Are Students Engaged
|
Engagement: What does it take? When kids are empowered, intrigued and curious, engagement and motivation to learn comes naturally...
|
The MUSIC Model of Academic Motivation
The MUSIC Model of adademic motivation consists of five components that teachers should consider when designing instruction and planning their classes. MUSIC is an acronym (eMpowerment, usefulness, success, interest, caring). If teachers create motivating conditions, students become engaged in the process of learning, become more committed to the process of participating and engaging in classroom work, which increases the opportunities for them to feel like an integral part of the classroom community, and encourages their academic success.
In order to authentically engage students in their learning, Jones (2009) recommends that instruction:
1 - empowers students (students perceive that they have control over some aspects of their learning)
2 - is seen as useful by students (they understand the value of the course material in their lives)
3 - allows for success (students are challenged, but believe that if they invest effort, they can succeed)
4 - is catered to students' interest areas (topics foster enduring genuine interest from students) and
5 - is done in a caring, supportive classroom environment (students believe that their teacher treats them with respect and cares that they are successful).
(Taken from: Jones, B. D. (2009). Motivating students to engage in learning: the MUSIC model of academic motivation. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 21(2), 272-285.)
In order to authentically engage students in their learning, Jones (2009) recommends that instruction:
1 - empowers students (students perceive that they have control over some aspects of their learning)
2 - is seen as useful by students (they understand the value of the course material in their lives)
3 - allows for success (students are challenged, but believe that if they invest effort, they can succeed)
4 - is catered to students' interest areas (topics foster enduring genuine interest from students) and
5 - is done in a caring, supportive classroom environment (students believe that their teacher treats them with respect and cares that they are successful).
(Taken from: Jones, B. D. (2009). Motivating students to engage in learning: the MUSIC model of academic motivation. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 21(2), 272-285.)
Motivating Students: Strategies That Work
Below is a summary of Barbara Gross Davis' suggestions for strategies that keep students motivated, from Tools for Teaching (2009).
General Strategies:
1 - Capitalize on students' existing needs.
- the need to learn something in order to complete a particular task or activity
- the need to seek new experiences
- the need to perfect skills
- the need to overcome challenges
- the need to become competent
- the need to succeed and do well
- the need to feel involved and interact with people
2 - Make students active participants in learning.
- ensure that they are constantly doing, making, writing, designing, creating and solving independently
- avoid encourating passivity by telling students information that they could find themselves
- encourage them to guess, predict, and play
3 - Ask students to analyze what makes their classes more or less "motivating".
- students can consider two class periods: one in which they were highly motivated, and one in which their motivation was low
- students can meet in small groups to reach consensus on characteristics that contribute to their motivation
- Sass (1989) reports that these eight characteristics consistently emerge as major contributors to student motivation:
1) instructor's enthusiasm
2) relevance of the material
3) organization of the course
4) appropriately levelled material
5) active involvement of students in their own learning
6) variety and choice
7) rapport between teacher and students
8) teacher's use of appropriate, concrete and understandable examples
Incorporating Instructional Behaviours that Motivate Students
1. Hold high but realistic expectations of your students. Students need to be challenged but also need to feel that success is possible.
2. Help students set achievable goals for themselves.
3. Tell students what they need to do to succeed in your course.
4. Strengthen students' self-motivation.
5. Avoid creating intense competition among students. Reduce students' tendencies to compare themselves to one another.
6. Be enthusiastic about your subject.
Structuring the Course Material to Motivate Students
1. Work from students' strengths and interests.
2. When possible, let students have some say in choosing what will be studied (or how).
3. Increase the difficulty level of the material as the semester progresses.
4. Vary your teaching methods. (Role-playing, debates, brainstorming, discussion, demonstrations, case studies, audiovisual presentations,
guest speakers, small group work, etc.)
De-Emphasizing Grades
1. Emphasize mastery and learning, rather than grades.
2. Design assessments that encourage the kind of learning you want students to achieve.
3. Avoid using grades as threats. Very few students find the threat of low grades motivating, and many students may resort to academic dishonesty and other counterproductive behaviour.
Motivating Students By Responding to Their Work
1. Give students clear, concise, helpful feedback as quickly as possible.
2. Reward success when appropriate, by giving sincere praise.
3. Introduce students to the good work done by their peers (those students who have worked on similar skills before them).
4. Be specific when giving negative feedback, and offer suggestions (and chances) for improvement.
5. Avoid demeaning comments.
6. Avoid giving in to students' pleas for the "answer" to homework problems. Don't do students' work for them (this robs them of the opportunity to learn skills and improve their understanding).
(Taken from: Gross Davis, B. (2009). Tools for teaching. New Jersey: Jossey-Bass.)
General Strategies:
1 - Capitalize on students' existing needs.
- the need to learn something in order to complete a particular task or activity
- the need to seek new experiences
- the need to perfect skills
- the need to overcome challenges
- the need to become competent
- the need to succeed and do well
- the need to feel involved and interact with people
2 - Make students active participants in learning.
- ensure that they are constantly doing, making, writing, designing, creating and solving independently
- avoid encourating passivity by telling students information that they could find themselves
- encourage them to guess, predict, and play
3 - Ask students to analyze what makes their classes more or less "motivating".
- students can consider two class periods: one in which they were highly motivated, and one in which their motivation was low
- students can meet in small groups to reach consensus on characteristics that contribute to their motivation
- Sass (1989) reports that these eight characteristics consistently emerge as major contributors to student motivation:
1) instructor's enthusiasm
2) relevance of the material
3) organization of the course
4) appropriately levelled material
5) active involvement of students in their own learning
6) variety and choice
7) rapport between teacher and students
8) teacher's use of appropriate, concrete and understandable examples
Incorporating Instructional Behaviours that Motivate Students
1. Hold high but realistic expectations of your students. Students need to be challenged but also need to feel that success is possible.
2. Help students set achievable goals for themselves.
3. Tell students what they need to do to succeed in your course.
4. Strengthen students' self-motivation.
5. Avoid creating intense competition among students. Reduce students' tendencies to compare themselves to one another.
6. Be enthusiastic about your subject.
Structuring the Course Material to Motivate Students
1. Work from students' strengths and interests.
2. When possible, let students have some say in choosing what will be studied (or how).
3. Increase the difficulty level of the material as the semester progresses.
4. Vary your teaching methods. (Role-playing, debates, brainstorming, discussion, demonstrations, case studies, audiovisual presentations,
guest speakers, small group work, etc.)
De-Emphasizing Grades
1. Emphasize mastery and learning, rather than grades.
2. Design assessments that encourage the kind of learning you want students to achieve.
3. Avoid using grades as threats. Very few students find the threat of low grades motivating, and many students may resort to academic dishonesty and other counterproductive behaviour.
Motivating Students By Responding to Their Work
1. Give students clear, concise, helpful feedback as quickly as possible.
2. Reward success when appropriate, by giving sincere praise.
3. Introduce students to the good work done by their peers (those students who have worked on similar skills before them).
4. Be specific when giving negative feedback, and offer suggestions (and chances) for improvement.
5. Avoid demeaning comments.
6. Avoid giving in to students' pleas for the "answer" to homework problems. Don't do students' work for them (this robs them of the opportunity to learn skills and improve their understanding).
(Taken from: Gross Davis, B. (2009). Tools for teaching. New Jersey: Jossey-Bass.)
The Engagement-Based Learning and Teaching Approach
This approach to instruction provides the foundation for developing and strengthening student engagement.
Jones (2008) identifies three domains of student engagement:
1 - The Cognitive Domain, which consists of beliefs and values,
2 - The Emotional Domain, which consists of motivation and feelings,
3 - The Behavioural Domain, which consists of habits and skills.
With this approach, parents and teachers work systematically across the three domains in order to cultivate a high level of student engagement.
With the EBLT approach, there are six main objectives for teachers:
1 - To cultivate one-on-one relationships.
These are critical, and can lead to increased student motivation as well as higher levels of engagement in academics and school life lin general.
2 - Learn new skills and habits.
In order to develop, refine, polish and enhance their ability to engage and motivate students, teachers should constantly be learning new skills
and habits to improve their teaching.
3 - Incorporate systematic strategies.
These help students to develop behavioural skills and habits that can lead to greater academic success and greater involvement with school life.
4 - Take responsibility for student engagement practices.
Take ownership of the responsibiilty of engaging students, as opposed to assuming that all students will arrive to class naturally motivated
and authentically engaged.
5 - Promote a school-wide culture of engagement.
Involve students in school activities, and provide a relevant, rigorous program for them.
6 - Partake in professional learning.
Staff development, ownership and recognition is critical to developing and maintaining a positive culture which encourages student engagement.
Jones also suggests that rather than use the term "classroom management", which creates the impression that hte classroom is an industrial process rather than a collaboration among people, that we begin to use the term "relationship building" - and that the climate for learning is primarily guided by the teacher's actions and attitude. He suggests that classroom rules be negotiated rather than mandated, that students are encouraged to risk-take without punishment, and that the primary role of the teacher is one of encouragement (the "guide on the side") rather than one of absolute power (the "sage on the stage"). (Jones, 2008)
Jones (2008) identifies three domains of student engagement:
1 - The Cognitive Domain, which consists of beliefs and values,
2 - The Emotional Domain, which consists of motivation and feelings,
3 - The Behavioural Domain, which consists of habits and skills.
With this approach, parents and teachers work systematically across the three domains in order to cultivate a high level of student engagement.
With the EBLT approach, there are six main objectives for teachers:
1 - To cultivate one-on-one relationships.
These are critical, and can lead to increased student motivation as well as higher levels of engagement in academics and school life lin general.
2 - Learn new skills and habits.
In order to develop, refine, polish and enhance their ability to engage and motivate students, teachers should constantly be learning new skills
and habits to improve their teaching.
3 - Incorporate systematic strategies.
These help students to develop behavioural skills and habits that can lead to greater academic success and greater involvement with school life.
4 - Take responsibility for student engagement practices.
Take ownership of the responsibiilty of engaging students, as opposed to assuming that all students will arrive to class naturally motivated
and authentically engaged.
5 - Promote a school-wide culture of engagement.
Involve students in school activities, and provide a relevant, rigorous program for them.
6 - Partake in professional learning.
Staff development, ownership and recognition is critical to developing and maintaining a positive culture which encourages student engagement.
Jones also suggests that rather than use the term "classroom management", which creates the impression that hte classroom is an industrial process rather than a collaboration among people, that we begin to use the term "relationship building" - and that the climate for learning is primarily guided by the teacher's actions and attitude. He suggests that classroom rules be negotiated rather than mandated, that students are encouraged to risk-take without punishment, and that the primary role of the teacher is one of encouragement (the "guide on the side") rather than one of absolute power (the "sage on the stage"). (Jones, 2008)
