Motivation
Thinking About Motivation
Motivation

Motivation: DEFINITION: From the Latin
verb movere (to move).


Motivation is the process whereby goal-directed
activity is instigated and sustained.
Why do students set and sustain goals?
One Part of the Answer:

The Ideal Self

Goals are about where we want to be.
 which goals we set
 which goals we value
 and which goals we keep working at.

Goals are related to who we WANT TO BE.
The other part: The Actual Self



Who students think they are affects what they
want.
Self-Efficacy (whether or not they are capable
of achieving a goal)
Things that effect self-efficacy:
 Mastery experiences
 Vicarious experience (models)
 Verbal persuasion
Albert Bandura
Moving From the Actual to the
Ideal


For many students there is a discrepancy between
who they are and who they want to become…
…it can be motivating
 if students think they can change.
 if they can make connections between the
present and the future.
…or devastating
 if students don’t think they can change
 if they are too focused on the present.
Connecting Present to Future

Future time perspective (FTP) is the degree
to which and the way in which the
chronological future is integrated into the
present life-space of an individual through
motivational goal-setting processes.

Perceived instrumentality is an individual’s
understanding of the instrumental value of a
present behavior for future goals (Van
Calster, Lens, & Nuttin, 1987).
Why do students think they can
or can’t change?
Beliefs about Ability!



Incremental = Your ability changes over time
Entity = Your ability is set at birth
Beliefs about Ability lead to goal
orientations.



Incremental = Mastery
Entity = Performance
Mastery vs. Performance

Mastery goal orientation (Good)



Students are mostly concerned with mastering the
task at hand
Failure suggests areas for improvement – can be
motivating.
Performance goal orientation (Bad)


Students are mostly concerned with doing better
than others
Student fears that failure indicates something
about their ABILITY to do the task.
Why would someone want to
master the task?

Mastery is INTRINSICALLY motivating

Intrinsic motivation: wanting to do
something just because it is—in and of
itself—enjoyable!

Why are things enjoyable?

Interest
Competence

Curiosity

Relatedness
Autonomy


What Hurts Intrinsic Motivation?



Controlling rewards
Threats and deadlines
Evaluation and surveillance
Rule of thumb: If someone else
made you – it’s not intrinsic
motivation – it’s EXTRINSIC
motivation.
What’s wrong with Extrinsic
Motivation?
It’s EXTRINSIC
How do I support student
motivation through writing?

Application Essay



Students need to make connections to their own lives.
Students need to make those connections themselves.
Group Essays


Tuesday – lecture (1.5 hrs): Students write essay questions
concerning the weeks set of readings.
Thursday—Groupwork (1.5 hrs):




Students assigned to 4-5 person groups, work together each
week.
I take students’ questions from Tuesday and construct 5
questions for Thursday group assignment.
Each group completes an essay (of their choice), in collaboration.
The essay AND collaborations are evaluated.