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Motivation Module 1:

What is Motivation?

Background

Background Information

Motivation is the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Following are synonyms for behavior that is oriented toward attaining a particular goal:career-minded, ambitious. high-reaching, self-starting, career-focused, determined, committed, spirited. Motivation is defined as the drive required to engage in goal oriented behavior. People are driven by many motivators in pursuing their goals (Sharot, 2017; Touré-Tillery & Fishbach, 2017; Ponmozhi & Balasubramanian, 2017; Singh, 2015; Ofoegbu, 2004).

  1. Rely upon external incentives. External rewards encourage a focus on short-term results at the expense of long-term ones.

  2. Avoid losses. Loss aversion produces a strong desire to stick with one’s current status.

  3. Intrinsic motivation.Behavior-driven by internal rewards (wanting to do something for its own sake (Ryan & Deci, 2017).

  4. Positive self-image.Includes how one sees themself, how others see them, how one perceives how others them.

  5. Self-validation. This involves confirming one’s existing self-views.

  6. Curiosity. This motivating factor arises when one needs to obtain missing information to reduce or eliminate a deficit feeling. The opposite of curiosity is boredom or disengagement.

  7. Autonomy. People like to feel in control.

  8. Thus, since individuals embody a variety of motivations,they are motivated by different trigger . demands and requirements as exemplified by these sources of motivation. (Source: https://www. psychologytoday. com/us/blog/science-choice/201904/the-10-most-common-sources-motivations)

Activities

Activities

Motivation Activity 1: Observation Log for 1) Sources of Motivation and 2) Measuring Grit Activity

Keep a log of observations of the sources of motivations listed previously. Abstract patterns of possible relationships between individuals and specific sources of motivations.

Motivation Activity 2: Test Your Grit Activity

“Grit” is one’s passion and perseverance for long-term goals. In this activity, after you have taken the Duckworth Grit Scale self-assessment (Duckworth, 2016) and become familiar with your personal sources of motivation, administer the Grit Scale to selected individuals from Motivation Activity 1. Observe their Grit Scale results and their dominant sources of motivation listed in Box 10.3. Compare their scores with yours and between the individuals you observed. How did you fare with your early observations? What did you glean?

 

The Grit Scale is useful as a self-reflection tool. There are several versions of Duckworth’s scale, including the scale shared below. Following is a generic administration guide for the Test Your Grit Activity. The scoring information is shared in Box 10.4.

 

Duckworth Grit Scale Assessment

One method for assessing an individual’s level of grit is through a grit test that measures specific characteristics. To evaluate your level of grit, you can complete the test by indicating your degree of agreement with ten statements using a scale of 1 to 5. The following legend will guide you in selecting a number for each statement based on how well it aligns with your personal experience:

5 = Not at all like me
4 = Not much like me
3 = Somewhat like me
2 = Mostly like me
1 = Very much like me

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The 10 Statements of the Duckworth Grit Scale Assessment:

  1. New ideas and projects sometimes distract me from previous ones.

  2. Setbacks discourage me. I give up easily.

  3. I often set a goal but later choose to pursue a different one.

  4. I am not a hard worker.

  5. I have difficulty maintaining my focus on projects that take more than a few months to complete.

  6. I have trouble finishing whatever I begin.

  7. My interests change from year to year.

  8. I don’t consider myself diligent. I give up often.

  9. I have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short time but later lost interest.

  10. I don’t often overcome setbacks to conquer an important challenge.

 

Note: The Test Your Grit Activity is adapted from Duckworth, A. (2019). Grit Scale. https://angeladuckworth.com/grit-scale/

The following are some additional motivational activities

(Source: https://www.edsys.in/14-fun-classroom-activities/)

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  • Open-Ended Questions

    • This type of question enables one to think out of the box and make an attempt to test and challenge their creative thinking.

  • Work in Groups

    • Working in groups helps to understand people and reach a solution as a team.It provides a platform to express one’s own views while giving equal importance to others’ views also.iii.Evaluation.Use evaluation of task performance as a self-assessment to ascertain where one places within a group and then may be motivated do more hard work to perform better.

  • Switch Roles/ Taking the role of a teacher, boss or other helps one to know the effort and dedication needed to carry out the job.Even after the simulation activity is done, the motivation gained during the activity may be enhanced.

  • Motivational Quotes (Source:https://www.edsys.in/45-famous-quotes-on-teachers/)

    • Give students or employees the job of collecting motivational quotes and making posters with them. Pasting such inspirational quotes in the classrooms or information boards in corporate facilities can be motivation reminders.

      • “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge” - Albert Einstein

      • “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important” - Bill Gates

      • “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think” - Margaret Mead

      • “The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching” - Aristotle

      • “The dream begins, most of the time, with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you on to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth.” - Dan Rather.

      • “The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind” - Khalil Gibran

      • “No man can be a good teacher unless he has feelings of warm affection toward his pupils and a genuine desire to impart to them what he believes to be of value.” - Bertrand Russell

      • “That is the difference between good teachers and great teachers: good teachers make the best of a pupil’s means; great teachers foresee a pupil’s ends.” - Maria Callas.

      • “In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something else” - Lee Lacocca

      • "There is no system in the world or any school in the country that is better than its teachers. Teachers are the lifeblood of the success of schools.” - Ken Robinson.

      • “The greatest sign of success for a teacher is to be able to say: The children are now working as if I did not exist.” - Maria Montessori

  • Set Goals

    • Setting realistic goals is important and achieving small attainable goals gives one

  • Welcome Ideas

    • This would make one feel important thus creating a welcoming environment to inspire folks to express their ideas without hesitation.

Assessments

Assessment

Taking the Grit Scale (Duckworth, 2016) can also serve as an assessment of motivation. (Note: score can be obtained from https://angeladuckworth.com/grit-scale/).

 Abstract themes from the discussions of the sources of motivations and log results for selected students for use to design instruction.

 

Sources of Motivation:

  1. Rely upon external incentives. External rewards encourage focusing on short-term results at the expense of long-term ones.

  2. Avoid losses. Loss aversion produces a strong desire to stick with one’s current status.

  3. Hit rock bottom. This motivating concept involves one needing to hit rock bottom before one can change (Kirouac & Witkiewitz, 2017).

  4. Intrinsic motivation. Behavior is driven by internal rewards (wanting to do something for its own sake (Ryan & Deci, 2017).

  5. Positive self-image. Includes how one sees themself, how others see them, and how one perceives how others see them.

  6. Self-validation. This involves confirming one’s existing self-views.

  7. Curiosity. This motivating factor arises when one needs to obtain missing information to reduce or eliminate a deficit feeling. The opposite of curiosity is boredom or disengagement.

  8. Autonomy. People like to feel in control.

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After discussing themes from the motivation quotes listed in activity 3, ask the students to come up with their own motivation quotes. Have students revisit their quote after a couple of weeks for the purpose of seeing if they wished to modify their original quote and provide the reason for the change.

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