Motivation to Learn
Cognitive Apprenticeships review
Chapter 14 Group Presentation
Factors Influencing Motivation
For Tuesday: start studying for your Quiz #3 (Chapters 11-14) - Tuesday, Dec. 14th 10:00-11:50
Classroom Management-Working with Parents
Attribution Theory
Weiner, 1974–Attribution theory assumes that people
try to determine why people do what they do.
–As “naïve psychologists” we come up with explanations of why things happen.
– I.e., attribute causes to behavior
The Chain of Events
According to Attribution theory, the type of attributions we make determine future acts
The Chain of Events
1. A certain outcome occurs
2. I ask the question "Why?"
3. I provide an attribution.
4. My future behavior depends on the type of attribution I make.
Example
You are taking a class and you get test results back. You take a peek and see, aarrgghh, a 65%. You think about these disappointing results for a minute and realize…
you have a lousy teacher, a terrible textbook and the test was completely unfair
Example
On the next test you take a peek and see, ahhhh, a 95%. After seeing this results you think…..
When you're hot, you're hot. If you've got it, flaunt it. Some people are born great.
Making Attributions – Locus of Control
External (“it was the lousy teacher”)– assigns causality to an outside agent or
force
Internal (“if you’re hot, you’re hot”)– assigns causality to factors within the
person
Three Causal Dimension (Weiner, 1974; 1986)
Locus of control – External v. Internal
Controllability – Causes one can control, I.e., skill/efficacy
Versus– causes one cannot control, I.e., aptitude,
mood, others' actions, and luck
Stability– Change over time?
Yes- (unstable) No - (stable)
Attributions Affect Future Behavior
You are taking a class and you get test results back. You take a peek and see, aarrrgh, a 65%. You think about these disappointing results for a minute and realize…
You have a lousy teacher, a terrible textbook and the test was completely unfair– External, uncontrollable, stable
Future behavior- unlikely to change
You missed several days of class and only reviewed half of the material on the study guide – Internal, controllable, unstable
Future behavior – more likely to change
Attributions Affect Future Behavior
You are taking a class and you get test results back. You take a peek and see, aarrrgh, a 65%. You think about these disappointing results for a minute and realize…
You stink at this subject, no matter what you do it doesn’t make a difference. You’ll never be good at it. Why even try?– Internal, stable, and uncontrollable
Learned Helplessness(Seligman, 1965)
When cause is viewed as internal, stable and uncontrollable– A psychological condition in which a
human (or animal) has learned that it is helpless. It feels that it has no control over its situation and that whatever it does is futile. As a result it will stay passive when the situation is unpleasant or harmful.
Influencing Behavior
How does this have implications for the classroom?
If we can direct/control the attributions people make, then we can influence
their future behavior.
Four factors affecting attributions for achievement
(Weiner, 1974)
Ability
Effort
Task difficulty
Luck
Alternative Example
You are taking a class and you get test results back. You take a peek and see, ahhhhh, a 65%. You think about these disappointing results for a minute and realize…
You missed several days of class and only reviewed half of the material on the study guide.
Alternative Example
On the next test you take a peek and see, ahhhh, a 95%. After seeing this results you think…..
Wow, what a score! The teacher must have been asleep when he graded my paper because I didn’t have a clue.
Combining 4 Factors with 3 Dimensions to examine
Reactions to Failure
Attribution Example Locus Controllable Stable
Effort “I didn’t study enough”
Internal Yes unstable
Ability “I’m not good at math”
Internal No(Yes?)
stable(unstable?)
Task Difficulty
“The test was hard”
External No stable
Luck “I had bad luck”
External No unstable
Our View of Ability- Effects on attributions
Theories of Intelligence
Fixed/Entity view:Intelligence is static; what you’re born with is what you’ve got
Malleable/Incremental view:Intelligence can grow through practice, effort and improved strategies
Reactions to Success and Failure
Fixed/Entity – tend to make external attributions in the face
of failure to protect self from negative attributions. You make internal attributions when successful.
Malleable/Incremental– can make internal attributions when
successful and in the face of failure.
Reactions to Failure(Malleable View of Intelligence)
Attribution Example Locus Controllable Stable
Effort “I didn’t study enough”
Internal Yes unstable
Ability “I’m not good at math”
Internal Yes- I need new
strategies
Unstable- I can
improve
Task Difficulty
“The test was hard”
External No stable
Luck “I guessed wrong”
External No unstable
Self-efficacy Defined
People’s judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performance (Bandura, 1986)
An individual’s judgment of his or her capabilities to perform given actions (Schunk, 1991)
Self-efficacy v. Self-concept
Self-efficacy– View of one’s abilities in a specific domain
Self-concept or self-esteem– Global view of one’s self across domains
Self- Efficacy…
Influences task choice, effort persistence and achievement.
Compared with students who doubt their learning capacities, those who have a sense
of efficacy for [particular tasks] participate more readily, work harder, persist longer
when they encounter difficulties, and achieve at a higher level… Student do not engage in activities they believe will lead to
negative outcomes. -Schunk & Zimmerman, 1997
4 Factors of Influence
Past Performance– Past success in solving algebra equations
increases individual’s beliefs in their capability to solve future problems
Modeling– Observing others successfully solve
algebra equations increase observers belief that they can be solved
4 Factors of Influence (cont.)
Verbal Persuasion– Teacher comments “I know you will be able to
solve these equations,” increases the likelihood that individuals will engage in a demanding task, and if successful, belief in their capabilities
Psychological State– Thoughts such as, “I cant do this”, uses working
memory space that could be devoted to solving the problems, success is reduced and efficacy decreases.
High Self-efficacy Low Self-efficacy
Task Orientation Accept challenging tasks
Avoid challenging tasks
Effort High effort with challenging tasks
Low effort with challenging tasks
Persistence Persist when goals aren’t initially reached
Give up when goals aren’t reached
Beliefs Will succeedIn control
IncompetenceNot in control
Strategy Use Discard unproductive strategies
Keep unproductive strategies
Performance Perform higher than low S-E with equal ability
Perform lower than high S-E with equal ability
Influence on Behavior and Cognition
Creating Successful Classroom Experiences
(Culyer, 1996; Lipson& Wixson, 1997; Margolis & McCabe, 2004)
Work should challenge but not frustrate
– Classwork at students’ instructional level
– Homework at students’ independent level
Explicitly and systematically teach learning
strategies that produce success.
Ways Teachers can strengthen self-efficacy in students(Margolis & McCabe, 2004)
Linking new work to recent successes
Stressing peer modeling
Reinforcing effort and persistence
Teaching learners to make facilitative attributions
Helping to identify and make personally important goals
Effective Goals(Margolis & McCabe, 2004)
Personally important– Relevant and needed
Immediate (v. distant)– Short term
Specific (v. Broad and General)
Achievable– Moderately difficult (not too hard, not too easy)
Focus on Learning/Mastery (v. Performance)
Learning/Mastery Goals
Focus on challenge and mastery of a task
Deep processing used to accomplish understanding
Lead to– Attempting to understand– Not worrying about failure– Not comparing oneself with others
Performance Goals
Focus on demonstrating high ability and avoiding failure– “Getting an A on the test”– “I just don’t want to fail and have to take the
class over”
Lead to– “Getting by” rather than true understanding of
concepts– Feelings of anxiety about success and failure– Comparison and competition with others
Learning v. Performance Focused Classrooms(Maehr, 1992)
Learning-Focused Performance-Focused
Definition of Success
Improvement, progress, mastery
High grades, performance comparisons
Reasons for effort
Learn something new
High grades, demonstrate ability
Basis for satisfaction
Progress, challenge, mastery
Doing better than others,Success with min. effort
Evaluation criteria
Evidence of progress
Social comparisons
Interpretation of errors
Information, part of the learning process
Failure, lack of ability
Concept of Ability
Incremental, improves with effort
Entity, fixed
Goal Orientation and Learner Outcomes(Wolters, 2004)
Mastery Orientation– Higher Levels of Motivational Engagement– Effective Learning Strategies
Performance Approach Orientation– Higher Grades
Performance Avoidance– Negative relation to motivation and learning
strategies