Hi fellow readers
Lets start some sharing of ideas on motivation and assessmemnt. I would like to share thoughts on a posting from a friend, regarding assessment and student motivation at secondary level.
..."education in a teenager's life has to compete with social interaction, which has been made all the more immediate due to rapid advents in communications technology. Students really value having their own cell phone(s), access to Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, and so on. How does solving a dozen quadratic equations compete with that?"...
Our school recently had a professional learning day on "assessment for learning". Two points were highlighted for me, that of ,Clarity of instructions and Relevance to students.
All too often as teachers we know why we are teaching content and why we are setting tasks but in the rush to cover it all, we forget to tell the student why we are doing it. That is we are not clear in the path we are taking and why we are working towards the end result. Setting clear lesson objectives and allowing classes to set their own success criteria were important factors in gaining student attention.
Formative assessement is one teaching tool the teacher can utilise to get students to the end result. I have found myself to be much more reflective on the reasons for setting various class tasks and expecting more from my students in terms of learning for lifeskills. One of the NZC key competencies looks at students, Managing Self. As part of this I believe students need to complete class and homework tasks so they can be purposeful contributors to group discussions. Students can learn off each other and can learn more thoroughly by engaging in conversation or coaching their peers. Unfortunately this requires student motivation. If students have not completed their part of the homework tasks so they have relevant information to discuss, it can be left up to the same conscientious students to lead the group work.
All to often I am asked, "is this worth credits", "Do we have to do this?"
Gaining credits is a form of extrinsic motivation.
Points,tokens, parties, or other tangible reinforcers are also employed by parents and teachers as extrinsic motivators (Cameron, 1996).
Fulk (1994), reports research showing students are more willingly engaged in academic tasks and have an increased effectiveness in their learning when they are intrinsically motivated.
So the question is how do we do this? Is the answer CHOICE?
How are we going to compete with... cell phone(s), access to Facebook, Twitter, Bebo, and so on.
I would be keen on hearing how you have motivated your students to take part in formative assessment tasks. Are your teaching tools extrinsicly or intrinsically motivating?
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Hi there
ReplyDeleteIt is possible to conceive lots of situations where IT can be used within learning and assessment. This can help students connect with their preferred reality.
However, there are many more topics that suffer from appearing to be more and more less real for youngsters. I believe some of the material learned, and the thought processes used to carry out the learning, build the student's capacity to intellectually grow and handle more complex thoughts.
There is an assumption that most things in life nowadays should be instant. How about reinforcing delayed gratification, where some learning material will not immediately appear relevant or useful, but in the future, it could be majorly useful?
By providing historical anecdotes of when this has proved to be the case, students may be more prepared to hold off and trust those who know more.....
Peter Grant
Hi Peter
ReplyDeleteI agree with your posting, it is possible to conceive lots of situations where IT can be used within learning and assessment. This is however in the ideal setting.
Many schools lack the IT facilities and if they do have for example a projector connectable by laptop often the support services to manage these are insufficient. I hope in todays educational setting,I am talking about extreme cases, but I remember at an inservice professional development day, two years ago where one school felt their student were at a disadvantage in creating tasks that would could truely engage their students. Some schools were showing samples of students work submitted by emailor on a pendrive, beautifully presented docucuments with very attractive diagrams, some hyperlinked to cartoons and powerpoint graphics (whaow). The schooldiscussed was still struggling to get an OHT that worked into their classrooms, the thought of gaining staff laptops with software to allow student to download content like photos of students work seemed far removed.
I also take your point onbaord about life being 'instant'. It can be, was a nice word for what our students expect. I come back to the posting and the one which will follow.
Students need to be internally motivated to perform. The best technology in he world will not engourage students who are unmotivated and lack an internal motivation component. One of the ten prinicples in the Assessment for learning process considers: the importance of learner moitivation. "Motivation can be preserved and enhanced by assment metnods which protect the learner's autonomy, provide some choice and constructive feedback, and creat opportunity for self-direction."
A huge dimension to consider.
See my follow up posting, I'm about to read two articles, one on motivating students by increasing student choice and the second on improving secondary school student's achievement using instrinsic motivation.
On a personal note: Thanks Peter for being a regular contributor. :)