Most instructors have, at some point or another, felt their enthusiasm for class deflate, if only momentarily, in the face of students who are visibly disengaged, routinely unprepared, or seemingly interested in one question alone: "Will this be on the test?"

Research on motivation and learning suggests that students are motivated to learn:

• When they value what they are learning
• When they expect to succeed
• When they have some choice in or control over the task
• And when the cost of failure is low. (Svinicki, 2004)

Instructors can help motivate students by:

• Giving them frequent and low-stakes opportunities to practice skills.
• Offering them early and regular feedback on their performance.
• Explaining the value of the course or of individual assignments. (How might the skills and knowledge learned the course apply to other courses in or outside of the major?)
• Connecting course material to their real world experiences.
• Beginning a class by figuring out what students already know or believe about a topic.
• Incorporating active learning strategies such as games and simulations, collaborative learning, clickers, blogs, wikis, problem-based learning, or community-based service learning.

Enhancing Student Motivation & Engagement

On September 26th, 2008 DePaul held a faculty workshop on ways to increase student motivation and engagement. The keynote speaker, Barbara Walvoord, is a nationally recognized expert on college teaching and learning.

If you are connected to a university computer you can watch the entire conference and download audio and PDF files on iTunes U for free.

Additional Readings

Svinicki, M.D.  (2004). Learning and motivation in the postsecondary classroom. Bolton, MA: Anker.

Motivating students
(Chapter from Barbara Davis's Tools for Teaching)

Motivating students (Vanderbilt Center for Teaching)

Motivating students (Carleton College)

Student goal orientation, motivation, and learning (IDEA Paper 41)

Capturing and directing the motive to learn (Newsletter from Stanford's Center for Teaching and Learning)

Dealing with apathetic students