6. Motivator

1. Description

The coach knows how to motivate the students to become committed to and to learn from the project.

Through his unconditional support and encouragement, he creates a safe and activating learning environment for the students, within which they can experiment and learn from experience.

In this way he makes a substantial contribution to the students’ self-motivation and the success of the project.

2. Required skills and attitudes

• Know how to motivate the students for the subject of the project.
• Know how to keep the students’ motivation for the full duration of the project.
• Motivates the students to try new things.
• Know how to motivate students through his knowledge of content and didactics and his skills.

3. Guidelines on how to take on this coaching role

3.1 Being the motivator in a PBL-based EPICES project

The PBL-based EPICES projects create an activating learning environment that stimulate the students' self-motivation by providing them with an exercise platform (opportunity and space to experiment) to develop their knowledge and skills. For the success of the project and the achievement of the learning goals the coach has to know how to motivate the students to make full use of the possibilities of this activating learning environment.

It is important, therefore, that the coach motivates the students to commit theirself to and learn by making use of the exercise platform. Through his unconditional support and encouragement, he creates a safe and activating learning environment for the students, within which they can experiment and learn from experience. This offers them the necessary backup that will allow them to experiment, to gain experience and become active themselves.

3.2 Points of attention

Initial motivation is higher among students in such an activating and practice-oriented educational format as the PBL-based EPICES projects than in other educational formats. As a coach it is important to make use of and try to strengthen this already present motivation. The most important reasons for such higher levels of motivation, which as a result can serve as useful points of contact for the coach, are:

1. The practice-oriented aim and design of the educational format. PBL in fact offers the student a variated learning experience that is characterised by situations involving real problems and a practice-oriented research process. This connection with reality and the high level of practice offer welcome variety to the students alongside the large amounts of theory in the curriculum and result in higher initial motivation. It is important therefore that the coach seizes on and tries tostrengthen this already present motivation.
2. The group-oriented aim and design of the educational format. PBL in fact offers the student a variated learning experience within which the students can develop their social and communicative skills. Students work together as a group on a project just like in real practice, which leads to higher levels of motivation. It is important therefore that the coach seizes on and tries to strengthen this already present motivation.

4. Influence on the competences to be developed

This overview outlines how and to which extent this specific coaching role contributes to acquiring the different competences, so that you can adapt your coaching to the competence(s) that has/have to be developed:

Significant

• Is skilled in one or more scientific discipline(s)
• Is competent in doing research
• Is competent in designing
• Has a scientific approach
• Has basic intellectual skills

Average

• Is competent in co-operating and communicating

Insignificant

• Other competences

5. Influence on divergent educational settings

The role of motivator should be stressed in the following divergent situations:

Size of group

• Not applicable

Level of development

• Not applicable