Motivating Students
The purpose of this research paper is to present research findings that show motivational teaching strategies to encourage the academic performance and achievement of students. Motivation is the drive on one’s thoughts and actions. Motivation is key to arouse the brain and to activate your senses. Motivation to learn is defined as, “The meaningfulness, value, and benefits of academic tasks to the learner.”
(Lumsden, 1994). Students use motivation in the classroom to stimulate their learning capabilities. “ Some students seem naturally enthusiastic about learning, but many need-or expect-their instructors to inspire, challenge, and stimulate them.” (Gross Davis 1993). To properly motivate one must understand a student’s behaviors. Behaviors that include the logical and illogical, the rational and irrational (Ames, 1984).
Types of Motivation
There are two different types of motivation in human behavior. The first is intrinsic.
In this type of motivation a person does things because he or she wants to do them. “A student who is intrinsically motivated undertakes an activity ‘for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provides, the learning it permits, or the feelings of accomplishment it evokes” (Lumsden 1994). To make a student intrinsically motivated you must make the class relevant to them (Coolidge 1996). When a student realizes the benefits they will have in their lives by doing well in the class, they will be more eager to learn. The second type of motivation is extrinsic. This type of motivation is based on outside things. When a person does something in order to get something physical it is an extrinsic motivator. “An extrinsically motivated student performs ‘in order to obtain s...
... middle of paper ...
...phies to motivate students.
Seifert, K. (1999). Constructing a Psychology of Teaching & Learning. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.
This book explores how to reinforce motivation. Motivation that brings about success and failure. How to manage misbehavior.
Tauber, R. (1998). Good or Bad, What Teachers Expect from Students They Generally Get. Retrieved November 16, 2003 from ERIC database.
This article explains how not to let a child’s past or history affect your judgment of them, and how to teach equally to those who misbehave.
Twenty Tips on Motivating Students. University of Nebraska Lincoln. Retrieved November 16, 2003 from http://www.unl.edu/gradstud/GSAP/motivstdnts.html
Gives many tips for being an effective motivator.
Wolk, R. (2003). Worlds Apart. Teacher Magazine, 14(5), pp.5. Retrieved September 24, 2003 from EBSCO database.
According to many the custody of a child should be determined with the best interest of the child in mind. However, it is not easy for a judge to make such an important decision in such a short amount of time with limited information. Smith (2004) stated that, the simple fact of being a mother does not indicate a willingness or capacity to render a quality of care different than that which a father can provide. Some might argue that what Reynolds (2004) calls deadbeat dads, or in other words fathers who refuse to pay their child support, are often times confused with Turnips, who are ex-spouses who can not afford to pay child support. One example of a turnip is a father who is in prison; he is obviously not making money while he is on the inside. Now an example of a deadbeat dad is when the father is enjoying all the finer things in life and he cannot reach far enough into his...
...tation parking lot. In the parking lot both cars pull up, Dunn before the SUV, and the guys in the SUV had their music on full blast. Dunn asked them to turn it down and got in an argument with the boys. Dunn reaches for his gun and fires ten times at the SUV. Only one person, Jordan Davis (17) was shot and he was shot twice. Dunn drove away and hours afterwards found out that Davis was dead. Dunn was convicted of 4 out of 5 attempted murder charges and a mistrial declared on the first degree murder charge. Now both cases are very similar the main difference is the verdict. The defendants in both trials could have avoided the confrontation but chose not to. In both cases an underage African American was shot and killed. In both cases the defendants lives were not in danger and the victims were unarmed. So why would they let one be found guilty and the other go free?
Elaine Sorensen, Chava Zibman ”Poor Dads Who Don't Pay Child Support; Deadbeats or Disadvantaged?” Urban Institute, April 01, 2001, Web. 13 Nov. 2011
(Roman, 2013) In the case ofTrayvon Martin many believed the Stand Your Ground laws gave George Zimmerman a free pass to kill anAfrican-American boy. However, not every case is the same and a law cannot be repealed due to one failed case. Stand Your Ground laws value the life of the victim over the life of the criminal, which means that even if a criminal enters your home without the intent to kill or cause physical harm, they are still entering with a criminal intent. Proof that the victims life was in danger is no longer necessary because the presumption that the criminal intended to commit a crime speaks for itself. Many don’t agree with taking the life of a criminal if they didn’t intend to do physical harm to a victim, but it is impossible to know what an aggressor is planning on doing. It’s better to be safe than to have a dead victim with their back against a wall. Another issue that many find with Stand Your Ground laws is the propensity of racial bias within the court room. In a recent study done by the Tampa Bay Times newspaper, it was found that the courts seemed to value the lives of white victims more than those of black victims. (Ackerman, Goodman, Gilbert, Arroyo-Johnson, and Pagano, 2015) However, this study did not discuss the amount of black on white crimes compared to
Is child support benefiting the children as well as the parents to keep a stable environment? There has been an increase in children that go through a process called child support, which is the cause of their parents’ divorce or their split up before the child was even born. This process helps the custodial parent receive a certain amount of income from the noncustodial parent to help provide for the minor child(rens) necessities. Every single case is different, depending on what state you reside in or the income that each parent earns are two major factors. Over the years many people thought that only men were the ones that played for child support and where the noncustodial parent, but now the roles have changed and women are becoming more empowered to becoming successful.
Teachers are able to set clear goals for learning and relate that learning to the needs of the students therefore motivating the intrinsic learner. While teachers should predominately use intrinsic motivators in their classrooms extrinsic motivators do have their place in motivating the extrinsically orientated student. Extrinsic motivators though should be used with caution as students will only ...
...e best interest of their children. It’s not the amount of child support that is being paid that is important while you are doing the best you can for your children and supporting them the best way you can. Enforcing child support and having greater punishments are not just to make the nonpaying parents lives more difficult but to ensure a better life for their children.
Jealous also notes, “When white shooters kill black victims, nearly 36 percent of the resulting homicides are deemed justifiable yet when black shooters kill white victims, only 3 percent were ruled justifiable.” Jurors and/or judges somewhat prejudice against different races. This means that some white individual might get away with murdering someone using the laws in their side, while a black individual might not. An in-depth case file of the Trayvon Martin case says, “Zimmerman pulled a gun from a holster on his waist and shot Martin… Zimmerman claimed self-defense and was found not guilty…” Zimmerman was able to successfully get away with murdering Martin thanks to these laws that have caused people from specific races to be biased towards people of their own race. In this case Zimmerman was white while Martin was black. The fact that people still look down upon other races is a reality that makes these laws almost
Lei, Simon A. "Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: Evaluating Benefits and Drawbacks from College Instructors' Perspectives." Journal of Instructional Psychology 37.2 (2010): 153-160. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 7 Mar. 2011.
Students are more focused and therefore have better test scores in single-sex classrooms. Although stereotypes are formed because of separating genders, a study in the 2009 British Educational Research Journal concluded that in single-sex classrooms, girls achieve more in math and science while boys achieve more in English (Kwong). Stereotypes have been developed early on of what girls and boys are more proficient at. Naturally girls are better at English; boys, math and science (compound sentence: elliptical construction). Single-sex classes encourage girls to pursue more in science and math and boys in English because it takes away gender stereotypes. If a boy and a girl are in the same science class working together, the girl becomes the scribe to write down data while the boy is doing the experiment (Kwong). Math and scien...
The single-sex format creates opportunities that do not exist in the coed classroom. (Edison 1) Researchers are unaware that both genders brains function differently. This lack of knowledge may be why the real truth about single-sex education being more efficient than co-ed education has not been discovered. Some say single-sex education may be the key for a brighter generation. It shows to improve test score dramatically. The number of public schools experimenting with single sex classes is now reported to be more than 350. (Silva 130) Some research also shows that single-sex classes have a more welcoming atmosphere. Single-sex education improves grades while coed educations keep an average pace.
“Motivation is a complex part of human psychology and behavior that influences how individuals choose to invest their time, how much energy they exert in any given task, how they think and feel about the task, and how long they persist at the task” (Urdan & Schoenfelder, 2006). The biggest question educators face in today’s classroom is what motivates a student to do something and why? Virtually all students are motivated in one way or another. Research of student motivation suggests a theory that emphasizes a social-cognitive perspective. The cognition of students regarding academic work are influenced by social factors, such as messages from the teacher about the difficulty of the task, the perceived abilities of classmates, and the information about the importance of learning the material (Urdan & Schoenfelder, 2006). In this paper the focus will primarily be on those elements within the classroom that influence student motivation and engagement.
Keller, John M. (2006). What Are the Elements of Learner Motivation? Retrieved July 4, 2011
Some people think that single sex schools are good because girls and boys feel free to talk, ask and raise their hands without being made fun of, "The theoretical approach termed 'girl power' argues that girls lag behind boys in some subject in co-ed classrooms." (predit, 2014). However, Single sex schools are very bad because it affects children attitude, they will find difficulty in communicating with their colleagues in college as they were secluded and didn't interact with other sex in school. Boys and girls should know from a young age how to deal with the opposite sex, instead of facing that when they become adults, and don't have experience on what to do. Students in single-sex classrooms will one day live and work side-by-side with members of the opposite sex .Educating students in single-sex schools restrains their chance to work helpfully and cooperate effectively with parts of the inverse sex. "It is not long before the youth of today will be the parents, co-workers and leaders of tomorrow" (strauss, 2012). "Anything we organize along any variable, if we're saying boys he...
Motivation is really important tool in a learning environment. Also motivation effects student learning and their behavior as well. It directs behavior towards particular targets. Also it effect the decision which students takes. In motivation mainly we have two types which is intrinsically and extrinsically being motivated. For example: when a student is intrinsically motivated they just do it for themselves not because of the reward that they will get back. It’s just because they have their own interest and they enjoy doing that. On the other side, when a student is extrinsically motivated they just do it for the reward that they will get. That’s why in learning process it’s important that each student should