Motivation: Instructional Applications

The subject matter herein presented doth intimate a plethora of pedagogical applications. Three such applications, intimately conjoined with the pursuit of erudition, encompass the cultivation of achievement motivation, the modulation of attributional dispositions, and the establishment of salient goal orientations.

Achievement motivation training doth aim to assist students in cultivating thoughts and behaviours characteristic of learners possessed of a high degree of achievement motivation (de Charms, 1968, 1984). De Charms (1976) did initially prepare teachers, who then laboured with students, the ultimate objective being to foster in students a sense of personal responsibility for their learning outcomes.

The preparation of teachers encompassed self-study of academic motivation, the setting of realistic goals, the development of concrete plans for the accomplishment of said goals, and the evaluation of progress made toward their attainment. Student motivation was integrated with academic content. Classroom activities included self-study of academic motives, achievement motivation thinking, the development of self-concept, realistic goal setting, and the promotion of personal responsibility. During a spelling activity designed for the teaching of goal setting, students were afforded the opportunity to select words of easy, moderate, or difficult calibre. To inculcate a sense of personal responsibility, teachers bade students compose narratives concerning achievement, which were then employed in a classroom essay contest. The results did demonstrate that the programme elevated the motivation of both teachers and students, arrested the tendency among low achievers to fall increasingly behind their peers in achievement, and curtailed student absenteeism and tardiness.

Integrating instruction on achievement motivation with academic content, rather than incorporating it as an addendum with special content, doth seem imperative. The peril inherent in the latter approach lieth in the possibility that students may fail to comprehend how to apply the principles of achievement motivation to other subject matter.

Alderman (1985, 1999) hath recommended several useful components of achievement motivation instruction. One such component is having teachers assist students in setting realistic goals and providing feedback concerning their progress toward said goals. Another aspect is self-study, undertaken to examine one's motives for learning and to cultivate personal responsibility. The distinction between task involvement and ego involvement doth seem useful. A series of questions doth assist students in examining their sentiments toward tasks and their perceived objectives (e.g., learning versus pleasing others). Attributional training (discussed henceforth) is also relevant. One means of teaching personal responsibility is to assist students in placing greater emphasis upon effort as a cause of outcomes, rather than attributing failure to others or ascribing success to mere chance. As students experience successes, they should cultivate increased self-efficacy for continued learning and assume greater control of their learning.

Alderman (1985) did apply these ideas to a senior high girls' physical education class. On the first day of class, students completed a self-evaluation of their health, physical fitness status, and competence and interest in various activities, and they set fitness goals. They undertook weekly self-tests in diverse activities (e.g., aerobics, flexibility, strength, and posture). At the close of the first grading period, students set goals for the final examination. They had recourse to various means of accomplishing the aerobic goal (running, walking, and jumping rope). The teacher met with individual students to assess goals and proffered suggestions if these appeared unrealistic. Students established practice schedules of at least thrice weekly for a duration of nine weeks and maintained a record of their practices. Following the final examination, students completed a self-evaluation of that which they had learned. Alderman noted: “To the instructor, the most striking comment made by students on the final self-evaluation was, ‘I learned to set a goal and accomplish it’” (p. 51).

Attribution change programmes endeavour to augment motivation by modifying students' attributions concerning successes and failures. It is common for students to encounter certain difficulties when assimilating new material. Some scholars attribute these impediments to a perceived lack of innate ability (as, for instance, Margaret in the opening scenario). Those students who harbour the conviction that they are deficient in the requisite aptitude for commendable performance may approach tasks in a lackadaisical manner, which, in turn, impedes the development of skill. Researchers have identified pupils who exhibit this particular attributional pattern and have subsequently provided instruction to re-attribute failure to factors of a controllable nature (e.g., inadequate exertion, the deployment of inappropriate strategies) as opposed to a paucity of ability. Exertion, in particular, has garnered significant attention; students who entertain the belief that their failures are, in large measure, attributable to a deficiency in ability may be disinclined to expend substantial effort to attain success. Given that exertion is subject to volitional control, instructing students to believe that prior setbacks stemmed from insufficient effort may serve to galvanise them to labour with greater diligence, in the expectation that such exertion will yield more favourable outcomes.

In an early investigation, Dweck (1975) identified children who demonstrated modest expectations for success and whose academic behaviours deteriorated following the experience of failure (e.g., diminished exertion, a lack of persistence). Dweck presented the children with arithmetical problems (some of which were insolvable) to evaluate the extent of performance decline subsequent to failure. The children, for the most part, attributed their failures to a perceived paucity of ability. During the training regimen, the children were tasked with solving problems with a pre-established criterion number for each trial. For certain (success-only) children, the criterion was set at or below their demonstrated capabilities, as assessed by the pretest. A parallel criterion was applied on the majority of trials for children undergoing attribution retraining, but on certain trials the criterion was established beyond their capabilities. Upon experiencing failure, these children were informed that they had not exerted sufficient effort. On the posttest, the success-only children continued to exhibit deterioration in performance following failure, whereas the attribution-retraining children manifested a reduced degree of impairment. The success-only children sustained their emphasis on a perceived deficiency in ability; the attribution-retraining students, conversely, accentuated the role of insufficient effort.

Dweck did not assess self-efficacy or expectancies for success; consequently, the effect of attributions on expectancies could not be ascertained. Further investigations have demonstrated that instructing students to attribute failures to insufficient exertion enhances effort attributions, expectancies, and behaviours indicative of academic achievement (Andrews & Debus, 1978; Chapin & Dyck, 1976; Horner & Gaither, 2004; Robertson, 2000).

Providing effort-attributional feedback to students for their successes also promotes achievement expectancies and behaviours (Schunk, 1982a; Schunk & Cox, 1986; Schunk & Rice, 1986). In the context of subtraction instruction, Schunk (1982a) discovered that associating children's prior attainments with diligent exertion (e.g., “You have been labouring assiduously”) served to augment task motivation, perceived competence, and skill acquisition to a greater extent than correlating their future achievements with exertion (e.g., “You must exert diligent effort”) or refraining from the provision of effort-based feedback. For exertion-based feedback to prove efficacious, students must hold the conviction that it is credible. Feedback acquires credibility when students are realistically compelled to exert considerable effort to attain success, as is commonly the case during the nascent stages of learning. Observe, in the opening vignette, the manner in which Kerri furnishes Derrick, Amy, and Matt with effort-related feedback.

Effort feedback may prove particularly advantageous for students confronting learning challenges. Schunk and Cox (1986) furnished middle school students with learning disabilities with instruction and practice opportunities in subtraction. Certain students received effort feedback (“You have been labouring assiduously”) during the initial half of a multisession instructional programme, while others received it during the latter half, and a third cohort of learners did not receive any effort feedback. Each form of feedback served to promote self-efficacy, motivation, and skill acquisition to a greater degree than the absence of feedback. The provision of feedback during the initial half of the programme served to amplify students' effort attributions for successes. Considering the students' learning disabilities, the bestowal of effort feedback for early or later successes may have possessed an enhanced sense of credibility.

Young children tend to attribute successes to exertion, yet by the age of eight, they commence to formulate a discrete conception of ability and continue to differentiate the concepts until approximately the age of twelve (Nicholls, 1978, 1979; Nicholls & Miller, 1984). Ability attributions assume increasing prominence, whilst the inflfluence of exertion as a causal determinant wanes (Harari & Covington, 1981). During instruction and practice in arithmetic, Schunk (1983a) ascertained that providing children with ability-oriented feedback apropos of prior successes (e.g., “You are proficient at this”) served to augment perceived competence and skill to a greater extent than furnishing them with effort-oriented feedback or ability-plus-effort (combined) feedback. The children in the latter condition assessed the expenditure of effort as being greater than their counterparts in the ability-only condition and seemingly discounted some of the ability-related information in favour of exertion. In a follow-up study employing a similar methodology (Schunk, 1984b), the provision of ability feedback at a point when children experienced early success in the course of learning enhanced achievement outcomes to a greater degree than early effort feedback, irrespective of whether the ability feedback was sustained or discontinued during the subsequent stages of learning.

The structure of classroom activities conveys attributional information (Ames, 1992a, 1992b). Students who are engaged in competition for grades and other rewards are more inclined to draw comparisons between their respective abilities. Students who attain success under competitive conditions are more disposed to emphasise their abilities as contributing factors to their triumphs; those who encounter failure tend to believe that they are wanting in the requisite ability for success. These circumstances engender an ego-involved motivational state, wherein students begin to ponder the query, “Am I intelligent?” (Ames, 1985).

Cooperative, or individualistic, reward structures, conversely, mitigate the emphasis on ability differences. Cooperative structures accentuate student exertion, particularly when each student is entrusted with the responsibility of completing a discrete facet of the task and with instructing other group members on that particular facet, and when the group is collectively rewarded for its aggregated performance. In individualistic structures, students draw comparisons between their current work and their prior accomplishments. Students participating in individualistic structures concentrate their attention on their levels of exertion (“Am I exerting sufficient effort?”) and on learning strategies aimed at enhancing their achievement (“How may I accomplish this?”).

The prevailing educational emphasis on inclusion implies that students with high-incidence (e.g., learning) disabilities and low-incidence (e.g., severe) disabilities are integrated with their peers in the regular classroom to the greatest extent feasible. Within inclusive classrooms, learners frequently engage in collaborative tasks. To date, a dearth of research exists pertaining to the effectiveness of inclusive classrooms (McGregor & Vogelsberg, 1998); however, related research suggests that grouping constitutes a beneficial practice, contingent upon the group's capacity to attain success (Ames, 1984). Group success serves to enhance the self-evaluations of underperforming students. Cooperative groups comprising students with and without learning disabilities function optimally when they are initially instructed on the precepts of effective small-group collaboration (Bryan, Cosden, & Pearl, 1982). When group members exhibit dysynchronous collaboration, the performances and self-evaluations of students, irrespective of whether they have learning disabilities, are negatively impacted (Licht & Kistner, 1986). Furthermore, in instances of group failure, students may (often unfairly) attribute blame to the slower learners, which can adversely affect the self-efficacy and motivation of the ensemble's members.

Goal theory and research doth suggest sundry methods whereby pedagogues may cultivate a productive learning goal orientation. Instructors might assist pupils in amending their convictions regarding the confines of their abilities and the efficacy of endeavour as a means to augment their motivation. Affording students progress feedback, demonstrateth how their aptitudes have improved (i.e., the extent of their learning), coupled with data illustrating that exertion hath facilitated learning, may engender a growth mindset, elevate self-efficacy, and incite pupils to further hone their skills.

Another proposition is the augmented utilisation of collaborative student activities. Duda and Nicholls (1992) ascertained, with respect to both sport and scholastic endeavours, that task orientation (growth mindset) correlated with high school pupils' beliefs that success is contingent upon exertion and collaboration with peers, whereas ego orientation (fixed mindset) was associated with convictions that success is attributable to superior ability and striving to outstrip others. Goal orientations and beliefs concerning success bore no strong correlation with perceived ability. Perceived ability exhibited a more pronounced association with satisfaction in sport than in school; the inverse pattern prevailed for task orientation.

A third avenue to foster a learning-goal orientation lies in assisting pupils to adopt learning goals. Instructors may accentuate the acquisition of skills, the assimilation of novel strategies, and the development of problem-solving methodologies, et cetera. Concurrently, they may diminish emphasis on goals such as the completion of assignments, concluding tasks ahead of fellow pupils, and meticulously reviewing work. Assignments ought to entail learning; when students practise skills, pedagogues may underscore the rationale underlying the practise (e.g., to impede forgetting) and apprise pupils that adept practise evinces the retention of skills (i.e., to reframe practise in terms of skill acquisition).

Motivation doth denote the process of instigating and sustaining behaviour directed towards a goal. Early perspectives on motivation did encompass drive theory, conditioning theory, cognitive consistency theory, and humanistic theory. Each did contribute to the understanding of motivation, albeit none did adequately explicate human motivated behaviour. Contemporary theories regard motivation as reflective of cognitive processes, albeit these theories do diverge in the significance ascribed to sundry cognitions. Models of motivated learning do presume that motivation operateth before, during, and subsequent to learning.

Atkinson’s theory of achievement motivation doth posit that the need for achievement be a general motive leading individuals to perform at their zenith in achievement contexts. Achievement behaviour representeth an emotional conflict betwixt hope of success and fear of failure. Eccles and Wigfield did develop an expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation that doth surmount many a problem of older perspectives. The self-worth theory of Covington and his colleagues doth hypothesise that achievement behaviour be a function of students’ efforts to preserve the perception of high ability amongst themselves and others. Other researchers have focused their attention upon motivational states such as task and ego involvement.

Attribution theory doth incorporate Rotter’s locus of control and manifold elements of Heider’s naïve analysis of action. Weiner’s attribution theory, which is pertinent to achievement settings, doth categorise attributions along three dimensions: internal–external, stable–unstable, and controllable–uncontrollable. Attributions hold import, for they do affect achievement beliefs, emotions, and behaviours.

Social cognitive theory doth view motivation as resulting from goals and expectations. People do set goals and act in ways they believe will aid them in attaining their goals. By comparing present performance to the goal and noting progress, people experience a sense of self-efficacy for improvement. Motivation dependeth upon the belief that one shall achieve desired outcomes from given behaviours (positive outcome expectations) and that one be capable of performing or learning to perform those behaviours (high self-efficacy). Social comparisons with others be important sources of information from whence to form outcome and efficacy expectations.

Goal theory doth postulate important links betwixt people’s goals, expectations, attributions, conceptions of ability, motivational orientations, social and self comparisons, and achievement behaviours. In achievement contexts, learners may possess learning (mastery) or performance (ability-focused) goals. The theory doth predict that learning goals focus attention more efficaciously on skills and competencies needed for learning and that as students perceive progress, their self-efficacy and motivation are enhanced. In contrast, performance goals may not lead to the same focus on progress, but rather result in social comparisons, which may not elevate motivation. Goal orientations are linked with conceptions of ability that reflect an entity (fixed mindset) or incremental (growth mindset) perspective.

Many a theory doth stress people’s desire to exert control over important aspects of their lives. Control beliefs have especially potent effects in achievement settings. When people perceive independence betwixt responses and outcomes, learned helplessness doth manifest itself in motivational, learning, and emotional deficits. Learned helplessness is applicable to many a student with learning problems who doth display negative attributional patterns and low self-efficacy in their learning capabilities.

Theory and research on self-concept are relevant to motivation. Research doth suggest that self-concept be hierarchically organised and multifaceted. It doth develop from a concrete to a more abstract self-view. Self-concept and learning appear to influence one another in reciprocal fashion.

Intrinsically interesting activities are ends in themselves, in contrast to extrinsically motivated actions, which are means to some ends. White and Harter did hypothesise that young children possess intrinsic motivation to comprehend and control their environments, which becometh more specialised with development and progression in school. Harter’s theory doth highlight the role of socialising agents and perceived competence. Other theorists hypothesise that intrinsic motivation dependeth upon the needs for optimal levels of psychological or physiological incongruity, upon attempts to engage in self-determination, and upon a flow-type involvement with activities. Much research hath addressed the effect of rewards on intrinsic motivation. Offering rewards for task engagement doth decrease intrinsic motivation when rewards are seen as controlling behaviour. Rewards given contingent upon one’s level of performance are informative of capabilities and foster students’ self-efficacy, interest, and skill acquisition.

Achievement motivation, attributions, and goal orientations possess important educational applications. Achievement motivation programmes are designed to foster students’ desire to learn and perform well at achievement tasks. Attributional change programmes attempt to alter students’ dysfunctional attributions for failure, such as from low ability to insufficient effort. Attributional feedback for prior successes doth improve self-efficacy, motivation, and skill acquisition. Teachers can foster productive goal orientations in students by teaching them to set learning goals and providing feedback on their goal progress.