After listening to different perspectives in the breakout room, it appears that giving students autonomy to select options for a type of assignment to complete is an excellent motivational factor, especially if the students understand that the project has a purpose. I have consistently been doing this for many years. My main focus is to learn more about how to motivate students and help them maintain their persistence for achievement.
What did I learn that perhaps can be used in my classroom and pedagogical approach? I understand the importance of establishing small but achievable goals in terms of assignments. The focus should and can be on the journey (the learning experience, what did you learn, how has this changed your way of thinking? How can you apply what you have learned to areas of your life work, relationships, other classes, etc.?). Again, the journey can be just as rewarding as the grade. I believe that when students understand, there should also be a balance between work, school, and personal life that can help keep them motivated to continue learning.
However, while I can incorporate approaches to motivate students, what do I do when there is poor attendance? Yes, I will utilize the Connect2Success system and contact student(s) directly to find out if I can be of assistance. In addition, a significant issue I have noticed the last four semesters is students experiencing emotional and physical health issues which have played an essential role in lack of motivation and not attending class. Therefore, I will continue to incorporate any information (strategies) that I have learned to help encourage students to maintain a level of motivation during the semester.
One thought on “Topic 2 Motivation and Persistence”
I really enjoyed Dr. Johnson’s presentation on motivation. What stood out for me was his ideas on how we sometimes approach motivating students in a wrong way. What resonated with me was when he said that praise is not always motivating. It made me think that what we may see as praise may not be perceived as such by students and in some cases, it may be perceived as an insult. For example, people attempted to praise me by saying that I was “helpful.” This type of praise lowered my motivation because I would much rather be perceived as valuable rather than merely helpful.
Another idea that resonated with me was not having to be a cheerleader for students. When I just started teaching, I thought that my classes had to be entertaining and it took me a lot of effort to be entertaining every week. I now realize that some students will enjoy my classes as long as I do a good job with the content quality and presentation, regardless of whether they are also entertaining or not, and some students won’t enjoy my classes no matter what, and that’s okay too.