Motivation Matters: Investigating Motivational Strategies in the Intermediate Classroom
A Teacher Inquiry by
Diana Morris
90466137
March 3, 2014
My interest in student motivation was sparked by a conversation I had with my brother shortly after I started my two-week practicum in a grade six/seven classroom in North Vancouver. My brother, who continually struggled with motivationthroughout his schooling, has never been afraid to ask me the hard-hitting questions about my career choice.I will never forget this particular conversation whenmy brother asked me the question that would transform my teaching practice and inspire my teacher-inquiry. His question was simple, but impactful – How do you motivate students who (like him) hate going to school?
I thought about his question a great deal throughout my two-week practicum and brought it with me into my classes at the University of British Columbia (UBC). I lay awake at night wondering how I was planning on inspiring 30 eleven and twelve year-olds to learn fractions, French, and everything in between. I always knew that one of my primary goals as a teacher was to develop the passions of my students and foster a love of life-long learning; yet I had never taken the time to consider how I could influence the level of intrinsic motivation in my classroom.
Motivational theorists note that while, both intrinsic (internal) and extrinsic (external) motivational factors play an important role in the elementary classroom, “intrinsic motivation has numerous advantages over extrinsic motivation.” (McDevitt and Ormrod, 2013, p. 496) While I agree with this assertion, I was left wonderinghow I, as a teacher, couldshift students away from extrinsic motivators and towards the intrinsic value of education and learning as a life-long process. I was inspired to inquire into the specific strategies and techniques that I could implement in the classroom that would positively influence the level of intrinsicstudent motivation.
At first, the research I discovered was not very encouraging. Studies suggest that intrinsic motivation for academic subjects rapidly declines during the middle grades, with the greatest decrease occurring between sixth and seventh grade. (McDevitt and Ormrod, 2013, p. 501; Anderman and Maehr, 1994, p. 288) Interestingly, the research also suggests that the classroom environment, as well as the classroom teacher, play a vital role in influencing the level of student motivation. In fact, many motivational research experts arguethat “virtually everything the teacher does has a potential motivational impact on students.” (Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2008, p. 300; Stipek, 1996) From the way we set up our classrooms, to the type of feedback we give, teachers are constantly shaping student motivation. With my faith restored that I could, in fact,make a difference, I turned to the experts for guidance and began looking specifically at motivational strategies for the intermediate classroom.
In my experiences, the teachers who inspired me the most were the ones who were passionate about what they taught. Their love of the material emanated into the classroom and their enthusiasm breathed life into the subject matter. As teachers, we play a primary role in setting the tone for our class. Therefore, it is integral that we model the behaviours we want our students to demonstrate. University educator, Mekiva Callahan, notes that students often reciprocate the energy that is in the room. “If you appear bored and uninterested in the course, your students will most likely respond to that negative energy and apathetic attitude by duplicating it.” (Callahan, 3) Conversely, one can infer that a teacher who is involved and enthusiastic will inspire students to become invested in the material.
As someone who is naturally enthusiastic about most things in life, my energy is something I intuitively bring into the classroom. During my first two weeks of teaching, my enthusiasm is something I fell back on to “sell” my lessons to the learners in my class. However, when my sponsor teacher asked me what I was planning on doing to hookstudents into my lessons, I knew that my smile and positive attitude were not enoughto entice my students. In response to my conversation with my sponsor teacher, I began spending more time creating engaging hooks when developing my lesson plans. Since I began dedicating focused attention to “hooking” my students, I have noticed a positive influence on their engagement and motivation during my lessons.
Based on my positive results, I was interested to see if any of my classmates at UBC had similar experiences with hooks during their practicums. As it turns out, many of my peers did have something to say about the relationship between hooks and student engagement. Several of my peers told stories of lessons that they had planned where they felt the content was a bit dry, but the way they packagedthe lesson made it interesting and got students excited. Some of my classmates even argued that the way they framed the lesson at the beginning was the primary motivational factor. Ultimately, I, and many of my classmates, agree that the wayin which wesell our lessons to students plays a vital role in how we invigorate, direct, and sustain their behaviour.
While hooking students at the beginning of a lesson is very important, we cannot rely solely on hooks to bolster student motivation. We must also ensure that the content of our lessons will stimulate and engage our students long-term. One of the primary ways we can get our students more involved in our lessons is by making the content more personally relevant. All the experts agree that students perform best and display the greatest amount of interest when they can relate personally to the material. (Callan, 3; Kirk; Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2008, p. 328)
For myself, I know I am always most engaged when I can make connections to the course material. If I cannot relate to what I am being taught, I only get a superficial understanding of the concept. I have also witnessed this on multiple occasions with my students in my practicum class. One example that comes to mind transpired during our unit on algebraic equations. Many of the students in my class, particularly those who struggle with math, were resistant to the abstract questioning methods and formulas that algebra entails. It was particularly difficult for them to see thepurpose of algebra, thus they were not excited about learning it. However, when a questionrelated to a real life situation, students were more actively involved in finding the answer. To keep students motivated, it was important that the lessons were framed to demonstrate that mathematic equations with unknown variables do havevalue in everyday life.
Ensuring relevance and engagement is one of the most important things teachers do when planning and executing lessons. The way in which we ensure these two factors at the planning stage is through our rationale. When devising a rationale, it is crucial that we are thinking about the learners in our classroom. Every motivational handbook I read stressed the importance of knowing the students in your class and how they learn. As I have discovered throughout my practicum experience, knowing my learners is not something that occurs right away; nor is it something that just happens. Truly knowing students is an active process that involves building a relationship with each and every individual.
When we know the learners in our class and what drives them, we are able to create more meaningful learning experiences for our students. Knowing my students on a personal level helps me plan units and structure my lessonsso I can constantly make connections to topics or themes that resonate with my students. Even when it comes to subject matter they may not particularly enjoy, there are many waysI can mould the contentto entice my students. For example, I know that I have a very active class of highly dedicated and dynamic athletes. I also know that several of my students do not particularly enjoy French. Rather than being discouraged by their lack of enthusiasm for one of my favourite subjects, I saw an opportunity to plan a French unit on the Olympics. Not only was the unit relevant and authentic since it aligned with the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, but athleticism is a topic that resonates with nearly every one of my students.
Connecting with students is not only an incredibly rewarding experience for both teacher and pupil; it is also one of the top factors in student productivity. Motivational research indicates what many teachers already know: students work harder for teachers who value their individuality. (McLain, 2009, p. 69) When we show students that we genuinely care about them, and their success, they are less likely to let us down. Some students are driven by pride and work diligently to demonstrate their abilities; others may be more motivated by fear of disappointing the teacher. Either way, building strong relationships with students has a positive influence on their motivation.
Once again, I am able to draw on my own experiences of being a student and how personal relationships with my teachers impacted my level of motivation. Throughout elementary and secondary school, I was a highly motivated individual. Not only was I academically successful, but I also genuinely enjoyed learning and going to school. I made a strong effort to get to know my teachers, and in return I felt like they got to know me. However, once I started university, I struggled with motivation and engagement during my first and second year. I believe this was partially due to the fact that I did not have any relationships with my instructors. I found it intimidating to be one of two hundred students in a lecture auditorium – I did not want to speak during class, or seek extra assistance during office hours from an instructor who did not know my name. As a result, I found myself feeling highly disconnected from the material I was learning. Fortunately, by third and fourth year my courses became more specialized resulting in decreased class sizes. In fact, many of my seminars had less than twenty students. Once again, I was able to connect with my professors and I found myself more motivated to succeed.
Another key reason I thrived in smaller classes was that, as a student, I felt I was able to personalize my own learning. Particularly in seminars, which are traditionally less structured than lecture-style courses, I felt that the students were empowered to navigate through key concepts in their own way with very little input from the instructor. The professors were there to facilitate discussion, but ultimately it was up to the students to decide how they wanted to engage with the course content. Based on my experiences, I would argue that student agency and autonomy can be very powerful motivators. Of course, I acknowledge thatmy experiences with self-directed learning were at the university level. Nevertheless, I think it is crucial for students at the elementary level to feel a similar sense of empowerment when it comes to their own learning.
One way we can foster student autonomyand bolster motivation in the elementary classroom is by allowing students to have more choices in how they represent their learning. For example, final assessments can be designed to allow students to demonstrate their understanding in a variety of different ways. From what I have seen during my practicum experience, in addition to testimonies from my classmates, students greatly appreciate being given options. It allows them to utilize their strengths and reinforces the concepts they do know, rather than focusing on content they struggle with.
While research supports that the level of student motivation is positively influenced when teachers provide opportunities for autonomous decision making,student empowerment is more complicated than simply allowing students to make choices. (AndermanMaehr, 1994, 293; Kirk; Schunk, 2008, 327; ToshalisNakkula, 2012) One area that teachers may struggle with is finding the ideal balance between too much and not enough direction. At one end of the spectrum, students feel constricted and unmotivateddue to limited options; on the other end, students may become overwhelmed when given too much freedom and not enough direction.It is critical that teachers strive to appropriately scaffold their lessons and find balance between self-directed learning and guided instruction. While I maintain that student autonomy is a powerful motivation tool, it must be facilitated effectively by the teacher.
Another delicate balancing act for teachers is determining the appropriate difficulty of academic tasks. Finding the optimal level of complexity is crucial as experts note that student motivation is stunted by tasks that they find too easy or too challenging. (McDevitt and Ormrod, 2013, p. 498; Schunk, 2008, 305; Kirk) Creating appropriately challenging lessons can be a tricky area to navigate, especially for new teachers. Once again, the task is made easier when a teacher has a solid sense of the learners in their class and their capabilities.
While students need to be intellectually stimulated and challenged, we also must ensure they feel capable in order to sustain their motivation. Some psychologists suggest that the main source of intrinsic motivation is our innate need to feel competent. (McDevitt and Ormrod, 2013, p. 498) According to expectancy value theory, a student’s level of motivation for an academic task is jointly determined by the perceived value of the task and his or her own expectancy for success. (Callahan, p.1) Thus, in order to truly influence students’ levels of motivation long-term, teachers must ensure that students will be successful at their intended learning objectives.
To ensure students feel capable, we must set them up for success by scaffolding their learning.In other words, teachers need to foster student self-efficacy.[1]When students are successful at making choices that relate to their own learning, it builds their confidence and self-esteem. Elementary educator and avid blogger, Barbara Abromitis, argues that self-efficacy is one of the three major tenets of intrinsically motivated students. (Abromitis, 2013) Certainly, most individuals have experienced the effects of self-efficacy on determining their level of motivation. If we think we will fail from the outset of a given task, we are far less motivated to follow through versus if we knew we could succeed. Similarly, if we know we will succeed at a given task without putting in effort, it can be equally un-motivating.
A key way that teachers can help support students in building self-efficacy is by working on effective goal setting. Research indicates that the types of goals students set are inextricably linked to their source of motivation. Students who are intrinsically motivated often create task-mastery goals whereas students who are extrinsically motivated are more often linked to performance based goals. (AndermanMaehr, 1994, p.294-295; Ellsworth, 2009, p. 51; McDevitt and Ormrod, 2013, p. 503-506; ToshalisNakkula, 2012) A potential area of further inquiry would be exploring how teachers can effectively balance task-mastery and performance based goals in the classroom.
Interestingly, a colleague recently told me a story of a student who complained to her about his lack of motivation to complete her assignments. He insisted that the tasks were too easy, thus he had no desire to complete them. I found this story particularly interesting as the student in question was engaging in metacognitive processes to identify that he was not being challenged enough. From what I have gathered throughout my inquiry, supporting student metacognition is one of the most important strategies teachers can use to influence students’ level of intrinsic motivation. In fact, some argue that “metacognition is the engine of learning.” (Watkins, 2006, p.47)
When students engage in thinking about how they learn, it turns them from a passive recipient into an active participant in their own education. Stephen Heppell eloquently states that students become co-producers of learning rather than consumers. (Heppell) As a result, students become more invested in their education – they begin to see their role in the classroom as more meaningful thus they are more motivated. Heppell also stresses that students who engage with metacognitive reflection are more proficient learners as they become more self-aware of their own learning style and needs. Personally, I feel that knowing myself as a learner has dramatically impacted my academic career. For example, I know I become easily overwhelmed by large tasks, thus I break assignments down into more manageable pieces. Through meta-level reflection we are able to recognize how various factors influence our learning. Acknowledging these patters can be crucial for productivity, efficiency, and motivation.
Many teachers are using metacognitive techniques as one of several tools they use to assess student learning. Personally, I think this form of assessment is invaluable as it provides students with a platform to express their learning style and preferences. Furthermore, it demonstrates to students that we value their input and their individual characteristics. In turn, student feedback allows us, as teachers, to refine our practice, become more student-centred, and better address the needs of our learners. Similarly, as teachers, we must take time to reflect on our practice so we can continue to develop professionally.