Motivation, Management and Mastery



Modern Classrooms & Curriculums

Introductin

What is it about the academic motivation of students that teachers should know? Certainly, knowledge of motivation concepts, principles, and theories should be basic elements in a foundations course in educational psychology, but this is not really what educational psychology should be about. Teachers need to know how this conceptual knowledge relates to the classroom and to their instructional role in the classroom. Teachers also need to know how to rely on this knowledge when dealing with issues that involve motivational concerns and when making instructional decisions.

Theories And Principles Of Motivation

How can a teacher set homework policy so that students complete the homework and still maintain their interest in the material? Teacher A's policy states that all homework must be turned in daily, that all homework will be graded daily with letter or percentage grades, and that homework counts for 30 percent of the quarter grade. Teacher B's policy states that students are to spend no more than thirty minutes per night on homework, that homework will be graded satisfactory or unsatisfactory, that students can redo and correct their work, and that homework counts for 10 percent of the quarter grade. We may think the stringency of Teacher A's policy might be more effective, but research on motivation would suggest that Teacher B's policy is more likely to fulfill both objectives. At the classroom level, teachers are often faced with a child who continually avoids challenge. At the building level, teachers must come together and decide how to structure a reading program so that students will read more but also enjoy reading more.

These are simple examples of everyday problems and decisions that involve motivation questions. Student motivation has, for some time, been described as one of the foremost problems in education. It is certainly one of the problems most commonly cited by teachers. Motivation is important because it contributes to achievement, but it is also important itself as an outcome. Motivation is not synonymous with achievement, and student motivation cannot necessarily be inferred by looking at achievement test scores. Immediate achievement and test performance are determined by a variety of factors and may even be assured through a variety of ways, and some practices that serve to increase immediate achievement may actually have the effect of diminishing students' interest in learning as well as their long-term involvement in learning.

When we talk about motivation as an outcome, we are concerned with students' "motivation to learn." If we place a value on developing a motivation to learn in students, we are concerned with whether students initiate learning activities and maintain an involvement in learning as well as a commitment to the process of learning. Effective schools and effective teachers are those who develop goals, beliefs, and attitudes in students that will sustain a long-term involvement and that will contribute to quality involvement in learning.

Motivation has often been characterized within what has been called a quantitative view of motivation, 4 in which motivation has been described ...