Improving Student Engagement And Motivation

The School Motivation and Learning Strategies Inventory (SMALSI) is a self-report tool designed to determine student performance across a comprehensive set of behaviors representing learning strategies, academic motivation, and test-taking. This inventory is unique in that it is designed especially for use with school-aged youth. There are two forms: a Child Form for students aged 8-12 years, and a Teen Form for students aged 13-18 years. Both forms consist of over 100 items written at a third grade reading level, which should take from 20-30 minutes to complete. The SMALSI can be administered individually or to a group; the form also can be read to students who have difficulty reading. The SMALSI is intended for use in both general and special education for the purposes of: (a) screening to facilitate identification of topics for group instruction; (b) prereferral intervention, which may ameliorate learning difficulties and avert the need for special education; (c) special education assessment, which is linked directly to intervention in areas that may exacerbate academic difficulties; and (d) research related to understanding the nature of these skills and to the development of effective interventions for learning strategies, test taking, and academic motivation.

Understanding how students are motivated can help educators engage students in learning activities and ultimately improve their academic performance. Researchers Mandy Sedden and Kevin Clark summarizes students’ and instructors’ perspectives on motivation and explores instructional strategies educators can use to motivate college students (Sedden & Clark, 2016). This journal article discusses the impact student motivation or lack of motivation has on the overall outcome of their educational experience. Sedden and Clark noted that many students of the millennial generation view education as an acquisition rather than a process of learning (Sedden & Clark, 2016). In other words, the thought of the high-paying job or improved intellectual status that awaits after completing school is more alluring than the process of attaining knowledge. According to the research students are intrinsically motivated when the instructor is motivated themselves, the lessons are interactive, the atmosphere is positive and well-organized, and the instructor demonstrates they care about the students.

Engaging students in the classroom can be a difficult task. Understanding the process of how students learn can help a teacher adapt the lesson to meet the needs of all students. I will encounter students that are not intrinsically motivated so I will need to find different ways to motivate each and every student. Understanding how my students learn can provide me with insights as to how to help each student learn which will minimize classroom management problems.

During this assignment I’ll conduct a philosophy of classroom engagement and management in different categories.

Student engagement is a great part of the learning process in online courses. The professor can aide in active student participation by providing timely feedback and learner expectations. Online discussions often fall flat- are shallow, superficial, fail to engage students and result in frustration —for students and the course instructor (Wang & Chen, 2008).

The United States of America is known for being a country filled with people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Likewise, the student population in schools is just as diverse as it continues to grow. Lynch (2015) notes that schools are expected to teach their students “how to synthesize cultural differences into their knowledge base” as this will help “facilitate students’ personal and professional success in a diverse world” (para. 8). Educators must be able to provide for the diverse needs of students and are expected to equip students with skills that can lead to healthy development as it can affect higher levels of student achievement and students have more opportunities of success in their future. Providing students with tools and skills requires an awareness and acceptance of their ethnic identity. Once students have developed self-acceptance about their ethnic identity, they can begin to feel empowered and motivated to do well. Through cultural empowerment, students of color can develop intrinsic motivation and achieve academic success.

Can you elaborate on what your mean by your statement on staying motivated and how that brings excitement to lesson plans and keeping students engaged? Are you referring to staying motivated yourself in reference to bring excitement into the lesson plans? In other word keeping yourself pump up or motivated for the lessons you will be delivering. If so do you believe that your lessons all need to be exciting and entertaining for each student? Or are you referring to internist or extrinsic motivation for engaging students? If so, how do you tap into what motivates your students especially since each individual student will have their own motivational venue.

As an Athlete, one thing other people don’t realize is that our commitment to our sport doesn’t only last the duration of our season. This being the case many athletes have full year obligations to their team that they devote their time to. These commitments come with sacrifices such as not being able to study abroad, limited work experiences and internships, along with other opportunities and experiences that help create a well-rounded person internally and externally. Much of my summer last year consisted of traveling back and forth from Ohio where I would work on a farm for a few weeks to make some money then back to Duke for training. That summer really opened my eyes to the fact that being a division 1 athlete, I need to utilize the opportunities that

I am a Registered nurse with an extensive background in a variety of clinical settings. I draw from these experiences a wealth of knowledge which I can readily disseminate in written form. I have a passion for writing and a solid command of the English language. I pay particular attention to grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors. I believe in a positive, engaging learner experience. Engagement optimizes a student's success and

According to Young (2014), an effective learning environment is “an environment [that] provides relevant content, clear learning goals and feedback, opportunities to build social skills, and strategies to help students succeed”. Arbaugh (2000) stated that “instructor(s) effort to create an interactive classroom environment” was one of the most important factors in a classroom environment. Other important aspects to consider for online higher education classes are how difficult the ‘software course’ is, the flexibility of the classroom environment online, and occasionally ‘technological sophistication’ is required for ultimate classroom efficacy (Arbaugh, 2000). In an effective classroom environment, an interesting “two parallel process” takes place: there is a transformation in the students into active reflective learners, while both the students and teachers, through engaging more with technology, become better digital citizens (Office of Academic Planning and Assessment, n.d), thus this a component that online classroom environments should try to emulate to reach their effective potential. Essentially, the accessibility of online classroom, frequency of classes, consistency of curriculum with digital resources, and pedagogy are some of the most critical aspects found in effective classroom environments (Office of Academic Planning and Assessment, n.d; Allan and Clarke, 2007; Arbaugh, 2000). Moreover, a study conducted by the University of Alberta (Garrison, D., Anderson, T. & Archer, W.; 1999) found that there are “three elements essential to an education transaction”: cognitive presence, social presence, and teach presence. Furthermore, Allan and Clarke (2007) stated that the “most conducive” learning environments include the following three: the “skill oriented outcomes” that are expected of

Students are entering college, however, they are not completing the requirements to obtain a certification or a degree. There are tasks that educational leaders can implement to assist and enhance student development toward graduation. The presentation will review the barriers that students face, and provide educational leaders with suggestions to assist in student success.

The positive attributes of interactivity in online courses lend to increasing student engagement and when utilizing the right types of interactivity and levels, learners will improve retention (Korkmaz, 2013). Likewise, studies have shown greater retention leads to greater success of the course activities and overall greater student satisfaction in the course (Durak, & Ataizi, 2016; Dziuban, & Moskal, 2011). Expressing agreement, Afifi (2010) and Barrett (2013) found that utilizing the levels and types of interactive activities within the course will meet the goal of engaging students by utilizing connections, effective communication between the student, the teacher and the other students in the course.

In the words of Zephe and Leach (2010, 171), my preferred teaching style is aimed to “create learning that is active, collaborative and that fosters learning relationships”. It is quite common for my student to comment and describe my teaching approach as highly interactive. It was important for me to reflect on the usefulness of web-based resources as a tool of engagement in bringing about improvement in the individual learners at my annual appraisal, as well as how it can expand participation for part-time and distance learners and other with additional needs.

Reinforcing these ideas, Afifi and Alamri (2014) found in an online course the goal is to gain and keep the learner’s attention. Furthermore, engaging the learner by utilizing activities that capture their attention and build on their previous knowledge and interests will be beneficial to the students’ growth in the course. Additionally, these researchers found that facilitating student engagement and motivation, teachers are encouraged to provide constant and consistent feedback which includes questions and activities which spark reflection. Research indicates the process of engaging students through communication, connection, and collaboration is based on what works best for the population of students in the online course (Cavanaugh, Repetto, Wayer and Spitler, 2013). Utilizing the levels of interactivity, teachers can understand how better to engage students in the online course. In a study by Aqel (2013) on levels of interactivity in relation to levels of student motivation and engagement, four different levels of student interaction were identified. Comparatively, these levels of student interactivity were found to provide educators with important information about the effectiveness of an online program. Recognizing student levels of motivation and engagement, educators have found additional strategies to remedy the lower levels of interactivity and over the years the use of video games as tools for learning has emerged (Eseryel, Law, Ifenthaler, Ge & Miller,

Motivation plays a crucial role in the day-to-day life of every human being. It is responsible for the different decisions we make every day, the goals we set, and how we go about attaining those objectives. Without motivation, completing tasks and accomplishing goals will prove difficult, often impossible. In this essay I am going to discuss the importance of motivation in maximising my student experience in the University of Aberdeen. I am also going to describe Alderfer’s ERG Theory, Vroom’s Expectancy Theory and Locke’s Goal Theory, and show how these motivation theories apply to my intention to make the most of my student experience.