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As the nation implements higher academic standards, creating classrooms in which students are motivated to learn is critical. Motivation can mean the difference between students learning and not learning. It is the factor that underlies student engagement and striving to succeed in challenging activities.
Basic principles of motivation exist that apply to learning in most situations. Teachers who establish warm and accepting yet business-like environments promote student motivation, effort, and favorable attitudes toward learning. Motivation is enhanced by the way in which instructional materials are organized -- that is, the degree to which the materials make information personally meaningful to the student. Learning occurs most readily when a student wants to know something and is therefore ready to learn.
Intrinsically motivated students undertake an activity for its own sake, for the learning associated with it, the feelings of accomplishment it provides, and the enjoyment resultant from it. Extrinsically motivated students perform in order to obtain some reward or avoid some punishment external to the activity itself, such as grades, teacher approval, stickers, or other tangible rewards. Intrinsic motivation is self-directed and long-lasting, while extrinsic motivation must be repeatedly reinforced by praise or concrete awards.
To create motivating classrooms, teachers need to ensure that goals are realistic for the learner. A basic principle is that success is more predictably motivating than is failure. Experiencing success is itself motivating, as reflected in the important finding that students who experience a sense of competence in school develop both confidence and commitment to learning.
What's New of the Net includes a range of sites that provide information on principles of motivation and their applications to K-12 classrooms.
Understanding the Keys to Motivation to Learn Student Motivation To Learn: ERIC DigestHard Work and High Expectations: Motivating Students To LearnGeneral Principles of MotivationMaslow's Hierarchy of NeedsMotivating the UnmotivatedMotivation in the ClassroomMotivating Students: AskERIC InfoGuideSelected ERIC Abstracts on Student MotivationMotivating StudentsThe True Teacher Accepts All StudentsWhen Students Do Not Feel Motivated for Literacy Learning:
How A Responsive Classroom Culture HelpsMotivation ComparisonsThe Learning Center: Motivating Students with TechnologyMotivating Students to Study Science: The Jason ProjectSuccess Leads to Success: Best Practices in Missouri SchoolsMotivating Your Child To Learn
August 15, 1996 --Promoting safe, disciplined schoolsJuly 16, 1996 --Addressing the Needs of Gifted and Talented Students.June 24, 1996 --Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)May 22, 1996 --Urban Schools and Disadvantaged StudentsMay 1, 1996
--Educational Assessment ApproachesApril 17, 1996 --Diversity
in The Nation's ClassroomsApril 3, 1996 --The 1996
National Education Summit: Education StandardsMarch 22, 1996 --Reading
and Writing InitiativesMarch 7, 1996 --Education,
Motivation, and Life Success Feb. 21, 1996 --Technology
and America's SchoolsFeb. 6, 1996 --Social Studies and Character Development
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