Essential Principles of

Motivation
1
MARCY REISETTER, COUNSELING AND PSYCHOLOGY IN EDUCATION,
ROSANNE YOST, CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA

PLEASE PICK UP EACH OF THE MULTICOLORED

SURVEYS AND COMPLETE THEM BEFORE WE BEGIN
FOR THE ACADEMIC MOTIVATION SCALE,
SUBSTITUTE ATTEND STAFF DEVELOPMENT FOR
ATTEND COLLEGE

What motivates you to learn in an academic

setting?
To what extent is lack of motivation an issue

in your classroom?

How do you address the problem?

How would you assess the success of your interventions?

A Social Cognitive View of Motivation

[Contrast to Behavior Modification]

3

A Different way to think about

Motivation: Learner Centered

SocialLearners

read the social and

academic expectations of the setting
CognitiveMind Mediated

Motivation is a STATE not a trait

The Ultimate goal of Education:

Self-Regulated Learners who. . .
4

Accept responsibility for their own learning

Are flexible in their thinking and problem solving
Develop and use self-monitoring skills
Are collaborative in task-focused skills
Are willing to seek help and support from others
Focus on personal progress
Focus on learning rather than grades or test scores
Welcome challenge
How does this compare to the learners

we cultivate now?

3 Basic Principles
5

Motivation can be defined as our willingness to

Engage
Commit
Persist in an academic task [challenge]
Motivation beliefs are stored in connections in our

long term memory, [schema] based on our

experiences and interpretations of them.
Our motivation is influenced by our

Expectations for Success and

Value for the Task

E multiplied by V

Schemata
6

Mental organizing structuresexisting idea networks--

that guide perception and categorize experiences

Whether we are aware of them or not, these networks
determine how we interpret our experiences and extract
meaning from them
Motivation schemas can be
Adaptive,

or
Mal-adaptive
What happens when a motivation schema is
Mal-adaptive?

Expectancy x Value Judgments

7

Our willingness to expend the effort on

an academic task depends on

Our Expectations for success with
reasonable effort
Our assessment of the Value and
meaningfulness of the task.

Value for the Task

8

What kinds of tasks do your

students VALUE?
Why?
What do you see when they
dont value a task?

Value is Enhanced When the Task is

Meaningful
Connected
Relevant
Useful

How do we do that?

Reasonable Expectations for Success

10

Where do they come from?

How do learners with expectations for

success approach tasks?

How do learners with lower expectations for
success approach tasks?

Student Responses Based on E x V

Has low success
expectations
Does not
value the task
Values the
task

Rejection:
Refuses to participate
Dissembling:
Moves to protect image
of competence

Has high
success
expectations
Evasion:
Does the minimum
required
Engagement:
Seeks to learn

Expectations for Success are Enhanced

when learners. . .
12

Believe in incremental rather than innate

intelligence
Learn for internalized, self-regulated purposes
Pursue mastery goals
Have high self-efficacy
Attribute success and/or failure to an internal locus
of control
Have necessary learning strategies and tools

Motivation Constructs
13

Each of the previous statements represents a

set of ideas that individuals holdideas that
influence their willingness to
engagecommit, and particularly
PERSIST in an academic tasks
Each addresses learners expectations for
success in a given task setting

Beliefs
about
Knowledge

Intrinsic
/
Extrinsic

Goal
Orientation

Self
Efficacy
Hope
Motivation
Attributions

14

#1: Beliefs About Intelligence & Knowledge

What

is Knowledge?
Who has it?
How do we get it?
Where does it come from?

Beliefs about Knowledge

Assumptions individuals hold about

The nature of knowledge
Certainty
Complexity

How knowledge is attained

Role

of innate ability
Role of effort

Beliefs about Learning Survey [blue]

Factor 1: Fixed Ability.
Is ability fixed.. . . . . or is it. . . . . .
[high points]

Incremental?
[low points]

Factor 2: Simple Knowledge

Is knowledge simple. . . Or is it. . .
Complex?
[high points]
[low points]

Factor 3: Certain Knowledge

Is knowledge certain. . . Or is it. . . . Relative?
[high points]
[low points]

Factor 4: Quick Learning

Accomplished quickly. . . . Or. . . with sustained effort?
[high points]
[low points]

How are these beliefs

relevant to
educators and their
practices?

Implications: Recognize That. . .

19

Everyone holds beliefs about intelligence and

knowledge that influence their learning AND

behaviors.
These beliefs affect the way we reason
Beliefs about knowledge are NOT strongly related to
ability, but they are strongly related to engagement
and motivation issues

#2: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

20

Extrinsic motivation: for external motives, such as

incentives and rewards

Intrinsic motivation: for internal motives, please in
the task for its own sake
Which do schools most actively promote? Why? How
do you know? What is the message to learners?
Which is the most powerful approach for learning?

The continuum approach:

Self Determination
21

Assumption: the element that defines the

difference between Extrinsic and Intrinsic

motivation is the degree to which the
individual determines task value and
importance-BUY INaka Engagement

Levels of task buy in

22

Based on Who initiates the involvement and why?

Extrinsic Motivation has 4 levels
External Regulation
Introjected Regulation
Identified Regulation
Integrated Regulation

Buy-In
Extrinsic
External
Regulation

Completely initiated outside

Reward or punishment

Introjected
Regulation

Accepts standards other have

specified

Identified
Regulation

Values standards
Willing engagement

Integrated
Regulation

Fits own ultimate goals

Intrinsic

24

Think of a learning experience in which YOU moved

along the continuum.

What happened to your learning?
How was your experience related to Expectation for
Success and Value for the Task?

So HOW do we move learners along the

continuum?

Basic Learner Needs

25

Competence
Belief

that one can accomplish the task

Autonomy
Self

initiation, self direction, and self regulation

Relatedness
To

others in the learning setting

Connections to overall learning goals

Implications: Support for Basic Needs

26

Competence: Attention to task definition

Clear
Manageable
Challenging
Criterion referenced success standards

Autonomy: Choices

Time flexibility
Alternative ways to reach goals
Participation in decision making

Relatedness: De-emphasize competition

Emphasis on effort
Collaboration
Social construction

How could YOU support each of these?

Academic Motivation Scale [white]

27

What did this instrument tell you about

your intrinsic/extrinsic balance?

Did it seem accurate? Why/why not?
Comments?

#3. Goal Orientations

Beliefs individuals hold about the

purposes of learning
Why

we learn
For whom
How success is achieved
IMPACT: How we approach challenging tasks
Two basic types of goals
Mastery Goals
Performance Goals

Underlying Theories of Intelligence

Entity Theories
Incremental Theories

Goal Orientation
Performance:
Goal is to gain
positive judgments
& avoid negative
judgments of ability
[Prove]

Mastery
Goal is to increase
ability and personal
competence
[Improve]

Theory of Intelligence
Entity
Intelligence
is a fixed
trait

Performance:
Goal is to gain
positive judgments
& avoid negative
judgments of ability
[Prove]

Incremental
Intelligence
is
malleable

Mastery
Goal is to increase
ability and personal
competence
[Improve]

Typical Behavior
Entity
Intelligence
is a fixed
trait

Performance:
Goal is to gain
positive judgments
& avoid negative
judgments of ability

Helplessness
Avoid risk
Give up easily
Make excuses

[Prove]

Incremental
Intelligence
is
malleable

Mastery
Goal is to increase
ability and personal
competence
[Improve]

Effort
Seek challenge
Persist
Take responsibility
Problem Solve

Goal Orientations Beliefs: Compare/Contrast

Mastery Orientation
Competence develops through

Performance Orientation
Competenceyou have it or you

dont!
effort & practice
Avoidance of challenging tasks
Enjoyment of challenging tasks
Easy tasks viewed as boring
Easy tasks are desirable
Effort
competence
Effort = low competence
More intrinsic motivation to learn
More extrinsic motivation
Use of learning strategies for deep
Reliance on rote learning
comprehension
Comparison of self to others
Self-evaluative
Errors seen as failures
Errors are viewed as useful
Failure = low ability
Failure can be informational
Teacher viewed as judge, rewarder,
Teacher seen as resource/guide
and punisher
Which learner do you prefer? Why?

Quadrants
Mastery Orientation
LOW

HIGH

High Mastery
Low Mastery
High Performance High Performance

LOW

Performance
Orientation

HIGH

High Mastery
Low Performance

Low Mastery
Low Performance

Goals Inventory [yellow]

Eliminate #s 7, 9, & 13
Mark the following with P:

2, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18

Mark the following with M

1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 14, 16
Add P scores and divide by 7
Add M scores and divide by 8

PERFORMANCE

5
LM/HP

HM/HP

MASTERY

HM/LP

LM/LP

1
36

37

Students with a strong mastery

orientation are more successful
learners , REGARDLESS of whether
performance orientation is high or
low.
Implications?

#4: Self-Efficacy
38

Beliefs about the degree of effect we can have on a

learning situation.

Perception!
Think about a situation in which you perceive you can
have an impact. Now think of one where you dont
believe you can have much. Compare your
motivation to engage in each of these settings
Context and topic specific

High self-efficacy
learners

Low self-efficacy
learners

Task
Orientation

Accept challenging tasks

Avoid challenging tasks

Effort

Expend high effort when faced

with challenging tasks

Expend low effort when

faced with challenging tasks

Persistence

Persist when goals are initially

reached

Give up when goals are not

initially reached

Believe they will succeed

Focus on feelings of
incompetency

Beliefs

Control stress and anxiety

when goals not met
Believe they are in control of
the environment

Experience anxiety and

depression when goals not
met
Believe they are not in
control of their environment

Strategy Use

Discard unproductive strategies

Persist with unproductive

strategies

Performance

Perform higher than lowefficacy students of equal

ability

Perform lower than highefficacy students of equal

ability

Factors Influencing Self-Efficacy

Factor

Example

Past Performance

Past success in solving algebra equations

increases individuals beliefs in their capability to
solve other algebra problems.

Modeling

Observing others successfully solving algebra

equations increases observers beliefs in their
capabilities to solve them.

Verbal Persuasion

A teacher comments, I know you will be able to

solve these equations, increases the likelihood
that individuals will engage in demanding tasks,
and if successful, belief in their capabilities to
solve them increase.

Psychological State

Thoughts, such as I cant do this stuff, takes up

mental energy. Success is reduced, and efficacy
decreases.

Implications: Improving Self-Efficacy

Increase students awareness of the self-efficacy concept
Use expert and inexpert modelingscaffold

so that students can understand developing expertise

Provide feedback
that functions to help students develop expertise
through analysis of own performance
specific
Build self-efficacy rather than reduce expectations
reductions undermine efficacy
Encourage self-regulation
students take control of their learning process

#5. Causal Attributions

Who or what is responsible for our successes and

failures? Are these. . .

Internal or External ?
Stable or Unstable?
Controllable or Uncontrollable?

Locus of control
Learned helplessness

3 Issues in Attribution Theory

Locus of control:
Where does control lie?
Internal vs. external
I vs. They thinking

Attribution
Theory

Stability:
Stable vs. unstable
Does outcome change
or fluctuate?

Controllability:
Controllable vs. uncontrollable
Are any variables within my control?

Possible Attributions

Effort
Ability
Task difficulty
Luck

Which is most adaptive and why?

Controllability is any of this

within my control?

Unstable Stable

Stability

Locus of Control
Internal
External

Ability

Task
Difficulty

I cant really control this.

This isnt up to me.

Effort

Luck

This is something I have

control over!

This is completely out of

my control.

Attribution Dimensions
Locus:
Internal: Me

External: Not me

Native Ability / Effort

Task Difficulty / Luck

Stability:
Unstable

Stable

Effort / Luck

Native Ability / Task

Difficulty

Controllability:
Controllable

Uncontrollable

Effort

Ability / Task Difficulty / Luck

Implications:
Improving Student Attributions
Discuss effects of attributions with students

leading to emphasis on the role of effort

Help students focus on controllable causes
in order to increase task engagement, persistence, and
performance
Consider alternative causes of success and failure
identify and help students modify
Be mindful of inadvertent low-ability cues
which undermine both self-efficacy and attributions to
controllable factors
How do we do these things?

Attribution Inventory [green]

Specific to Locus of Control Dimension Only
Scoring- Eliminate item 8
Reverse score #s 1, 3, 4, 9, 12

[1=5; 2=4; 3=3]

Add your points, divide by 11

Higher the score, the more EXTERNAL the perceived locus
of control

Did this instrument describe you accurately? Why/why not?

contrast to Behavior Modification] contrast to

Behavior Modification]

5. The Hope Construct

The Hope Scale

Eliminate 3, 5, 7, 11,
Add for Pathways Score

1, 4, 6, 8
Divide by 4

Add for Agency Score

2, 9, 10, 12
Divide by 4

Beliefs
about
Knowledge

Intrinsic
/
Extrinsic

Goal
Orientation

Self
Efficacy
Hope
Motivation
Attributions

51

Synthesis
52

What ideas link each of these constructs?

How can you summarize the implications for

classroom practice?
Specifically, what can you implement in your
classroom?
What do you need to think more about?
What questions do you still have?