Motivating the Unmotivated:
Alternatives to Simply Killing Them
Lorin W. Anderson
The Anderson Research Group
andregroup@sc.rr.com
To Truly Improve Teaching Effectiveness,
we must look at schooling through the
eyes of the students.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Today's high
school students say they are bored in
class because they dislike the material and
experience inadequate teacher interaction,
according to a special report from Indiana
University's High School Survey of Student
Engagement (HSSSE). The findings,
released today (Feb. 28, 2007), show that
2 out of 3 students are bored in class
every day, while 17 percent say they are
bored in every class.
Some of the key findings were:
Fewer than 2 percent of students say
they are never bored in high school.
Seventy-five percent of students
surveyed say they are bored in class
because the "material wasn't
interesting."
Nearly 40 percent felt bored because
the material "wasn't relevant to me."
What is Motivation?
From a practical perspective, motivation is
putting forth the effort needed to be
successful at something.
Students who don’t pay attention, don’t do
their work, and don’t hand in homework
are said to be unmotivated.
What Explains Student Motivation?
A rather simple equation. M = f (V, E)
Motivation is a function of the value a
student attaches to something and the
student’s expectancy of success in
achieving that something.
So How Does It Work?
So How Does It Work?
Example 1: Cheerleading
For Bert, becoming a cheerleader is very important
(high value)
Initially, Bert experiences great difficulty learning the
cheers and is a little awkward in performing them
(little success).
However, because cheerleading is very important to
him, Bert practices cheerleading two hours every day
(motivation). Eventually, he makes the cheerleading
team (high success).
Lesson: Value can trump lack of initial success.
So How Does It Work?
Example 2: Dating
Ernie “values” Tanya (that is, he is interested in
“getting to know her better”).
However, Bert, Ernie’s best friend, tells him that he
doesn’t have a chance with Tanya (that is, he is not
likely to be successful in his attempts to date her)
Even though Bert values Tanya, he doesn’t put any
effort into getting to know Tanya better because he
believes he will not be successful.
Lesson: At other times, a fear of failure can trump
value.
So How Does It Work?
Example 3: Mathematics
Bert does not believe that mathematics has any
relevance in his life (that is, he does not value it).
Despite this fact, Bert initially tries to learn math, but
after several months he realizes that he “just can’t
seem to get it” (that is, he is not successful).
With no perceived value and no expectation of
success, Bert is unmotivated to learn math. He stops
paying attention in class and rarely turns in
completed assignments.
Lesson: When both value and success are “negative,”
motivation will almost always be lacking.
So How Does It Work?
Example 4: Reading
Ernie thinks that reading is just about the best thing
in the world (that is, he values it greatly).
In addition, Ernie is a very good reader (that is,
reading comes easy to him and he is a “successful”
reader).
During free time at school or at home, Ernie is more
likely to read a book than do anything else.
Lesson: Value + Success = MOTIVATION
EXPECTANCY OF SUCCESS
VALUE LOW HIGH
HIGH ??? Motivation Highest Motivation
(Depends on strength of value)
LOW Lowest Motivation Low to Moderate Motivation
(Doing enough to get by)
Exploring Value
The student values the thing itself (intrinsic)
Bert studies science because he thinks science is
important
The student values the rewards associated with
the thing (extrinsic)
Bert studies science because he gets good grades in
science
The student values the thing because “valuable”
others believe the thing to be valuable (socio-
emotional)
Bert studies science because his father is a scientist
and he wants to be like his father
Exploring Expectations of Success
The best predictor of future success is past
success. In other words, past success will most
likely lead to expectations of future success.
Conversely, past failure will most likely lead to
expectations of future failure.
Success, like beauty, is in the eye of the
beholder. It is NOT objective reality. Students
must see themselves as successful. If a student
answers 10 incredibly easy questions correctly,
he or she is not likely to perceive himself or
herself as successful. A certain amount of
challenge is needed before a student is likely to
see himself or herself as successful.
To Motivate the Unmotivated Then
We Must Find Ways of
Increasing the value they attach to various
aspects of schooling, AND
Increasing their expectancies of success.
Five Ways of Increasing Value
Establish personal, caring relationships
with students (social-emotional)
Talk with each student one-on-one for five
minutes every month with an emphasis on
listening to them
Show students that you are human; for
example, make mistakes purposely and have
students catch them, and don’t be afraid to
say that you don’t know something.
Five Ways of Increasing Value
Incorporate student interests whenever
possible, offering limited choices (intrinsic)
Use popular song lyrics to introduce a unit on
poetry; use familiar objects to introduce
counting, adding, and multiplying.
Give students a selection of five research
projects from which to choose.
Five Ways of Increasing Value
Connect schooling with their out-of-school
experiences (intrinsic)
Use cereal boxes to introduce a unit on
vitamins and minerals (or other appropriate
concepts).
In discussing a character in a story, ask
students if they know someone who reminds
them of that character.
Five Ways of Increasing Value
Arouse curiosity using mystery,
controversy, and contradictions (intrinsic)
Use Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) materials
in science.
Use mysteries to teach reading and ELA.
Five Ways of Increasing Value
Give reward and recognition (extrinsic)
Strive for a goal of 4 positive comments to 1
negative comment for each student.
Initially recognize and reward improvement,
rather than some absolute level of
performance. Sometimes you can’t get there
from here directly.
Five Ways of Increasing Success
Provide challenging, yet attainable,
assignments
Use Vygotsky’s “zone-of-proximal development”
as the basis for determining appropriate
assignments. This may require that different
assignments are given to different students.
Provide encouragement and assistance to those
who have struggled with assignments in the
past.
Five Ways of Increasing Success
Establish clear and reasonable criteria of
success on assignments
When assigning a worksheet or problem set,
establish X-in-a-row correct as the criteria for
completing it (e.g., 5 in a row, 7 in a row,
etc.).
On longer assignments, distribute rubrics and
“model” papers or projects so help students
understand your expectations. Also, require
students to hand in pieces of the assignment
or drafts of projects on a regular basis.
Five Ways of Increasing Success
Give corrective feedback
Have students correct errors and
misunderstanding when the occur so they
don’t accumulate and interfere with future
learning.
Provide clues to help students correct their
errors and misunderstandings on their own,
rather than correcting them for them.
Five Ways of Increasing Success
Provide “worked out” examples
When giving students a problem set, include a
sheet on which a couple of problems are
worked out. This allows students to go back
periodically and check how they’re doing.
Help students learn to use the textbook as a
resource or reference book. Move away from
having students read chapters as though they
were reading fiction.
Five Ways of Increasing Success
Have students work with partners
Have students correct each other’s papers as
you give the correct answers. Then, have
them work together to correct errors on each
paper.
Have students engage in paired reading,
stopping periodically to ask and answer
questions about the meaning of what they
read.
Two Final Thoughts
Even when students engage in strategies
that are ultimately self-defeating (such as
withholding effort, procrastination,
cheating, and so on), their goal is actually
to protect their sense of self-worth.
Students must be helped to see the
connection between effort and
accomplishment. Work harder, learn
more.
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