Do Students Develop a Sense of SelfDetermination from Workshop Edith Chen, Peer Leader, The City Col

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Do Students Develop a Sense of Self-Determination
from Workshop?Edith Chen, Peer Leader, The City
College of New York

• Implications
• Students cannot succeed without timely
  encouragement. (V. Roth, E. Goldstein, G. Marcus,
  2001)
• Start off with easier questions to ensure
  students understanding and go on gradually to
  more challenging ones.
• Talk to them about their plans for the future and
  why they are in college to begin with. (V. Roth,
  E. Goldstein, G. Marcus, 2001)
• Promote social relations and group spirit. (V.
  Roth, E. Goldstein, G. Marcus, 2001)
• Remind students how much they have accomplished
  to date. (V. Roth, E. Goldstein, G. Marcus, 2001)
• Tell them about your own experience. If you were
  able to ace the class and overcome complications,
  let them know they can too. The peer leader can
  disclose personal troubles and successful
  solutions as a source of guidance and
  encouragement.

• Hypothesis
• Workshop allows students to interact with each
  other through solving problems. This gets them
  more familiar with the subject while building the
  self-confidence that leads to motivation.

• Experiment
• Students worked collaboratively. Their knowledge
  of the subject was expanded and confusions were
  clarified.
• They begin to feel confident and incorporate
  their own ideas or question others.
• The group listens and responds providing a
  respectful and supportive environment.
• A group discussion was held and personal
  experiences were brought up to help students
  relate to each other and be more open to
  constructive criticism.

• Discussion
• Workshop provides an environment where students
  work together to meet the three requirements
  vital to feeling motivated intrinsically.
• Students strengthen their knowledge and feel more
  confident in what they do (competence).
• Students take the initiative and provide their
  own ideas and answers (autonomy).
• Students work with supportive peers that listen
  and respond which gives them a sense of respect
  and belonging (relatedness).

• Literature Review
• Edward Deci and Richard Ryans Self-Determination
  Theory (SDT) of motivation (2000) focuses on the
  maturity of personality within social
  environments to the extent where people take on
  tasks completely by will and are able to reflect
  on them. SDT is based on a thought that people
  have natural tendencies toward cognitive
  development. They try to overcome challenges and
  the experience of overcoming that challenge
  itself makes up who they are. However, this
  development needs outside support to be
  competent therefore, the social environment can
  be a good indication of behavior and development.
  (Deci and Ryan, 2000)
• Deci and Ryan suggest that people have to fulfill
  three requirements in order to feel
  intrinsically.
• Competence-students feel confident about what
  they are doing
• Autonomy-independence students ability to
  provide their own ideas and answers
• Relatedness-students feel supported by the social
  environment people listen and respond
• Self-determination is learned through subjective
  rather than objective experiences. Taking risks,
  learning from ones own faults and being able to
  evaluate the results are obviously integrated. To
  be self-determined, a student who fails does not
  give up and takes the opportunity to strive for a
  better solution. (Deci and Ryan 2000)

• Conclusion
• The goals of workshop are all aimed to improve
  student performance in the course. Solving
  problems with peers in a positive atmosphere
  gives students a stronger understanding of
  concepts and a chance to exchange different ideas
  and approaches.
• I noticed students contributed more willingly and
  often than before after they were familiar with
  their work, especially when backed up by helpful
  peers that are in the same boat.
• The icebreaker in the beginning is a must and
  doing it efficiently will benefit everyone in the
  long run. Not only does this build comfort in
  students, it also endorses the competence,
  autonomy, and relatedness that ultimately leads
  to intrinsic motivation.

• References
• Deci E., Ryan R. (2000) Self-Determination Theory
  and the Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation,
  Social Development, and Well-Being. URL
  http//72.14.203.104/search?qcachePAqpgNwldiAJw
  ww.psych.rochester.edu/SDT/documents/2000RyanDeciS
  DT.pdfSelfDeterminationcompetence-autonomyand
  relatednesshlenglusctclnkcd2. Downloaded
  on April 29, 2006.
• Roth V., Goldstein E., Marcus G. (2001). Peer-Led
  Team Learning A Handbook for Team Leaders. On
  Becoming a Peer Leader (pp.44-46). New Jersey
  Prentice Hall.