Motivation

Last week, I wanted to write a sort of discussion topic on motivation of a college student. I wanted to see what others thought about the regular college students mind set of going to class. Like I stated, I was forced to go to class and never really experienced the freedom that others do. Anyways, I found this website of teacher's expectations and a strategy guide to actually making class enjoyable enough for students to actively participate on a regular basis.

http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/motiv.htm

This site is referenced by many different articles and leads me to believe that it is very useful. I know nothing about what it takes to manage a classroom but feel that this website is an excellent resourse for teachers and professors.

"Some students seem naturally enthusiastic about learning, but many need-or expect-their instructors to inspire, challenge, and stimulate them: "Effective learning in the classroom depends on the teacher's ability ... to maintain the interest that brought students to the course in the first place" (Ericksen, 1978, p. 3). Whatever level of motivation your students bring to the classroom will be transformed, for better or worse, by what happens in that classroom."

This is the opening statement which summarizes the entire piece. From what I gathered, students are compelled to learn with the simple strategy of a professor's challenging tasks. This could either mean physically or mentally. I can relate to this. I am not going to be as enthused to write down every word of a lecture or powerpoint as I am if I were engaged to the material. I believe that a more hands on presentation or class in general would be much more useful. Also, the atmosphere of the classroom is a major factor. Most students are willing to learn if everyone around them is learning. If 85 % of a class is daydreaming and not listening, whats to say if I would.

I found that an instuctor's structure of a class is very key. This made a lot of sense to me. A professor should let the the students have some or little say so in the material that is going to be studied. A student is going to learn what he or she wants to learn and by giving them a little freedom, could be very useful. Certain limitations should obviously be there. An instuctor should make the material more and more difficult as the semester moves on. This is an obvious goal that I have found in many of my undergraduate classes. Lastly, an instuctor should mix up their teaching techniques. When I thought about this, it made a lot of sense to me as a change can always be good. The same everyday methods can get old and a change of pace could be very refreshing.

The de-emphasizing of grades is something that I have never heard of. By simply letting the students know that the learning of the material is the most important thing, the grades will increase. I found that not using grades as a threat can be very useful. My whole life, it has been if I don't make the grade, I will be punished. Well, by putting more emphasis on the acutally learning of the material, students can have that pressure limited.

All in all, this was a good site for my thoughts and is very useful for what a professor should be doing. I found it very informative and helpful in my thought process of what students and teachers are doing.