Barriers and Solutions for Changing
Students’ Motivation and
Engagement for Learning
Myron H. Dembo, Ph.D
Emeritus Professor of Educational Psychology
University of Southern California
[email protected]
January 5, 2012
Saddleback College
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GOAL THEORY
Students are motivated when they:
• have a goal they believe is achievable
• have the desire (reasonable effort) to
attain the goal
• have a plan in place to attain the goal
Possible Selves
Hoped-for
possible self we
would like to
become (e.g.,
teacher, attorney,
professional
athlete)
Expected
possible self we
are fairly
sure we can
become (e.g.,
college graduate)
Feared possible
self we wish to
avoid becoming
(e.g., a dropout,
homeless,
unemployed)
How one thinks about
the self and the future
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Discovering –What are my strengths and
weaknesses?
Thinking – Who am I? What are my hopes
and fears?
Sketching - What am I like?
Reflecting – What can I be?
Growing – How can I reach my goals?
Performing – How am I doing?
Hock, M., Schumaker, J., & Deshler, D. (2003). Possible selves: Nurturing student motivation.
Lawrence, Kansas: Edge Enterprises.
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Covington’s Self-Worth Theory
(1992)
Self-worth = ability = performance
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Self-worth is based on ability, BUT if one can
demonstrate that his or her performance does not
reflect on ability, then self-worth is maintained.
This is why students often use failure-avoidance
strategies.
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Help seeking can imply inadequacy and threaten selfworth
Help seeking can expose learners to public scrutiny
Students often fail to adequately judge their skills
level so they believe that they can succeed without
assistance
Students incorrectly contribute their poor
performance to a lack of ability rather than effort
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The ability of learners to control the factors or
conditions affecting their learning.
“Learning is not something that happens to
students, it is something that happens by
students.” - Zimmerman
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Learning strategies
“It is not that students don’t have the
ability to succeed. The problem is that they
have not acquired all the tools necessary to
learn.” Focus on learning strategies not learning styles.
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Motivation (Why?)
Methods of learning (How?)
Use of time (When?)
Management of one’s physical environment
(Where?)
Management of one’s social environment
(With whom?)
Management of one’s performance (What?)
From Dembo, M., & Seli, H. (2008). Motivation and Learning
Strategies for College Success (3rd ed.). Mahway, NJ: Erlbaum
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What are students thinking about when they
first enter your class?
 What information are they looking for?
 What are your purposes and goals for the
first day?
 What do you do to attain these purposes and
goals?
 What do you think students say to each other
when they leave your class the first day.
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“A learning-centered syllabus
requires that you shift from what
you, the instructor are going to
cover in your course to a concern for
what information, tools,
assignments, and activities you can
provide to promote your students’
learning and intellectual
development” (p. xiv)
From O’Brien, J. et al. (2008). The course syllabus: A
learning-centered approach. San Francisco: Wiley.
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Checklist for Developing a Syllabus
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Instructor information
Student information form
Statement of teaching
philosophy
Purpose of the course
Course description
Course objectives
Readings
Resources
Course calendar
Course requirements
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Policy and expectations:
Attendance, late papers,
missed tests, and class
behaviors
Policies and expectations:
Academic honestly, disability
access, and safety
Evaluation
Grading procedure
How to succeed in this
course: Tools for study and
learning
From O’Brien, J. et al. (2008). The course syllabus: A learning-centered approach. San Francisco: Wiley.
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Class attendance appears to be a better predictor
of college grades than any other known predictor
of college grades—including SAT scores, HSGPA,
study skills, and the amount of time studying. In
deed the relationship is so strong as to suggest that
dramatic improvement in average grades (and failure
rates) could be achieved by efforts to increase class
attendance rates among college students .”(p. 288289)
From Crede, Roch, & Kieszynka (2010) in the Review of Educational
Research.
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Three stages of student action:
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3.
Think. The instructor engages students’ thinking
with a question, prompt, reading, visual or
observation.
Pair. Students pair up to discuss their respective
responses.
Share. After students talk in pairs for a few
moments, the teacher asks pairs to share their
thinking with the rest of the class.
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Ask students to turn in a question about the readings in a
box in from of the lecture room.
Plan your lecture around a series of questions that the
lecture answers
Turn-to-your partner discussions. Divide the lecture into 10
to 15 minute segments. Use different discussion tasks:
Summarize the answer to the question being
discussed
Solve a problem
Give a reaction to the theory, concepts, or
information being presented.
Elaborate the material being presented.
Predict or explain
Attempt to resolve the conceptual conflict the
presentation has aroused.
Hypothesize answers to the question being posed.
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Barrier #1: Students’ lack personal and career
goals
Barrier # 2: Problems with students’ selfworth and fear of failure
Barrier #3: Students’ lack self-regulatory
skills
Barrier #4: Some inappropriate instruction
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