Chapter 5: Student Motivation and the Learning Environment

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Theories of Human Motivation and Behavior

Table 5.1 Theories of human motivation and behavior

Encouraging Students to Become Self-Motivated

Classroom Organization and Management

Models of Classroom Management

Current Trends of Classroom Management

Important terms that relate to motivation and behavior

When educators use the term motivation, they are referring to inner states that energize, direct, and sustain behavior toward a goal.  Motivation is correlated with achievement; motivated students persist, take risks, and cause fewer discipline problems.  Learning to recognize, increase, and in some cases redirect student motivation is key to success as a teacher.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

Some students are motivated by their own likes or dislikes; others are motivated by factors that are inherent to the task they are performing.  In other words, performing the task well is a personal reward.  For example, some students read the newspaper daily simply because they love to read; others may view reading the newspaper as an important component of being a good citizen.  These students are described as having intrinsic motivation to read.   Intrinsic motivation is correlated with academic success and typically occurs during activities that are affective (i.e., high in emotional satisfaction), challenging, personally selected, or highly novel.  

Other students are motivated by factors unrelated to the task itself.  For example, they may be working for the grades, money, or praise and recognition that successful completion of the task may bring.  These students are described as having extrinsic motivation for this task. 

Extrinsic motivation is easy to reinforce — a teacher offers rewards upon completion of a certain behavior (e.g., reading the newspaper), and the students continue to perform the behavior to achieve the rewards. In general, teachers should be selective when reinforcing extrinsic motivation because the focus on rewards decreases the interest in the task itself.  However, reinforcement can be legitimately employed as a way to motivate an unmotivated student or group of students, to engage students in an activity or task of low interest, to provide feedback for increasing competence, and to give students social support and acceptance.  Once students experience success in a task or activity, the goal for a teacher is to decrease reinforcers that encourage extrinsic motivation and refocus students on the intrinsic satisfaction of a job well done.

Theories of Human Motivation and Behavior

Early theories regarding the factors that influence and direct motivation focused on drives, needs, and rewards and punishments.  Many theories of motivation are informed by cognitive dissonance theory, a social psychological construct suggesting that, when confronted with two opposing beliefs, individuals are motivated to resolve the conflict (i.e., the dissonance) because it causes discomfort.  This focus on cognition is clear in more contemporary approaches to motivation, which center on how an individual’s perceptions, thoughts, and beliefs influence his or her behavior toward a goal. 

Nine perspectives on human motivation and behavior are summarized in Table 5.1.

Adapted from Essentials of Educational Psychology (2nd ed., pp. 19−20), by J. Ormrod, 2009, Columbus, OH: Merrill. To purchase a copy of this book, click here. 

Encouraging Students to Become Self-Motivated

Ideally, teachers should encourage students to find their own motivation to complete tasks and meet their goals to the best of their abilities.  Educators sometimes use Erik Erikson’s framework for psychosocial development as a guide to understanding students’ needs at particular ages. Central to Erikson’s theory of personality development is the idea that people pass through eight stages, each of which is centered on a psychological conflict that causes tension until it is resolved.  During the preschool years, for example, children begin to assert control over their environments and must balance their drive toward initiative with some way to curb those tendencies to assert power when it is inappropriate; that is, they must also develop a sense of guilt.  Note that successful resolutions of Erikson’s conflicts require a balance — children who never feel guilty and children who always feel guilty will continue to have problems later in life.  Erikson’s theory postulates that children face the conflict between industry and inferiority during the grade school years and the conflict between ego identity and role confusion during adolescence.  Motivating students in grade school, then, often requires encouraging their feelings of pride and competence; motivation during middle school often requires helping students develop independence and a strong sense of self.   

Additional strategies for fostering self-motivation (Ormrod, 2008) include:

Encouraging realistic challenges and rewarding efforts to achieve them.  Students who aim high toward an achievable goal show an increase in their feelings of competence and in their intrinsic motivation for similar tasks. Once students experience the delight of success, they are often motivated to take on additional academic challenges and risks.

Providing opportunities for choice and independent decision making.  This strategy addresses students’ need for self-determination; as students develop a feeling of ownership toward the task, their motivation increases.

Providing opportunities for social interaction.  This strategy addresses students’ need for relatedness and encourages a sense of community within the classroom. 

Increasing the students’ sense of the value in the task and their expectation of success.  Expectancy-value theory suggests that students are more motivated to work harder at tasks that are seen as important or interesting and at which they expect to do well. 

Keeping group and individual differences in mind when planning class activities.  For example, girls appear to have a greater need for affiliation than boys.  (See Chapter 4, Students as Diverse Learners, for additional information on group and individual differences.)

Recognizing students’ personal interests and tailoring activities to them.  Research suggests that situational interest captures students’ attention, but personal interests drive motivation over time.

Recognizing differences in students’ goals and redirecting them if necessary.  Mastery goals are more motivating in the long term than performance goals or social goals. Often, students whose goals are mostly performance goals look outward for validation of their competence. These students are likely to cheat, compare their performance with that of others, seek attention for their performance, and focus on grades instead of the acquisition of knowledge. Teachers may need to help students select appropriate, reachable goals.

Helping students to recognize attributions of success and failure and redirecting them if necessary.  Attributions vary based on three primary factors: locus (internal or external), stability, and controllability.  In general, students tend to attribute success to internal and stable factors and failure to external, uncontrollable ones.  At-risk students, in particular, often attribute their lack of academic success to factors outside their control, thus resulting in a lack of motivation and persistence.  When students come to believe their success or failure lies within their control, they believe that with the necessary instruction and the right amount of effort, they can experience success.

To summarize, teachers need to design challenging and developmentally appropriate activities and ensure that students have the necessary tools for success. As success continues, students can develop a sense of self-efficacy, a belief that they are capable or competent to perform certain tasks or activities. Once students experience a positive outcome and can attribute it to their own effort, motivation for future endeavors is increased.

Classroom Organization and Management

Knowledge of human motivation and behavior should influence strategies for organizing and supporting individual and group work in the classroom.  A setting conducive to learning and effective classroom management will help promote positive relationships, cooperation, and purposeful learning.  

Models of Classroom Management

Classroom management models range from highly directive behaviorist techniques to democratic and nondirective, facilitative procedures.  Most classes include a variety of techniques.

Highly directive models of classroom management occur when teachers direct students’ behavior and control them with the use of external rewards and punishment. Instructional methods that accompany this model are lecturing, drill and practice, and questioning (see Chapter 7 of this tutorial).  An example of a highly directive approach is assertive discipline, a behaviorist approach in which teachers establish rules, require student compliance, and expect parental and administrative support.  Highly directive models often use some form of behavior modification, in which behavioral problems are defined and measured to determine what antecedents (triggers) or consequences (reinforcers) must be adjusted to successfully guide behavior. Punishment is an option in these models.

Democratic models of classroom management encourage students to be accountable for their own behavior rather than maintaining control.  Most democratic models allow students to participate in the management of the classroom, encouraging them to help develop rules and consequences for breaking them.  Some address logical consequences rather than punishments, whereas others focus on attempts to prevent misbehavior rather than on disciplining students following misbehavior.

Current Trends in Classroom Management

A well-designed environment with rules and routines facilitates the teaching and learning process. New teachers should initiate the process of managing their classrooms by creating a mental checklist for the first day of a new school year. This will initially ensure that all aspects are addressed and that expectations are clearly communicated to students. Students who are aware of a teacher’s expectations are less likely to make errors in judgment regarding acceptable behavior in that particular classroom. Current trends in classroom management focus on:

Arranging classroom space appropriately.  Furniture should be placed to allow interaction or individual work when appropriate.  Teachers should be able to walk through the classroom to monitor behavior as well as to speak with students who need individual attention.  Teachers should also consider what and where to post on walls, and where materials should be kept.

Establishing classroom rules, daily procedures, and routines.  The key to positive classroom management is to determine the necessary procedures and routines before the students arrive. It’s especially important to set guidelines at the beginning of the year and for younger students, who may not yet be able to self-regulate.  Helping students to understand and allowing them to take ownership for some classroom policies helps increase motivation.  One way teachers can communicate expectations is through a contingency contract, a formal agreement between teacher and student that identifies behaviors the student will exhibit and the reinforcers that will follow. Consistency is a key in implementation.

Communicating with parents and caregivers.  Regular communication helps to develop a sense of partnership among teachers and families, which has a positive effect on students.

Pacing and structuring lessons in developmentally appropriate ways. See Chapters 6 and 7 of this tutorial for additional information on lesson planning and implementation.

Maintaining accurate records and giving timely feedback.  Students learn to assess their own behavior in part by watching how their teachers assess them.  Teacher feedback can provide students with their present level of competence and guidance on how to attain the desired level of competence. The focus must be on improvement as opposed to final performance.

Responding to student misbehavior fairly and immediately.  When students misbehave, focusing on objective descriptions of the behavior, rather than traits or characteristics of the students themselves, encourages better communication.  Consequences for noncompliance to the rules should move from less to more severe.  Cueing, discussing the problem with the student, conferring with parents, or conducting an intervention are possible response strategies. Students should understand why their behavior is inappropriate; when they understand the natural and logical consequences of that behavior, they are better able to self-regulate in the future. In some cases, functional analysis and positive behavioral support help students to develop more appropriate behaviors.

Modeling conflict resolution, problem solving, and anger management.  Students internalize behaviors that they see modeled by trusted and respected adults. Teachers who are enthusiastic, with a desire to learn, inspire their students to exhibit those same qualities. Peer modeling is another useful tool for teachers — in the classroom, students witnessing a similar peer successfully performing a task often feel that they too are capable of performing that task.

Important Terms that Relate to Motivation and Behavior

The following definitions come from the glossary in Essentials of Educational Psychology (2nd ed., pp. G1−G5), by J. Ormrod, 2009, Columbus, Ohio: Merrill. To purchase a copy of this book, click here. 

Antecedents. Stimuli that precede and induce behaviors. 

Applied behavior analysis (ABA).  Systematic application of stimulus–response      principles to address a chronic behavior problem.

Assertive discipline. An approach to classroom management that promotes a clear and firm response style with students.

Attributions. Personally constructed causal explanations for a success or failure.

Attribution theory. Theoretical perspective focusing on people’s explanations (attributions) concerning the causes of events that befall them, as well as on the behaviors that result from such explanations.

Autonomy. Basic need to control the course of one's own life.

Belongingness. General sense that one is an important and valued member of the classroom.

Challenge. Situation in which a learner believes that success is possible with sufficient effort.

Classroom climate. Overall psychological atmosphere of the classroom.

Classroom management. Establishment and maintenance of a classroom environment conducive to learning and achievement.

Cognitive dissonance. Feeling of mental discomfort caused by new information that conflicts with current knowledge or beliefs.

Competence. Basic need to be effective in dealing with the environment.

Contingency. Situation in which one event (e.g., reinforcement) happens only after another event (e.g., a specific response) has already occurred (one event is contingent on the other’s occurrence).

Contingency contract. Formal agreement between teacher and student that identifies behaviors the student will exhibit and the reinforcers that will follow.

Consequences. Events (stimuli) that occur following a behavior and that influences the probability of the behaviors recurring.

Cueing. Use of simple signals to indicate that a certain behavior is desired or that a certain behavior should stop.

Expectancy-value theory. Theoretical perspective proposing that human motivation is a function of two beliefs: that one can succeed in an activity (expectancy) and that there are direct or indirect benefits in performing the activity (value).

Extrinsic motivation. Motivation resulting from factors external to the individual and unrelated to the task being performed.

Extrinsic reinforcer.  Reinforcer that comes from the outside environment, rather than from within the learner.

Functional analysis. Examination of inappropriate behavior and its antecedents and consequences to determine one or more purposes (functions) that the behavior might serve for the learner.

Goal theory. Theoretical perspective that portrays human motivation as being directed toward particular goals; the nature of these goals determines the specific ways in which people think and behave.

Humanism. Philosophical perspective in which people are seen as having tremendous potential for psychological growth and as continually striving to fulfill that potential. Adherents to this perspective are called humanists.

Internalized motivation. Adoption of others’ priorities and values as one’s own.

Intrinsic motivation. Motivation resulting from personal characteristics or inherent in the task being performed.

Intrinsic reinforcer.  Reinforcer provided by oneself or inherent in a task being performed.

Learned helplessness. General, fairly pervasive belief that one is incapable of accomplishing tasks and has little or no control over the environment.

Locus of causality.  The location—internal or external—of the cause of behavior.

Logical consequence. Unpleasant consequence that follows naturally or logically from a student’s misbehavior.

Mastery goal. Desire to acquire additional knowledge or master new skills.

Mastery learning. Approach to instruction in which students learn one topic thoroughly before moving to a subsequent one.

Mastery orientation. General, fairly pervasive belief that one is capable of accomplishing challenging tasks.

Modeling. Demonstrating a behavior for another; also, observing and imitating another’s behavior.

Motivation. Inner state that energizes, directs, and sustains behavior.

Need for autonomy. Basic need for independence.

Need for arousal. Ongoing need for either physical or cognitive stimulation.

Need for competence. Basic need to believe that one can deal effectively with the overall environment.

Need for relatedness. Basic need to feel socially connected to others and to secure others’ love and respect.

Need for self-determination. Basic need to believe that one has some autonomy and control regarding the course of one’s life.

Negative reinforcement. Phenomenon in which a response increases as a result of the removal (rather than presentation) of a stimulus.

Operant conditioning. Form of learning in which a response increases in frequency as a result of its being followed by reinforcement.

Performance-approach goal. Desire to look good and receive favorable judgments from others.

Performance-avoidance goal.  Desire not to look bad or receive unfavorable judgments from others.

Positive behavioral support (PBS). Systematic intervention that addresses chronic misbehaviors by (a) identifying the purposes those behaviors might serve for a student and (b) providing more appropriate ways for a student to achieve the same ends.

Positive psychology. Theoretical perspective that portrays people as having many unique qualities that propel them to engage in productive, worthwhile activities; it shares early humanists’ belief that people strive to fulfill their potential but also shares contemporary psychologists’ belief that theories of motivation must be research-based.

Positive reinforcement. Phenomenon in which a response increases as a result of the presentation (rather than removal) of a stimulus.

Presentation punishment. Punishment involving presentation of a new stimulus, presumably one a learner finds unpleasant.

Primary reinforcer. Consequence that satisfies a biologically built-in need.

Punishment. Consequence that decreases the frequency of the response it follows.

Reinforcement.  Act of following a response with a reinforcer.

Reinforcer. Consequence of a response that leads to increased frequency of the response.

Removal punishment. Punishment involving removal of an existing stimulus, presumably one a learner finds desirable and doesn’t want to lose.

Secondary reinforcer. Consequence that becomes reinforcing over time through its association with another reinforcer.

Self-determination theory. Theoretical perspective proposing that human beings have a basic need for autonomy (self-determination) about the courses that their lives take; it further proposes that humans also have basic needs to feel competent and to have close, affectionate relationships with others. Also see need for self-determination.

Self-efficacy. Belief that one is capable of executing certain behaviors or reaching certain goals.

Self-handicapping. Behavior that undermines one’s success as a way of protecting self-worth during difficult tasks.

Situated motivation. Motivation that emerges at least partly from conditions in a learner’s immediate environment.

Situational interest. Interest evoked temporarily by something in the environment.