Motivation (1) EDU 330: Educational Psychology Daniel Moos

What does motivation mean to you? Why first explore your beliefs? Constructivists rejoice! Tall in the the saddle (1)Visualize a context in which you felt “motivated” (K-12, College class/course, sports, theater, music….) (2)Now, brainstorm characteristics of the environment that led you to being “motivated” (3)Visualize a context in which you felt “unmotivated” (K- 12, College class/course, sports, theater, music….) (4)Now, brainstorm characteristics of the environment that led you to being “unmotivated”

Overview Today: The Behavioral View Self-Determination Theory (SDT) Intelligence Views and Motivation Attribution Theory Next Class Expectancy X Value Theory The Humanistic View of Motivation The Role of Self-Perceptions in Motivation

What is motivation? Process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal- oriented behaviors Motivation is what causes one to engage in a behavior Drink a glass of water? (behavior) Motivation: Thirsty Student does well on a test (behavior) Motivation: Interested in material, wants a good grade, wants to please the teacher…. Student does poorly on a test (behavior) Motivation: Not interested in material, interested but low confidence…

The Behavioral View of Motivation Students are motivated to complete a task by the desire to obtain an externally provided reinforcer (extrinsic reinforcement) Limitations of the Behavioral View  Temporary changes (in absence of reward)  Materialistic View  Undermining Effect with Intrinsic motivation

NeedDefinitionClassroom Application/Example Competence Autonomy Relatedness Independence and ability to alter the environment The feeling of being connected to others in one’s environment Feedback (“Your problem-solving skills are improving. Good work!”) Teacher asks for student input on rules, encourages students to set & monitor goals Teacher spends time with her students before & after school, helping them w/ homework, etc (Ryan & Deci, 2000) Ability to function effectively in the environment Self-Determination Theory (SDT)

Intelligence Views and Motivation Beliefs about intelligence  Entity Theorists – Believe that intelligence is like a thing, or entity, that has fixed characteristics (“I a smart” or “I am dumb”)  Incremental Theorists – Believe that intelligence can be gradually improved by adding to and refining thinking skills (“If I work hard, I can be smart”) Connection to motivation? Developmental trajectory?

Attributions: Explanations that people tend to make to explain success or failure Internal External ControllableUncontrollable LuckEffort Difficulty of Test Choice of Study Environments Other Cognitive Views of Motivation

Attribution Theory: Introduction (II) How do individuals typically attribute their success and/or failure? – Interpret successes and failures in a manner that is most likely to maintain positive self-image Internal External ControllableUncontrollable LuckEffort Difficulty of Test Choice of Study Environments SuccessFailureSuccess/Failure

Attribution Theory: Case Study

Attribution Theory: Strategies (1)“I am competent” AND “I worked hard” NOT beneficial to completely attribute to ability (2) Students most likely to persist after failing if they attribute failure to a lack of appropriate effort (3) Scaffold student’s understanding of effort (a)Students often confuse spending time doing ineffective activities with effort (b)Students often have incorrect conceptions of their understanding (metacognition) (4) Should assessment include evaluations of effort?

Motivation: Beliefs revisited (1) Consider the scenario in which you were “motivated.” To what extent do these theories provide a “theoretical” explanation? (2) Consider the scenario in which you were “unmotivated.” To what extent do these theories provide a “theoretical” explanation? (3) Identify specific strategies a teacher can use to positively affect students’ motivation. (4) Do you have any unanswered questions about motivation?