Increasing Student Motivation: It May Be Easier Than You Think! Saundra Yancy McGuire, Ph.D. Assistant Vice Chancellor for Learning, Teaching, & Retention Professor, Department of Chemistry Past Director, Center for Academic Success Louisiana State University

Motivation “In the academy, the term ‘motivating’ means stimulating interest in a subject and, therefore, the desire to learn it.” (Nilson, 57)

Why Is It Often Difficult to Motivate Students? Characteristics of many students: Working more hours More diagnosed ADD/ADHD Interested in obtaining credentials Feel entitled to an A or B if they consistently attend Few time management skills Few learning skills

Raffini, James P. (1995) 150 Ways to Improve Intrinsic Motivation. New York, NY: Allyn and Bacon.

Motivating Students Bases of Intrinsic Motivation  Autonomy (Control One’s Own Destiny)  Competence (Do Things that Help One Feel Successful)  Belonging (To Feel Part of a Group Effort)  Self-Esteem (To Feel Good About Who They Are)  Involvement and Enjoyment (To Find Pleasure in What They Do) James Raffini, Allyn and Bacon, 1996

Strategies for Enhancing Student Autonomy  Goal Setting Activity  Self Report Card

Strategies for Enhancing Competence  Know-Want-Learned Listing  Graphic Note Taking (illustrating material)  Metacognitive Monitoring - Introduce Metacognition and Bloom’s Taxonomy - Implement Cooperative Learning - Games (e.g. Jeopardy, Millionaire)

The Story of Three Students Who Enhanced Their Competence by Using Metacognitive Self- Regulation Travis, first year PSYCH student 47, 52, 82, 86B in course Ifeanyi, sophomore ENG student in thermo 67, 54, 68, 95 (final)B in course Phil, senior ENG student in analytical chem 65, 67, 61, 107 (final)B in course

Metacognition* The ability to: think about one’s own thinking be consciously aware of oneself as a problem solver monitor and control one’s mental processing (e.g. “Am I understanding this material?”) accurately judge one’s level of learning *term coined by Flavell in 1976

Bloom’s Taxonomy Anderson & Krathwohl,

Creating Evaluating Analyzing Applying Understanding Remembering Putting elements together to form a coherent or functional whole; reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure through generating, planning, or producing. Making judgments based on criteria and standards through checking and critiquing. Carrying out or using a procedure through executing, or implementing. Constructing meaning from oral, written, and graphic messages through interpreting, exemplifying, classifying, summarizing, inferring, comparing, and explaining. Retrieving, recognizing, and recalling relevant knowledge from long-term memory. Bloom’s Taxonomy  Breaking material into constituent parts, determining how the parts relate to one another and to an overall structure. Graduate School Undergraduate High School This pyramid depicts the different levels of thinking we use when learning. Notice how each level builds on the foundation that precedes it. It is required that we learn the lower levels before we can effectively use the skills above.

How do we teach students to move higher on Bloom’s Taxonomy? Teach them the Study Cycle* *adapted from Frank Christ’s PLRS system

4 Reflect The Study Cycle 1 Set a Goal(1-2 min) Decide what you want to accomplish in your study session 2 Study with Focus(30-50 min) Interact with material- organize, concept map, summarize, process, re-read, fill-in notes, reflect, etc. 3 Reward Yourself(10-15 min) Take a break– call a friend, play a short game, get a snack 4 Review(5 min) Go over what you just studied *Intense Study Sessions Attend Review Study Attend class – GO TO CLASS! Answer and ask questions and take meaningful notes. Preview before class – Skim the chapter, note headings and boldface words, review summaries and chapter objectives, and come up with questions you’d like the lecture to answer for you. Review after class – As soon after class as possible, read notes, fill in gaps and note any questions. Assess your Learning – Periodically perform reality checks Am I using study methods that are effective? Do I understand the material enough to teach it to others? Preview C enter for A cademic S uccess B-31 Coates Hall ▪ ▪ Assess Study – Repetition is the key. Ask questions such as ‘why’, ‘how’, and ‘what if’. Intense Study Sessions* short study sessions per day Weekend Review – Read notes and material from the week to make connections

Strategies for Enhancing Belonging and Relatedness  Creating a community of scholars in the classroom where students are accountable to each other  e.g. if everyone does not participate, the class will have a quiz at the next class meeting  Group quizzes

Strategies for Enhancing Self-Esteem  What is one thing do you do very well? How did you learn to do it well?  Accomplishment and Goal Sheet (Keep a running list)

Strategies for Enhancing Involvement and Enjoyment Switch Days (Student becomes teacher; teacher becomes student) Anticipation Guide (Student is asked to read statements and identify those they think are true) Reduce Student Anxiety Use Strategies from Skip Downing at

Ways to Create Positive Feelings and Reduce Anxiety Introduce engaging, fun activity if possible. Provide clear grading schemas and rubrics if possible Show the instructor’s human side Emphasize the importance of effort, rather than prior preparation, in performance Demonstrate confidence that every student can and will succeed!

Reflection Activity Pick an activity or assignment from your class. Using the ideas on the previous slides, describe how could you restructure/enhance that activity or assignment to increase student motivation. Share this activity with a partner

The Role of Emotions in Learning  Students are more likely to attempt activities about which they feel emotionally secure and confident that they can succeed  Faculty can give students the confidence to try, and the strategies to succeed!

The Connection Between Emotions, Motivation, and Learning Positive emotions lead to increased motivation, which leads to increased learning, which leads to increased success, which results in positive emotions.

Creating a Positive Emotional Experience for Students! Set up a debate or controversy Encourage collaborative or team learning and competition Provide affirming comments for student answers Use crazy/humorous analogies Others?

More Strategies for Increasing Motivation Get to know students personally—interests and abilities Build self-esteem by providing activities that will result in success Allow time for group work/discussion Use project based instruction Encourage students to explore Others?

Teacher’s Role in Student Motivation Eric Hobson, Albany College of Pharmacy Positive Motivation Teacher’s attitudes 27% Course structure 22% Intrinsic 20% Course content 17% Performance meas. 10% Financial 1% Parents/Others 1% Negative Motivation Teacher’s attitudes 27% Course structure 26% Learning environ. 13% Course content 11% Intrinsic 10% Parents/Others 1% Financial 0.3%

When do teacher attitudes and course structure decrease motivation? When teachers assign homework and give tests that require little, if any, higher order thinking assess learning too infrequently provide limited feedback to students put notes on-line and advise students they don’t need to purchase the textbook have limited or no ability to teach students concrete learning strategies

Effective Concrete Learning Strategies  Use SQ5R for reading assignments (survey, question, read, recite, review, wRite, reflect)  Test understanding by giving “mini lectures” on concepts  Always solve problems without looking at an example or the solution  Use the Study Cycle with Intense Study Sessions

Concept maps/Graphical Organizers facilitate development of higher order thinking skills

Chapter/Paper Map Title of Chapter/Paper Primary Headings Subheadings Secondary Subheadings

Ideas... Cause and Effect: (Comments go Here.) (Comments go Here.) (Comments go Here.)

Get Creative! Topic Area Issue 1 Issue 4 Issue 7 Issue 2 Issue 3 Issue 5 Issue 6

Persuasive Writing Thesis Details Viewpoint Details Conclusion Reasons, Facts, Examples

Compare and Contrast Concept #1Concept #2 How are they similar? How are they different?

Concluding Points about Motivation* Motivation to learn is not fixed; nor, is motivation easily modified in the short term. A great deal of influence into student motivation (positive and negative) rests in teachers’ hands. Motivational incentives work effectively in optimal, not maximum doses; they reach a point of diminishing returns. Highly motivated students have better self images than less motivated students. *Hobson, 2001

Final Reflection Questions What is one thing you have learned about student motivation? What is one thing you can do to increase student motivation in your course?

References Flavell, J. H., Metacognition and Cognitive monitoring: A New Area of Cognitive- developmental Inquiry. American Psychologist, 34 (10), ( ). Hobson, Eric (2001). Motivating Students to Learn in Large Classes. Unpublished manuscript. Nilson, Linda, Teaching at It’s Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company. Raffini, James P. (1995) 150 Ways to Improve Intrinsic Motivation. New York, NY: Allyn and Bacon.