Module 16 &17 Post 1

· Discuss one question or confusion that you had about the material.

So learned helplessness occurs when students attribute their failures to causes beyond their control. But some of their failures can be attributed to factors they have control over, right? The book mentions teacher bias as one factor a student might attribute to the reason behind their failures. In learned helplessness, there are personal reasons (reasons within his/her control) for a student who feels helpless?

· When are INTRINSIC forms of motivation most beneficial or appropriate, compared to extrinsic forms? What do they offer?

Intrinsic forms of motivation are those in which learning is itself the reward. As a teacher, one should push to have the students experience academic intrinsic motivation, in which each student shows curiosity and persistence on mastering knowledge and skills. Intrinsic forms of motivation allow students to have positive views about their academic ability, leading to students with greater achievement and lower anxiety than students with lower forms of intrinsic motivation. Many times you may come across students who are extrinsically motivated: they focus too much on grades and not enough on the actual learning process. Sometimes parents and teachers motivate their students extrinsically to get good grades by offering them bribes such as money or some sort of reward for a job well done. Teachers must remember not to overemphasize the importance of good grades. Grading should be set up in a way to offer assessment and feedback to the students in order to promote learning. Intrinsic motivation encourages students to learn for the sake of learning, whereas extrinsic motivation pushes students to learn so that they can receive a reward for their performance. Especially early in their education, intrinsic forms of motivation are beneficial, because students need to learn self-motivation in the classroom and not just work for rewards.

· Even though intrinsic motivation describes something internal, it's something that CAN be affected by external factors, like teachers. Discuss some specific ways that you can increase intrinsic forms of motivation for your students. (For example, are you attributing success/failure to factors they can control or factors that are inherent?)

Teachers can work to offer a variety of teaching/learning methods in the classroom, not only to keep the students engaged and interested, but also to create a positive learning environment. By creating a positive environment, teachers can spark intrinsic motivation in the students, who will become engaged in the classroom activities and exhibit their natural curiosity. Teachers must work to create a classroom environment where students feel safe and comfortable exploring new things and asking questions. As the teachers, I need to understand what motivates students and figure out ways to keep students motivated without just bribing them. I need to create a learning environment in which students feel welcome and open to exploring new things. I can try to reduce the competitive atmosphere in the classroom and not create an environment in which good grades are the focus and goal of any activity. I can work to change student’s attitudes about success and failure and perhaps not always grade on a points scale (rather, I could use a different form of evaluation to provide feedback to students about their progress). I need to work to make sure that students don’t think that I am bias, which could possibly lead to some students feeling helpless. I could also work to include a lot of classroom discussion and group projects/peer-review activities in order to promote interaction between the students (and lessen the competitive nature of a classroom).