Student Motivation

Intrinsic motivationThe ways in which the brain

naturally motivated from within.

V. Thanikachalam

Cognitive system Teachers are continuing to teach

to the cognitive system of the brain.

Teachers are providing access to the world of knowledge.

Why, then, aren’t they motivated to learn?

Cognitive knowledge All students must acquire master

standards. All must pass university

examinations in distinction. These do not happen. All learning does not begin in the

cognitive system.

Where does learning begin? In the self-system. It happens with or without input.

Learning process Students will be motivated to

learn. Students complete learning tasks

when they are directly involved in the learning process from the beginning.

Self-system (Marzno 2001) “Once the self-system has

determined what will be attended to the functioning of all other elements thought are to a certain extent, decided or determined”

Elements of thought Self-system Metacognitive system Cognitive system Knowledge domain

Motivation Crucial to learning Remembering

Utility of motivation Relates to the drive to do

something. Drives to study new things. Encourages to try again when we

fail.

Intrinsic motivation Our goal is to guide students to

use innate drive for intrinsic motivation.

Drive to do something just the joy of doing.

Gradually wean students from external rewards.

Sources of intrinsic motivation Drive that comes from within. Do something for the sheer joy of

doing it. Motive to discover some thing. Feeling of self-accomplishment.

Environment of students Do only those things for which,

they receive a tangible reward will be less intrinsically motivated.

More difficult to break the pattern of rewards for work.

Learning and belief Learned to disregard that natural

intrinsic motivation in favor of tangible rewards.

Believe locus of control comes from outside sources.

Learned early on to look to outside rewards from motivation.

Intrinsic motivation It comes from within. From the self- and metacognitive

systems are to be activated positively.

Work hard for their own satisfaction in learning and doing.

Perceived value of tasks Is to paramount. Work on the goals they set. They are motivated. Efficient. More active

Self-system and the metacognitive systems Built around those characteristics

that lead themselves to intrinsic motivation.

Guidance for self-system Self-concept Self-efficiency Belief that one can achieve.

Metacognitive system Built around personal goal setting

and follow-through Happen without outside rewards.

Rewards Extrinsic motivation Promised payment / gift.

Celebrations Extrinsic motivation Surprise /unannounced

How does self-system work? Students use self-system of the

brain unconsciously Processes that are within the self-

system Importance of an activity Self-efficacy Emotional response to a task Overall motivation.

Examining importance Instrumental in satisfying a basic

need. Instrumental in the attainment of a

personal goal.

Examining efficacy Belief on resources, ability, power

to change a situation based past experiences

Self-efficacy The confidence a student has that

s/he has ability to be successful Based on past experience.

Success breeds success Provide opportunities for students

to experience success in steps. Provide specific feedback Help them to improve.

Information on emotion Tell students that they could be

successful-even if they had not been in the past.

Reinforce performance through encouraging remarks.

Treat students with respect. Display high expectation.

Emotional response Strongest force in the brain. Positive emotions can help shape our

motivation to learn. Negative emotion can literally shutdown

thought process. Emotional response that a student brings

to the new task will help shape the degree of motivation associated with that task.

Overall motivation According to Marzono: ”high

motivation exists when students see the information or task as personally relevant and believe that they can be successful.

METACOGNITIVE SYSTEM DECISION TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE

LEARNING METACONITIVE SYSTEM BECOMES

ENGAGED IT IS CONTROLLED BY SELF-SYSTEM NOW STUDENT BELIEVES THAT THE

LEARNING CAN BE DONE SUCCESSFULLY POSITIVE FEELING ABOUT LEARNING.

UTILISATION OF METACOGNITIVE SYSTEM Decision to pay attention to the learning Metacognitive system becomes engaged. Metacognitive system is controlled by self-

system. Now student believes that the learning can

be done successfully. Positive feeling about learning. Learning is passed to the metacognitive

system Sets personal goals for learning.

Impact Student makes decision about

what to do when problems with difficult tasks are encountered.

Student completes a task with energy.

COGNITIVE SYSTEM RESPONSIBLE FOR PROCESSING TO

COMLETE TASKS RESPOSIBLE FOR SUCH OPERATIONS AS

MAKING INFERENCES, COMPARING, AND CLASSIFING

THE INFORMATION WILL HAVE AN IMPACT ON THEIR SUCCESS IN THEIR LEARNING.

INTEGRATES ALREADY ACQUIRED INFORMATION.

ACTIVATE THE INATE DESIRE TO KNOW.

BRAIN’S SEARCH PROCESS AT THE TIME OF NEW LEARNING OR

NEW TASKS BRAINS LOOKS FOR EXISTING

CONNECTIONS THAT ARE BASED ON PRIOR EXPERIENCE AND LEARNING.

IF SUCH INFORMATIONS ARE FOUND,THE INFORMATION CAN BE CONNECTED TO THEM.

Appropriate teaching strategies Present new learning to students

already know and understand. One of the most important tactics

for helping students to be successful.

Motivation to begin a lesson or task Self-system of the brain is the gate

keeper to motivation. Most of what we learn comes to us

through the five senses. Brain cannot possibly pay attention to

all incoming information. It filters out that which is not important. The brain filters out about 98% of all

incoming information.

Self-system Plays an important role as

information is coming into the brain.

Decides whether to pay attention to the information being provided through the senses and to move it along to the cognitive system.

How do we satisfy the self-system’s need for + emotion ? Emotion is the strongest force for

embedding information into the brain’s long-term memory.

It is the power to shut down our thinking.

Or to strengthen an experience so that we remember it.

What do we do? Add emotions to the learning

through sound. Incorporate celebrations of the

learning. Include visuals, simulations, and

real-world applications.

Robert Cloniger, brain researcher says that: To get brains attention, we must tap into

three neural system. I. We must stimulate the quest for novelty,

which comes from the cerebral cortex. II. We must trigger the hunt for pleasure,

which comes from the midbrain; and III. We must activate the desire to avoid

harm, which comes from the lower brain.

How do we use novelty to the brain’s attention? Emotional states that help to get

our students attention. Anticipation Hope, fun, acceptance, surprise Self confidence Intrigue importance

What is the role of self-attributes? Self-attributes include such things

as beliefs about personal appearance, intellectual ability, athletic ability, and social ability.

The combination of these beliefs constitutes one’s overall self-concept.

Locus of control Refers to the extent to which a

person believes s/he has over a situation (internal control) as opposed to the control of other people or forces outside of themselves (external control).

Students’ views Poor students often believe that they

have no control over their lives or their circumstances.

Poor students have low self-esteem. They developed a feeling of

helplessness. They have the overriding belief that what

happens in life is just fate; they have no control on events.

What will they do, then? Students will be likely to engage in

learning activities when they attribute success or failure to things they can control or lack of it.

Involvement of self-system Students’ perception of the nature

of formal & informal groups &their relationship to others individuals.

Acceptance of groups and their relationship to other individuals.

Poor students feel they have no control.

Overcoming the learned helplessness Build opportunities for success. Teach students basic emotional

intelligence strategies. Goal-setting Build projects around student

interests Provide explicit feedback often.

Role of the students’ perception of the nature of the world Self-system deals with the individual’s

perception of the nature of the world. Perception include physical,

emotional, sociological and supernatural forces.

Stress causes the brain to trigger a reaction of defensiveness.

Under such conditions, the brain may go to a ‘survivalist’ mode.

What are the problems? Brain becomes less capable of

planning, pattern- detection, judgment skills, receiving information, creativity, classifying data, problem solving and higher order skills.

Threats Threats that students face: Bodily threats. Derogative comments Little feedback No direction to complete a task Emotional threats.

Needs of students to be successful: Specific directions Adequate opportunities for

mastery Specific feedback for improvement Assignments with expected

performance.

Emotional threats Students fear being made to look

foolish in front of their peers. Any thing that causes them to feel

inadequate, silly, stupid, hurt, or embarrassed will be an emotional threat.

Never create emotional threats.

Threats based on bias When students names are made

fun of, or Deliberately mispronounced When students are isolated Unrealistic dead lines Inadequate resources to complete

tasks

At risk learners Are in constant state of stress or

threat As a result they constantly make

choices that are biologically driven. They work for the short-goals, and Are survival-oriented. They are NOT unmotivated or short

sighted.

Impact of climate on the motivation Climate refers to both the physical

and and emotional aspects of a classroom.

Students need to feel comfortable in the classroom-both physically and emotionally.

Emotional climate Acceptable by the teacher Acceptable by the peers.

Steps to assure the students Accept the students Encourage peers to accept Create comfortable environment Offer learning experience through all

senses Encourage participation in the classrooms Create confidence in their control over

their learning.

How do we encourage students to finish the learning task Activating the metacognitive

system Goal specification Process specification Process monitoring Disposition monitoring

Minor off-task behavior Curiosity, Anticipation , suspense, low to

moderate anxiety High challenge Low to moderate stress Change in the activity / environment Different instructional strategies Changes in tasks/ resources Emotional intelligence

Domains of emotional intelligence Knowing one’s emotions Managing emotions Motivating oneself Recognizing emotions handling

relationships

How is importance related to motivation? Personal importance

Why is efficacy important to motivation? Part of the self-system concerns

the extent to which a student believes that s/he has the resources or power to change a situation.

A low sense of efficacy can result in learned helplessness.

Tactics for improving efficacy Provide opportunities for students

to write their own ideas and feelings about learning

Provide course plan for the semester so that students know what to expect and have predictability.

Develop instructional strategies and implement Based on the feedback revise.

Thank you,Your questions, please