Student Motivation: More Carrot, Less Stick

When it comes to motivation and education, former U.S. Secretary of Education Terrel Bell said it perfectly: “There are three things to emphasize in teaching: The first is motivation, the second is motivation, and the third is (you guessed it) motivation.”

Motivation influences how active a student is going to be in their work and will determine the extent to which they will persevere when obstacles occur. We have all seen those students who fail to take in the information that was provided to them or who might not be willing to participate in the daily lesson. They come off as passive or tend to give up easily. Students who aren’t motivated struggle to learn effectively compared to those students who are motivated, showing themselves to be enthusiastic, optimistic, and curious.

There is no silver bullet for helping students become more motivated (and — spoiler alert — it goes beyond just offering a reward). In October’s free edWebinar, Wonder Workshop’s Brisa Ayub, Senior Marketing Programs Manager, and Scott Traylor, VP of Software Design, explore how different students respond to various types of learning, and how current behavioral science research and game design can be applied to the classroom to help each student find his or her own motivation to learn and explore.

From the phenomenon of “stereotype threat” to using zombies and Deadpool to engage students in lessons about economics and history, there is surely something new for every educator to think about and bring back to their classrooms. When you have an hour, do take a moment to watch our archived webinar at your leisure.  You can even take a quiz to get a certificate for the 1 hour of seat time from edWeb by joining our Coding & Robotics K-8 community. Be sure to take a peek and learn what elements need to be present to foster a strong sense of motivation in students, as well as what can keep motivation from taking root.