PART B

Motivation Theories and Steps for Teachers to Motivate Students in the Classroom

Introduction

It is every educators dream to have highly motivated students in their classes.

Motivation to learning is not only essential to guarantee individual success in life but it is also
crucial to circumvent social problems that can hinder a nation’s development and prosperity.
It has been proven through research, there is a significant correlation between prematurely
dropping out of high school and an increased likelihood of getting involved in crime
(Thornberry, Krohn, Lizotte, Smith, & Tobin, 2009). Social mobility is also tied up to
education, hence it is incumbent on governments to formulate policies making education
accessible and compulsory. This essay will explore two motivation theories i.e. John Keller’s
ARCS model and Turner & Paris’s Six C’s of Motivation. The second part of this essay will
be to suggest strategies to teachers on how to motivate students intrinsically and extrinsically.

Keller’s ARCS Model

The ARCS model suggests four key elements crucial for maintaining motivation:
Attention, Relevance, Confidence and Satisfaction (Keller, 1983). Attention involves
capturing the learners’ focus and it is probably the easiest to apply. Teacher’s can use a
variety of methods to captivate learners’ attention e.g. humour, thought-provoking question,
story-telling etc.

Relevance on the other hand can help learners’ see the applicability of the learning
material to real-life. Student’s often ask, “When will I ever use this in the real world?”,
though sounds like a cliché, it is actually a ‘relevant’ question in itself which teachers need to
take heed of as educators. The search for relevance is a basic human cognitive feature that
educators can exploit (Wilsen & Sperber, 2002)

Confidence is pivotal for motivation and through a strategic approach in teaching, can
even be instilled in children who have low self-esteem (Kopfhammer, 1992). Having
confidence empowers an individual to attempt tasks that are new and unfamiliar. It also gives
students some control over their learning (Keller, 1983).
 Satisfaction is a sense of accomplishment and fulfilment that a person feels upon
completing a certain task or achieving a goal. Students that don’t feel satisfied in class will
resort to other means including negative ones to fulfil their satisfaction.

Six C’s of Motivation

Turner and Paris proposed the Six C’s of motivation that comprises of: Choice,
Challenge, Control, Collaboration, Constructive Meaning and Consequences. This model
complements Keller’s ARCS model by highlighting several other factors that can help sustain
intrinsic motivation.

Choice refers to giving some level of autonomy and control to students that aligns
with their specific preferences and interests. Interest in students have been proven through
research to be a determining factor and predictor of future choices than prior achievement or
demographic variables (Harackiewicz & Hulleman, 2010).

Challenge involves setting appropriate levels of difficulty to promote growth and

stimulate curiosity. The challenges that are given to students must be within an achievable
level and must not overwhelm them. Lev Vygotsky coined the term ‘Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD)’ being the space between what a learner can do without assistance and
what a learner can do with adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers.

Control empowers students to take charge of their learning process and promotes self-
regulation in them. A study conducted by researchers from the universities of Zurich and
Mainz concluded that early self-regulation in children boosts their educational success
(Schunk, Berger, H., Winkel, & Fehr, 2022).

Collaboration instilled in a learning environment not only motivates students to learn

but it also fosters social interaction. Collaboration is also one of the recommended skills for
learning in the twenty-first century.

Constructive Meaning involves relating new learning with existing knowledge. It

gives value to students in their learning process hence when something is perceived to have
value, the motivation to learn also increases.

Consequences involves both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation parameters. Children

as well as adults find joy and feel appreciated whenever they relate their actions to the
consequences or rewards they receive even if it is just by a simple ‘thank you’.
Motivating Students in Classrooms

Motivation is a recipe that is needed in many if not all areas of human activity be it
learning, work, business, family, social or political. The research and study of motivation is
linked closely to the study of psychology and dates as far back as the studies of evolution by
Darwin. One angle of understanding what motivates humans and individuals especially in
the field of education psychology is to explain it from the perspective of intrinsic and
extrinsic motivation.

Understanding Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as the names imply are based on factors where the
sources of motivation stems from i.e. either internally from within an individual e.g.
satisfaction, love, appreciation etc or from external factors e.g. rewards, punishments,
acknowledgement etc. Some sources of motivation can be both intrinsic as well as extrinsic,
for example recognition- like praises from a teacher when a student accomplishes a difficult
math question. The student who is fond of math would attempt to solve the math problem
irrespective of any external factors but having accomplished the task and receives praises
from his/her teacher, serves as an added booster to his motivation which propels the student
to attempt more difficult problems.

Strategies to Enhance Intrinsic Motivation

1. Promote a creativity learning environment. Students should be encouraged to be

creative because there is a correlation between creativity and academic achievement
(Bano & Naseer, 2014). Teachers should be wary they don’t inhibit any form of
creativity displayed by a student. For example a student who is caught drawing in
history class. Rather than confiscating the drawings and punishing the student, the
teacher can instruct the student to make a drawing with fine details depicting the
historical event and its characters. This will hopefully propel the student to study the
topic, giving attention to details to come out with the best drawing to be presented.
 2. Encourage collaboration and peer group learning. Collaboration and peer group
learning helps students to get various view points as well as it gives them the
opportunity to share productive and efficient learning approaches (Brown, 2021).
Being exposed to various opinions whilst at the same time developing social
relationships will lead to intrinsic motivation for the participants.
3. Embrace a risk-taking culture. Much of learning takes place by trial and error. If
students are not encouraged to take risks, they will develop fear of being judged or
being reprimanded if they err.
4. Provide opportunities to be different/divergent. Brainstorming sessions and
interactive learning can be applied as a starting point to provide opportunities for
students to think out of the box. When learning has some form of unpredictability,
students will be intrinsically motivated and focused in class.
5. Integrate arts and multidisciplinary approaches. Incorporating arts like music and
drama gives opportunities to students to be creative. Allowing for multidisciplinary
approaches provides the connection and link in learning that fosters innovation.
6. Use open-ended question. When teachers pose open ended questions rather than
questions that have one fixed answer, students will be encouraged to think and
participate without having the fear of making mistakes and being judged.
7. Encourage curiosity. Students will be participative in class if their thirst for answers
are entertained. This in turn will activate their mental and cognitive faculties. Too
many a time educators- either teachers or parents, tell students or their children not to
ask too many questions. Curiosity is part of intrinsic motivation that is most often
inhibited.
8. Acknowledge and reward effort not results. This is one strategy that can either be
both intrinsic as well as extrinsic. Standardised exams have unintentionally (or
maybe intentionally according to some) resulted in producing students who are expert
‘A’ achievers but poor problem solvers.

Strategies to Enhance Extrinsic Motivation

1. Setting clear goals and expectations. Students are more focused if clear goals and
expectations are presented clearly to them. Goals should follow the SMART model
i.e. they must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Sensitive. It
 has been proven through research that goals setting has contributed to increase
academic performance (Dotson, 2016).
2. Implement a reward system for participation. Rewards are intended to create a sense
of competition and achievement. Giving tokens, stars even grades are just some
examples of reward systems normally used in schools. However some rewards can
undermine intrinsic motivation. This is called the over justification effect (Lawrence,
2022). Certain rewards like rewards for participation however do not diminish
intrinsic motivation because they are not performance related (Deci & Koestner,
1999)
3. Organize competitive activities. Competitive activities can be in the form of games,
quizzes, debates and other forms of competitions that can spur motivation to excel.
Evidence from research supports the hypothesis that competition has a positive impact
on education in both private and public schools (Chumacero, Mardones, & Parades,
2016)
4. Employ public recognition. Acknowledging students’ achievements on school’s
public bulletin board can reinforce motivation (Cameron & & Pierce, 1994). It serves
as a motivator not only to the successful student but also to those who see the bulletin
board.
5. Offer special privileges. When students are offered certain privileges like being
nominated as school prefect, librarian etc., it acts as an incentive and builds up self-
esteem.

Conclusion

Motivation serves as encouragement to nurture students’ behaviour and attitude in

guiding them to excel in their learning endeavours. Teachers must act as facilitators and use
both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation skilfully to engage students to become active learners.
Care must be taken so as not to inhibit intrinsic motivation by employing the wrong extrinsic
motivation. Intrinsic motivation is more preferable because it gives a longer lasting
encouragement to be focussed, dedicated and resilient in the learning process.