Posts Tagged ‘motivating students’
May 17 - Student Motivation: It’s More Complicated Than We Think
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching and Learning
Motivation—there are two kinds: intrinsic, which involves doing something because we want to do it, and extrinsic, which is doing something because we have to do it. A negative relationship exists between the two. Extrinsic motivation undermines intrinsic motivation. Students won’t be attending class because they want to if attending class is required. As a result of this negative relationship, students don’t have much intrinsic motivation because it’s been beaten out of them by most extrinsic educational experiences. And that’s a nutshell version of how most teachers understand motivation.
May 10 - Exams: Maximizing Their Learning Potential
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Educational Assessment
We give students exams for two reasons: First, we have a professional responsibility to verify their mastery of the material. Second, we give exams because they promote learning. Unfortunately, too often the first reason overshadows the second. We tend to take learning outcomes for granted. We assume the learning happens, almost automatically, provided the student studies. But what if we considered how, as designers of exam experiences, we might maximize their inherent potential? Would any of these possibilities make for more and better learning from the exams your students take?
May 7 - How Can I Get Students to Take Responsibility for Their Own Learning?
By: Mary Bart in 20 Minute Mentor, Student Engagement
When students don’t take responsibility for their own learning, it creates philosophical and practical problems for the instructor and can affect other students’ learning. This 20 minute video program gives you a theoretical basis and practical tools to boost student accountability in the college classroom.
January 29 - Motivating Students: From Apathetic to Inspired
By: Mary Bart in Online Seminars
Modern learners have a different mind-set about education, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to learn. They just go about it differently. During this seminar, you will learn the small changes you can make to your course design and instructional methodology to better engage students and foster accountability.
October 4 - ‘Grading Motivates Learning’ and Other Dead Ideas in Teaching
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching and Learning
In her 2010 presidential address to the Midwest Sociological Society (a published version of the speech is referenced below), Diane Pike proposed three ideas about teaching that she says are dead. She borrows the concept of “dead ideas” from a book by Matt Miller, The Tyranny of Dead Ideas: Letting Go of the Old Ways of Thinking to Unleash New Prosperity (2009). Pike explains, “Ideas are dead because they are no longer correct, if they ever were. They are tyranny because we cling to them despite the evidence. Thus, we fail to act as we should.” (p. 2) Here are highlights from the three dead ideas Pike discusses in her speech.
August 10 - Five Factors that Affect Online Student Motivation
By: Rob Kelly in Online Education
Understanding what motivates online learners is important because motivated students are more likely to engage in activities that help them learn and achieve, says Brett Jones, associate professor of educational psychology at Virginia Tech. Based on an extensive review of the literature on student motivation, Jones has developed the MUSIC model of student motivation, which identifies five main factors that contribute to student motivation: eMpowerment, Usefulness, Success, Interest, and Caring.
July 27 - Four Ways to Motivate Your Students
By: Jennifer Patterson Lorenzetti in Teaching and Learning
Motivating students is one of the most difficult challenges for any faculty member, but lighting the fire is critical to ensuring active, dynamic classes. Alice Cassidy, PhD, principal of In View Educational and Professional Development and a faculty member at the University of British Columbia, has devised a four-step process to motivate students for a more stimulating class for students and faculty alike.
May 7 - Disposition Development: A Neglected Voice for the Pursuit of Excellence among College Students
By: Candice Dowd Barnes, EdD and Janet Filer, PhD in Teaching and Learning
Have you ever wondered what motivates students to come to class without reading and studying the assigned chapter? You are not alone! Faculty members across the nation are becoming increasingly challenged by students’ lack of dispositions that enhance learning. Every discipline has learning standards and achievement expectations that help drive students’ success. However, such expectations do not equal success. It is the motivation to pursue excellence, a work ethic that reflects the determination to solve problems, the attention to the smallest details, and the desire to be the very best that distinguishes students who make a difference in their given professions.
April 13 - Motivating Students: Four Steps to Dynamic Classes
By: Mary Bart in Online Seminars
We all want a classroom full of engaged and motivated students … but we often find ourselves with something much different. This interactive seminar will provide you with practical, proven techniques for infusing new energy and enthusiasm into your classroom.
April 11 - Should Effort Count? Students Certainly Think So
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog
In a recent study, a group of 120 undergraduates were asked what percentage of a grade should be based on performance and what percentage on effort. The students said that 61% of the grade should be based on performance and 39% on effort.
