Can I achieve the objectives
of this lesson?
When assigned any task, learners will consider
whether they can successfully complete the task. The answer often
depends on what they believe about themselves and their previous successes
and failures. According to the theory of
attribution, students would point to one of four causal factors: their
ability, their effort, the difficulty of the task, or luck. Learners tend
to look at ability and task difficulty as stable in nature, while effort
and luck can change. In addition, ability and effort are considered
internal causes, under the learner’s control, whereas task difficulty and
luck are caused by forces external to the learner.
An individual’s pattern of attribution is learned over time, and can
affect his or her motivation in school. For example, if a student
attributes past learning success to ability, he or she may gain confidence
and be more willing to learn the next time. On the other hand, if
success was attributed to luck, confidence may not rise at all, because he
or she takes no credit for it. To offer another example, a student
experiencing a learning failure might attribute it to poor effort.
This may not affect confidence at all, since he or she can try harder the
next time. However, if the student attributes the failure to a lack
of ability, s/he will have less hope, since ability is considered
relatively stable.
Research supports theory that learners who make confidence-building
attributions are more likely to succeed. These studies also suggest
that teachers can help increase student motivation by (a) learning what
students believe about the cause of their successes and failures, and (b)
encouraging them to make success-oriented attributions. For example,
if a student succeeds in an exercise, the instructor might help the
learner attribute that to ability or effort with phrases such as “Good
work! You must have worked hard on this.” Also, saying “You’re
a hard working person” will help a student see their effort as a stable
trait and lead to a greater expectation of future success. In the
case of a failure, the teacher might help the learner believe they can
improve their ability with effort by saying, “Don’t worry. You’ll
get better at this with practice".
Instructors can improve student motivation through
careful use of feedback. Students--especially the younger ones--want
immediate gratification, and appreciate frequent informal comments about
their performance. If they are doing
something wrong, they respond better to immediate and positive
coaching--comments that are performance-based (don’t get personal), and
positively-phrased (tell them what you want, not what you don’t want). Of
course, most people prefer positive feedback, but offering praise for no good reason can undermine
motivation and achievement. Teachers should offer praise that is (a)
contingent on agreed performance criteria, (b) specific about details, and
(c) sincere and genuine.
Instruction can also be designed to build
confidence through the use of small modules that increase the
opportunities for success. Teachers might include
appropriate job aides (such as reference cards), and teach learning
strategies appropriate for acquiring the knowledge in question.
How do I feel about myself and
the work required in this lesson?
In the self-worth theory of achievement motivation, It is suggested
that a person’s willingness to perform can be explained by how he or she
attempts to maintain a positive perception of self-worth. For
example, young children often enter school with the belief that a strong
effort can increase their ability. So, if they fail, there is no
reason to feel bad. Unfortunately, as children grow into
adolescence, they develop lower feelings of competence and self-worth due
to social comparisons. In fact it has been shown that competition in the classroom magnifies the
pride associate with success and the shame associated with failure. This environment can produce half a class of students
who attempt to reduce the likelihood of failure by performing the minimal
amount necessary, avoiding discussions with the instructor and fellow
students, etc.
The concept of self-worth is especially important
in teaching distance learners. Many of these are older students who had
unsatisfying experiences during their school years and are just now
entering or returning to college. For these students,
instructional environments can bring back negative perceptions of
self-worth, and cause them to avoid active participation in learning. The
goal for teachers here is to reduce the negative emotions associated with
school.
Test anxiety is one of the most important aspects of negative
motivation. While the evidence is mixed, most researchers have
indicated that a small amount of anxiety is a good thing, especially if
the task is not difficult. It helps the learner focus and perform
efficiently. But, a high level of anxiety will hurt both performance
and persistence. On the other hand, research has also shown that
when test elements are presented in ‘nontest’ situations, anxious students
perform as well as others.
Traditional testing and competition will be
especially hard on “failure-avoiding” learners such as those students who
have a negative self-concept. These learners must be re-taught to believe
that making mistakes is acceptable and expected. One way a teacher can
help is to focus learners on mastering the instructional objectives and
self-improvement rather than out-performing their peers.
With this in mind, it is not advisable to post grades or share scores with
other members of the class. Anxiety in education can also be reduced
through effective instructional design that includes (a) detailed
instructions that prepare the individual, (b) a comfortable pace that
reduces opportunities for failure, and (c) generous use of positive
feedback. Learning tasks for the lesson should be
neither too easy nor too hard. Instructors should challenge students with
tasks that will require a reasonable amount of effort.
