ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION

ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION

One classification of motivation differentiates among achievement, power, and social factors (see McClelland, 1985; Murray, 1938, 1943). In the area of achievement motivation, the work on goal-theory has differentiated three separate types of goals: mastery goals (also called learning goals) which focus on gaining competence or mastering a new set of knowledge or skills; performance goals (also called ego-involvement goals) which focus on achieving normative-based standards, doing better than others, or doing well without a lot of effort; and social goals which focus on relationships among people (see Ames, 1992; Dweck, 1986; Urdan & Maehr, 1995). In the context of school learning, which involves operating in a relatively structured environment, students with mastery goals outperform students with either performance or social goals. However, in life success, it seems critical that individuals have all three types of goals in order to be very successful.

One aspect of this theory is that individuals are motivated to either avoid failure (more often associated with performance goals) or achieve success (more often associated with mastery goals). In the former situation, the individual is more likely to select easy or difficult tasks, thereby either achieving success or having a good excuse for why failure occurred. In the latter situation, the individual is more likely to select moderately difficult tasks which will provide an interesting challenge, but still keep the high expectations for success.

IMPACTING MOTIVATION IN THE CLASSROOM

Stipek (1988) suggests there are a variety of reasons why individuals may be lacking in motivation and provides a list of specific behaviors associated with high academic achievement. This is an excellent checklist to help students develop the cognitive component of their lives. In addition, as stated previously in these materials, teacher efficacy is a powerful input variable related to student achievement (Proctor, 1984).

There are a variety of specific actions that teachers can take to increase motivation on classroom tasks. In general, these fall into the two categories discussed above: intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic

Extrinsic

o                                Explain or show why learning a particular content or skill is important o                                Create and/or maintain curiosity o                                Provide a variety of activities and sensory stimulations o                                Provide games and simulations o                                Set goals for learning o                                Relate learning to student needs o                                Help student develop plan of action

o                                Provide clear expectations o                                Give corrective feedback o                                Provide valuable rewards o                                Make rewards available

As a general rule, teachers need to use as much of the intrinsic suggestions as possible while recognizing that not all students will be appropriately motivated by them. The extrinsic suggestions will work, but it must be remembered that they do so only as long as the student is under the control of the teacher. When outside of that control, unless the desired goals and behaviors have been internalized, the learner will cease the desired behavior and operate according to his or her internal standards or to other external factors.