I haven't tried this one yet but what comes to mind is a 1 minute paper at
the end of class whereby they explain the connections of the topic of the
day to their lives - past, present, and future. The next class, read aloud
a random selection of the papers. This is not only producing motivation,
but also is integrative learning.
Another method I hear about is having alumni come to class and address the
question of "I didn't think this was important, but boy was I wrong because
when I got out of college......"
Jerry Henkel-Johnson, Psy.D.
The College of St. Scholastica
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 04/16 11:11 AM >>>
The biggest problem students have in my courses is doing the work required
to
do well on tests. There are all sorts of difficulties for them--especially
those involving their home lives and jobs. But the biggest difficulty, it
seems
to me, is that most have LITTLE MOTIVATION to sit down and do the work.
I'm
sure some of this motivational difficulty is related to the other problems
in
their lives, but it seems to be more fundamental than this. My guiding
assumption is: we can not possibly be motivated to put a large amount of
effort
into accomplishing a task UNLESS IT SEEMS DIRECTLY RELEVANT to something
very
important in our own lives. I think that most students don't often see how
the
material being learned is related to their own lives. Thus, for many of my
students, the course material is not terribly relevant to their concerns.
With demonstrations, we can present the material in an entertaining
manner,
thereby helping students to pay attention and learn difficult concepts. But
paying attention is just the first step. As with any form of entertainment,
once the event is over, the attention often gets directed back to other
matters.
What I have in mind goes beyond entertaining demonstrations: it involves
facilitating their motivation to become deeply engaged in the material even
when we are not trying to entertain them during class with clear
demonstrations
of difficult ideas. I think that the best way to help students develop
their
motivation would be to instruct each one individually and help them to see
the
connections between the material and various events in their own lives.
For
most of us, however, such individual instruction is not possible.
So my question is this: what have you done to help develop the motivation
of
(initially unmotivated) students to become deeply involved in the course
material?
Jeff Ricker
Scottsdale Community College
Scottsdale AZ
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
