This document discusses strategies for improving student motivation in higher education. It defines motivation as an internal state that drives learners towards certain activities. Motivation can be intrinsic, driven by internal factors like interest, or extrinsic, driven by external factors like rewards. While extrinsic motivation may be useful in some contexts, intrinsic motivation is generally more effective for higher education. The document outlines signs that can indicate a lack of motivation, like missing deadlines and avoiding participation. It also discusses common challenges for new college students around time management, self-discipline, and forming positive attitudes towards goals. Maintaining motivation is important for student persistence and retention.
2. Learning Objectives
At the end of this lesson, learners should be able to:
Create a personal definition of
„motivation‟
Differentiate between extrinsic and
intrinsic motivation
Verify whether your learner(s) are
motivated
Accept the impact poor motivation
has on student persistence
3. “If you don‟t know where you are
going, any road will get you
there”
- Richard S. Sagor
Connecting Your Actions to the
Target
IMPROVED OUTCOMES
4. Performance Targets (INDIVIDUAL OUTCOMES)
◦ Ask yourself, “What are students expected to
gain from our „actions”?
Improved motivation
Improved engagement
Realistic goal-setting
Improved achievement
Process Targets (TECHNIQUES or STRATEGIES)
Development of an Early Warning System
Training Targets
(Sagor, 2011)
5. Defining Motivation
How do you define motivation?
Think ‘emotionally-driven’ actions
Motivation may be defined as “an internal
state that arouses learners, steers them in
a particular direction and keeps them
engaged with certain activities” (Lei, 2010,
p. 153).
1. Horse to water
2. Fly to honey
3. Human to affection
What „drives‟ your students?
8. Which Type of Motivation is
MORE useful to Higher Ed.
professionals
A
B
9. Motivation: Just the Facts
Many students are not ready for the
challenges encountered in college
(Balduf 2009)
Studies suggest that issues of time-
management tasks and self-discipline
“proved more challenging” than
anticipated upon enrollment to college
(Balduf, 2009).
Morrow & Ackermann (2012) found that
learners who are unable to form positive
motivational “attitudes” towards goal
fulfillment are at greater risk of dropping
from program.
Sparkman, Maulding & Roberts (2012)
note parental education
accomplishments as influential on learner
motivation and persistence in college.
Intrinsic
Intrinsic
Intrinsic
Intrinsic
10. Are you a teacher who underscores
instrument goals (hard skills and soft
skills)? Why?
Hard Skills
Verbal/Written
Mathematic
Laboratory
Questioning
Computer
Soft Skills
Attitude
Relationships
Empathy
Listening
Tact
11. Question:
What data is currently
available in your class (or
daily interactions) that can
offer potential information on
the presence or absence of
motivation with your students?
Put another way:
How can you tell if motivation
exists?
13. Student Scenario:
Susan is a new student who is attending classes at
Bryman College – A for-profit organization. As a new
enrollment to the school, Susan repeatedly misses
assignment deadlines and submits work late. While in
class, her instructor notices that Susan frequently avoids
eye contact with others and she excludes herself from
group discussions. Now, in her third week of a four week
module, it doesn’t look good. The teacher is concerned
that some of Susan’s behavior is an early indication of
what’s about to come – another drop for the college;
another failed attempt. So, in an effort to address the
problem, the teacher presents what she knows of Susan to
colleagues at the college. And, to her surprise, several of
the other staff members are dealing with a ‘Susan’ of their
own. What’s even more unsettling – the College attrition
rate for students, immediately following the first few weeks
of class, is extremely high.
14. Head on over to
wwwEduOs.net to begin
the online discussion and
anchor your comments to
our dynamic case
involving „Susan‟.
15. Reference List
Balduf, M. (2009). Underachievement among college students. Journal of advanced
academics, 20(2), 274-294. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ849379.pdf
Engagement and motivation. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://kumardeepak.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/engagement-motivation-and-learning/
Homer thinking. (2013). Retrieved from
http://www.newgrounds.com/art/view/gamenovice19/homer-thinking
Laskey, M. L., & Hetzel, C. J. (2010, August 30). Self-regulated learning, metacognition, and
soft skills: the 21st century leaner. Retrieved from
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED511589.pdf
Lehmann, W. (2007). "I just didn't feel like I fit in": the role of habitus in university dropout
decisions. Canadian journal of higher education, 37(2), 89-110. Retrieved from
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=e3520ca5-3840-4298-880a-
ac8dfff6da1c@sessionmgr12&vid=5&hid=127
16. Lei, S. (2010). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: evaluating benefits and drawbacks from
college instructors' perspective. Journal of instructional psychology, Retrieved from
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=e7561ffa-953d-4b17-96a8-
061cc4704cbc@sessionmgr111&vid=8&hid=108
Millar, B., & Tanner, D. (2011, December 10). Student perceptions of their readiness for
community college study. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ974348.pdf
Morrow, J. A., & Ackermann, M. E. (2012). Intention to persist and retention of first-year
students: The importance of motivation and sense of belonging. College student
journal, 46(3), 483-491. Retrieved from
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=efc82f3b-eac7-4d11-91da-
acc4e88f76d0@sessionmgr15&vid=7&hid=113
Sparkman, L., Maulding, W. S., & Roberts, J. G. (2012). Non-cognitive predictors of student
success in college. College student journal, 46(3), 642-652. Retrieved from
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=efc82f3b-eac7-4d11-91da-
acc4e88f76d0@sessionmgr15&vid=5&hid=12
Reference List
17. Taylor, J. (2012). Students‟ perspective on intrinsic motivation to learn: a model to guide
educators. ICCTE, 7(2), Retrieved from http://icctejournal.org/issues/v6i1/v6i1-wilson/
Tinto, V. (1987, November). The principles of effective retention. Fall conference of the
Maryland college personnel association. Retrieved from
http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED301267.pdf
Reference List
Hinweis der Redaktion
“This very real risk of losing our direction and failing to reach out desired destination should motivate us to be disciplined and deliberative when planning our action research, our planned exploration of a not-yet-visible destination (Sagor, 2011, p. 31).
It is important to remember the path we have traveled and where we still have to go. So far, we covered the concept of motivation and its’ impact on student persistence. Our training targets involve both performance targets and process targets. We are looking to improve postsecondary motivation, engagement, goal-setting, and achievement. The literature review conducted on postsecondary student attrition and early warning systems informed this project so that in the end an early warning system that detects dropout tendencies in applied into practice. Each week, I will engaged in the four stages of an action research process – “envisioning success, clarifying a theory, collecting data while implementing theory, and reflecting on results obtained” (Sagor, 2011, p. 61).
Motivation may be defined as “an internal state that arouses learners, steers them in a particular direction and keeps them engaged with certain activities” (Lei, 2010, p. 153). Another way to view motivation is in terms of ‘drive’. This specific approach to understanding motivation is categorized in terms of external drive versus internal drive (extrinsic versus intrinsic, respectively). Current data suggests that anything that interferes with one or both of these drives impacts learner persistence (Balduf, 2009; Laskey & Hetzel, 2010; Miller & Tanner, 2011; Morrow & Ackermann, 2012, Tinto, 1987). For example, Balduf (2009) found (within the context of their research) many students were not ready for the challenges encountered in college and thus lacked intrinsic motivation to succeed. This resulted in the incongruence between personally held beliefs and the reality of challenging college-level work.
Intrinsically motivated learners, however, are more likely to continue learning following the conclusion of a lesson, activity or term because of a self-driven connection to internal rewards. Intrinsic motivation works off of an internal reward mechanism that is significantly personal. As previously mentioned, one particular theory that helps to explain why the concept “motivation” is so important in the minds of students (and teachers) is the Attribution theory. Malone and Lepper (1987) have defined intrinsic motivation more simply in terms of what people will do without external inducement.
Motivation, as a broad topic within education, may be defined as “an internal state that arouses learners, steers them in a particular direction and keeps them engaged with certain activities” (Lei, 2010, p. 153). Extrinsic motivators (external rewards) within the classroom are controlled by the teacher. “Most educators would agree that their primary goal is to help students learn the material for their specific grade level and content area during the course of the term. A higher goal, however, consists of helping students not only learn the content for the term at hand, but motivating students to continue to learn once the term ends” (Taylor, 2012). The external rewards of learning are self-limiting and dependent on the learner’s interpretation.
There may be no easy answer where it comes to differentiating an impact of intrinsic versus extrinsic drive in the classroom. However, Morrow & Ackermann (2012) found that learners who are unable to form positive motivational “attitudes” towards goal fulfillment are at greater risk of dropping from program. Within the context of their research, “Students that reported being more motivated by instruments goals such as getting a job (following graduation) and succeeding in society were more likely to intend to persist; students without distinct goals or motivations were less likely to persist (Morrow & Ackermann, 2012, p. 483). Furthermore, Sparkman, Maulding & Roberts (2012) note parental education accomplishments as influential on learner motivation and persistence in college. Students who are unable to draw from learning experience of parents who have already attended (and completed) undergraduate programs are often left unsupported and lacking reliable examples of success to draw from (Lehmann, 2007; Sparkman et al, 2012). Knight and Mirza expanded on this statement by suggesting “…parental educational attainment has been shown to be the most important factor in determining university participation (as cited by Lehmann, 2007, p. 94). Success begets success and motivation begets motivation – there is no getting around the point that intrinsic drive to succeed is effected by extrinsic factors, beliefs and attitudes.
Susan is a new student who is attending classes at Bryman College – A for-profit organization. As a new enrollment to the school, Susan repeatedly misses assignment deadlines and submits work late. While in class, her instructor notices that Susan frequently avoids eye contact with others and she excludes herself from group discussions. Now, in her third week of a four week module, it doesn’t look good. The teacher is concerned that some of Susan’s behavior is an early indication of what’s about to come – another drop for the college; another failed attempt. So, in an effort to address the problem, the teacher presents what she knows of Susan to colleagues at the college. And, to her surprise, several of the other staff members are dealing with a ‘Susan’ of their own. What’s even more unsettling – the College attrition rate for students, immediately following the first few weeks of class, is extremely high