Motivation

Consider the theories of motivation that we discussed in class. Which theories of motivation are most helpful and instructive for you? How can they enhance motivation and affect your students? 

Many of the theories of motivation that we discussed in class were helpful and instructive for me. The first theory we discussed that really resonated with me was humanism. I think that it is really interesting and intuitive that before students are motivated to acquire self-actualization skills such as problem-solving, creativity, and acceptance of facts, they need to have all of their more basic physiological and safety needs met first. This theory will affect my students because I would like to work at a small, rural school in the future, and I know that many of the families in this type of setting struggle to overcome poverty, which would affect the physiological and safety needs of my students. Now that I better understand Maslow's  hierarchy of needs, I will be better prepared to help students who are struggling in my classes by first helping them meet some of their more basic needs, like starting their day off with a healthy breakfast for example. Only by fulfilling most of the basic needs of students, can they be motivated to learn in my classroom. 

 The second theory that I found helpful was the expectancy vs. value theory. For me, it makes sense that students would be more motivated to do something that they expect they can succeed in and that will be valuable for them at some point in the future. This theory will affect my students because, if I am ever struggling with a student who has low motivation, I now have two avenues I can use to increase their interest. To increase expectancy, I can use scaffolding so students succeed at easier tasks in the beginning, feel competent, and are more motivated when they come to the more difficult problems. To increase value, I can make sure to always discuss how topics apply to real life, so students are motivated to learn instead of feeling like they are wasting their time.

Here is a link to an article and a video by edutopia.org about project-based learning. It relates to the expectancy vs. value theory because these teachers believe that the best way to motivate students to learn is by letting them decide what topics are valuable to them and doing intense semester-long projects on them. While the projects in this video seem intense, I think we can use project-based learning on a smaller scale in our classrooms to help students who are not motivated to learn. For example, instead of having students build electric powered cars, they could choose to research electric cars for a project about electricity.   
http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning-student-motivation