Benjamin Keep, PhD, JD | 4 Keys to Motivating Your Unmotivated Students @benjaminkeep | Uploaded July 2021 | Updated October 2024, 13 hours ago.
Motivation. How does it work? And how can we motivate otherwise unmotivated students?
The research consensus has mostly moved away from the intrinsic/extrinsic distinction to a slightly more complicated model involving attainment goals, intrinsic enjoyment, instrumental goals, and self-efficacy.
00:00 Introduction
00:15 Why are they unmotivated?
00:51 A model of motivation
01:02 Attainment goals
01:46 Intrinsic enjoyment
02:20 Instrumental goals
03:36 When an activity fulfills multiple values
05:23 Motivation for doing the same activity can change over time
06:25 Self-efficacy
07:42 Persuasion is not a good idea
08:17 Increasing value placed on attainment
09:04 Giving students a purpose
09:51 Breaking skills (and tasks) down into smaller bits
10:26 Make progress more visible
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Some key references for future reading, if you’re into this stuff:
On the general model of attainment value, intrinsic enjoyment, and instrumental goals:
Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Motivational beliefs, values, and goals. Annual review of psychology, 53(1), 109-132.
On the idea that multiple goals means higher motivation:
Valle, A., Cabanach, R. G., Núnez, J. C., González‐Pienda, J., Rodríguez, S., & Piñeiro, I. (2003). Multiple goals, motivation and academic learning. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 73(1), 71-87.
On "writing for a purpose," check out:
Anderson, D. D. (2008). The elementary persuasive letter: Two cases of situated competence, strategy, and agency. Research in the Teaching of English, 270-314.
or
Newell, G. E., Beach, R., Smith, J., & VanDerHeide, J. (2011). Teaching and learning argumentative reading and writing: A review of research. Reading Research Quarterly, 46(3), 273-304.
For the idea that sharing is a key motivator for hobbyists, see the "M is for Making" chapter of the ABCs of How We Learn by Schwartz, Tsang and Blair.(which draws on an earlier piece called "What makes hobbies motivating and their relationship to education", by Pfaffman and Schwartz).
How Learning Works: Seven Research-based Strategies is also a good reference on this in their chapter on motivation. Packs a lot in (including the works cited here and work on performance vs. mastery goals), but it is a bit hard to parse.
Motivation. How does it work? And how can we motivate otherwise unmotivated students?
The research consensus has mostly moved away from the intrinsic/extrinsic distinction to a slightly more complicated model involving attainment goals, intrinsic enjoyment, instrumental goals, and self-efficacy.
00:00 Introduction
00:15 Why are they unmotivated?
00:51 A model of motivation
01:02 Attainment goals
01:46 Intrinsic enjoyment
02:20 Instrumental goals
03:36 When an activity fulfills multiple values
05:23 Motivation for doing the same activity can change over time
06:25 Self-efficacy
07:42 Persuasion is not a good idea
08:17 Increasing value placed on attainment
09:04 Giving students a purpose
09:51 Breaking skills (and tasks) down into smaller bits
10:26 Make progress more visible
Sign up to my email newsletter, Avoiding Folly, here: benjaminkeep.com
Some key references for future reading, if you’re into this stuff:
On the general model of attainment value, intrinsic enjoyment, and instrumental goals:
Eccles, J. S., & Wigfield, A. (2002). Motivational beliefs, values, and goals. Annual review of psychology, 53(1), 109-132.
On the idea that multiple goals means higher motivation:
Valle, A., Cabanach, R. G., Núnez, J. C., González‐Pienda, J., Rodríguez, S., & Piñeiro, I. (2003). Multiple goals, motivation and academic learning. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 73(1), 71-87.
On "writing for a purpose," check out:
Anderson, D. D. (2008). The elementary persuasive letter: Two cases of situated competence, strategy, and agency. Research in the Teaching of English, 270-314.
or
Newell, G. E., Beach, R., Smith, J., & VanDerHeide, J. (2011). Teaching and learning argumentative reading and writing: A review of research. Reading Research Quarterly, 46(3), 273-304.
For the idea that sharing is a key motivator for hobbyists, see the "M is for Making" chapter of the ABCs of How We Learn by Schwartz, Tsang and Blair.(which draws on an earlier piece called "What makes hobbies motivating and their relationship to education", by Pfaffman and Schwartz).
How Learning Works: Seven Research-based Strategies is also a good reference on this in their chapter on motivation. Packs a lot in (including the works cited here and work on performance vs. mastery goals), but it is a bit hard to parse.
