Ed602 Lesson 1

Intrinsic Motivation
1. It is motivation that is generated by internal factors inside of the learner. More clinically speaking, it is the abstract and highly personal meaningfulness of the activity that is motivating. The activity is a reward in itself.
2. Student Quote: "You know, this stuff is pretty cool!"
3. Examples of Possible Intrinsic Motivators:
  1. Pride, integrity, faith, achievement, interest, joy, fear, anger, hate, curiosity, love, affection, indifference, confusion,????
4. Probable impact on students Using Intrinsic Motivators:
  1. Students typically have very high persistence even when courses finish or are simply left to themselves.
  2. Students typically have very high expectations for their performance in the activity as well.
  3. It is very dependent on the students having a high level of interest in the topic or activity.
  4. It is very likely to have a very low impact if the students have no interest in the subject or activity.
  5. The biggest problem with working with intrinsic motivators is how difficult they are to diagnose.
  6. Also a difficulty is in how often student interests change, even from morning to afternoon you could be out of style.
5. Working with student interests:
  1. Observe what they do with their free time.
    1. If you see students doodling in the margins of their notebooks, then it is very likely that the student likes to draw.
  2. A master teacher notices the degree of investment in certain activities.
    1. If there is a mad dash to the computer gaming programs whenever there is a break in the action, then a master teacher has just figured out something valuable to the students
  3. A master teacher links their lessons to the interests of the students.
    1. I've had mid-career bankers in Jakarta, Indonesia making comic books about "Rip Van Winkle" because I saw about 80% of the class drawing in their spare time.
  4. Lastly, but probably most importantly, is your enthusiasm for the subject. To some degree, your students will believe what you believe. If you can't find a way to enjoy your teaching topic that day, you can't hide it.