As Faculty teaching in a college context, the issue of student motivation is certainly a main challenge for myself and many of my colleagues. Ironically, I was just mentoring a new staff person recently and was talking about the issue of how hard it is to get students motivated and interested in course content--I often attribute the behaviors they display as the "nature of some students". I sometimes find student motivation lacking and I may assign the blame to student's own laziness or lack of willingness to expend effort.
While saying that however, I do acknowledge that all students are unique and I strive not to lump students into any one category. I strive to treat each individual independently of the others. However, as a Faculty who pours passion and effort into preparing for class, it can be very disheartening and discouraging when students do not expend nearly the same effort as I do to reach for their own success. This is also challenging because I strongly value education in ways some students do not. For me, education is a thrill and I gain personal satisfaction from achieving success, while others are often in pursuit of "the piece of paper" or are attending college because someone else is pressuring them.
After reading the Ambrose article, chapter 3, I am still rather discouraged because I felt many of the strategies offered and explanations provided do not fully capture the whole picture of why students behave as they do nor does it appear to put the responsibility back on learners--which I feel should be part of the discussion. Although I agree with many of the strategies put forth and definitely agree with how important it is that educators contribute significant effort to motivate students, I believe that students need to have internal or intrinsic motivators to sustain their commitment and effort to their own success, beyond what a Faculty offers.
The strategies indicated in the chapter are certainly important and effective--most of which I agree with. I fully believe in providing a supportive learning environment that presents material that is relevant, challenging, authentic, and connects with student's interests and goals. I also think it is imperative that educators portray passion and enthusiasm in teaching while also providing consistent, timely, and thorough feedback that helps students know how to improve. Meaningful feedback, building on success, articulating expectations, providing flexibility, and encouraging learners are all tools for effective teaching. However, the tools students need to sustain their own motivation and the responsibility they have for their own learning and outcomes should also be addressed because learning is a two-way exchange.
Adult learners can and should be expected to prepare for classes and put forth effort to reach their own success, just as they would to sustain a job/career. Whether or not they lose motivation still requires the student to take initiative to self motivate and find strategies for success.
In addition to the two-way exchange required of teaching and learning, I also think educators must understand the unique challenges that prevent student success beyond the issue of motivation. These issues may include competing life demands, learning deficits, immaturity, family or financial issues, health concerns, etc. Additionally, in considering how social human beings are and the strong need we have for collaboration and social connectedness, there is also the influence of peers and social pressures that may interfere with a student's commitment to school. Some of these issues act as barriers to success regardless of how motivated an individual may be. I believe it was Abraham Maslow that developed a pyramid to highlight the theory of human motivation which acknowledged the complex layers of needs people have to satisfy in order to reach self actualization. It is issues like this that need to be considered, in addition to the role of educators, when assessing student motivation.
Ultimately, I think the discussion of student motivation requires a broader lens to examine the various factors at play involving the role of teacher, student and external issues.
2 comments:
You said:
“After reading the Ambrose article, chapter 3, I am still rather discouraged, because I felt many of the strategies offered and explanations provided do not fully capture the whole picture of why students behave as they do, nor does it appear to put the responsibility back on learners....”
I agree. You have said important things which need to be said. The Ambrose article is typical of models designed in ivory towers. For example, it proposes that teachers practise “flexibility” to give students “choices” in the curriculum and the operation of the classroom. Teachers can go only so far with “flexibility” if they are to meet their obligations to the curriculum. Moreover, teachers practising flexibility might end up empowering aggressive students who are more interested in dominating the classroom than in promoting knowledge. In other words, flexibility by teachers might be a cover for irresponsible students.
I find it hard to reconcile the catering to students in the Ambrose article with the restrictive evaluations that undergraduate and graduate students often experience for their written assignments. Producing an academic paper is often nerve wracking for these students because they are afraid of missing the ‘right’ word or the ‘right’ argument.
Lisa,
I agree with you learning is a two way street and both parties have to be motivated and engaged for the learning to take place. Having a student who is not willing to put the work into the learning process when they are younger is hard enough on a teacher who is trying to make the program fun and interesting, but dealing with university age students who don’t see the value in their education would be almost impossible for me. My hat is off to those who deal with these issues on a daily basis. I really wonder if some parents have gone too far making things easy for their children. If they haven’t been taught the value of working hard and the value of a good education at this point in their lives who is at fault? I also agree it is imperative for a student and teacher to have an open line of communication if a student has a learning disability that could hamper his or her performance in class. Again older students must be taught how to have these conversations for themselves; they can’t continue to rely on parents to do it for them. This was a very interesting blog with lots of good points.
Laurie Morash
Post a Comment