May 15, 2016 – Lucas Longo

Ambrose, 2007, Chapter 3: “What Factors Motivate Students to Learn?”

Motivation -> towards a goal
- Subjective: values of the goals
- Expectancies: what do you expect out of it

Goals
- Multiple goals are usually in operation simultaneously
  - Conflicting, simultaneous, and even synergic goals – potentially reinforcing
- Performance goals
  - “Performance goals involve protecting a desired self-image and projecting a positive reputation and public persona”
  - Two kinds
    - Performance-approach goals: focus on attaining competence
    - Performance-avoidant goals: focus on avoiding incompetence
- Learning goals
  - Produce deeper understanding
- Work-avoidant goals
  - Finish as fast as possible with minimum effort possible
- Affective goals
- Social goals
Values
- Attainment value
  - Pleasure of getting there, making it to the next level
- Intrinsic value / motivation
  - Do it for the sake of doing it
- Instrumental value
  - Extrinsic rewards
Expectancies
- Outcome expectancies
  - Positive or negative expectation of outcome
- Efficacy expectancies
  - Belief of own’s capability of reaching the expected outcome
- Students attribution to success
  - More likely to succeed when
    - Internal causes (talents, ability)
    - Controllable (effort, persistence)
  - Less likely to succeed when
    - External causes (easy task)
    - Uncontrollable causes (luck)
Context / environment
- Supportive environment + values + efficacy expectancies
  - “Thus, our framework for understanding motivation suggests that if a goal is valued and expectancies for success are positive and the environment is perceived to be supportive, motivation will be highest.”

Strategies
- Establish Value
  - Connect material to student’s interests
  - Provide authentic, real world tasks
  - Show relevance to student’s current academic lives
  - Demonstrate the relevance of higher-level skills
  - Identify and reward what you value
  - Show your own passion and enthusiasm about the discipline
- Positive Expectancies
  - Ensure alignment of objectives, assessments, and instructional strategies
  - Proper level of challenge
  - Early success opportunities
  - Articulate expectations
  - Provide rubrics
  - Targeted feedback
  - Be fair
  - Educate students about the ways we explain success and failure
  - Describe effective strategies
  - Provide flexibility and control
  - Give students an opportunity to reflect

BJ Fogg, 2009, “A Behavior Model for Persuasive Design”

The Fogg Behavior Model (FBM)
- For a person to perform a target behavior they must:
  - Be sufficiently motivated
  - Have the ability to perform the behavior
  - Be triggered to perform the behavior

Core Motivators
- Pleasure / Pain
- Hope / Fear
- Social Acceptance / Rejection
Elements of Simplicity
- Time
- Money
- Physical effort
- Brain cycles
- Social deviance
- Non-routine
Trigger types
- Spark as a trigger
- Facilitator as a trigger
- Signal as a trigger

BJ Fogg, 2009, “The Behavior Grid: 35 Ways Behavior Can Change”

Behavior Grid
- How to study and design persuasive technologies
- Horizontal axis
  - Types of behavior change
- Vertical axis
  - Schedule

Finally catching up with the homework and blog posts… here are the assignments for the last 2 weeks:

EdTech Game Critique Assignment

Empirical cognitive task analysis

Learning Outcomes

Assessment

Readings

Jan L. Plass, Bruce D. Homer & Charles K. Kinzer (2015) Foundations of Game-Based Learning, Educational Psychologist, 50:4, 258-283

Response:

I highly appreciated the reading in the sense that it does not claim to have found a holistic and generalizable theory or framework for game-based learning. It comprehensively analyzes the several aspects or considerations one takes (or should take) into account when designing a game-based learning experience, and concludes that no single approach is the most effective or essential. It also states that when designing, one can use several learning theories and several game design aspects to enhance the experience.

“In this article we argued that the integrated viewpoints of cognitive, motivational, affective, and sociocultural perspectives are necessary for both game design and game research in order to fully capture what games have to offer for learning.” (Plass et al, 2015)

I particularly enjoyed the definition of gamification which reduces it to a gimmicky buzz-word. Like most buzz-words, it is over and incorrectly utilized – with the best intentions of course – but creating a false sense that any process or interaction can be magically transformed into a game and thus increase customer satisfaction, retention, or engagement.

“What exactly is meant by gamification varies widely, but one of its defining qualities is that it involves the use of game elements, such as incentive systems, to motivate players to engage in a task they otherwise would not find attractive.” (Plass et al, 2015)

“Consider as an example the gamification of math homework, which may involve giving learners points and stars for the completion of existing activities that they con- sider boring. Game-based learning of the same math topic, on the other hand, even though it may also include points and stars, would involve redesigning the homework activi- ties, using artificial conflict and rules of play, to make them more interesting and engaging.” (Plass et al, 2015)

Ambrose, Chapter 6 (“Why Do Student Development and Course Climate Matter for Student Learning?”)

Response:

This passage only reinforces the notion that being a classroom teacher is one of the most complex and demanding professions around. It really is an art to be able to balance delivering the content in a pedagogically sensible way and manage an entire classroom with very different individuals with particular needs and different interests, motivations, and previous knowledge. There is no silver bullet, but it does not mean we have to stop trying.

Day: May 15, 2016

Engineering Education – Week 8.1 – Reading Notes

Engineering Education – Week 6&7 Assignments