Archive for the ‘Motivation’ Category
Teaching Concepts: Motivation Cengage Learning
Posted: February 22, 2016 at 5:51 am
Motivation
Excerpted from Chapter 11 of Biehler/Snowman, PSYCHOLOGY APPLIED TO TEACHING, 8/e, Houghton Mifflin, 1997.
Definition of Motivation (p. 399)
Behavioral Views of Motivation (pp. 399-402)
Cognitive Views of Motivation (pp. 402-406)
The Humanistic View of Motivation (pp. 406-409)
The Impact of Cooperative Learning on Motivation (pp. 416-417)
Suggestions for Teaching in Your Classroom: Motivating Students to Learn (p. 422)
Resources for Further Investigation (pp. 433-434)
Definition of Motivation
Motivation is typically defined as the forces that account for the arousal, selection, direction, and continuation of behavior. Nevertheless, many teachers have at least two major misconceptions about motivation that prevent them from using this concept with maximum effectiveness. One misconception is that some students are unmotivated. Strictly speaking, that is not an accurate statement. As long as a student chooses goals and expends a certain amount of effort to achieve them, he is, by definition, motivated. What teachers really mean is that students are not motivated to behave in the way teachers would like them to behave. The second misconception is that one person can directly motivate another. This view is inaccurate because motivation comes from within a person. What you can do, with the help of the various motivation theories discussed in this chapter, is create the circumstances that influence students to do what you want them to do.
Many factors determine whether the students in your classes will be motivated or not motivated to learn. You should not be surprised to discover that no single theoretical interpretation of motivation explains all aspects of student interest or lack of it. Different theoretical interpretations do, however, shed light on why some students in a given learning situation are more likely to want to learn than others. Furthermore, each theoretical interpretation can serve as the basis for the development of techniques for motivating students in the classroom. Several theoretical interpretations of motivation -- some of which are derived from discussions of learning presented earlier -- will now be summarized.
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Behavioral Views of Motivation
Operant Conditioning and Social Learning Theory
The Effect of Reinforcement In Chapter 8 we discussed Skinner's emphasis of the role of reinforcement in learning. After demonstrating that organisms tend to repeat actions that are reinforced and that behavior can be shaped by reinforcement, Skinner developed the technique of programmed instruction to make it possible for students to be reinforced for every correct response. According to Skinner, supplying the correct answer--and being informed by the program that it is the correct answer--motivates the student to go on to the next frame; and as the student works through the program, the desired terminal behavior is progressively shaped.
Following Skinner's lead, many behavioral learning theorists devised techniques of behavior modification on the assumption that students are motivated to complete a task by being promised a reward of some kind. Many times the reward takes the form of praise or a grade. Sometimes it is a token that can be traded in for some desired object; and at other times the reward may be the privilege of engaging in a self-selected activity.
Operant conditioning interpretations of learning may help reveal why some students react favorably to particular subjects and dislike others. For instance, some students may enter a required math class with a feeling of delight, while others may feel that they have been sentenced to prison. Skinner suggests that such differences can be traced to past experiences. He would argue that the student who loves math has been shaped to respond that way by a series of positive experiences with math. The math hater, in contrast, may have suffered a series of negative experiences.
The Power of Persuasive Models Social learning theorists, such as Albert Bandura, call attention to the importance of observation, imitation, and vicarious reinforcement (expecting to receive the same reinforcer that we see someone else get for exhibiting a particular behavior). A student who identifies with and admires a teacher of a particular subject may work hard partly to please the admired individual and partly to try becoming like that individual. A student who observes an older brother or sister reaping benefits from earning high grades may strive to do the same with the expectation of experiencing the same or similar benefits. A student who notices that a classmate receives praise from the teacher after acting in a certain way may decide to imitate such behavior to win similar rewards. As we pointed out in Chapter 8, both vicarious reinforcement and direct reinforcement can raise an individual's sense of self-efficacy for a particular task, which, in turn, leads to higher levels of motivation.
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Cognitive Views of Motivation
Cognitive views stress that human behavior is influenced by the way people think about themselves and their environment. The direction that behavior takes can be explained by four influences: the inherent need to construct an organized and logically consistent knowledge base, one's expectations for successfully completing a task, the factors that one believes account for success and failure, and one's beliefs about the nature of cognitive ability.
The Impact of Cognitive Development
This view is based on Jean Piaget's principles of equilibration, assimilation, accommodation, and schema formation. Piaget proposes that children possess an inherent desire to maintain a sense of organization and balance in their conception of the world (equilibration). A sense of equilibration may be experienced if a child assimilates a new experience by relating it to an existing scheme, or the child may accommodate by modifying an existing scheme if the new experience is too different.
In addition, individuals will repeatedly use new schemes because of an inherent desire to master their environment. This explains why young children can, with no loss of enthusiasm, sing the same song, tell the same story, and play the same game over and over and why they repeatedly open and shut doors to rooms and cupboards with no seeming purpose. It also explains why older children take great delight in collecting and organizing almost everything they can get their hands on and why adolescents who have begun to attain formal operational thinking will argue incessantly about all the unfairness in the world and how it can be eliminated (Stipek, 1993).
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The Need for Achievement
Have you ever decided to take on a moderately difficult task (like take a course on astronomy even though you are a history major and have only a limited background in science) and then found that you had somewhat conflicting feelings about it? On the one hand, you felt eager to start the course, confident that you would be pleased with your performance. But on the other hand, you also felt a bit of anxiety because of the small possibility of failure. Now try to imagine the opposite situation. In reaction to a suggestion to take a course outside your major, you flat out refuse because the probability of failure seems great, while the probability of success seems quite small.
In the early 1960s John Atkinson (1964) proposed that such differences in achievement behavior are due to differences in something called the need for achievement. Atkinson described this need as a global, generalized desire to attain goals that require some degree of competence. He saw this need as being partly innate and partly the result of experience. Individuals with a high need for achievement have a stronger expectation of success than they do a fear of failure for most tasks and therefore anticipate a feeling of pride in accomplishment. When given a choice, high-need achievers seek out moderately challenging tasks because they offer an optimal balance between challenge and expected success. By contrast, individuals with a low need for achievement avoid such tasks because their fear of failure greatly outweighs their expectation of success, and they therefore anticipate feelings of shame. When faced with a choice, they typically opt either for relatively easy tasks because the probability of success is high or rather difficult tasks because there is no shame in failing to achieve a lofty goal.
Atkinson's point about taking fear of failure into account in arranging learning experiences has been made more recently by William Glasser in Control Theory in the Classroom (1986) and The Quality School (1990). Glasser argues that for people to succeed at life in general, they must first experience success in one important aspect of their lives. For most children, that one important part should be school. But the traditional approach to evaluating learning, which emphasizes comparative grading (commonly called "grading on the curve"), allows only a minority of students to achieve A's and B's and feel successful. The self-worth of the remaining students (who may be quite capable) suffers, which depresses their motivation to achieve on subsequent classroom tasks (Covington, 1985).
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The Humanistic View of Motivation
Abraham Maslow earned his Ph.D. in a psychology department that supported the behaviorist position. After he graduated, however, he came into contact with Gestalt psychologists (a group of German psychologists whose work during the 1920s and 1930s laid the foundation for the cognitive theories of the 1960s and 1970s), prepared for a career as a psychoanalyst, and became interested in anthropology. As a result of these various influences, he came to the conclusion that American psychologists who endorsed the behaviorist position had become so preoccupied with overt behavior and objectivity that they were ignoring other important aspects of human existence (hence the term humanistic to describe his views). When Maslow observed the behavior of especially well-adjusted persons--or self-actualizers, as he called them--he concluded that healthy individuals are motivated to seek fulfilling experiences.
Maslow's Theory of Growth Motivation
Maslow describes seventeen propositions, discussed in Chapter 1 of Motivation and Personality (3d ed., 1987), that he believes would have to be incorporated into any sound theory of growth motivation (or need gratification) to meet them. Referring to need gratification as the most important single principle underlying all development, he adds that "the single, holistic principle that binds together the multiplicity of human motives is the tendency for a new and higher need to emerge as the lower need fulfills itself by being sufficiently gratified" (1968, p. 55). He elaborates on this basic principle by proposing a five-level hierarchy of needs. Physiological needs are at the bottom of the hierarchy, followed in ascending order by safety, belongingness and love, esteem, and self-actualization needs. This order reflects differences in the relative strength of each need. The lower a need is in the hierarchy, the greater is its strength because when a lower-level need is activated (as in the case of extreme hunger or fear for one's physical safety), people will stop trying to satisfy a higher-level need (such as esteem or self-actualization) and focus on satisfying the currently active lower-level need (Maslow, 1987).
The first four needs (physiological, safety, belongingness and love, and esteem) are often referred to as deficiency needs because they motivate people to act only when they are unmet to some degree. Self-actualization, by contrast, is often called a growth need because people constantly strive to satisfy it. Basically, self-actualization refers to the need for self-fulfillment -- the need to develop all of one's potential talents and capabilities. For example, an individual who felt she had the capability to write novels, teach, practice medicine, and raise children would not feel self-actualized until all of these goals had been accomplished to some minimal degree. Because it is at the top of the hierarchy and addresses the potential of the whole person, self-actualization is discussed more frequently than the other needs.
Maslow originally felt that self-actualization needs would automatically be activated as soon as esteem needs were met, but he changed his mind when he encountered individuals whose behavior did not fit this pattern. He concluded that individuals whose self-actualization needs became activated held in high regard such values as truth, goodness, beauty, justice, autonomy, and humor (Feist, 1990).
In addition to the five basic needs that compose the hierarchy, Maslow describes cognitive needs (such as the needs to know and to understand) and aesthetic needs (such as the needs for order, symmetry, or harmony). While not part of the basic hierarchy, these two classes of needs play a critical role in the satisfaction of basic needs. Maslow maintains that such conditions as the freedom to investigate and learn, fairness, honesty, and orderliness in interpersonal relationships are critical because their absence makes satisfaction of the five basic needs impossible. (Imagine, for example, trying to satisfy your belongingness and love needs or your esteem needs in an atmosphere characterized by dishonesty, unfair punishment, and restrictions on freedom of speech.)
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The Impact of Cooperative Learning on Motivation
Classroom tasks can be structured so that students are forced to compete with one another, work individually, or cooperate with one another to obtain the rewards that teachers make available for successfully completing these tasks. Traditionally, competitive arrangements have been assumed to be superior to the other two in increasing motivation and learning. But reviews of the research literature by David Johnson and Roger Johnson (Johnson & Johnson, 1995; Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1995) found cooperative arrangements to be far superior in producing these benefits. In this section we will describe cooperative-, competitive, and individual learning arrangements (sometimes called goal structures or reward structures), identify the elements that make up the major approaches to cooperative learning, and examine the effect of cooperative learning on motivation, achievement, and interpersonal relationships.
Types of Classroom Reward Structures
Competitive goal structures are typically norm referenced. (If you can't recall our discussion of the normal curve in Chapter 5, now might be a good time for a quick review.) This traditional practice of grading on the curve predetermines the percentage of A, B, C, D, and F grades regardless of the actual distribution of test scores. Because only a small percentage of students in any group can achieve the highest rewards and because this accomplishment must come at some other students' expense, competitive goal structures are characterized by negative interdependence. Students try to outdo one another, view classmates' failures as an advantage, and come to believe that the winners deserve their rewards because they are inherently better (Johnson, Johnson, & Holubec, 1994; Johnson et al., 1995).
Some researchers have argued that competitive reward structures lead students to focus on ability as the primary basis for motivation. This orientation is reflected in the question "Am I smart enough to accomplish this task?" When ability is the basis for motivation, competing successfully in the classroom may be seen as relevant to self-esteem (since nobody loves a loser), difficult to accomplish (since only a few can succeed), and uncertain (success depends on how everyone else does). These perceptions may cause some students to avoid challenging subjects or tasks, to give up in the face of difficulty, to reward themselves only if they win a competition, and to believe that their own successes are due to ability, whereas the successes of others are due to luck (Ames & Ames, 1984; Dweck, 1986).
Individualistic goal structures are characterized by students working alone and earning rewards solely on the quality of their own efforts. The success or failure of other students is irrelevant. All that matters is whether the student meets the standards for a particular task (Johnson et al., 1994; Johnson et al., 1995). Thirty students working by themselves at computer terminals are functioning in an individual reward structure. According to Carole Ames and Russell Ames (1984), individual structures lead students to focus on task effort as the primary basis for motivation (as in "I can do this if I try"). Whether a student perceives a task as difficult depends on how successful she has been with that type of task in the past.
Cooperative goal structures are characterized by students working together to accomplish shared goals. What is beneficial for the other students in the group is beneficial for the individual and vice versa. Because students in cooperative groups can obtain a desired reward (such as a high grade or a feeling of satisfaction for a job well done) only if the other students in the group also obtain the same reward, cooperative goal structures are characterized by positive interdependence. Also, all groups may receive the same rewards, provided they meet the teacher's criteria for mastery. For example, a teacher might present a lesson on map reading, then give each group its own map and a question-answering exercise. Students then work with each other to ensure that all know how to interpret maps. Each student then takes a quiz on map reading. All teams whose average quiz scores meet a preset standard receive special recognition (Johnson et al., 1994; Johnson et al., 1995; Slavin, 1995).
Cooperative structures lead students to focus on effort and cooperation as the primary basis of motivation. This orientation is reflected in the statement "We can do this if we try hard and work together." In a cooperative atmosphere, students are motivated out of a sense of obligation: one ought to try, contribute, and help satisfy group norms (Ames & Ames, 1984). William Glasser, whose ideas we mentioned earlier, is a fan of cooperative learning. He points out that student motivation and performance tend to be highest for such activities as band, drama club, athletics, the school newspaper, and the yearbook, all of which require a team effort (Gough, 1987). We would also like to point out that cooperative-learning and reward structures are consistent with the constructivist approach discussed in Chapters 1, 2, and 10 since they encourage inquiry, perspective sharing, and conflict resolution.
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Suggestions for Teaching in Your Classroom: Motivating Students to Learn
1. Use behavioral techniques to help students exert themselves and work toward remote goals.
2. Make sure that students know what they are to do, how to proceed, and how to determine when they have achieved goals.
3. Do everything possible to satisfy deficiency needs -- physiological, safety, belongingness, and esteem.
a. Accommodate the instructional program to the physiological needs of your students.
b. Make your room physically and psychologically safe.
c. Show your students that you take an interest in them and that they belong in your classroom.
d. Arrange learning experiences so that all students can gain at least a degree of esteem.
4. Enhance the attractions and minimize the dangers of growth choices.
5. Direct learning experiences toward feelings of success in an effort to encourage an orientation toward achievement, a positive self-concept, and a strong sense of self-efficacy.
a. Make use of objectives that are challenging but attainable and, when appropriate, that involve student input.
b. Provide knowledge of results by emphasizing the positive.
6. Try to encourage the development of need achievement, self-confidence, and self-direction in students who need these qualities.
a. Use achievement-motivation training techniques.
b. Use cooperative-learning methods.
7. Try to make learning interesting by emphasizing activity, investigation, adventure, social interaction, and usefulness.
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Resources for Further Investigation
Surveys of Motivational Theories
In a basic survey text, Motivation to Learn: From Theory to Practice (2d ed., 1993), Deborah Stipek discusses reinforcement theory, social cognitive theory, intrinsic motivation, need for achievement theory, attribution theory, and perceptions of ability. In Appendix 2-A, she presents a rating form and scoring procedure with which teachers can identify students who may have motivation problems. Appendix 3-A is a self-rating form that teachers can use to keep track of how often they provide rewards and punishments.
A useful summary of motivation theories and techniques can be found in the Worcester Polytechnic University's WWW site for teacher development, at http://www.wpi.edu/~isg_501/motivation.html.
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Motivational Techniques for the Classroom
Motivation and Teaching: A Practical Guide (1978), by Raymond Wlodkowski, and Eager to Learn (1990), by Raymond Wlodkowski and Judith Jaynes, are a good source of classroom application ideas. Motivating Students to Learn: Overcoming Barriers to High Achievement (1993), edited by Tommy Tomlinson, devotes four chapters to elementary school and four chapters to high school motivation issues.
Two sources of information on motivation techniques and suggestions for teaching are found at Columbia University's Institute for Learning Technologies, which contains documents, papers, and unusual projects and activities that could be used to increase student motivation; and at Northwestern University's Institute for Learning Sciences Engines for Education on-line program, which allows educators to pursue a number of questions about students, learning environments, and successful teaching through a hyperlinked database. The Institute for Learning Technologies is found at http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/ilt/. The Institute for Learning Sciences is found at http://www.ils.nwu.edu/.
For more information on "Motivation" in Gage/Berliner, EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, 6/e, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998, see Chapter 8, "Motivation and Learning"
For more information on "Motivation" in the Grabes' INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY FOR MEANINGFUL LEARNING, 2/e, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1998 see page 97 for "the role of motivation in drill and practice," pages 51-55 for "the role of motivation in meaningful learning", page 163 for "the role of motivativation in writing," and pages 398-99 for "learning styles and social and motivational preferences."
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Teaching Concepts: Motivation Cengage Learning
What Is Motivation Motivation
Posted: at 5:51 am
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Student Motivation – NACADA
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Resourcesdealing with motivation
Factors in Student Motivation
Authored by: Steven C. Howey
Educators across the country are frustrated with the challenge of how to motivate the ever increasing number of freshmen students entering college who are psychologically, socially, and academically unprepared for the demands of college life. Such students often exhibit maladaptive behavior such as tardiness, hostility towards authority, and unrealistic aspirations.
The standard approach is to address the problem as an academic issue through remedial or developmental instruction. Developmental education programs however do not address the whole problem. Lack of motivation is not limited to the academically weak student. Successful remedial and study strategies courses aimed at the underprepared student have demonstrated that students who really want to improve their skills can do so when motivated. However, even the best remedial instruction programs have failed to positively impact the student who is both underprepared academically and unmotivated. When students have both a lack of academic skills and lack motivation, the greater problem is motivation (Kelly, 1988). Faculty often have neither the time or inclination to address difficult motivational issues in the classroom, consequently, the task of trying to effectively motivate such students often falls to academic advisors.
Opinions about the role of motivation in academic achievement and what can be done about it vary widely among college faculty, administrators, and student services professionals. Consideration about unmotivated students opens a Pandoras box of questions: Can anything be done about these students? Can motivation be taught? What kind of strategies can be used to influence motivation? Is this time wasted that might better be used on those students who are already motivated?
The problem of devising effective strategies that influence motivation relies initially on the identification of specific motivational factors. The histories of psychology and education are abundant with research on motivation and its effect on behavior. The study of motivation in education has undergone many changes over the years, moving away from reinforcement contingencies to the more current social-cognitive perspective emphasizing learners constructive interpretations of events and the role that their beliefs, cognitions, affects, and values play in achievement (Pintrich and Schunk, 1996).
These factors identified in the social-cognitive model of motivation can be narrowed to three motivational constructs: expectancy, value, and affect. The expectancy construct assesses perceptions of self-efficacy and control beliefs of learning. The self-efficacy construct postulated by Bandura in his social learning theory has guided extensive motivational research. The second construct of expectancy is a refined construct based on Rotters locus of control. Rotters locus of control construct, first presented in 1966, is perhaps one of the most highly researched concepts in modern psychological study.
The value construct includes intrinsic and extrinsic goal orientation as well as task value beliefs. Ryan, Connell, and Deci (1985) who researched the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in their Cognitive Evaluation Theory argue that perceptions of autonomy and competence are fundamental to intrinsic motivation. Commitment to educational attainment and learning are necessary to sustain motivation. Commitment to learning is a syndrome of variables such as belief in the value of learning.
How then can educational institutions use these identified motivational constructs to help students be more successful? Colleges must move beyond developmental instruction alone and address motivation issues in a more comprehensive manner. One important consideration is early identification of and attention to at-risk student problems. It is well documented that addressing retention issues early in the students first year of college is critical. Historically, at least half of all students who drop out of college do so during their freshmen year (Noel, 1985; Terenzini, 1986). Many of these students leave during the first six to eight weeks of their initial semester according to Blanc, Debuhr, and Martin (1983). These statistics have remained relatively unchanged in recent years.
Colleges nationwide do a good job identifying new freshmen students who are academically at-risk. Institutions use a number of academic assessment instruments e.g., ACT, ASSET, COMPASS, SAT, and ACCUPLACER. Since assessing motivation is less standardized and less common at educational institutions, another option may be to consider already identified motivational differences between academically prepared and unprepared students. Use of informal observations or tools such as the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) can help identify these students. (Find more information regarding the MSLQ see http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Learner_autonomy. Additionally, a portion of the MSLQ can be seen via Indiana University http://www.indiana.edu/~p540alex/MSLQ.pdf .
In a study of academically prepared and underprepared freshmen orientation students, Howey (1999) found clear motivational differences between academically prepared and underprepared community college freshmen orientation students. Specifically, underprepared students are more extrinsically motivated, see more value in study strategies offered in the course, have low self-efficacy beliefs, and suffer more from test anxiety. Academically prepared students, on the other hand, have more internalized locus of control beliefs, greater self-efficacy, and are less affected by test anxiety. Academically prepared students may be better served by emphasizing goal orientation (major selection) and related career information, critical thinking, leadership training, or service learning opportunities. Implications are that due to identified differences in the motivational constructs of expectancy, value, and affect, college administrators may want to consider more homogeneous grouping, based on academic readiness, of freshmen orientation students in order to better address individual motivational differences.
What advisors can do In addition to a systematic approach through a freshmen seminar course there are also strategies advisors can use to influence motivational changes when meeting with their advisees individually. The mere act of meeting with advisees on a regular basis and expressing interest and concern beyond just their class schedule and program requirements is critical in itself. Carl Rogers Person Centered Therapy, including the concepts of unconditional positive regard and reflection, influenced those of us in graduate counseling programs in the 70s and is still relevant to our understanding of how important relational issues are to advisees. Habley (2003) states Advising is the only opportunity on campus in which students have the opportunity for on-going, one on one interaction with a concerned representative of the institution.
Warm and fuzzy relations, however, may not be enough to create significant changes of behavior in the unmotivated student. Unfortunately, a detailed explanation of specific techniques for changing behavior is an article or perhaps a course all by itself. We know that major and career exploration is helpful for students who lack goal orientation.
There is another approach that may be helpful in working with students with other motivational factors; a technique relevant to self-regulated learning and as a problem solving approach. This technique specifically is to get the advisee more involved in the process of coming up with their own strategies for addressing a problem. For example, rather than focusing on how unfair or boring a particular instructor may be, students should be asked to generate their own ideas on what they could do to improve the situation. If students cant come up with any ideas on their own, advisors can ask them to pick what might work best from a list of suggestions generated by the advisor. Follow-up meetings to refine strategies will be needed.
In summary, advisors may find it helpful when working with unmotivated students to approach the problem from a motivational constructs framework. The identification of motivational issues based on the constructs of expectancy (self-efficacy and locus of control beliefs), value (goal orientation or task value concerns), or affect (test anxiety), may be helpful in developing specific strategies toward greater success in college.
Authored by: Steven C. Howey Coordinator of Advising, Counseling, and Career Development (Retired) Hutchinson Community College (KS)
Blanc, R. A., Debuhr, L. E., & Martin, D. C. (1983). Breaking the attrition cycle: the effects of supplemental instruction on undergraduate performance and attrition. Journal of Higher Education, 54 (1), 80-90.
Garcia, T., McKeachie, W. J., Pintrich, P. R., & Smith, D. A. (1991). A manual for the use of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (Tech. Rep. No. 91-B-004).Ann Arbor, MI : The University of Michigan, School of Education .
Habley, Wes. (2003). NACADA Summer Institute, quoting 'Academic Advising: Critical Link in Student Retention.' (1981). NASPA Journal, 28(4): 45-50.
Hembree, R. (1988). Correlates, causes, effects, and treatment of test anxiety. Review of Educational Research, 58, 47-77.
Howey, S. C. (1999). The relationship between motivation and academic success of community college freshmen orientation students. Doctoral Dissertation. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 465391).
Kelly, D.K. (1988). Motivating the underprepared unmotivated community college student. Viewpoints (120) Information analyes (070). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 299 009)
Noel, L. (1985). Increasing student retention: New challenges and potential. In L. Noel, R. Levitz, & Associates (Eds.), Increasing student retention (pp. 1-27).San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.
Pintrich, P.R. (1988a). A process-oriented view of student motivation and cognition. In J. Stark and L. Mets (Eds.), Improving teaching and learning through research: New directions for institutional research (Vol. 57, pp. 65-79).
Pintrich, P.R. (1988b). Student learning and college teaching. In R. E. Young and K. E. Eble (Eds), College teaching and learning: Preparing for new commitments. New directions for teaching and learning ( Vol. 33, pp. 71-86). San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.
Pintrich, P. R. (1989). The dynamic interplay of student motivation and cognition in the college classroom. In C. Ames and M. Maehr (Eds.) Advances in motivation and achievement: Motivation enhancing environments (Vol. 6, pp. 117-160).Greenwich , CT : JAI Press.
Pintrich, P. R., & Schunk, D. H. (1996). Motivation in education.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Pintrich P., Smith D., Garcia T., McKeachie W. (1991). A Manual for the Use of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Technical Report 91-B-004. The Regents of The University of Michigan.
Ryan, R. M., Connell, J. P., & Deci, E. L. (1985). A motivational analysis of self-determination and self-regulation in education. In C. Ames & R. Ames (Eds.), Research on motivation in education: Vol. 2. The classroom milieu (pp. 13-51). Orlando , FL : Academic Press.
Terenzini, P.T. (1986). Retention research: Academic and social fit. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Regional Office of the College of Entrance Examination Board, New Orleans , LA.
Cite the above resource using APA style as:
Howey, S.C. (2008). Factors in student motivation. Retrieved from the NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising Resources Web site: http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Clearinghouse/View-Articles/Motivation.aspx
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Student Motivation - NACADA
Motivating Students – SERC
Posted: at 5:51 am
This page was written and compiled by Karin Kirk, SERC, and contains a summary of motivation research and pertinent references. My students aren't motivated - how can I help them? Teachers have a lot to do with their students' motivational level. A student may arrive in class with a certain degree of motivation. But the teacher's behavior and teaching style, the structure of the course, the nature of the assignments and informal interactions with students all have a large effect on student motivation. We may have heard the utterance, "my students are so unmotivated!" and the good news is that there's a lot that we can do to change that. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation Educational psychology has identified two basic classifications of motivation - intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation arises from a desire to learn a topic due to its inherent interests, for self-fulfillment, enjoyment and to achieve a mastery of the subject. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation is motivation to perform and succeed for the sake of accomplishing a specific result or outcome. Students who are very grade-oriented are extrinsically motivated, whereas students who seem to truly embrace their work and take a genuine interest in it are intrinsically motivated. Motivating Students (more info) This chapter from the book Tools for Teaching by Barbara Gross Davis (Jossey-Bass Publishers: San Francisco, 1993) is a great place to start for ideas and tips about increasing student motivation in your classes. The author presents a handy distillation of research on motivation and uses examples and anecdotes that bring this material to life. In addition to general strategies, this chapter addresses successful instructional behaviors, how to structure a course to motivate students, de-emphasizing grades and responding with other types of feedback to students, and tips to encourage students to complete assigned readings. A reference list points the way to more specific information.
Excerpts from this chapter:
Also see how immediacy in the classroom can be part of a supportive style of teaching.
Example - Strategies for College Success from the Ohio State University. This course teaches learning strategies and motivational skills.
Pre-action phase (preparing for task) -take a reasonable risk, work toward goals that are challenging but attainable, work in manageable, bite-size pieces, take responsibility for your actions, believe in your own effort and capability, set a plan and work from it.
Action phase - search the environment, ask questions, visualize it (?)
Reaction phase (after one task, preparing for the next one) - use feedback from prior tasks, monitor your own actions, give yourself instructions (see also Tuckerman, 2003 )
Link to more information about the Strategies for College Success course, including a course description, resources used in the course, and a PowerPoint presentation covering helpful motivational strategies. Also, try these on line resources:
Read and respond to classroom dilemmas about student motivation written by workshop participants.
Motivation: A General Overview of Theories (more info) This chapter in an e-book provides a brief summary of motivational theories that is written for educators. Topics include goals, self-efficacy, attribution theory, self-regulation and volition, and intrinsic motivation.
Six C's of motivation (more info) This website describes a scenario in a geography classroom where the teacher uses instructional strategies to promote motivation amongst her students. The tactics are to give students choices in their assignments, to challenge them, to allow the class some extent of control over the learning environment, to promote collaboration between students, to construct meaning in the material and to establish positive consequences for students' achievement. The author concludes that when students engage in meaningful open-ended tasks, their motivation increases and the effect of learning is more powerful.
Motivation: What does the Research Say? (more info) This website is written in the context of high school or middle school students, but is easily applied to the undergraduate learning experience. The site provides definitions of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, strategies for increasing motivation, and suggestions to motivate students to engage in class activities.
How Can Teachers Develop Students' Motivation -- and Success? (more info) This interview with Carol Dweck, professor of psychology at Columbia University, answers questions about types of motivation, with emphasis on performance (extrinsic) motivation vs. mastery (intrinsic) motivation. Questions address topics such as what teachers can do to help develop students who will work to overcome challenges rather than be overwhelmed by them, the challenge of the "gifted" label, and if self-esteem something that teachers can or should "give" to students. The site is easy reading, yet provides many useful insights.
Motivation from Within: Approaches for Encouraging Faculty and Students to Excel Michael Theall, editor citation and bibliographic information The dozen authors of this book describe how motivational efforts involve adapting one's personal strengths to accommodate unique situations. Motivation is not something one "does to" others. Rather, efforts to motivate students and professors involve first connecting with their interests and their concerns, then broadening these with expanded significant choices, and gradually increasing participants' empowerment to meet these new aspirations.
Improving Self-Efficacy and Motivation: What to Do, What to Say Howard Margolis and Patrick P McCabe citation and bibliographic information This article suggests practical solutions to improve the motivation of struggling learners. Specifically, the authors present strategies such as using peers as role models, teaching specific learning strategies, presenting the students with options and choices, communicating recent success, and more. These tactics can strengthen struggling learners' beliefs in their academic abilities and increase their willingness to engage in academic tasks.
The Effect of Learning and Motivation Strategies Training on College Students' Achievement Bruce W. Tuckerman, the Ohio State University citation and bibliographic information The general purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of teaching students the use of specific learning and motivation strategies to meet the cognitive and motivational demands of college. A group of college students went through a course that was specifically designed to teach them learning strategies and give them an opportunity to practice the techniques and transfer these skills to other learning situations. The results showed that this method improved the GPA of the students who went through the program.
Who Does Extra-Credit Work in Introductory Science Courses? Randy Moore citation and bibliographic information This study measured how many introductory biology students took advantage of extra-credit opportunities, the grades they earned, and reasons they gave for not completing extra credit work. The study found that high-achieving students pursued the extra credit work, while students who were earning poor grades did not. The author asserts that this behavior is tied to student motivation. Students who were motivated to succeed in the course made the choice to do the extra credit work, which is consistent with the other choices they had made, such as to attend lectures and help sessions. Similarly, students who earned poor grades typically demonstrated a low commitment to several components of the course, including the extra credit work.
Sense of Belonging in College Freshman at the Classroom and Campus Levels Tierra M. Freeman, Lynley Anderman and Jane M. Jensen citation and bibliographic information This study examines how students' sense of belonging is related to academic motivation, and which type of teacher behaviors is correlated with developing a sense of belonging in students. The paper presents some useful background information on the topics of belonging, motivation and academic self-efficacy. In their experiments, the authors found that students' sense of belonging is fostered by an instructor that demonstrates warmth and openness, encourages student participation, is enthusiastic, friendly and helpful, and is organized and prepared for class.
What Teachers Say and Do to Support Students' Autonomy During a Learning Activity Johnmarshall Reeve and Hyungshim Jang citation and bibliographic information This research paper presents the results of an educational experiment to measure the effects of different instructional behaviors. The experiment investigated a controlling style of teaching compared to an autonomy supportive style, and found that the supportive style resulted in increased student interest, enjoyment, engagement and performance. Autonomy-supportive teacher behavior can be effective in fostering intrinsic motivation in students. The paper provides useful background information on the topics of motivation, intentionality and autonomy, and also gives examples of controlling vs. supportive teacher behaviors.
The ABCs of Motivation Lynley H. Anderman and Valerie S. Leake citation and bibliographic information Although this paper is written for faculty of educational psychology, the information is useful for any teacher who is interested in learning about some of the theory behind motivation. The purpose of this paper is to distill the numerous theories and frameworks for motivational principles into a simpler format. The authors offer that motivation is based on three fundamental needs: the need for autonomy, the need for belonging and the need for competence. An understanding of these concepts can help teachers provide a learning environment that increases motivation in their students.
Gender matters Darrell J Wiens, Dayna J Depping, Stacey R Wallerich, Emily S Van Laar, Angela L Juhl citation and bibliographic information Do females and males choose science for different reasons? In this study 271 college biology students were surveyed to learn when they became interested and what factors determined their origin and maintenance of interest in biology. One finding was that females were more likely to cite a positive influence with a teacher as a factor for becoming interested in science, which has implications for teacher behavior in fostering an interest in science among female students.
"Contracting" as a motivational teaching tool Karen Kurvink citation and bibliographic information The concept behind contracting, a motivational tool for stimulating learning, is discussed. Contracting involves a learning agreement between students and teachers, and it offers the opportunity for independent thinking.
What works in the nonmajors' science laboratory David L. Adams citation and bibliographic information This paper offers practical advice on building a workable and meaningful introductory science laboratory for non-science majors. These students usually lack experience in and motivation for the laboratory, so a balanced use of "cookbook" and discovery-based approaches is recommended.
Connecting with students who are disinterested and inexperienced William G Brozo citation and bibliographic information This article was written in the context of middle school education, but is still relevant for undergraduate students who are hard to reach. The author states that when students claim they are not interested in anything, educators must help them discover what actually does interest them. Furthermore, another way to help youth expand their repertoire of interests is by arranging systematic opportunities for them to interact with community members who are engaged citizens and have a wide variety of life experiences.
A Candle Lights the Way to Scientific Discourse Li-hsuan Yang citation and bibliographic information This short article describes a simple and thought-provoking teaching strategy, burning a candle in the classroom and asking students to observe it and try to explain the processes they observe. The result is that students are able to engage in scientific discourse, hold competing hypotheses, looking for supporting evidence, communicating their ideas with supportive arguments, and proposing possible empirical studies to further their understanding. This technique could be applied to a geoscience classroom via simple demonstrations with physical models, videos or rock samples.
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Motivating Students - SERC
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Streetwear Clothing Hats & Sneakers - Motivation | MTVTN.com
Affect in Language Learning: Motivation
Posted: January 22, 2016 at 2:40 pm
By Nada Salem Abisamra http://www.nadasisland.com
Group for Discussions on Facebook: Nada's ESL Island.(Join us there! Post your questions)
Nada's Master's THESIS: "The Role of Motivation, Gender, and Language Learning Strategies in EFL Proficiency" (Html / References)
Presentation: Content
"The Creator gathered all of creation and said, 'I want to hide something from the humans until they are Ready for it. It is the Realization that They Create their Own Reality.' The eagle said, 'Give it to me, I will take it to the moon.' The Creator said, 'No. One day they will go there and find it.' The salmon said, 'I will hide it on the bottom of the ocean.' 'No. They will go there too.' The buffalo said, 'I will bury it on the Great Plains.' Then Grand-mother Mole, who lives in the breast of Mother Earth, and who has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said, 'Put it Inside them.' And the creator said, 'It is done.' " Sioux Legend
What do we infer from this "Legend?"
As Rogers said while talking about mainstream educational institutions, "They have focused so intently on the cognitive and have limited themselves so completely to 'educating from the neck up' , that this narrowness is resulting in serious social consequences." (1975:40-41) .
Motivation is like food for the brain. --Peter Davies http://www.quotelady.com/subjects/motivation.html
Life takes on meaning when you become motivated, set goals and charge after them in an unstoppable manner. -- Les Brown -- http://www.motivation123.com/quotations.html
Everybody needs motivation. Everybody needs to have a reason for action. It is a sad fact that most people in this world underachieve because they don't believe they are capable of fulfilling their dreams. We, teachers, need to be committed to offering students the opportunity to believe in themselves and achieve great things.
Krashen's Theory of Second Language Acquisition consists of five main hypotheses:
1- Natural order hypothesis:
'We acquire the rules of language in a predictable order'
What we conclude then is that Affect plays a very important role in second language acquisition. It needs to be taken into consideration by L2 teachers so they make sure that the students' affective filter is low at all times in order for learning to take place. Since this presentation is only related to Motivation, it will not cover the two other variables: self-confidence and anxiety.
Before we start by defining motivation, mentioning its sources and different theories/models and their implications, we believe it is worth asking one question that seems to guide all theorists' and researchers' work: "Why do people learn a second or foreign language? In other words, what is their Goal?
1- Why Do People Learn a Second/Foreign Language?
This seems to be the key question in all kinds of research! And of course, the reasons vary from a person to another.
2- Definitions of L2
3- Good L2 Learners
Some of those strategies:
Rubin (1975) suggested that good L2 learners
4- Definitions of Motivation
Here are a few that I have found in the literature:
According to the Webster's, to motivate means to provide with a motive, a need or desire that causes a person to act.
According to Gardner (1985), motivation is concerned with the question, "Why does an organism behave as it does? Motivation involves 4 aspects:
Motivation is a desire to achieve a goal, combined with the energy to work towards that goal. Many researchers consider motivation as one of the main elements that determine success in developing a second or foreign language; it determines the extent of active, personal involvement in L2 learning. (Oxford & Shearin, 1994)
Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. --Napolean Hill --
5- Sources of Motivation
"Without knowing where the roots of motivation lie, how can teachers water those roots?" (Oxford & Shearin, 1994- p.15)
Note: Conation = inclination to act purposefully; impulse. (Webster's) "It is an intrinsic 'unrest' of the organism, almost the opposite of homeostasis. A conscious tendency to act... a conscious striving." (English & English, 1958)
Note: Vicarious learning = the acquisition of knowledge or ability through indirect experience and observation, rather than direct experience or practice. (Harcourt Academic Press Dictionary of Science and Technology)
6- Theories of Motivation
Since this formula states that the three factors of Expectancy, Instrumentality, and Valence or Value are to be multiplied by each other, a low value in one will result in a low value of motivation. Therefore, all three must be present in order for motivation to occur. That is, if an individual doesn't believe he or she can be successful at a task OR the individual does not see a connection between his or her activity and success OR the individual does not value the results of success, then the probability is lowered that the individual will engage in the required learning activity. From the perspective of this theory, all three variables must be high in order for motivation and the resulting behavior to be high. => An individual will act in a certain way based on the expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.
In a teaching/learning environment, it is important to assist the learner to develop a self-attribution explanation of effort (internal, control). If the person has an attribution of ability (internal, no control) as soon as the individual experiences some difficulties in the learning process, he or she will decrease appropriate learning behavior. If the person has an external attribution, then nothing the person can do will help that individual in a learning situation (i.e., responsibility for demonstrating what has been learned is completely outside the person). In this case, there is nothing to be done by the individual when learning problems occur. .
According to the Webster's, cognitive dissonance is a psychological conflict resulting from incongruous beliefs and attitudes held simultaneously.
Cognitivists explain motivation in terms of a person's active search for meaning and satisfaction in life. Thus, motivation is internal.
D- Achievement Motivation Theories
One aspect of this theory is that individuals are motivated to either avoid failure (more often associated with performance goals) or achieve success (more often associated with mastery goals). In the former situation, the individual is more likely to select easy or difficult tasks, thereby either achieving success or having a good excuse for why failure occurred. In the latter situation, the individual is more likely to select moderately difficult tasks which will provide an interesting challenge, but still keep the high expectations for success.
According to Maslow, an individual is ready to act upon the growth needs if and only if the deficiency needs are met.
The remaining four levels (Growth Needs) are:
Maslow recognized that not all personalities followed his proposed hierarchy. While a variety of personality dimensions might be considered as related to motivational needs, one of the most often cited is that of introversion and extroversion. Reorganizing Maslow's hierarchy based on the work of Alderfer and considering the introversion/extroversion dimension of personality results in three levels, each with an introverted and extroverted component. This organization suggests there may be two aspects of each level that differentiate how people relate to each set of needs. Different personalities might relate more to one dimension than the other. For example, an introvert at the level of Other/Relatedness might be more concerned with his or her own perceptions of being included in a group, whereas an extrovert at that same level would pay more attention to how others value that membership.
A Reorganization of Maslow's and Alderfer's Hierarchies
Edward L. Deci
H- Transpersonal / Spiritual Theories
Most of the transpersonal or spiritual theories deal with the meaningfulness of our lives or ultimate meanings.
Theories of Motivation Summary
Behaviorists explain motivation in terms of external stimuli and reinforcement. The physical environment and actions of the teacher are of prime importance.
Cognitivists explain motivation in terms of person's active search for meaning and satisfaction in life. Thus motivation is internal.
Humanists stress the need for personal growth. They place a great deal of emphasis on the total person, along with the related news of personal freedom, choice and self-determination.
7- Models of Motivation
In the context of language learning, instrumental motivation refers to the learner's desire to learn a language for utilitarian purposes (such as school/university requirement, employment or travel), whereas integrative motivation refers to the desire to learn a language to integrate successfully into the target language community.
Researchers challenged the social psychological approach claiming that it does not include the cognitive aspects of learning motivation (Oxford & Shearin, 1994; Dornyei, 1994), it is not practical and does not benefit L2 learning since it is too broad to help L2 educators generate practical guidelines (Dornyei, 1990).
Questions the learner asks him/herself:
C- Schumann (1978, 1986): Acculturation Model- Schumann examined the effects of personal variables such as relative status, attitude, integration, amount of time in the culture, size of the learning group, and cohesiveness of the group on adult language learning.
Schumann suggested three strategies taken by adult learners:
Gardner (1985) describes core second language learning motivation as a construct composed of three characteristics:
According to Gardner, a highly motivated individual will
"An integratively oriented learner would likely have a stronger desire to learn the language, have more positive attitudes towards the learning situation, and be more likely to expend more effort in learning the language (Gardner, 1985).
The Gardnerian theory of SLA motivation is based on the definition of motivation as "the extent to which the individual works or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the satisfaction experienced in this activity" (Gardner, 1985).
The micro level involves the cognitive processing of L2 input. At the micro level learner motivation is evidenced by the amount of attention given to the input. The classroom level includes the techniques and activities employed in the classroom. The syllabus level refers to the choice of content presented and can influence motivation by the level of curiosity and interest stimulated in the students. Finally, factors from outside the classroom involve informal interaction in the L2 and long term factors.
Crookes & Schmidt (1991) also suggested that motivation to learn a language has both internal and external features:
1- Interest in L2 (based on attitudes, experience, background knowledge) 2- Relevance (perception that personal needs --achievement, affiliation, power-- are being met by learning the L2. 3- Expectancy of success or failure. 4- Outcomes (extrinsic or intrinsic rewards felt by the learner.) .
1- Decision to choose, pay attention to, and engage in L2 learning. 2- Persistence 3- High activity level
* beliefs about self (i.e., expectancies about one's attitudes to succeed, self-efficacy, and anxiety)
* goals (perceived clarity and relevance of learning goals as reasons for learning)
* involvement (i.e., extent to which the learner actively and consciously participates in the language learning process)
* environmental support (i.e., extent of teacher and peer support, and the integration of cultural and outside-of-class support into learning experience)
* personal attributes (i.e., aptitude, age, sex, and previous language learning experience).
2. the instrumental/pragmatic dimension;
3. the macro-context-related dimension (multi-cultural/ intergroup / ethnolinguistic relations);
4. the self-concept-related dimension (generalised/ trait-like personality factors);
5. the goal-related dimension;
6. the educational context-related dimension (learning/ classroom/ school environment);
7. the significant others-related dimension (parents, family, friends).
Models of Motivation Summary
8- Factors that Affect Motivation .
9- Instruments for Motivation Assessment:
10- Implications & Strategies for L2 Learners' Motivation:
Check Matching Exercise
The greatest motivational act one person can do for another is to listen.--Roy E. Moody
Dornyei (1994) suggests
Dornyei (1998:131) suggests "Ten Commandments for Motivating Language Learners
Oxford & Shearin (1996:139) also offer Practical Suggestions for Teachers:
1. Teachers can identify why students are studying the new language.
3. Teachers can help students improve motivation by showing that L2 learning can be an exciting mental challenge, a career enhancer, a vehicle to cultural awareness and friendship and a key to world peace.
4. Teachers can make the L2 classroom a welcoming, positive place where psychological needs are met and where language anxiety is kept to a minimum.
5. Teachers can urge students to develop their own intrinsic rewards through positive self-talk, guided self-evaluation, and mastery of specific goals, rather than comparison with other students. Teachers can thus promote a sense of greater self-efficacy, increasing motivation to continue learning the L2.
Keller (1983).Hepresents an instructional design model for motivation that is based upon a number of other theories. His model suggests a design strategy that encompasses four components of motivation:
The ARCS Model identifies four essential strategy components for motivating instruction:
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Affect in Language Learning: Motivation
Drive | Daniel H. Pink
Posted: at 2:40 pm
* New York Times bestseller
* Wall Street Journal bestseller
* Boston Globe bestseller
* Los Angeles Times bestseller
* Washington Post bestseller
* San Francisco Chronicle bestseller
* Publishers Weekly bestseller
* Indie Bound bestseller
* Amazon.comtop 50 bestseller for all of 2010
* Amazon.comtop 100 bestseller for all of 2011
From Daniel H. Pink, the author of the bestselling A Whole New Mind, comes a paradigm-shattering look at what truly motivates us and how we can use that knowledge to work smarter and live better.
Most of us believe that the best way to motivate ourselves and others is with external rewards like moneythe carrot-and-stick approach. Thats a mistake, Daniel H. Pink says in, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, his provocative and persuasive new book. The secret to high performance and satisfactionat work, at school, and at homeis the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.
Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business doesand how that affects every aspect of life. He demonstrates that while carrots and sticks worked successfully in the twentieth century, thats precisely the wrong way to motivate people for todays challenges. In Drive, he examines the three elements of true motivationautonomy, mastery, and purposeand offers smart and surprising techniques for putting these into action. Along the way, he takes us to companies that are enlisting new approaches to motivation and introduces us to the scientists and entrepreneurs who are pointing a bold way forward.
Drive is bursting with big ideasthe rare book that will change how you think and transform how you live.
International editions
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Drive | Daniel H. Pink
Motivation: New Directions for Theory,
Posted: at 1:40 pm
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Motivation: New Directions for Theory,
How To Motivate Yourself Self Motivation | PickTheBrain …
Posted: at 1:40 pm
Staying motivated is a struggle our drive is constantly assaulted by negative thoughts and anxiety about the future. Everyone faces doubt and depression. What separates the highly successful is the ability to keep moving forward.
There is no simple solution for a lack of motivation. Even after beating it, the problem reappears at the first sign of failure. The key is understanding your thoughts and how they drive your emotions. By learning how to nurture motivating thoughts, neutralize negative ones, and focus on the task at hand, you can pull yourself out of a slump before it gains momentum.
There are 3 primary reasons we lose motivation.
The first motivation killer is a lack of confidence. When this happens to me, its usually because Im focusing entirely on what I want and neglecting what I already have. When you only think about what you want, your mind creates explanations for why you arent getting it. This creates negative thoughts. Past failures, bad breaks, and personal weaknesses dominate your mind. You become jealous of your competitors and start making excuses for why you cant succeed. In this state, you tend to make a bad impression, assume the worst about others, and lose self confidence.
The way to get out of this thought pattern is to focus on gratitude. Set aside time to focus on everything positive in your life. Make a mental list of your strengths, past successes, and current advantages. We tend to take our strengths for granted and dwell on our failures. By making an effort to feel grateful, youll realize how competent and successful you already are. This will rejuvenate your confidence and get you motivated to build on your current success.
It might sound strange that repeating things you already know can improve your mindset, but its amazingly effective. The mind distorts reality to confirm what it wants to believe. The more negatively you think, the more examples your mind will discover to confirm that belief. When you truly believe that you deserve success, your mind will generate ways to achieve it. The best way to bring success to yourself is to genuinely desire to create value for the rest of the world.
The second motivation killer is a lack of focus. How often do you focus on what you dont want, rather than on a concrete goal? We normally think in terms of fear. Im afraid of being poor. Im afraid no one will respect me. Im afraid of being alone. The problem with this type of thinking is that fear alone isnt actionable. Instead of doing something about our fear, it feeds on itself and drains our motivation.
If youre caught up in fear based thinking, the first step is focusing that energy on a well defined goal. By defining a goal, you automatically define a set of actions. If you have a fear of poverty, create a plan to increase your income. It could be going back to school, obtaining a higher paying job, or developing a profitable website. The key is moving from an intangible desire to concrete, measurable steps.
By focusing your mind on a positive goal instead of an ambiguous fear, you put your brain to work. It instantly begins devising a plan for success. Instead of worrying about the future you start to do something about it. This is the first step in motivating yourself to take action. When know what you want, you become motivated to take action.
The final piece in the motivational puzzle is direction. If focus means having an ultimate goal, direction is having a day-to-day strategy to achieve it. A lack of direction kills motivation because without an obvious next action we succumb to procrastination. An example of this is a person who wants to have a popular blog, but who spends more time reading posts about blogging than actually writing articles.
The key to finding direction is identifying the activities that lead to success. For every goal, there are activities that pay off and those that dont. Make a list of all your activities and arrange them based on results. Then make a make an action plan that focuses on the activities that lead to big returns. To continue the example from above, a bloggers list would look something like this:
Keeping track of your most important tasks will direct your energy towards success. Without a constant reminder, its easy to waste entire days on filler activities like reading RSS feeds, email, and random web surfing.
When my motivation starts to wane, I regain direction by creating a plan that contains two positive actions. The first one should be a small task youve been meaning to do, while the second should be a long-term goal. I immediately do the smaller task. This creates positive momentum. After that I take the first step towards achieving the long-term goal. Doing this periodically is great for getting out of a slump, creating positive reinforcement, and getting long-term plans moving.
Its inevitable that youll encounter periods of low energy, bad luck, and even the occasional failure. If you dont discipline your mind, these minor speed bumps can turn into mental monsters. By being on guard against the top 3 motivation killers you can preserve your motivation and propel yourself to success.
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How To Motivate Yourself Self Motivation | PickTheBrain ...