Increasing Motivation

1
Increasing Motivation

• Part 1

2
Three Motivation Problems

• Level of Concern
• Feeling Tone
• Success

3
Level of Concern

• If the level of concern is too high, a person
  begins to worry about self-preservation, rather
  than learning. The person is feeling stress.

4
Level of Concern

• If the level of concern is too high, a person
  begins to worry about self-preservation, rather
  than learning. The person is feeling stress.
• If the level of concern is too low, a person is
  not motivated to put in effort. The person is
  feeling too comfortable

5
Level of Concern

• A moderate level of concern stimulates learning.
  The person is motivated to work, but not so
  stressed that they cannot function

6
Feeling Tone

• Negative Feeling Tones can motivate a student to
  put forth effort, but can cause the learner to
  dislike the subject. The teacher is telling the
  student that he had better do it or there will be
  consequences.

7
Feeling Tone

• Neutral Feeling Tones are useful to terminate
  an unproductive or unpleasant situation so that
  later we can return with pleasant feelings. The
  teacher might tell students that it is okay that
  something is hard right now because we will come
  back to it when we are all feeling fresh.

8
Feeling Tone

• Pleasant Feeling Tones eliminate student
  avoidance. For example, the teacher might say I
  know you have worked hard, but your perseverance
  has paid off.

9
Success

• To feel successful, one must expend effort and
  have a certain degree of uncertainty about the
  outcome.

10
Success

• If a task is too easy, we feel little success and
  are not motivated to continue. We might see a
  capable student unwilling to work.

11
Success

• If a task is too easy, we feel little success and
  are not motivated to continue. We might see a
  capable student unwilling to work.
• If a task is too hard, we are not motivated to
  continue. We might see a student not working
  because he knows he cannot do it.

12
Success

• If a task is too easy, we feel little success and
  are not motivated to continue.
• If a task is too hard, we are not motivated to
  continue
• The more success students have experienced in the
  past, the more optimistic they are about future
  performance.

13
Checking for Understanding

• Level of concern 1
• Feeling tone 2
• Success 3

14
Checking for Understanding

• A parent comes to parent teacher conferences.
  You tell him his child is not doing well in
  Algebra. The dad tells you that he has never
  used algebra in his life, so he doesnt figure
  his son does either. His problem is likely to be
  . . .
• 1 concern, 2 feeling tone, 3 - success

15
Checking for Understanding

• A student is not doing his assignments in
  division. You also suspect that he doesnt know
  his multiplication tables. It is likely that his
  motivational problem is . . .
• 1 concern, 2 feeling tone, 3 - success

16
Checking for Understanding

• You started a new concept today and the whole
  class began to panic. You say, Dont worry,
  this is a tough concept. We will quit for today
  and come back to it tomorrow. Your are trying
  to influence motivation using . . . .
• 1 concern, 2 feeling tone, 3 - success

17
Your Task

• Quickly form groups of about three.
• Think of a time when you have noticed each of
  these motivational factors in your classroom.
• Share with the group.
• Each group be prepared to share one example with
  the class.