What can I do to motivate students?
Meg Gorzycki, Ed.D.
The Basics
Motivation is a critical variable in whether students persist to degree. It is both intrinsic and extrinsic, and both may be influenced by instruction, policies, strategies, and habits.
In Practice
- Establish clear policies for attendance, requirements, and deadlines; post them in an accessible location and remind students about them often
- Communicate the consequences for not attending class, meeting requirements, nor deadlines and honor them
- Reserve time in class to explore the ways they can organize their time effectively to meet course expectations
- Reserve time in class to help students identify the metacognitive skills that will enhance their learning; they include: monitoring one’s attention and focus; monitoring one’s understanding; and, taking initiative to make notes on key ideas, questions, and things not understood
- Take time on the first day or two of class to discuss why students enrolled in the course and to explore their own degree of personal interest in the subject; share some ideas about how the course is relevant to society and what implications it has for the
- Every class is an opportunity to recognize superior effort and steady progress; be explicit and generous with praise, especially with those who clearly struggle with intrinsic motivation
- Encourage students to create study groups that meet outside class to review lectures, class projects, and assignments, and to support each other
- When appropriate, give students choices about what kind of assignment they may complete to meet course outcomes, assessments, and topics to explore
- Encourage students to make checklists to things they need to accomplish in order to be prepared for class and to do well on their assignments and exams
- Provide abundant feedback on student work, and administer formative assessments frequently so students have a sense of their strengths and areas of growth
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