Action Research Report: Creating

Motivation in our Students

Rationale / Issue
Motivation is a key factor in the success of students at
all stages of their education. The problem is the best
lessons, books, and materials in the world wont get
students excited about learning and they wont be
willing to work unless they are motivated.
A motivational problem is not always easy to define,
although teachers usually have no trouble
recognizing it. Teachers know students have short
attention spans, but being on the front lines, they
have the power to influence and encourage motivation in their students. Students are motivated
differently though. It takes time and effort to get a classroom full of kids enthusiastic about learning,
working hard, and pushing themselves to excel.

Investigative Process
Hes not motivated. All he wants to do is watch television or play video games. Why doesnt he put
more effort into his schoolwork? Why doesnt he care? Many parents believe their child is lazy.
Children are not lazy, they are discouraged. Students may mask their discouragement with defiance
or blame (especially their teachers) for their lack of effort. Often, students will seek relief in activities
that require little sustained effort and that offer some immediate feeling of success. The problem of
lack of motivation is the problem of demoralization.
To solve the problem of a childs lack of motivation, we need to return to first principles: Children
want to do well. They want to feel good about themselves. They want us to be proud of them.
Children say they dont care, but they do care.
Sustained effort is a different matter. Our ability
to work hard and to sustain that effort requires a
feeling of accomplishment along the way, and
some confidence in eventual success. All
constructive activity involves moments of
discouragement. Children who are not
motivated too readily give in to these feelings.
Unmotivated students actually are highly
motivated when it comes to schoolwork; they are
motivated to avoid it. They put more work into
avoiding academic challenges than into tackling them.

The Motivation Factor

When working with unmotivated students, teachers face two challenges. The first is to change their
thinking, so they come to believe that, if they put in effort, they can be successful with academic tasks.
The second is to figure out what does motivate an unmotivated student; to identify the settings,
situations, and conditions that he/she responds to and that can be used to foster his/her interest.

Obviously, there are many methods for increasing student motivation. Some of these will be listed
and investigated.

1. Greet students individually as they enter the

classroom and start the class on a positive note.

2. Friendly competition in the classroom where students

have opportunities to show off their knowledge or skills
can motivate students to try harder and work to excel.

3. Assigning students classroom jobs is a good

motivation builder, especially if it is seen as a privilege
rather than a burden.

4. Offering your students the chance to earn rewards

(extrinsic motivation, i.e., carrot and stick) and also
choose which reward they would like (from ordering a pizza to watching a movie to going on a field
trip) are excellent sources of motivation.

5. Students react a lot more to a teacher who is enthusiastic and excited about a topic.
6. Know your students. If a teacher has a genuine interest in the students, and cares about them and
their success, students feel appreciated. This creates a safe learning environment and motivates the
students to work harder, as they want to get praise from someone they feel respects them as
individuals.

7. Use a variety of teaching methods and mix up lessons, so that students with different preferences
each get time to do the things they like best, but do this in a routine structured way, so that students
know what to expect every day, and will stay engaged and pay attention.

8. Allowing students to have some choice and control over what happens in the classroom is one of the
best ways to keep them engaged. For example, students could choose the type of assignment they do
or which problems to work on.

9. Students who see school as a place where they can have fun will be more motivated to pay attention
and do the work than those who regard it as a chore. Adding fun activities, displaying cutting edge
technology, and encouraging student humour are useful.

10. Working in groups increases social interaction and

can get students excited about doing tasks. Students
can motivate one another to reach a goal.

11. Students like to be challenged, but most wont seek

to push themselves on their own. They will only work
to achieve high expectations if they believe goals are
within their reach. Helping students see the big picture
and how it ties into things is useful. However, even the
best students can become demotivated when they feel
like theyre struggling or not getting the recognition.
Harness a students strength and make them feel valued. Tracking students progress can also be
used to motivate students, allowing them to see visually just how much they are learning and
improving.

12. Interrupt the cycle of failure. Assign work that they are capable of completing successfully, giving
them a feeling of accomplishment. Structure the assignment with an easy start, hopefully giving them
confidence to move on. As they begin to enjoy more success, their confidence and motivation will
grow. Apply the same approach to homework. If a student rarely completes homework, consider
giving him half the number of problems and select the problems you are confident he can complete.

13. Children need role models whose actions correspond to their words. If you tell your students you
expect them to arrive on time, then be on time yourself. If you want students to dress appropriately,
then do so yourself. When students see teachers breaking their own rules, it sends a message that the
rule is unimportant and that it is OK for them to break the rules, too. Students need to know what is
expected of them in order to stay motivated to work. At the beginning of the year, lay out clear
objectives, rules, and expectations of students, so that students have goals to work towards.

14. Break tasks into manageable steps. Some students put forth little effort because they see the task
as overwhelming. Present the task in small chunks and don't move on until they have mastered that
step. As the student gains skill and confidence, gradually expand the size of the task.

15. Focus on the student's individual improvement progress rather than on his performance in
relation to his peers classmates.. A student who is compared to classmates who outperform him -even if his poor performance is due to a lack of effort -- eventually can become discouraged and shut
down completely.

16. Sometimes when we call on a student who is not paying attention, he shrugs his shoulders. "I
don't know," with a tone that says, I don't care, either." We may be tempted to give up and call on a
student who is more likely to respond. Rather than let this student go, however, it makes more sense
to show him that you expect him to be involved in classroom activities and that you won't let him off
the hook. Gentle persistence is the answer.

Results
After a 6-month period focusing particularly
on ideas 1, 2, 5-9, 12-14, and 16, I found some
good results. Ideas 2 and 6 were particularly
good, and showed great promise even with
those less motivated. To promote idea 2, the
online app Classroom Dojo was introduced
where students can see their progress or lack
of progress real-time on the projector screen. I
found, especially when students lost points due
to lack of focus, too much talking, etc., they
quickly got back on task and were interested
in their scores compared to the rest of the
class. Due to the success of this online app, it is
now used extensively in the ICT course.

Conclusion
We often see a childs lack of effort not as a problem of demoralization but as a behaviour problem?
We often blame the influence of peers, television, or other media distractions.
Children are not lazy. They may be discouraged, defiant, self-critical, or pessimistic, and they may
lack confidence in their ability. But this is not laziness. The misconception that kids are lazy is one of
the most common, and the most destructive.

Understanding a childs lack of motivation as a problem of demoralization, you will be able to find
the real causes of his/her lack of enthusiasm and effort, and possibly some solutions. Sometimes small,
quick strategies can make major differences in student motivation. They can increase student
involvement with the lesson, and reduce distractions.

Mr. Colin Bradbury (Head of ICT)