_Motivation, Engagement & Learning
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Motivation is defined by Martin & Dowson (2009) as "a set of interrelated beliefs and emotions that influence and direct behaviour" (p. 328).
Motivation and engagement are not the same thing however they can be regarded as two sides of the same coin. Motivation concerns the psychological processes behind student behaviour while engagement describes the connection between the student and the learning activity.
Motivation is defined by Martin & Dowson (2009) as "a set of interrelated beliefs and emotions that influence and direct behaviour" (p. 328).
Motivation and engagement are not the same thing however they can be regarded as two sides of the same coin. Motivation concerns the psychological processes behind student behaviour while engagement describes the connection between the student and the learning activity.
__Piaget proposed that human beings are, from
infancy, naturally curious about the world (McDevitt & Ormrod,
2010) and that they are highly motivated to seek out information to help them
make sense of their environment.
McDevitt and Ormorod note that “most young children have positive self-concepts and high self-esteem” (p. 450) and suggest that the overconfidence in their own abilities which children often exhibit during the pre-school years fulfils the important task of motivating them to try new activities and to persist at challenging tasks. So what happens to motivation when children start school? |
_Students with positive self-concepts are often highly motivated to learn, engage well with learning tasks and achieve at a high level academically however this is not always the case.
Students can be highly motivated but disengaged if they feel that:
Students can be highly motivated but disengaged if they feel that:
- the work they are given in class is not interesting, challenging or relevant to them;
- their teacher is not supportive, respectful and caring;
- the work is too hard;
The Importance of the Task
Students will engage with tasks they find interesting, challenging and important or relevant to them.
They will view a task as boring if:
The challenge is for teachers to tailor learning tasks so that they are within each student's zone of proximal development (ZPD).
As Vygotsky explained in 1978, to maximize learning, a task should be a little beyond the student's current reach and the student should have appropriate support to help him or her master the new skill or learning (Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011).
Recent studies in neuroscience support the theory that effective learning tasks should offer something new and novel to the brain, that they should be meaningful to the student and that they should be within the student's ZPD.
Because the brain's main job is to help its owner survive, any novel stimulus from the environment is likely to catch its attention. MRI studies have shown that new stimuli activate the neurons in the hippocampus which respond by releasing dopamine, resulting in feelings of pleasure. Improvements in focus, memory and motivation have also been noted (Storm & Tecott, 2005 in Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011).
If the student does not see the task as meaningful, the brain is unlikely to orient itself to the task, let alone to activate its novelty and memory areas (Friedman, Goldman, Stern & Brown, 2009 in Sousa and Tomlinson, 2011).
This means that how teachers structure learning for each student matters so it follows that the teacher-student connection is central to the question of how we can motivate students (Martin, 2011).
They will view a task as boring if:
- it is too easy or familiar;
- there's a good chance of failure;
- they can't see a connection between the task and any immediate or long term goals;
The challenge is for teachers to tailor learning tasks so that they are within each student's zone of proximal development (ZPD).
As Vygotsky explained in 1978, to maximize learning, a task should be a little beyond the student's current reach and the student should have appropriate support to help him or her master the new skill or learning (Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011).
Recent studies in neuroscience support the theory that effective learning tasks should offer something new and novel to the brain, that they should be meaningful to the student and that they should be within the student's ZPD.
Because the brain's main job is to help its owner survive, any novel stimulus from the environment is likely to catch its attention. MRI studies have shown that new stimuli activate the neurons in the hippocampus which respond by releasing dopamine, resulting in feelings of pleasure. Improvements in focus, memory and motivation have also been noted (Storm & Tecott, 2005 in Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011).
If the student does not see the task as meaningful, the brain is unlikely to orient itself to the task, let alone to activate its novelty and memory areas (Friedman, Goldman, Stern & Brown, 2009 in Sousa and Tomlinson, 2011).
This means that how teachers structure learning for each student matters so it follows that the teacher-student connection is central to the question of how we can motivate students (Martin, 2011).