort of motivation problem (lack in
  confidence and abilities) existed and wondered
  what I could do about it.
• Upon surveying an elementary school with 46
  teachers grades K-5 I discovered that many
  teachers (78) are interested in motivation and
  wish that they knew more about it.
• Upon further research and review of surveys I
  noticed that rewards seemed to come up as
  motivators and decided that further research was
  necessary.

4
What have others found?

• Common themes across much of the research out
  there can be categorized into these five areas of
  study
• Environment
• Tasks
• Goals
• Evaluations/Assessments
• Rewards

5
The Learning Environment

• Students will not respond to your motivational
  attempts if they are fearful, resentful, or
  otherwise focused on negative emotions (Brophy
  p.21).
• Patterns of teachers discourse, or what they say
  and how they say it, are related to students
  intrinsic motivation to learn (Turner).
• Students need a warm, flexible, and positive
  atmosphere.
• Students need to feel that they are valued and
  safe in order for any motivational strategy to be
  effective.
• Teachers must be attentive, hold high standards,
  and avoid ridicule.
• Students should be allowed to work in pairs or
  small groups in order to encourage cooperation
  rather than competition.
• Classrooms need to spark curiosity with exciting
  topics and enthusiastic teachers.

6
Tasks

• Tasks need to vary so students can find ones that
  are interesting to them on a personal level, thus
  supporting intrinsic motivation.
• Tasks need to be optimally challenging and
  authentic.
• Remember to explain the purpose and demands of a
  task and try to make sure that it has real world
  significance.
• Tasks should require active participation,
  exploration, and experimentation when possible.
• Allow students to give ideas for task.

7
Goals

• Students should be taught how to set goals and
  how to self monitor their progress.
• Students should be recognized for a broad range
  of achievement and recognition should be based on
  individual goals and effort.
• Goals should focus on the mastery of a concept
  They have the lowest rates of students
  cheating, self handicapping, and avoiding seeking
  help (Turner).
• Proximal goals can raise self-efficacy simply by
  making a task appear more manageable, and they
  can also enhance perceptions of competency by
  giving continual feedback that conveys a sense of
  mastery (Stipek p.61)
• Use short term goals so students wont get
  discouraged.
• Be specific about what needs to be done rather
  than global
• Goals should remain challenging enough to be
  difficult but within reach.

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Evaluations/Assessments

• Feedback needs to be informative and specific.
• Place emphasis on learning and understanding
• Try to de-emphasize grades.
• Emphasize the positive when grading instead of
  minus 5, write 95 out of 100
• Dont compare students to one another.
• Evaluate in private so students dignity can be
  preserved
• Evaluations should vary in form and recognize
  improvement.
• Try providing written feedback that links
  learning success with to personal effort and
  ability.
• Allow students time to revise work in order to
  make improvements.
• Students need to be made clear on the criteria
  that they are being assessed on in order for them
  to feel in control of their academic outcome.

9
Rewards

• Rewards are certain to create more motivation
  motivation for the reward not learning.
• If you must give an extrinsic reward give it
  unexpectedly
• Utilize a highly valued reward when a students
  skill level and task engagement are low.
• PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE
• Make sure that the praise is genuine and
  emphasizes information on specific work rather
  than behavior.
• Keep it private in order to preserve the
  students dignity
• Certificates are acceptable as a student
  completes a set of skills (like a graduation
  certificate)

10
Research Design

• Two students were targeted for their motivational
  issues. Both lacked confidence when it came to
  math. One student was on the low end of the
  class academically Helpless Sarah while the
  other was at the high end Play it Safe Jane.
• Permission slips from parents were collected
  prior to surveying the two targeted students for
  this study.
• Teachers were surveyed to gather background about
  beliefs and methods
• The targeted students were also surveyed
  regarding self perceptions
• This classroom was visited between 2 and 3 times
  per week for 6 weeks. About 15 lessons were
  taught in Math the targeted students area of
  concern. Observations were also made when
  possible
• I charted information regarding each category
  environment, tasks, goals, evaluations/assessment,
  rewards. I also kept notes on praise (mine and
  the teachers) and challenge problems.
• Student journals regarding my lessons were
  collected

11
Data AnalysisWhat the Teachers Had to Say (65
of them) Scales varied from 1-5 (1 low or not
at all and 5 high or all the time

• Environment
• 85 of the teachers had an average of 5 for
  providing a caring, nurturing, positive, and
  interesting environment. 35 said that they
  encouraged competition among students
• Tasks
• 60 of the teachers had an average of a 3 for
  feeling like tasks were appropriate. 70
  averaged a 4 for feeling that they had little or
  no control over them. 15 averaged a 2 for
  feeling that the tasks were challenging enough,
  and 30 averaged a 2 for feeling like they had
  real world significance
• Goals
• 80 of the teachers had an average of a 3 for
  providing appropriate goals. 85 averaged a 2
  for providing student led or individualized
  goals.
• Evaluation/Assessment
• 75 of the teachers had an average score of 5 for
  feeling like they had little or no control of
  evaluations and assessments. 45 scored an
  average score of 4 for feeling that public
  evaluations were okay. 60 scored an average of a
  4 for celebrating students achievements.
• Rewards
• 95 had a score of 5 for giving extrinsic rewards
  like candy, stickers, free time, and even extra
  recess. 95 also scored a 5 for giving rewards
  for work that didnt require much effort

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Data AnalysisWhat the students had to say

• 1. How good are you at Math?
• Not at all -1 2 3 4 5- Very Good
• Sarah chose 1. Jane chose number 4.
• Exit survey Sarah chose 2. Jane chose 5
• 2. Where would you rank yourself compared to the
  rest of the class in Math?
• The worst -1 2 3 4 5- The best
• Sarah chose 1. Jane chose 4.
• Exit survey Sarah chose 2. Jane chose 4.
• 3. Compared to Reading, how good are you at
  Math?
• Much worse -1 2 3 4 5- Much better
• Sarah chose 2. Jane chose 3.
• Exit survey Sarah chose 3. Jane chose 4.
• 4. Do you feel confident that you could do harder
  problems or do you need more practice on the
  kinds that you are currently doing? Still need
  more practice or- I can do more difficult ones.
  
• Sarah chose still need more practice. Jane did
  not answer and when was asked to go back and
  answer she chose I can do more difficult ones.
• Exit survey Sarah chose still needs more
  practice. Jane stated that she could do more
  difficult ones.

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Data AnalysisWhat the students had to say

• These are the mini survey questions that I asked
  on a daily basis I asked the children to cover
  their eyes as I asked them and show me with their
  fingers their responses.
• 1. Do you think that you can do well on this
  assignment?
• I definitely wont -1 2 3 4 5- I definitely will
• Sarahs responses varied from 1-3. She averaged
  a 2 however, began to show signs of more
  confidence. Janes responses typically hovered
  between 4 and 5. She averaged a 4.5
• 2. Look at the work for today, both challenging
  and regular. How hard do you think this work is?
  
• Really easy 1 2 3 4 5 really hard
• Sarahs answers averaged 4 for the regular work
  and 4.5 for the challenge work. Janes answers
  averaged 1 for the regular work and 3 for the
  challenge work.
• Mainly for Sarah-- 3. Do you think that this
  assignment can help you improve your Math
  strategies in (insert the objective of the day)?
• Not at all -1 2 3 4 5- definitely
• Sarahs thoughts about improvement averaged a 3
  but also showed signs of gaining confidence.
  Janes thoughts about improvement averaged a 4.25.

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Data AnalysisStudent journals and daily
interactions

• Stressed Sarahs journal contained many
  statements regarding how much she liked me and
  how I helped her. She mentioned feeling bad
  about not remembering a strategy, but happy when
  she did. She liked how I allowed her to have
  more time and also how I allowed her complete
  every other line of her math page when I noticed
  that she was feeling overwhelmed. She did not
  like the idea of the challenge problem even if
  there was a reward attached to it. She loved it
  when I showed the class touch math. She and
  thought it was funny when I would say Oops,
  silly me Ive made a mistake, to have the
  children figure out what I did wrong.
• Play it Safe Janes journal was disappointing
  since she didnt comment much about the
  differences. She mentioned that some days that
  she liked the challenge problem while other days
  did not. She like the Oops, Ive made a
  mistake game too.

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Data AnalysisRewards

• Students participation in the challenge problem
  jumped to an average of 85 when they knew there
  was a reward attached regardless of their success
  or failure.
• 30 of the students chose to complete the
  challenge problem all of the time
• 35 chose to do the challenge problem even if the
  reward was contingent on their success.

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Conclusions

• Motivation is a unique thing for all of us just
  as we are all unique beings. We do not get to
  choose our students nor do they get to choose
  their teachers. We as educators must be willing
  to adapt to our students and their ever changing
  and challenging motivation problems in order to
  keep motivation high.
• This study answers my original question about
  teaching procedures not only for my targeted
  students but for all students as follows.
• Environment I maintained a warm and
  encouraging environment each day that I was
  there. Students were genuinely disappointed when
  I had to leave and looked forward to my next
  visit. As a class they loved being able to share
  their feelings and life happenings before we
  actually began work. I think this contributed to
  their feelings of being valued.

17
Conclusions

• Tasks I allowed Sarah more time for her daily
  math worksheet and stressed that I cared more
  about her understanding the problems vs. getting
  it done. I also allowed her to do every other
  line since she was totally overwhelmed with the
  whole page. If she had time she went back and
  finished. I incorporated a game into my lesson
  called Oops, silly me I made a mistake, where
  the children would figure out what I did wrong.
  I also asked the children to volunteer both
  strategies they used for solving problems and
  what happened when they did make a mistake. Jane
  seemed to be very attentive to the idea that we
  all can make mistakes and it is okay. Both
  students showed signs of increased confidence in
  their abilities.
• Goals I incorporated a goal of the day and goal
  of the week as far as what the children needed to
  learn from their math lesson (s). I attached a
  piece of paper with appropriate categories to
  their journals so that they could self monitor
  their progress. After much discussion about what
  successful meant they were allowed to choose a
  percentage of their own to determine their
  success. Both students loved being in charge of
  their learning and showed signs of improvement
  because of it.

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Conclusions

• Evaluations/Assessments I was not permitted to
  change the formal assessments of the curriculum.
  When it came to evaluating the daily work and
  homework I was allowed to do as I pleased.
  When it came to homework Sarah was allowed to go
  back and fix problems that were wrong. She was
  addressed in private about them and seemed to
  thrive with the opportunity to try again. I kept
  telling her that I cared more about her
  understanding the concept than her completing the
  work. She began to show marked improvement in
  both confidence and ability. The teacher also
  let me know that my help carried over to her
  formal assessments.
• Rewards Students responded to the rewards for
  the sake of the reward not for the benefit of
  actual learning. The high end students didnt
  seem effected by them. Rewards actually did seem
  to help lower end students try more difficult
  work. Praise seemed to be the best method for
  these students. I made sure that it was genuine,
  specific, and private.
• Finally, through the use of these researched
  based methods Sarah began to display more
  confidence and motivation with her Math abilities
  and showed improvement in performance. Jane also
  displayed more confidence and motivation with the
  new methods.