Motivation and Engagement

In this TalkShoe session Dr. Newberry talked about how motivation is critical and very important to teaching online classes. Dr. Newberry explained how there are two different types of motivation. One of them being internal motivation and the other being external motivation.

With internal motivation there are three different facets that encompass all of internal motivation. One of these includes the intrinsic self-motivation and how self-motivated an individual is. This is different depending on whether the student has a high internal locus of if they are the type of student willing to take charge or make things happen. There is not a lot an instructor can do for students who are not internally motivated.

Another important facet to motivation includes interest in the subject matter being taught and the topic. There is little that the instructor can do to engage interest in the students. The instructor may try to connect with the students or bring different areas into the online class world. However, there is very little for an instructor to do in order to peak student’s interest.

The third factor that is included in increasing motivation and engagement in an online class would be based on preparation. It would also include how the instructor believes they can influence the motivational level of the students. However, this comes from the students and what motivates them to engage in the material of the class and what they want to achieve from the class. Dr. Newberry talked about his dissertation and how students who obtained their PhD online in pharmacy were highly motivated.  They knew that by achieving an advanced degree it would boast their financial and educational status. Those students also knew that there would be little social interaction involved with those online classes. However, those students were prepared to stay motivated and participate in the class because they all had similar goals.

Dr. Newberry also went onto discuss the other type of motivation as the external motivation. He stated that there were four different components of external motivation. The first one included how the structure of the class is paced.  He stated that the best way to keep students involved in an online class is to not just have a midterm and a final but have assignments due every week. In increasing assignments students are not tempted to wait till the day before a project is due to learn the material. They have progressed and worked alongside with the instructor in obtaining knowledge about the information. I would have to agree that this approach is best.

Other important components to external motivations would be the different types of activities and how they are created in order to provide motivation for the students. He also stated that reduction of ambiguity determines whether or not participation in the class will occur. Instructors can reduce ambiguity by providing samples and outlines for the students. This helps students understand what the instructors are expecting in terms of the final product. In the past I have found it difficult to understand what the instructor expects in terms of projects or papers. One aspect of this class that I have enjoyed was when Dr. Newberry posted a sample of the annotated bibliographies. This made it very clear of his requirements and what he was expecting form us. Posting examples can clear up a lot of potential frustration and dissatisfaction felt by both the student and the teacher. There is the possible drawback of students using these examples and not producing something more creative. However, I am really grateful for when instructors do provide samples of what they are expecting from us. The other aspect of external motivation is the technology used. Having many and multiple forms of technology may increase confusion and lack of learning the material because students are so focused on learning the new technologies. In keeping the technology simple and easy students can focus more on the material being taught instead on relying on too many different technologies.

The final component of external motivation includes communication. My favorite aspect of learning! Dr. Newberry stated that one of the frustrations felt in online learning is that instructors do not have the non verbal cues like we do in a traditional face to face class.

There are other ways to increase high levels of communication. This is one of the reasons why Dr. Newberry is great about sending out a weekly email with our grades included. By initiating communication with the student, students are then more likely to hit reply back instead of opening up a new message. Dr. Newberry also stated some other tips to help increase motivation is to use the students name, and attach personal messages. In an online class an instructor can have more communication with students than in a traditional face to face class.