Student Motivation Strategies - Essay Example

Motivation Strategies In the learning environment, there are many factors that contribute to students learning engagement both in school and at home. Studies have shown that very few students like doing their assignments but instead they would prefer catching another episode in their favorite TV programs. In the recent past, there have been debates on the importance of homework. Some critics have argued that not all students go home to a quiet and supportive environment and thus have little chance of being successful with out-of-class assignment (Khalkhali & Golestaneh, 2011). Others have argued that homework contributes significantly to students’ negative attitude towards the school and teachers especially if it is linked to punishments and other consequences either at school or at home (Wiseman & Hunt, 2014). While those in support for assignments have argued that homework serve the students to review and practice what they have learned and also prepare them for the next class. However, the scope of this paper does not include merits and demerits of homework, but it presents various motivational strategies which can be used to motivate students to do their homework. Student Motivation Strategies Student motivation is the student’s willingness, need, desire and compulsion to participate successfully in the learning process (Tileston, 2010). Noteworthy, student motivation can be categorized into two: Extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. According to Wiseman and Hunt (2014), a student can be extrinsically motivated when he or she engages in learning basically for the sake of attaining a reward or avoiding some inevitable punishment related to failure to do so. Various institutions of learning have their unique ways of extrinsically motivating their students publicly either by recognizing their academic achievements or giving out rewards. On the other hand, a student is intrinsically motivated internally out of curiosity, interest or enjoyment in order to achieve their intellectual or personal goals. These kinds of students mostly need no external kind of reward in order to complete a task and are mostly interested by the challenging nature of the activity (Wiseman & Hunt, 2014). However, academic environment also provides motivation to students especially regarding the academic progress. A student’s environment is mainly composed of teachers, fellow students and of course parental concerns. According to Khalkhali and Golestaneh (2011), students’ motivation to learning is an acquired competence developed through experience. These experiences are often stimulated most directly through modeling, communication of expectations and direct instructions or socialization by others more particularly the parents and the teachers. Teachers or instructors’ role is to facilitate learning among students and in order to enhance students’ learning and motivation to do homework after class all depend on their relation with the students. Literature Review Earlier studies did indicate that there are many factors affecting a given student’s motivation to work or learn, these factors may include interest in the subject matter, perception of its usefulness, general desire to achieve, self-confidence and self-esteem, as well as patience and persistence (Jeffrey, 2008). Studies have linked students’ homework performance to both the teachers at school and parents at home. The parents’ involvement as a focus on the student’s homework efforts, completion and accuracy play a pivotal point in the student’s education. This is because it is only through the assigned work that the parents will follow what their children are being taught and his overall performance (Kart, Kaplan, & Buzukashvily, 2011). Many literatures have since been published regarding the homework practice, but the scope of this paper will limit the period of the previous studies to recent ones- for the last seven years. The related topic may include teachers’ involvement in motivating the student to do their homework and may what strategies he/she uses to ensure that the students do their homework effectively. Motivational approaches to student to do their homework can be categorized under two broad strategies: school support motivational strategy and Out-of-school motivational strategy. However, more emphasis would be laid on school support motivational strategies (Sen, Burns, & Miller, 2009). In this paper we are going to focus our attention mainly in classroom setting, not forgetting none the less parental dependence on motivations builds up. Parental link can never be detached completely from the student’s performance since parents in one way, or another affect the general outcome of their children. Factors Contributing to Students Motivation The teachers can use the following to increase students’ motivation in a classroom situation: Reduce the ‘effort’ needed to complete an academic assignment: Studies indicate that the amount of effort needed to undertake an assignment activity will play an important role in how the students get motivated to do the work (Kart et al., 2011). This begs the question of how much homework is enough. According to Wiseman and Hunt (2014), the first step in maximizing the effectiveness of homework is determining the appropriate amount of work to assign to the students. Moreover the more time taken doing the assignment does not necessarily lead to higher achievement in the overall performance and it can be a cause of demoralization among the students toward homework (Tileston, 2010). Connect academic requirements to real-world situation: The media is full of materials related to students’ coursework and therefore when the assigned homework should give the students an opportunity to relate what they learn with real-world experiences. This will make the students not feel bored and as such feel demotivated to do the assignments (Wiseman & Hunt, 2014). Communicate your expectation of success: As an instructor, your expectations of the assignment should be communicated to both the parents and the students earlier on in the beginning of the academic year (Sen et al., 2009). This will make the student always to work towards achieving a specified goal. Avoid excessive competition: Tileston (2010) observes that inasmuch as competitions, usually, have a great impact on class overall performance it may also have a negative influence on individual’s motivation especially regarding the out-of-class assignments. Intense and extremely competitive types of classroom settings can induce anxiety which can interfere with students’ learning, thereby, counteracting the teachers’ goal of motivation (Wiseman & Hunt, 2014) Constructive and timely feedback: Everybody wants to be recognized and praised for their achievements. Students as well would want recognition for the hard work and their efforts they put in doing assignments, both within and without the classroom walls (Khalkhali & Golestaneh, 2011). By returning the assigned homework and constructively communicating positive and negative feedback, the teacher is able to acknowledge the students’ hard work and at the same time still encourage them to strive for more (Wiseman & Hunt, 2014). However, when students do not receive any feedback, then they would not be in a position to realize whether they are meeting the instructor’s expectation or not. Feedback on the work submitted by the students’ acts as pointers to the students that direction they need to go, and it also provides them knowledge of their point of weakness and how to improve on such. But when the assignments are simply checked off as completed without a feedback in them, the students will perceive them as meaningless leading to a sense of frustration and low-quality work next time (Khalkhali & Golestaneh, 2011). Proper Coordination: The instructor should make an effort to coordinate with other teachers so that the students are not overwhelmed with long assignments for several classes all on one night. This will make the students tend to feel tired and bored with the school assignment allocation procedures (Tileston, 2010). Proper coordination would ensure that the students get the right and suitable amount of assignment at a particular moment. Build on rewarding opportunities for social interactions: A student may find an otherwise tedious and frustrating task to be more motivating when it provides an opportunity for social interaction. Instructors may consider the use of social situations such as Cross-peer tutoring, cooperative learning groups and informal ‘study group’ as motivational tools. These social situations also offer the opportunity for reviewing academic learning skills. Note worthy, however, as Wiseman and Hunt (2014) observed these social interactions can become sources of distractions. Accordingly, it is upon the instructor to keep his/her expectations to be a priority from the outset, and they must monitor these social grouping to ensure the students remain focused (Tileston, 2010). Show enthusiasm: The instructor is the major source of stimulation for the academic course content and the overall tone of the class. Therefore, it is of importance that the instructor imposes an attitude towards the course in a similar manner that he/she would want the students to portray towards the same (Jeffrey, 2008). If the instructor appeared bored and less interested in the course then most likely the same attitude will be duplicated in the learners. Accountability: Providing learners with a sense of accountability can ensure prompt and appropriate response in doing homework. Tileston (2010) noted that without the idea of a deadline and a grade to be achieved, many students would never have the self-motivation that is necessary for assignment completion. Right from the outset the students should be told their targets and what requirements are needed for them to achieve those targets. From this, the individual student would know that their success is completely dependent upon their efforts (Kart et al., 2011). The teacher should also strive to make the assignment simpler for their students. This can be done by the teacher taking time to explain instructions related to the homework and allow time for questions. Wiseman and Hunt (2014) also propose that if possible the students should be given time to start their home work assignments in class, so that the teacher can be sure they understood the questions. Creation of a threat-free environment: While students do need to understand that there are consequences for their actions, far more motivating strategies than threats are positive reinforcements. According Tileston (2010) when instructors create a safe and supportive environment for students, affirming their belief in the student’s ability rather than laying out the various consequences of not doing the assignment, students are likely to get and stay motivated throughout the course. The use of extrinsic rewards, nonetheless, sparingly: Extrinsic motivators can be used to reward an extra effort to accomplish a given task. However, rewards should be given only when they are clearly deserved. And again no prizes or rewards should be given for a minimally successful accomplished work since this will send the message that even minimum efforts are allowed, thus rendering reward meaningless (Wiseman & Hunt, 2014). Evaluation: The evaluation of the students should be done on the tasks done not in comparison to the other students in class (Wiseman & Hunt, 2014). When students are compared to other students, a sense of inferiority is likely to set in especially if the student is not performing as compared to the other students. Each student is unique and should be treated as such. Strength and Limitation of Motivational Strategies Strengths: Intrinsic motivations are long lasting; they come from within an individual. Thus, no outside factors are need. Moreover, it incurs minimal cost to educators and parents for external rewards and students are typically more productive (Tileston, 2010). Extrinsic on the other side; quick results are realized and can be very effective means of motivation especially in the short term (Kart et al., 2011). Limitations: Intrinsic motivation can be very difficult to achieve; it often develops over a long period thus can be very difficult in short term goals. Again the instructor must have an in-depth knowledge of each student in order to promote it. Whereas, extrinsic may be more effective only in short term basis and can easily be seen as a bribe or coercion method especially in rewards or prize giving (Kart et al., 2011). Conclusion Motivation, both intrinsic and extrinsic, is the key factor in the success of students at all stages of their education. Teachers, therefore play, a pivotal balance in seeing into it that students are quite motivated, and the best got from them. Different students are motivated differently, and it takes time and a lot of efforts to learn and to get a classroom full of students enthusiastic about learning, working hard and pushing themselves to excel. Different motivational strategies suit different circumstance and different students, taking into consideration the extrinsically and intrinsically motivated. Conducive environment both at school and home with ready adults to listen to the students needs offer a good environment to boost the students morale in studies, consequently good achievement in homework. Homework provides a pathway to help students become better learners, and it enhances their understanding of the topic previously discussed in class. The teacher’s feedback, individual evaluation, quality social relationship, threat free environment, use of rewards and ensuring accountability among the student, are some of the strategies that can be used in a classroom setting. When the right strategy is used, students can get motivated and so develop a positive attitude towards homework. However, these motivational strategies have their side of weaknesses which must be taken into consideration as well. Reference List Jeffrey, M. (2008). A Description of Parental Involvement and Its Effects on Students’ Achievement. ProQuest. Kart, I., Kaplan, A., & Buzukashvily, T. (2011). “The Role of Parents’ Motivation In Students’ Autonomous Motivation for Doing Homework.” Learning and Individual Difference, 21(4), 376-386. Khalkhali, V., & Golestaneh, S.M. (2011). “Examining the Impact of Teacher Motivational Style and Competition Result on Student’ Subjective Vitality and Happiness in Physical Education.” Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 2990. Tileston, D.W., (2010). What Every Teacher Should Know About Student Motivation. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Corwin Press. Wiseman, D.G., & Hunt, GG.H. (2014). Best Practice in Motivation and Management in the Classroom, (3rd Ed.). Springfield: Charles C. Thomas. Sen, A., Burns, S. & Miller, D.C. (2009). “Teacher Strategies to Help Fourth- Graders Having Difficulty in Reading: An International Perspective.” Statistics in Brief Read More