MOTIVATION
Theoretical introduction
One of the main aims of motivation in education is to stimulate effective actions and deepen one’s knowledge. Proper motivation affects the way in which tasks are carried out, influencing specific achievements and successes, as well as coping with failures. Thanks to it, you can set more ambitious goals, which harmonizes with the inner conviction of meeting them. Motivation is divided into: intrinsic (the desire to satisfy one’s own needs) and extrinsic (arousing needs through the use of rewards and punishments).
In the case of motivation, it is important not only to discover students’ skills, strengths, and weaknesses but it is also crucial to understand their needs and expectations. It is important to properly define the tasks assigned to the student and to structure them in such a way that the student understands that achieving the set aim is tantamount to satisfying his/her own needs and achieving his/her goals, as well as developing his/her interests and abilities.
Motivation, being one of the most important aspects of education, is based on the use of inspirations and stimuli, thanks to which the student will accept the legitimacy of the tasks performed (whether it is connected with pleasure or not) and will strive to learn. In this context, it is also important to strengthen the students’ faith in their own abilities, allowing them to successfully complete the task. Therefore, apart from the importance of constructive criticism, information that supports students’ self-esteem is necessary. Finally, teacher’s attitude is also extremely important in the context of motivation.
Exercise I: (AUTO)MOTIVATORS - WHERE TO LOOK FOR THEM?
A phone with an application for reading QR codes / computer
First class
Online / Face to face
Synchronous
Showing all kinds of (auto)motivators that help you to become successful in life. Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each student. Building group relationships.
Support materials: pen, sheet of paper, newspaper articles, fragments of biographies of famous people hidden under QR codes and / or quotes (e.g. “No task is particularly difficult if you break it down into smaller subtasks” – Henry Ford). Various websites are used to create a QR code, e.g. qr-online.pl, where we enter any text / task in the appropriate place, click “generate code”, select the image format and then save it on the computer
STEP I
The teacher divides the group into smaller teams. The teacher presents examples of famous people who have been successful in their lives. Then, the teacher asks the students to explain/give examples of what motivated these famous people. The teacher should be very careful to choose examples by including a wide variety of characters from different cultures, of different sex, of different sexual orientation, etc. (valuing diversity). It might be up to the students to look for celebrities related to motivation themselves. It will be clear who motivates them. It may be a good idea to keep track of which personalities will be repeated. It can be well signaled using word clouds (e.g. Mentimeter).
STEP II
Each group picks or finds hidden articles and QR codes and writes out the motivators. The list of motivations will depend on the example chosen by the students.
STEP III
The teacher initiates a discussion about motivation – its meaning and sources. The conversation also focuses on students’ motivators and answering the question whether authority figures are role models for them.
- showing motivators that can successfully guide the activities of students
- better understanding of students’ needs and the ability to modify tasks according to their motivators
- involving everyone in the activities
- getting students to express themselves freely
- the aspect of competition can be introduced – the group that finishes the task first wins
– Misreading the motivators of famous people. Not being honest about their own motivators. Many students might just answer “I have no clue”.
+ If the teacher showes a photo of, for example, Elon Mask, the student doesn’t have to know, what his motivation was. But it’s important that he/she tries to guess. At the end of the class, the teacher will try to indicate the motivations, if it does not appear from the press releases read by the students. It is also about showing a variety of motivations and their importance for famous people.
In a short introduction, the teacher can talk about motivation – its divisions and various aspects, giving a list of specific motivators. It can also be a list for students to guess, e.g.: in the form of a quiz or other Wordwall template.
Exercise II: FIND HIDDEN WORDS
Wordwall
During any class, at any time during the lesson
Online / Face to face
Synchronous
Raising students’ awareness and curiosity about various motivators. Identifying students’ strengths and weaknesses. Building group relationships.
STEP I
On one of the templates available on Wordwall (e.g., the template Find words) the teacher prepares a task for students (these can be, for example, words representing various motivators). The words are hidden in a letter grid.
STEP II
Each student uses his/her phone / tablet / laptop to perform the task and then talks about his/her own motivators, choosing those from the list that best suit him/her.
STEP III
The teacher initiates a discussion on motivation by writing on the blackboard / piece of paper / Padlet the motivators given by the students.
- showing motivators that can successfully guide the activities of male/female students
- better understanding of male/female students’ needs and the ability to modify tasks according to their motivators
- involving everyone in the activities
- getting students to express themselves freely
- the aspect of competition can be introduced – the person who finishes the task first wins
– Students may not be honest about their own motivators.
+ The teacher can show the benefits of visualizing their own motivators.
– Not all templates available on Wordwall are compatible with the WCAG 2.1 standard.
+ The teacher may need to prepare an alternative version of the task.
Exercise III: CHECK YOURSELF
LearningApps
It can be carried out during any class, preferably at the beginning of the lesson.
Online / Face-to-face
Synchronous
Raising students’ curiosity about the new form of classes. Checking students’ knowledge on a specific topic. Building high students’ self-esteem.
STEP I
The teacher provides the students with a task prepared in LearningApps (one can choose from those already available or create his/her own). It is related to the topic of the class, which can be for example netiquette. A “Who Can be a Millionaire” quiz can be assigned to the students (the teacher can use the already existing one https://learningapps.org/11900720 or create his own.
STEP II
Each student performs the task on his/her phone / tablet / computer. It can be arranged in a form of a competition – the first one who completes the task wins.
STEP III
The teacher initiates a discussion on the topic related to the task – in this case: netiquette. A brainstorm or a decision tree method can help to develop a schema that includes the basic rules of netiquette. Students can refer to their own experiences too.
- involving everyone in the activities
- getting students to express themselves freely
- checking one’s skills
- everyone works at their own pace; the activity can be easily transmitted using a QR code
- an element of gamification enhances students’ motivation
– Some students may get bored – the task might be too simple for them. The teacher can prepare easy and difficult tasks on a given topic so that students do not get bored.
+ If they are easy, it should be explained that this is a warm-up before more difficult tasks.
Exercise IV: MOTIVATION - WHAT DO I NEED IT FOR?
Nearpod
First class
Online / Face-to-face
Synchronous
Showing different types of motivation. Students’ involvement. Giving students control over some activities.
STEP I
The teacher explains the concept of motivation.
STEP II
The teacher prepares a presentation about motivation in Nearpod that takes into account the involvement of students (e.g. students need to provide answer to a specific question, an association exercise, a quiz, a scene from a film that needs to be interpreted).
STEP III
After a brainstorming session, the teacher and the students prepare a list of most important motivators, prioritizing them according to students’ opinions.
STEP IV
Students talk about their own motivations.
- showing motivators that can successfully guide the activities of male/female students
- better understanding of students’ needs and the ability to modify tasks according to their motivators
- involving everyone in the activities
- getting students to express themselves freely
– Not every student may be willing to participate in the brainstorming session.
+ In this situation, the teacher may ask each student to express his own opinion or say “I pass” if he refuses to do so.
Exercise V: FINE FEATHERS MAKE FINE BIRD
Padlet
First class
Online / Face-to-face
Synchronous
Visual representation of the content. Enhancing students’ involvement by co-creating, adding, and commenting on the content. Building group relationships.
STEP I
The teacher prepares a page on the Padlet, leaving the topic/question concerning the topic of the lesson, e.g.: What influences the image?; How to present yourself?; Self-presentation – what to look for.
STEP II
Each student is supposed to add his/her own content.
STEP III
The teacher encourages the students to express themselves freely on the topic specified in the task and to comment the notes of other students. The role of constructive criticism is important here.
STEP IV
As part of the task, students search the Internet for examples of bad (auto) presentations.
- new and unusual form of classes
- involvement of all students in the activity
- getting students to express themselves freely
- showing the importance of presenting one’s own image
– Students may differ in their opinions about bad / good self-presentation.
+ It should be emphasized that apart from individual tastes, there are substantive reasons. In such cases, it is worth trying to solve the problem by using the discussion or “for and against” method.
A good exercise (also useful for developing storytelling skills) that could be done with some of the tools mentioned in the various exercises above is to create a superhero out of your own abilities/strengths and weaknesses. Narratifying these aspects can help students to understand them better.
