Argosy UniversityCOURSE SYLLABUS

L7431Spring II 2009

Theory and Development of MotivationInstructor: Darlene Wright, Ph.D.

Phone: (708) 534-3149

E-mail: dr.wright@yahoo.com

Brief Bio: BA, DePaul University; Ph.D., Illinois Institute of Technology; licensed clinical psychology; Associate Professor of Psychology at Governors State University (GSU); published research in the areas of behavioral medicine, child development, and rehabilitation psychology. Board memberships include LaRabida Children’s Hospital Joli Burrell Advocacy Center and Community Mental Health Council (CMHC); member Bio-Terrorist Emergency Preparedness Task Force for South Shore Hospital.

Office Hours: By appointment. The instructor will respond to e-mail within 24 hours. E-mail: All submissions shall be via e-mail. All e-mail must contain the following in the subject line: Subject: Last name / Assignment # (for example, Jones / Assignment name)

It is critically important that “last name” be the first word on the subject line. Any e-mail that does not contain this subject line cannot be filed in a way that the instructor can easily locate it and he is not likely to open it.

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Course Description: This course covers the theory and development of motivation. Major interest is placed on motivation, models, and strategies for enhancing motivation in individuals and groups, variables affecting (and affected by) motivation and environmental influences on motivation. This course also provides students with a knowledge base in the history and theories of motivation, combined with applications and strategies that stem from physiological states, psychological motives, and environmental incentives and goals.

Course Pre-requisites: None

Required Textbook:Title: Motivation: Biological, Psychological, and EnvironmentalAuthor: Deckers, LEdition/Copyright: (3rd Ed.) 2010 Publisher: Allyn & BaconISBN: 0-205-61081-1

Title: Publication Manual of the American Psychological AssociationAuthor: Edition/Copyright: (5th ed.). (2001).Publisher: American Psychological Association. Washington, D. C.:ISBN: (ISBN#: 1-55798-810-2)

Technology: Pentium III CPU/ Windows 98; 128MB RAM, printer; Microsoft Office Acrobat (full version), Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 (PC) 5.0 (MAC) or Netscape Navigator 4.08. Norton Antivirus.

Course length: 7.5 Weeks

Contact Hours: 45 Hours

Credit Value: 3.0

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Course Schedule: This is a 7 ½ week course that meets on Monday evenings beginning on ______ and ending August _____.

Program Outcomes:

1. Leadership in Teams: Given an organizational situation, identify strategies to develop, maintain, motivate, and sustain self-managed teams using concepts, theories and techniques of team leadership.

2. Collaboration in Teams: Given a case study or leadership situation, collect, assimilate, disseminate, and maximize the views of team stakeholders in order to reach defensible goals with minimal conflict.

3. Conflict: Given an organizational situation that requires interpersonal or interdepartmental action, identify situations of conflict, diagnose the impact of both overt and covert behavior, and develop a plan for conflict resolution using evidence-based methods.

4. Ethics: Given an organizational setting, identify ethical and dilemma-resolution practices, and make evidence-based decisions that integrate personal, social, and corporate responsibility.

5. Communication: Communicate orally and in writing to individuals and groups in a concise, clear, organized, and well-supported manner using formats and technology relevant to the organizational context.

6. Motivation: Given a leadership situation, identify workplace commitment theories to incorporate influences and power as a leader to motivate organizational stakeholders.

7. Research: Given an organizational need to evaluate and defend its actions or potential actions, select, analyze, and apply the assessment techniques, research methods, and/or statistical analyses needed to evaluate and defend those actions based on evidence

8. Knowledge and Understanding of the Field: Demonstrate competency in identifying and integrating the major concepts, theoretical perspectives, historical trends, and key figures in the field of organizational leadership.

9. Change: Evaluate the impact of change on organizations, organizational members, and other stakeholders and apply appropriate change models and theories to facilitate successful change.

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10. Global diversity: Analyze and evaluate the involvement of diversity in leadership issues, with special attention to the implications of diversity for individuals, organizations, and societies. 

Course Objectives:

1. Given access to recommended texts and peer-reviewed journals, students will define, through written assignments, and class discussions the concept of motivation and identify the major historical developments and constructs of motivational theory. Program outcomes 5, 6, 7, and 8

2. Given access to recommended texts and literature, students will define via written assignments and class discussion the psychological, environmental, and cognitive variables that impact motivation. Program Outcomes 5, 6, 7, and 8

3. Given access to recommended texts and peer-reviewed journals, students will describe and analyze through written assignments how past motivation theories and practices apply to today’s global organizational environments. Program Outcomes 5,6, 7, and 10

4. Given access to journals and texts that address culture, students conduct a literature review and will identify through written product how country culture, gender and ethnicity impacts motivation. Students will juxtapose major theories that describe gender, country culture and ethnicity and their relationships to organizational culture to the major constructs of motivation theory. Students will also identify and report on the gaps in the motivation literature relative to diversity and identify opportunities for new research. Program Outcomes 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10

5. Given the posit that “good human beings will generally need a good society in which to grow (Maslow, 1970)”, students will develop a cognitive map of their understanding of the relationships between internal motivation and exemplary leadership practices; identifying good leadership skills and practices impact employee motivation, and how each of these relationships yield organizational effectiveness. Students will demonstrate through written analysis of their cognitive map how these relationships are germane to multiple organizational settings. Program Outcomes 5,6,7,8 and 9

6. Given access to journal data bases, students will, through written assignments, critically evaluate the historical and current motivation theories to their own observations of motivational issues in the workplace and identity and articulate where they see the gaps that are appropriate for new research, based upon their juxtaposition of theory to practice. Program Outcomes 5,6,7,8, and 9

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7. Given access to journal data bases, students will demonstrate their understanding, through written analysis how intrinsic and extrinsic motivation impacts ethical decision making in organizations. Program Outcomes 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9

CONTENT SEQUENCE

ClassTopics/Assignments Assigned Readings

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1.Compare and contrast the definition of motivation and of emotion. (/ch1)

2. Must internal sources and external sources be complementary in order for motivation to occur? For example, is it possible to motivate a person with food if she is not hungry or with food she does not like? Is it possible to motivate an employee with incentives (i.e., money, time, status) if the employee does not value those incentives. (Ch1)

Assignment 1: Biographical Information

Create a brief bio (one-half to three-quarter page.)Your bio may include information about your professional or student or extracurricular experience, educational background, the degree etc.

2. Give some examples of how your evolutionary history and personal history interact to motivate behavior.(Ch2)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

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1. Provide examples of human behavior for which the innate components seem to predominate over the learned components (refer to figure 3.1 in the textbook).(Ch3)

2. What aspects of human emotions appear to be more innate and what aspects learned (refer to figure 3.1 in the textbook).(Ch3)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

2 Discussion Question:

1. Alcohol and nicotine are two legal drugs. What are the pros and cons of legalizing other drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin? Consider that legalizing drugs incorporates motivation as a significant variable in its design and outcome.(Ch4)

2. What are the motivational issues that may challenge “addictive behaviors” in the workplace? (Ch4)

Assignment 3:

Choose a Research Article that focuses on an addictive behavior that you have experience with or that may occur in the workplace. Identify and articulate where you see the gaps that are appropriate for new research, based upon your juxtaposition of theory to practice. The research evaluation should be conducted using the criteria provided in the syllabus under Critique of Journal Articles.

Discussion Questions:1. Do you know anyone with PTSD? What are the individual's

Chapter 4

Chapter 7

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symptoms?(Ch7)

2 .What additional personality traits and/or behaviors serve to buffer individuals against stressors and stress?(Ch7)

3. Provide two techniques that are useful in combating stress in the workplace (references should also be provided) (Ch7)

4. Provide two physical illnesses that develop as a result of stress. (references should be provided with your responses) (Ch7)

Assignment 4:

Conduct a brief literature review that will identify how culture and gender, and ethnicity impact on behavior, stress, and motivation.

3 Critical Thinking Discussion Questions: Chapters 8

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1. How psychological needs cause behavior is an example of the mind-body (brain) problem. How can psychological needs, entities of the mind, cause behaviors, which are entities of the body? 2. Describe the relationships to organizational culture with the major constructs of motivation theory. (Program Outcomes 5-10)

Assignment 5:

Basic Assumption: Good human beings will generally need a good society in which to grow (Maslow, 1970)

Students will develop a cognitive map of their understanding of the relationships between internal motivation and exemplary leadership practices; identifying how good leadership skills and practices impact employee motivation, and how each of these relationships yield organizational effectiveness.(Program Outcomes 5, 6,7, 8, 9)

4 2. Define intrinsic motivation and contrast it with extrinsic motivation.

Exercise:Chapter 10: Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation.Measuring Psychological Needs. Students can measure the strength of their psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness (belongingness, affiliation) (see Table 8.4 in text) with the Basic Psychological Needs Scale, which can be found at the following web address:http://www.psych.rochester.edu/SDT/measures/needs_scl.html

Complete this instrument and write a one page analysis of yourself and post it in your team discussion space. Make a

Chapter 10

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comment or ask a question of one of your classmates concerning his or her analysis.

Assignments: Present significant elements of Exercise from Chapter 8 for Class Discussion

Discussion Questions:1. What is life like without goals? Do you know any people who seem to have no goals? What is their behavior like?

2. How closely are people’s goals matched to their abilities? Are there people you know whose goals are way below their abilities and others whose goals exceed their abilities? Do you think achievement valence depends on a match between a person's goal level and ability?

Assignments:

Develop an ethical issue and discuss how intrinsic and extrinsic motivation impacts the decision making in organizations. (Program Outcomes (3-9)

Chapter 11

5Read: Chapter 11 & 12

Learning Activities:

Select one question to answer. Post your answer by Wednesday, 11:59 p.m.; read the responses of other students and respond to two of them by Saturday, 11:59 p.m.

Chapter 12, Least Effort and the Economics of

Chapter 12

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Motivation

1. Can you give an example contrary to the principle of least effort, i.e., we do something because it costs more or requires more effort? Remember, all else must be equal and only cost or effort varies. For example, the goal of the desired floor is achieved with less effort when the elevator rather than the stairs are used. However, the stairs may provide an added benefit, such as exercise. Thus, the goal floor plus exercise is a more valuable incentive than the goal floor alone. Furthermore, when the cost of waiting for the elevator is added on, then taking the elevator may seem more effortful than immediately climbing the stairs.

6On-Line Activities – Check Announcement Board

Chapter 9

7 Final Paper

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Course Evaluation Criteria:

Item Point Due Date Relationship to Program Outcomes

Relationship to Course Outcomes

Assignment 1: ____Brief Student Bio

5 pts

Assignment 2: ____Written Assignment of Discussion Questions

5 pts Leadership/ Collaboration, research, critical thinking

1, 2, 3, 4, 6

Assignment 3: _____Research Article Critique

5 pts Communication, motivation, research, knowledge, change

1, 2, 3, 7

Assignment 4: _Literature review on gender, culture, stress___________________

5 pts

Assignment 5: ____Written Assignment on Relationships between motivation & good leadership practices

5 pts Communication, Research, Knowledge, Change, Global Diversity

Assignment 6: _______________________________________

Assignment 7: ______________________

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Critique of Journal Article 2-3 Pages (10 points of Total Grade)

The purpose of this project is to develop/enhance critical thinking skills.

Select an article from an academic or professional journal related to the course. Articles from trade journals, news magazines or newspapers are not acceptable. Provide a summary and a critique of the article.

Write a critical evaluation of the article judging the credibility and reliability of the research. You may use the following questions in your analysis:

Who is the researcher cited? (Authors should be cited using APA format) What is the affiliation of the researcher or the research team? What is the assumption or hypothesis on which the research is based? How was the research conducted (methodology)? What are the researcher’s findings? What are the researcher’s conclusions? Do the findings support the conclusions? What does the researcher suggests needs to be done in the future? What did the author not do well in the article? Is the research applicable to organization’s today?

Final Paper:  Consultation on motivational issues

Identify an organization at which you work, attend, play or have some other affiliation. Assume the role of an external consultant retained to deal with a team, department, or organization in which the employees (or members) do not seem motivated to perform at a level consistent with their ability.  Prepare a consultation paper on the issues to be presented to management or the administration.

Present an analysis of how the assessment was conducted on an individual and systemic basis.   Describe theoretical and research basis of findings.  Present a plan of corrective intervention that has as an objective enhancing the motivation to perform of employee’s (or team or group members).

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The analysis should be a scholarly written paper, based on the theoretical and practical perspectives of the readings and research on theories and development of motivation. 

The paper shall be from 7-10 pages in length. It shall comply with APA standards, with appropriate citations and references.

Course Evaluation Criteria

Total Grade100 points

Due Date Relationship to Program Outcomes

Relationship to Course Outcomes

Discussion Question & On-Line Questions

15 points (max of 3 per week)

Weekly Leadership/ Collaboration, research, critical thinking

1, 2, 3, 4, 6

Assignments 30 points (5 per assignment)

Leadership/ Collaboration

2, 6, 5, 8

Article Critique 10 points Research, communications

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8

Class Participation

10 points Cumulative points for the course

Research, communications, ethics, diversity

1, 6, 7,

Final Paper 35 points Research, communications, ethics, diversity

2, 4, 5, 6, 7,

Grading Criteria

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Grading Scale

Evaluation Rubrics:

Criteria for Term Paper:

Grade

A= 100-90B= 89-80C= 79-70

D= 69-60F= 60 and below

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A = 90+ Paper is in appropriate APA format, well thought out and provides excellent coverage of material

B = 80 – 89 Paper is well thought out, but is missing one component of APA format OR coverage of material is only adequate

C = 70 – 79 Insufficient number of references provided AND limited coverageD = 60 - 69 Paper is disorganized AND coverage is not adequate AND does not conform

to APA format F = <60 Evidence of plagiarism OR paper not submitted

Criteria for Class Presentation

GradeA = 90+ Presentation is well organized and provides excellent coverage of the topic

area; informative handouts provided to the instructor and classmatesB = 80 – 89 Presentation is well organized and provides good coverage of the topic area C = 70 – 79 Coverage of material is marginal; presentation is slightly disorganizedD = 60 - 69 Presentation is disorganized and does not provide adequate coverage of the

topic area F = <60 Presentation was not completed by student

1. Class attendance and participation

Class attendance and participation are vital to your learning experience. Given the short semester, it is crucial that you attend all class sessions and participate in on-line discussions. There are no exceptions made for missing on-line assignments/discussion. You are allowed to miss one on-ground class session during the semester without being penalized as long as you receive prior approval from the instructor. Missing two class sessions will result in a 10 percent reduction in your final grade (one letter). Missing more than two sessions will result in a final grade of an F in the course. You are not eligible to be granted an incomplete after missing two or more sessions of the course

Criteria for Class Participation

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GradeA = 90+ Student actively participated in discussions in >80% of class sessions; nearly

all comments were thought provoking and incorporated material from the assigned readings

B = 80 – 89 Student actively participated in discussions in >80% of class sessions; most of the comments were thought provoking and incorporated material from the assigned readings

C = 70 – 79 Student participated in discussions in >70% of class sessions; comments/questions demonstrate a surface level understanding of course topics

D = 60 - 69 Student participated in <70% of class sessions; comments/questions did not demonstrate an understanding of course topics

F = <60 Student did not participate in class discussions

Course Schedule, Readings and Learning Activities

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Date Reading Assignment Other Assignment

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

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Week 6

Week 7

Week 7 ½

Academic Dishonesty/Plagiarism: In an effort to foster a spirit of honesty and integrity during the learning process, Argosy University requires that the submission of all course assignments represent the original work produced by that student. All sources must be documented through normal scholarly references/citations and all work must be submitted using the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition (2001). Washington DC: American Psychological Association (APA) format. Please refer to Appendix A in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition for thesis and paper format. Students are encouraged to purchase this manual (required in some courses) and become familiar with its content as well as consult the Argosy University catalog for further information regarding academic dishonesty and plagiarism.

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Scholarly writing: The faculty at Argosy University is dedicated to providing a learning environment that supports scholarly and ethical writing, free from academic dishonesty and plagiarism. This includes the proper and appropriate referencing of all sources. You may be asked to submit your course assignments through “Turnitin,” (www.turnitin.com), an online resource established to help educators develop writing/research skills and detect potential cases of academic dishonesty. Turnitin compares submitted papers to billions of pages of content and provides a comparison report to your instructor. This comparison detects papers that share common information and duplicative language.

Americans with Disabilities Act Policy

It is the policy of Argosy University to make reasonable accommodations for qualified students with disabilities, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If a student with disabilities needs accommodations, the student must notify the Director of Student Services. Procedures for documenting student disability and the development of reasonable accommodations will be provided to the student upon request.

Students will be notified by the Director of Student Services when each request for accommodation is approved or denied in writing via a designated form.  To receive accommodation in class, it is the student’s responsibility to present the form (at his or her discretion) to the instructor.  In an effort to protect student privacy, the Department of Student Services will not discuss the accommodation needs of any student with instructors. Faculty may not make accommodations for individuals who have not been approved in this manner.

The Argosy University Statement Regarding Diversity

The Argosy University provides equitable access through its services and programs to students of any social, geographic and cultural background, regardless of gender, and strives to prepare all candidates to work with and provide services to diverse populations.  Argosy demonstrates its commitment to diversity through the development and support of a diverse educational community.

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