1. What factors motivate Students to Learn?
Fred Mason
Faculty of Kinesiology, University of New Brunswick
Part of CETL’s Winter Warmer Series
February , 2017

2. How do students’ values and expectancies influence their motivation?

3. CETL’s Winter Warmer Series
Nicole O’Byrne - “How do Students’ Prior Knowledge Affect Their Learning?”
Ben Newling - “How does the Way Students Organize Knowledge Affect Their Learning?”
“What Factors Motivate Students to Learn?”
Kathy Wilson - “How do Students Develop Mastery?” – Feb 28
Ted Needham – “What Kinds of Practice and Feedback Enhance Learning?” – March 14
Nadya Ladouceur – “Why Do Student Development and Course Climate Matter for Student Learning?” – March 23
Dawn MacIsaac – “How do Students Become Self-Directed Learners?” – March 29

4. Students’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning.
How students organize knowledge influences how they learn and apply what they know.
Students’ motivation determines, directs and sustains what they do to learn.
To develop mastery, students must acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to aplly what they have learned.
Goal directed practice coupled with targeted feedback enhances the quality of student learning.
Students’ current development interacts with the social, emotional and intellectual climate of the course to impact learning.
To become self-directed learners, students must learn to monitor and adjust their approaches to learning.
Research
Practice

5. The Motivation Principle
Students’ motivation determines, directs and sustains what they do to learn.
“When students find positive value in a learning goal or activity, expect to successfully achieve a desired learning outcome, and perceive support from the environment, they are likely to be strongly motivated to learn.” p. 5.

6. Most theories of motivation position 2 concepts at core of framework:
The subjective value of a goal
The expectancies – the expectations of successful attainment of the goal
Wigfield & Eccles (2000), Expectancy-value theory of motivation, Contemporary Ed. Psych, 25,

7. Number of goals in operation at the same time
Goals = Context
Number of goals in operation
at the same time

8. Types of goals students may have
Performance goals – normative standards, do what’s necessary to demonstrate competence, intelligence, & make gains
Performance Approach Goals
Performance Avoidance Goals
Learning goals – gain competence & truly learn what an activity or task can teach them.
Work-avoidant goals; affective goals, social goals

9. Research suggests that students with multiple goals will perform better and be better motivated…. So what types of goals will students be motivated to pursue? This is where VALUES come in.

10. Values
“a goal’s importance, its subjective value, is one key feature influencing motivation to pursue it.” p. 74
Wigfield & Eccles (1992, 2000) – 3 broad determinants of subjective value
Attainment value – satisfaction from mastery & accomplishment of a goal
Intrinsic value – satisfaction from simply doing the task, rather than its outcome
Instrumental value – degree to which activity or goal helps accomplish other important goals, such as attaining extrinsic rewards
POTENTIAL REINFORCEMENT OF THEM ALL, BUT VALUES NOT ENOUGH ALONE

11. Expectancies
Simply put, people are motivated to pursue goals and outcomes that they believe they can successfully achieve…
…and the converse is equally true.
Outcome expectancies – belief that specific action will bring a desired outcome.
Efficacy expectancies - belief one is capable of initiating and executing a course of action that will bring about a desired outcome.

12. Expectations for success and Agency (Psych 101?)
Prior experience a big influence.
Reasons they attribute success in the past
If attributed to internal and controllable causes, likely to expect future success
If attributed to external and uncontrollable causes, less likely to expect future success
With failure, likely to remain motivated if attributed to temporary and controllable factors.

13. “Values and expectancies do not operate in vacuum… … indeed, they interact with the broader environmental context in which they exist.” p. 79
Values &
Expectancies

14. Perception of env.
Goals = Context

16. Strategies to establish Value
Connect the material to the students’ interests.
Provide authentic, real-world tasks.
Show relevance to students’ current academic lives.
Demonstrate the relevance of higher level skills to students’s future professional lives.
Identify and reward what you value.
Show your own passion and enthusiasm for the discipline.

17. Strategies to help students build positive expectancies
Ensure alignment of objectives, assessments and instructional strategies.
Identify an appropriate level of challenge.
Create assignments that provide the appropriate level of challenge.
Provide early success opportunities.
Articulate your expectations.
Provide rubrics.
Be fair.
Educate students about the ways we explain success and failure.
Describe effective study strategies.

18. Strategies for both value and expectations
Provide flexibility and control.
Give students an opportunity to reflect.