“Motivating Student to Learn”

In the article “Motivating Students to Learn,” Hootstein emphasizes that middle school

teachers in particular are frustrated as they face the task of how to motivate their students.

Teachers express concern about the quality and quantity of effort that students devote to their

academic studies. Hootstein suggests that teachers need to learn new strategies in order to

enhance student motivation, and that they need to integrate these strategies into their

instructional process. That said, the main purpose of the research reported in this article was to

identify strategies that middle-school social studies teachers at the eighth-grade level use to

motivate their students to learn, as well as to explore why teachers use particular strategies in

order to understand their implied theories of motivation.

In “Motivating Students to Learn,” teachers’ concerns of how they can present

entertaining materials and high-energy lessons to compete with out-of-school activities, such as

television and video games, are brought up. In fact, major research findings support teachers’

concerns about student inattention and poor effort. Many experts in the field have identified lack

of student motivation as one of the primary causes of low achievement levels. Furthermore, and

according to Hootstein, although prior research on student motivation has disregarded the

influence of subject-matter and grade-level differences, researchers in the field of cognitive

psychology argue that instruction and motivation are contextualized, meaning that factors such

as the subject being taught and the students’ developmental levels influence the types of

motivational strategies that should be used (Hootstein, 1994). For the study conducted in this

article, the strategies most frequently used by the teachers, as well as the views of the students

about their teacher’s strategies, was reported. In addition, teachers’ beliefs about why particular
strategies are motivating, as well as what the factors are that make it difficult to motivate

students, was highlighted.

With that being said, Hootstein presented a very logical argument in his article. The main

argument conducted in his study was that teachers need to learn new strategies to enhance

student motivation, and that they need to integrate these strategies into the instructional process.

Hootstein then backed up his argument with valid research and explanations. After studying the

strategies most reportedly used by teachers, which are active role-playing activities, Hootstein

backed up his findings with recommendations of experts as expressed in the literature. According

to Hootstein, Brophy (1987) and Wlodkowski (1978) have designed strategies to accomplish

lesson objectives in more interesting and relevant ways, such as by using games and stimulations

and by adapting to students’ interests. Keller’s (1983) strategies focus on making instruction

appealing by including novelty, questioning, variety, and active participation. He also suggests

that instruction be responsive to learner’s needs, values, goals, and experiences (Hootstein,

1994). Hootstein was therefore able to conclude that his review of the literature revealed that

teachers are using the range of motivational strategies suggested by practitioners in the field.

With that being said, although these particular strategies matched up with both the students’

interests and the expert’s suggestions, Hootstein also found in his research that students want to

also exchange ideas with peers and relate to their own experience during discussions. However,

teachers did not report the use of discussions. Hootstein suggests that this could perhaps be

because they are concerned about the noise and disorganization often associated with this

strategy. Hootstein found that the one difference between teachers’ reports and students’ reports

related to their beliefs about the issue of student control. The teachers’ only mention of student

choice pertained to the use of projects. Yet, projects were mentioned rarely by students.
However, some students did mention their desire for choices. Hootstein suggests that this issue is

important becuase many middle school educators believe that young adolescence need a more

personal, student-managed environment. This thinking is compatible with that of researchers in

the area of intrinsic motivation. According to Educational Psychology, intrinsic motivated

behavior is the internal process that initiates and directs one’s behavior. This is beneficial

becuase people engage in intrinsically motivated behaviors without the necessity of external

rewards and the activity is inherently interesting or enjoyable (Swartwood, 2012). Hootstein thus

concluded that teachers should use motivational strategies that enable students to gain a sense of

control in the classroom-to make choices or to take some control in their learning programs. All

in all, the data conducted by Hootstein shows that teachers attribute less importance to the

relevance of subject matter than to their attempts to stimulate student interest with a variety of

motivational strategies that students may find interesting.

Hootstein’s argument lines up with the Christian worldview lens because with his

argument focusing on the enhancement of student motivation, he’s highlighting every child’s

ability to learn as long as they have the proper amount of effort put towards them. Looking at

this with a Christian worldview shows how important it is that every child learns in the best ways

suited for them because every child is made in God’s image and therefore should be given a

teacher’s up most effort. Motivation typically involves some sort of goal or desired outcome and

in order to reach that goal a child needs to be provided the proper strategies. Thus, when a

teacher integrates proper motivational strategies into the instructional process

for their students, they are leading them to their full potential, which the Lord has blessed them

with. Every child is made in the image of God and therefore God wants to see every one of his

children succeed.
 In conclusion, from this article I learned that research consistently needs to be done to

determine the extent to which teachers use the strategies they claim to use. Although teachers

may be using the proper strategies, they may be inappropriately or too frequently using them,

which ultimately keeps their strategies from having an effect. That said, teachers need to not only

know what is effective but also why it is effective. Teachers have to keep in mind that factors

such as the subject being taught and the students’ developmental levels influence the types of

motivational strategies that should be used.

The information I obtained in the article, “Motivating Students to Learn,” will help me in

my teaching career because it not only informed me of the proper motivational techniques, both

approved by students’ interests and the knowledge of experts, but it also informed me on why

particular strategies are motivating to students. For example, I learned that “stimulations,” or in

other words, active role-playing activities, are the most shared interest among teachers and

students. That said, I also learned that this particular strategy is motivating for students because it

helps students develop and practice their decision making skills. It was not until reading this

article that I put this into consideration. According to Hootstein, one teacher claimed that

stimulations helped her students develop and practice their decision-making skills because while

kids could not make decisions in small group-assignments, with stimulations they could see the

results of their decisions. Therefore, I will now be sure to incorporate stimulations into my

middle school classroom, as it is not only approved to be the most effective strategy, but there

are also valid reasons to explain why it is so effective.

In addition, after learning from this article that the subject-matter being taught along with

student’s developmental levels is more influential on what motivational strategies should be

used, rather than the subject-matter being taught along with the grade-level, I realized that
keeping track of my student’s capabilities and putting their developmental processes into account

is very important. After reading this article, I noted that even if I am using expert approved

strategies, if I am using them inappropriately for the level my students are at, then the strategies I

am using will not have a proper effect on the students in my classroom.

 Work Cited

Hoostein, E. W. (1994). Motivating students to learn. Clearing House, 67(4), 213. https://doi-

org.proxy-geneva.klnpa.org/10.1080/00098655.1994.9956068.

Swartwood, J. N. (2012). Educational psychology: Interdisciplinary connections. Redding, CA:

BVT Pub.