Motivational Principles
1. The environment can be used to focus students’ attention on what will be learned.
You can capture curiosity with stimulating handouts and visual aids.
2. Students can be motivated with incentives.
Privileges and praise from the teacher provide extrinsic motivation for the student.
This incentive should motivate the student to learn the material, not just complete the assignment.
3. Intrinsic motivation is more effective, long-term, than extrinsic motivation.
Intrinsic motivation will be self-sustaining whereas extrinsic motivation may devalue the student's efforts. Once the extrinsic rewards stop, so will the behavior.
4. The manner in which material is organized affects motivation.
It will be easier for students to understand the goal of the lesson.
Organization also includes the time in which an assignment/lesson is introduced and how it relates to previously learned material.
5. Behaviors result from multiple motives, not just one.
A behavior rarely is a result of one motive. In most cases, a number of motives contribute to a behavior, therefore if one motivational strategy does not work, try another in order to combat the multiple contributors of the behavior.
