1. The Development of Academic Motivation
Xi Lin
Auburn University

2. Agenda Part I: Developmental decline in academic motivation
Part II: Methods for promoting motivation
Part III: Contextual variables

3. Part I Students like school less with each additional year in school.
Two reasons:
1. students’ reactions to and thinking about reinforcements and punishments changes with increasing age; (cognitions)
2. Reinforcement contingencies change with advancing grade level. (competition)

4. Part I
Self-efficacy: a learner’s perception of his or her capability of reaching a desired goal or a certain level of performance.
High self-efficacy in a subject area is important because it motivates students to attempt tasks in the same and related subjects in the future.

5. Part I Other factors may shape self-efficacy.
Self-efficacy is subject-specific. People know what they are good at and work for it using their strength.
However, if people have long success in a area, once failure will not have any affect on their self-efficacy.

6. Part I
Students come to believe themselves less as school continues. “learned helplessness” may increase.

7. Part I
Challenge seekers are more confident in their ability to do a task; while challenge avoiders are less confidence and can’t accept failure.
Thus, scaffolding teaching method may be useful. William Cashin explains that the test should not be too easy nor too hard in order to make sure students have a chance to experience both success and challenge.

8. Part I Theories of self-efficacy:
Expectancy-value theory: successful students both expect and value academic success; teachers should let students know the value of assignments;

9. Part I 2. Attributions for success and failure
a. efforts – likely to promote adaptive motivational tendencies
b. abilities
c. task factors
d. luck
For students with learning disabilities, they may blame more on their abilities, and may lead to learned helplessness, thus scaffolding is very important (correct direction and build self-confident).
With age increases, students’ recognition of the difference between effort and ability is more clear, and they less likely to think that they can improve by trying hard.

10. Part I
Other factors:
comments from teachers, parents and peers – more clear and reality
Task difficulty: as increasing the age, they know more about the task difficulty and ability
Understand the relationship between luck and skill

11. Part I
Classroom competition -- three factors may increase the competition:
Schools
Parents
Society

12. Part I Ego involvement Task involvement
Students also begin to compare themselves with others as age increases.
Researchers find that such classroom competition do much to undermine student motivation and achievement and lead to ego involvement. Therefore, use task involvement may be an alternative.
Students in ego involved classroom considers success depends on being smarter than other kids and trying to beat out other students;
While task involvement classroom considers success depends on interest, effort, and attempting to learn. It is more healthy and encouragement.
Other factors:
Other characters such as the relationship with teachers and peers also undermine student motivation.
Cultural differences:
Asian students performance better than other kids.
Affluent students performance better than poverty students.
Ego involvement
Task involvement

13. Entity theory of intelligence
Part I
Entity theory of intelligence
Another theory contributes:
Entity theory of intelligence: experience more negative feeling, and can’t accept failure
Incremental theory of intelligence: consider daily efforts lead to small gains, consider obstacles as a natural part of the learning process
Encourage students – points on p274
Incremental theory of intelligence

14. Part I Overjustification effects: With rewards and no rewards
Use rewards as a surprise or bonus
Otherwise, students become more orientated to the extrinsic rewards that are more emphasized with advancing grade.
However, why we still use grade – because students often are not intrinsically motivated to perform tasks that are good for them.

15. Part II Cooperative learning Peer tutoring Cooperative learning groups
How to promote motivation in school:
Cooperative:
1. Cooperative learning
There are three types of social structures found in classroom:
cooperative;
b. competitive;
c. individualistic
Cooperative learning produces better learning and more motivated learners than competitive learning and individualistic.
It is most likely to be effective if there are both group rewards and individual accountability.
2. Peer tutoring
One help another
3. Cooperative learning groups
interdependent;
Face-to-face interactions
Individual accountability
Interpersonal and small-group skills

16. Part II Attribution Retraining Making academic task more interesting
Nurturing possible selves
Others
Attribution Retraining
To shifting the attributions of low achievers in order to promote their academic performances.
Making academic task more interesting
Students spend more time reading interesting texts as compared to less interesting tests;
However, students sometimes maybe distract from seductive details.
Nurturing possible selves
Definition: Possible selves are our imagined future selves both those we very much would like to be and those we fear becoming.
Given the potential of possible selves for motivating interest in and commitment to academic attainment.
Others
Teachings’ support
Self-motivated (they want to do instead of they are being forced to do so)

17. Part III Microsystem and Macrosystem affects students
Left: Microsystem:
Family
Peers
Others
Right: Macrosystem:
Culture

18. Part III

19. Part III Mic and Mac interactions Others:
Biological contextual effect;
Role of the individual child

20. Summary Part I: Developmental decline in academic motivation
Part II: Methods for promoting motivation
Part III: Contextual variables

21. The End