Motivational Constructs

In the assigned readings for this blog, we learned about various types of motivation. For instance whether it is intrinsic (motivated by internal forces such as your own feeling of accomplishment) or extrinsic (motivated by outside forces such as praise etc). In addition to this we discovered traits for the helpless orientation and the performance orientation. All of these are identified so that we can work with students to improve motivation, help to spur learning and also help to build character and confidence in students.

In my own life I found that there are examples of these orientations and wondered why we, as students, tend to fit into certain categories at one time and others at another time. For example, in my math classes I have come across many trials and tribulations that have geared me toward the 'helpless orientation'. Because of the challenges that I faced such as getting bad marks on tests, refusing to answer/ask question in class for fear of getting the wrong answer, I began to think that no matter what I did I was unable to achieve high marks on my tests. This lead me to be really hard on myself because my motivation for the duration of the course was from an intrinsic source and now I was unable to perform to my own satisfaction.

Another example would be in my college level Japanese class, I became more concerned with the outcome such as grades, speaking accurately and such, that I could not appreciate the process which was being presented and often missed out on much of the context for fear of not getting content. In addition to this (as is usually the case with me) I found that I was not on par with my own standards since my motivation came from an intrinsic force and I slowly became discouraged. Although I was able to combat these feelings of inadequacy, I had to make a decision to stop thinking negatively about myself and become active in my learning by taking extra time to complete tasks, beginning some tasks earlier than required, spending more time after class than some other students, etc.

By reading this chapter on motivation, I am able to better understand the feelings that I have when going through a course, whether it is a course that I enjoy doing or not. It is helpful to reflect and evaluate they way in which you are motivated so that you can adjust accordingly if you find yourself slipping into one of the orientations mentioned above.