INCREASING STUDENT

MOTIVATION

Antwuan Stinson, Ed. D.

Curriculum & Instruction
 Background
 Chemistry, B.S.
 Chemistry, Ma. Ed.
 Administration, Ma. Ed.
 Doctorate, Ed Leadership, Policy & Law

 Secondary Teacher 13 years

 Postsecondary 7 years
Overview
 This presentation will include effective
approaches for increasing student
motivation in the classroom. The benefits
of establishing a conducive environment,
varying learning experiences incorporating
positive competition, etc., will be discussed
with the goal of demonstrating to
instructors the important role that
motivation plays in student learning. This
workshop will be fashioned by research
and personal experiences of the presenter
in order to maximize the value of student
motivation.
 Lack of Motivation &
4
Commitment
The root of most problems.

1. Demands of university are a shock.

2. High school was easy and/or they simply did
what they were told.
3. They aren’t equipped for the delayed
gratification.
4. Have little idea of how their studies will lead
to a rewarding life.
5

How can you help students to reduce time-

wasters & manage time more effectively in your
classroom, in your courses, or in the program?
Overall Objective
Develop successful college students who
 Have knowledge about academic deadlines
 Have good communication skills

 Are independent learners

 Have a clear sense of goals

 Have great organizational skills

 Have good time management skills

 Have a positive attitude

Characteristics of a Successful
Student
 Attend classes regularly. They are on time,
listen, and train themselves to pay attention.
 Take advantage of extra credit opportunities
showing that they care about their grades
(before the end of the semester).
 See their instructors before or after class or
during office hours about grades, comments,
upcoming tests.
 Turn in assignments that look neat and sharp.
Their work reflects care and pride.
The Learning Process
 Learning is a constructive activity in which
students use what they already know to
interpret and make sense out of new
information. This means that students develop
meaning and understanding; they don't simply
receive it.
 It also means that students develop
misconceptions about concepts and ideas as a
natural consequence of trying to make sense
of new information.
The Learning Process
 I have learned that I have a lot to do with
students' motivational level. A student may
arrive in class with a certain degree of
motivation. But my behavior and teaching
style, the structure of the course, the nature of
the assignments and informal interactions with
students all have a large effect on student
motivation.
A passion for young adolescents
Is it best for the students?
8th Grade
Montpelier, Vermont
1946

8th Grade
Essex, Vermont
2007
Visit Secondary Schools
 Required recency experience by my college
and department
 Work directly with teachers
 Interact with students to ask questions
 Develop understanding of learning deficiencies
and why
 Smaller classrooms  ASU Classrooms

 Larger classrooms
Course Design
Blackboard Course Design
 Keep up with
students using
their email and
sending text
messages
through Google
voice
Tips Learned Along the Way
 Speak with the students individually during
small group assignments
 Circulate around the room
 Give smaller assignments that build to larger
ones
 Make and keep office hours
 Assign students office hours
 Use social media to communicate (Google
voice, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube recording,
webpages)
Turn your course into a journey
 Marzano Instructional
Strategies
Identifying Summarizing Reinforcing Effort
Similarities & & Note Taking & Providing
Recognition
Differences
Homework and Nonlinguistic Cooperative
Practice Representations Learning

Setting Generating & Questions,

Objectives & Testing Cues, & Adv.
Providing
Hypotheses Organizers
Feedback
Bring your lectures to life
 Give frequent, early, positive feedback that
supports students' beliefs that they can do
well.
 Ensure opportunities for students' success by
assigning tasks that are neither too easy nor
too difficult.
 Help students find personal meaning and
value in the material.
 Create an atmosphere that is open and
positive.
 Help students feel that they are valued
members of a learning community.
Posted Assignment Due Dates
 Students will not indicate problems until
an assignment is due
Suggestions for Motivating
Students
 Use interactive material (Story telling)
 Embed videos
 Use links to external sources
 Utilize Social Media (e.g. Voki, Voicethread,
Eyejot, Google site, Google Doc, Prezi)
 Group projects
 Class Demonstrations
 Blackboard Blogs
 Ted Talks
Ted Talks Link
Suggestions for Motivating
Students
 Images and/or
Cartoons
 Use real-life
examples to explain
 Have former
students speak to
your classes
Information then Assessment
Video then Assessment
ASU Classrooms
Use Advisement as
Opportunities
 Discover what other instructors are doing
 Assist students with making study plans
 Guide students through online study programs
 Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics use online
platforms
 Integrate partnerships with other departments
to coordinate raising awareness about club
activities on campus.
What is the purpose of higher
education?
 Chan, Brown & Hudlow (2014) stated that
society expects that degree-granting
institutions will ensure that college students
develop discipline-specific competences,
generic skills, and dispositions at the
completion of a bachelor’s degree.
What is social media?
Social media combines “a wide range of online, word-of-mouth
forums including blogs, discussion boards, chat rooms, e-mail,
websites and forums.
 Social media integrates technology & social interaction with
pictures, videos, words, and audio.
 It also allows people to share different perspectives and
information / stories / experiences among online
communities
 Power of publishing voice while providing information via
multimedia + texts
Motivating Students
 College students love NOT coming to class
 Use Google hangout
 Forclass meetings
 Advisement

 Use Twitter and Google voice to maintain contact

log with students
Google Hangout
Make peer email addresses
available for class assignments
 Share projects and comments with
peers
 Post students  Use Voicethread to
external links for share student
peer review comments
Voicethread Assignment
Peer Instruction is a well-developed instructional approach that incorporates
concept inventories into introductory physics classes (Mazur, 1997).
Consider the inventories regularly used to identify the varieties of
understanding and misconceptions among students:
 Posing a conceptual understanding question to the class
 Students think about their answers
 Students record or write their answers
 Students discuss their answers or try to persuade a neighboring student about
their answers
 Students record their revised answers
 All students in the class vote on their answers and the answers are tallied
The instructor uses the students’ answers as a basis for explaining the concept
and trying to develop more complete understanding of the concept.
(Adapted from Mazur, 1997, p. 10)

https://sites.google.com/a/uwlax.edu/exploring-how-students-learn/concept-
inventories
 How to incorporate social media to
drive classroom instruction
 Twitter

 Set up a class Twitter account (ex. Howard PSY 210)

 Have students tweet answers and questions with hashtag
#psych or topic for class – have the Twitter stream
available for students to view
 Follow key Psychologists & Organizations (e.g. APS,
STEM)
 Virtual Office Hours on Twitter – Specify a time where
students can ask you questions via Twitter
 Have students research topics through social searches on
Twitter and Twitter applications on current Psychology
trends and issues – integrating social media monitoring
research and critique
 Topsy – search engine for Twitter and Google+ based on
topics
 Hashtags – look at trending topics appearing via Twitter
 Facebook

 Virtual office hours - Message chat or Discussion on Class

Wall on FB DrStinson COE
 Ask questions and bring conversation to outside of the
classroom – like how FB drives social connections and
how theory and previous research can back this
perspective in class.
 Google+
 Host virtual office hours through Google Hangouts
 Meetings via conference calls
 Establishing research community within Google + Circles to brainstorm,
share, and publish comments and updates.
 Mashable Google + Guide
 YouTube and Vimeo
 Use videos in the classroom to showcase examples related to class
topic
 Have students construct a video presentation on topic from class where
they have to interview and edit the video to post on the class video
sharing page
 Infographics
 Have students propose creating an infographic for a topic related to
class to share with others that would help them study and prepare for an
exam
 Include current statistics and scientific research findings – creating a
visual and thorough representation of material for students
 Infographic Database: Visual.ly & Example
Strategies for Motivating
Students
 Set goals. Be sure they are realistic and
achievable. Make them small to start.
 Establish a system of rewards for progress
toward goals.
 Help students develop checklist and
organizational skills during class.
 Spend a little time discussing how you
overcome content difficulty
Twenty Tips on Motivating
Students
 Know your students' names and use their names
as often as possible.
 Plan for every class; never try to wing it.
 Pay attention to the strengths and limitations of
each of your students. Reward their strengths and
strengthen their weaknesses.
 If possible, set your room in a U-shape to
encourage interaction among students.
 Vary your instructional strategies; use lectures,
demonstrations, discussions, case studies,
groups, and more.
Twenty Tips on Motivating
Students
 Review the learning objectives with your students. Be
sure students know what they are expected to learn,
do, know, etc.
 Move around the room as you teach.
 Make your classes relevant. Be sure students see
how the content relates to them and the world around
them.
 Be expressive. Smile.
 Put some excitement into your speech; vary your
pitch, volume and rate.
 Give lots of examples.
 Involve your students in your teaching. Ask for
feedback.
Twenty Tips on Motivating
Students
 Encourage students to share their ideas and
comments, even if they are incorrect. You'll never
know what students don't understand unless you
ask them.
 Maintain eye contact and move toward your
students as you interact with them. Nod your head
to show that you are listening to them.
 Provide opportunities for students to speak to the
class.
 Be available before class starts, during break, and
after class to visit with students.
 Return assignments and tests to students as soon
as reasonably possible. Provide constructive
feedback.
S.M.A.R.T. Goals are…
 Specific
 Measurable
 Attainable
 Realistic

 Timely
 Specific
 Specific goals answer the following questions:

Who: Who is involved?

What: What do I want to accomplish?
Where: Identify a location.
When: Establish a time frame.
Which: Identify requirements/constraints.
Why: Specific reasons, purpose or
benefits of accomplishing the goal.
 Measurable
 To determine if your goal is measurable, ask
questions such as

 How much?
 How many?

 How will I know when it is accomplished?

 Attainable
 The goal is “do-able”
 It is action-oriented
 It is “within reach” of mortals!

 A may also stand for Action-oriented and

that requires action verbs in the goal!
 Realistic
 The goal must be an objective toward which
you are both willing and able to work.
 Again, it must be “do-able”
 People must believe it can be accomplished
 Timely
 You should establish a timeframe
 The timeframe must be realistic
 Everyone needs to know the timeframe…make
it public

 T
** may also represent Tangible in that you
can experience it with one of your senses!
End of Presentation

Contact Information

Antwuan Stinson
(334) 229-7690
astinson@alasu.edu
Resources
 http://elearningindustry.com/7-tips-integrate-
storytelling-next-elearning-course
 http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/05/how-
teachers-make-cell-phones-work-in-the-
classroom/
 http://www.uww.edu/learn/motivating_students.ph
p
 http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/affective
/motivation.html
 http://sites.allegheny.edu/deanofstudents/wellness
-education/todays-topic/12-strategies-for-
motivation-that-work/
Resources
 http://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/current/teachin
g/motivating