The article begins by discussing that the underlying issues for motivation is that a teacher needs to know how conceptual knowledge can be applied in the classroom environment so that students are able to comprehend the material being presented. It separates the ideas of motivation and achievement in the sense that both can be obtained however it takes motivation to gain achievement in an area. The success comes when an effective teacher is able to set goals for her class to work towards the learning and keep them striving for more.
A way for teachers to keep the motivation is to direct their behavior during
the lesson so that it holds their interest. This in turn will allow students
to develop their own style of learning so that it continues when they are
not even in the classroom. The key point is so that the learning is associated
with what a student wants to learn about.
Students need to know that they can perform the required task and its up to
a teacher to help give them positive reinforcement so they can develop a sense
of self-efficacy. This can occur by setting smaller goals that they know a
student can achieve and then they are confident in their work building up
to larger goals. Rewards also help create a goal for a student if they are
used in the proper way. These rewards can fluctuate between younger and older
students as they are often motivated in different ways.
Two types of goals can be applied to learning styles: mastery and performance.
Mastery-oriented goals focus a students attention on what they are learning
more so than they outcome. Performance goals are the opposite in which it
does not matter if a student really learns anything, as long as they perform
well in the end. This again, is up to how a teacher structures the classroom
and the grading system used.
Again, it is important that an evaluation system in a classroom is focused
towards each child and the praise that children receive are relevant to the
task they are performing. Effort should be determined by how well they are
performing task, a final evaluation of a students work, and finally, the incentive
promised to follow.
Second summary:
The Article I have read and reviewed brings up a lot of points that I once again find it hard to make complete sense of or totally agree. I believe there are many different reasons as to what motivates students within a classroom. I'm going to base a lot of my comments and overview on the topic I am studying for my project, which is Extrinsic/ Intrinsic Motivation.
It states
in the article that the key to a teacher's success is "motivation,
motivation and motivation". I find this to be true, but some of the
examples were slightly underdeveloped in the sense as to why students are
motivated to take a class. For instance one in particular was the reason students
sign up for honors classes. It said they would sign up for the classes to learn
more material and further advance their skills. I, as a student myself can tell
you this is not why I personally signed up for the class. I choose to take
honors classes for three main reasons. I wanted the opportunity to earn an A in
the class that would give me more points for my GPA, reason two was because I
wanted to be in a learning environment that would allow me to be in a classroom
with other people who wanted to work without distractions of those students who
might not care as much as the next. The third and final reason is because of
the level of respect you receive from teachers. I find that the teachers, even
though they give you more work than the other classes and cover more material,
they are a lot nicer and more patient with the classmates.
I think that this behavior from the teacher's end can make students in regular classrooms feel more uncomfortable with their ability as a successful student. I feel that it is the teacher's responsibility to motivate the students for the most part because most students are not intrinsically motivated to do well in a classroom on their own. If a teacher has a negative attitude or discourages students with their behavior, students are less likely to try on their own. This isn't to say that teachers are responsible for the student's success on a hundred percent basis, just that they need to be aware of how their teaching tactics affect their students.