Motivation Study Guide

Motivation Study Guide

  
Objectives (These are to help guide your study. You do not have to respond to them):
• Recognize the signs of learned helplessness and brainstorm ways to overcome it.
• Understand the differences between mastery goals and performance goals and how and 
        why you should promote mastery goals in your students.
• Promote self-regulation in yourself and your students.
• Differentiate between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and understand how and when         
        to use each. 
• Define various psychological needs that affect learning
• Discover ways to spark curiosity and build interest in learning
• Explore the effects of anxiety and self-handicapping

Key Terms (Write a definition for each term in your own words): 
Motivation Basics, pages 459-464 (485-490 binder/orange)


Motivation—the reasons behind the choices people make
Extrinsic Motivation—motivations that have little to do with the task itself; Often times external factors
Intrinsic Motivation—motivation that comes from the activity itself


Needs, Goals, and Beliefs, pages 466-481 (494-509 binder/orange)
Mastery Goal—Goal focused on personal desire to master a concept or skill
Performance Goal—Goal to be competent enough to look good in the eyes of others
Attribution theory—a person’s view of themselves that explains their motivations
    Locus—the location of the cause in relation to the individual (internal/external)
    Stability—whether the cause changes in space and time (stable/unstable)
    Controllability—The control of the cause in relation to the individual (controllable/uncontrollable)
Learned Helplessness—when a person believes (learns) that happenings in their life are out of their control (whether it really is or not…)
Learned Optimism (not in text)—when a person believes (learns) that their efforts affect the outcomes in their life.
Entity view of ability—Ability in inherent, cannot be changed
Incremental view of ability—ability can grow and improve (or digress)
Self-efficacy—a person’s beliefs about their own capabilities in certain circumstances
Self-worth—the worth, or value, a person holds of themselves
Self-determination Theory—People need to feel a sense of determination in their lives
        Need for Autonomy—desire to have our own wants govern our lives instead of outside forces
        Need for Competence—desire to feel capable and able to control aspects of their environment
        Need for Relatedness—desire to have a close social life with others
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs—basic needs must be satisfied before less essential needs can be fulfilled


Interest, Curiosity, and Emotions, pages 482-490 (512-520 binder/orange)
Arousal—physical and psychologically heightened state; varying degrees
Anxiety—feels of doubt, nervousness, and tension; can have positive or negative effects


Summary (Write one paragraph to help you remember the key points of this section):
Through our motivation and goals—placed correctly—we can become successful in whatever our endeavors may be.  In order to have effective motivations and goals we must know ourselves and our physical, emotional, social, and intellectual needs and how to satisfy them.


Application Questions (Write a one paragraph response to each with personal and specific application of course concepts):


1. How will you utilize students' needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness to motivate your future students? Include each of the above in your response.
(Autonomy)I will help students by giving them experiences that will show them how their independence can greatly affect their success.  I will give them choice in the learning journey.  Thus they can come to see that they will only truly be successful when they make choices to be successful. 
(Competence) I will help the students to identify that they are successful and when they are successful. I will point out to them that this happens when they apply themselves.  They will see that the power to achieve is within them.
(Relatedness)  I will create an environment in which social interactions in educational situations enrich their learning experience.  Team work can bring people together and create unity, as long as they are truly working as a team and not just a set of individuals.  They will thus further develop relationships with others and have a desire for the success of others.


2. How will you help students in your future classes (or even yourself) to overcome learned helplessness?
I will help to give students experiences in which they can identify how their efforts have led them to succeed in completing in a complex task.  I can do this by breaking down the task into smaller assignments which will be perceived as more manageable.  They may not know/see the overall assignment to begin with, but as they proceed and are successful I will begin to reveal the big picture of what they are doing; what they are working towards.  They can then look back and see how they have been successful thus far and then translate that into future performance.