Topic
I decided to research student motivation for my topic for this assignment. I am a program director and teacher of polysomnography at a private career college in Michigan. It seems over the last year that my students’ motivation to learn has declined. The excitement and enthusiasm did not exist with my 2015 cohort as compared to my 2014 cohort. Looking at this problem objectively, I compared the grades, assignment completions, discussion board, blog, and journal participation rates of both cohorts. I found that the 2014 cohort had on average higher grades, higher assignment completion rates, and higher participation rates on discussion boards, blogs, and journals. So what could be the cause of the decline?
Two factors I did not consider …show more content…
Chapter 6 of Essentials of Educational Psychology discusses that there are internal and external factors that affect student motivation. Intrinsic (internal) factors include personal beliefs and emotions. Intrinsic motivation entails behaviors that are personally rewarding, for example a student would complete an activity because he finds the activity fun. A student participates in a game because she finds it exciting. Extrinsic (external) motivation are influences outside of the student, examples would be teachers and instructional strategies (Ormrod, 2015). Kindergarten through college, students are given learning objectives, basically by the time the student has completed the course the listed learning goals are to be learned. Motivation is the contributing factor on what assignments, activities, etc. the student will choose and to what extent the student will participate in the course work (Ormrod, …show more content…
An instructor needs to look at a student’s “academic engagement” to get a more accurate determination of motivation (Ormrod, 2015). Academic engagement includes the following: behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement (Ormrod, 2015). Behavioral engagement is where motivation increases a student’s level of effort and determination in an activity that is relative to the student’s needs and goals (Ormrod, 2015). This can engage the student to tackle an assignment head on with enthusiasm or approach the assignment with apprehension. Behavioral engagement pushes a student to complete tasks when faced with challenges. Cognitive engagement is motivation that “influences what learners pay attention to and how actively they mentally process the information” (Ormrod, 2015). The more motivated a student is the more likely he or she will focus and understand the course material as well as be able to expand upon the information learned. Emotional engagement is motivation that affects a student’s emotions. Students who are excited about an activity are more likely to learn and complete the activity versus those that are unsure of the activity. Motivation is a contributing factor in the improvement of student learning and accomplishment. Students who are highly motivated are likely to “excel in class activities and tend to be the highest achievers” as compared to less
I decided to research student motivation for my topic for this assignment. I am a program director and teacher of polysomnography at a private career college in Michigan. It seems over the last year that my students’ motivation to learn has declined. The excitement and enthusiasm did not exist with my 2015 cohort as compared to my 2014 cohort. Looking at this problem objectively, I compared the grades, assignment completions, discussion board, blog, and journal participation rates of both cohorts. I found that the 2014 cohort had on average higher grades, higher assignment completion rates, and higher participation rates on discussion boards, blogs, and journals. So what could be the cause of the decline?
Two factors I did not consider …show more content…
Chapter 6 of Essentials of Educational Psychology discusses that there are internal and external factors that affect student motivation. Intrinsic (internal) factors include personal beliefs and emotions. Intrinsic motivation entails behaviors that are personally rewarding, for example a student would complete an activity because he finds the activity fun. A student participates in a game because she finds it exciting. Extrinsic (external) motivation are influences outside of the student, examples would be teachers and instructional strategies (Ormrod, 2015). Kindergarten through college, students are given learning objectives, basically by the time the student has completed the course the listed learning goals are to be learned. Motivation is the contributing factor on what assignments, activities, etc. the student will choose and to what extent the student will participate in the course work (Ormrod, …show more content…
An instructor needs to look at a student’s “academic engagement” to get a more accurate determination of motivation (Ormrod, 2015). Academic engagement includes the following: behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement (Ormrod, 2015). Behavioral engagement is where motivation increases a student’s level of effort and determination in an activity that is relative to the student’s needs and goals (Ormrod, 2015). This can engage the student to tackle an assignment head on with enthusiasm or approach the assignment with apprehension. Behavioral engagement pushes a student to complete tasks when faced with challenges. Cognitive engagement is motivation that “influences what learners pay attention to and how actively they mentally process the information” (Ormrod, 2015). The more motivated a student is the more likely he or she will focus and understand the course material as well as be able to expand upon the information learned. Emotional engagement is motivation that affects a student’s emotions. Students who are excited about an activity are more likely to learn and complete the activity versus those that are unsure of the activity. Motivation is a contributing factor in the improvement of student learning and accomplishment. Students who are highly motivated are likely to “excel in class activities and tend to be the highest achievers” as compared to less