There are four things that help motivate students to learn: pleasure, fear, control, and cognition. The brain wants to be happy and to feel safe (Zull 51, 49).Without these two things, learning becomes extremely difficult. It’s important to set a safe environment right away in a classroom. Learning begins with the part of the brain called the amygdala. The amygdala controls whether a student decides to fight or to flight. It also helps decide meaning that it receives from an experience (Zull 59). Therefore, when students’ minds are put to work doing a stimulating task, the amygdala becomes less active and the students will feel less afraid and/or nervous.
Also, students want control of the classroom. “To survive we must be in control, or believe that we are. Wanting survival means wanting control” (Zull 49). When students do not feel in control, their learning ability decreases. Students choosing to do different tasks help motivate their learning. They feel that they are in control and they will learn to the best of their ability since they do not feel like the teacher is nagging and telling them what they need to be accomplishing.
When students understand why they are learning what they are learning and how it relates to their lives, they will be motivated to learn. Teachers need to be open and honest with their students and explain to them why they are doing a task rather than responding with something such as, “No questions. Just do what I tell you.” Students will not respond positively when they do not understand why they have to do something. Also, when a student succeeds, it generates understanding; understanding allows survival; survival helps with cognition; cognition triggers internal reward system; internal reward system means we want to learn.
Furthermore, students are not motivated by extrinsic rewards such as grades or gold stars. Extrinsic rewards actually reduce motivation. Students are motivated by intrinsic rewards such as control, curiosity, and challenging tasks.
Lastly, there is a connection between happiness and movement that was discovered in the front cortex. When students are moving around and becoming engaged in different activities, their amygdala will be happy since they won’t have to fight or flight. Student learning can be achieved and students will be motivated when action is involved.
Lastly, there is a connection between happiness and movement that was discovered in the front cortex. When students are moving around and becoming engaged in different activities, their amygdala will be happy since they won’t have to fight or flight. Student learning can be achieved and students will be motivated when action is involved.
This really benefited me, thank you. However, I have a few questions for you. One, how do I give students control? Two, do I just cut out extrinsic rewards all together?
ReplyDelete*One- Student need to be in control in order to learn best and be motivated to do so. Give students the choice. Let them choose which book they would like to read, what day they will learn about friction, how they will learn about friction. If they want to work in groups, let them. If they want to work alone, let them do that as well. This does not mean that the student gets to choose what assignments are to be completed, it just means they get to choose how to complete it.
ReplyDelete*Two- Simple answer, yes. However, grades are a requirement for student assessment. Beyond grades, extrinsic motivation should not be used. There should be no extra credit or candy given to students who can answer a question correctly.