MODULE 21: Students’ Diversity in Motivation

Analysis

1. Do your experiences and observations support or contradict the research findings?

Share your answers with your small group.

 Most of the research findings didn’t contradict to my own experiences. Yes, especially
the activities B, D and E. As I observe and read those research findings, I can remember
my elementary days which I can picture out that some of my classmates are
experiencing that all because they are ones a diverse student.

2. What are the implications of these research findings to facilitating learning? To be

sure that no research finding is missed, do this with the help of a table like the one
given below. Feel free to add more rows.

Research findings Learning implication

Young children often want to gain teachers Students are free to choose their models as
approval to be motivated while the older their inspiration or motivation to activate
ones are typically more interested in learning.
gaining the approval of peers.
Students often become less intrinsically Students will realize that grades are
motivated as they progress through the important, they will become more on
school years. Learning goals may go by the performance goals type of students. A
wayside as performance goals become teacher should give an average difficulty
more prevalent and as a result, students task. In this way, they are learning not
will begin to exhibit preference for east because of grades but because they wanted
rather that challenging task. to learn.
Increasingly, students will value activities Teacher should conduct an activity that is
that will have usefulness for them in their meaningful and interesting to them. Using a
personal and professional lives, and multi-disciplinary approach to connect the
subjects that are not directly applicable will subjects that leads them to connect to their
decrease in popularity. personal experiences.
Elementary students tend to attribute their Teacher should be more effective in
successes to effort and hard work. teaching to help students maintain their
hard work for their success.
By adolescents, however, students attribute Teacher should have a positive affective
successes and failure more to an ability thattrait that helps students to overcome their
is fairly stable and uncontrollable. Effort problems in terms of the difficult tasks.
becomes a sign of low ability. Some student is not good in academics and
consider it as an exceptionality. Use praises
of words or encouragements to help them
motivated.
There are different motivational patterns Involve them in classroom activities, you
for students belonging to ethnic can call those students as leaders in the
communities. group to show their performance and to
make them feel that they belong to the
class.
Student’s cultural background can influence Show respect to those students, they may
their attribution. fell loved by everyone if the teacher also
shows a positive trait towards them.
Involve them in class discussion, no
favoritism and everybody is equal.
Females are more likely than males to have Males are underestimated, they will show
a high need for affiliation. their best that they can also be a good
student like what females can perform in
class.
Females are also more concerned about Females are both mastery and performance
doing well in school. They work harder on focused students. Teachers have a high
assignments, even grades and are more expectation to female students.
likely to graduate from high school.
We typically find more boys than girls Boys will be more motivated knowing that
among our ‘’underachieving’’ students. they known as underachieving students.
They can use this as motivation to prove
that their expectation about boys is wrong.
Students from low-income families are A student with lack of needs cannot
among those likely to be at risk of failing perform well in school. There is a tendency
and dropping out of school. that they will give up because they have
nothing.
Students with special educational needs Teacher should give a separate difficult task
show the greatest diversity in motivation. to those students who are gifted to
Some students who are gifted may have maintain their motivation and interest in
high intrinsic motivation to learn classroom the subject.
subject matter, yet they have become
easily bored if class activities don’t
challenge their abilities.
Students with specific or general academic Most of these learners require a lot if
difficulties may show signs of learned understanding and patience as well as
helplessness with regard to classroom special education to reach their full
tasks, especially if their past efforts have potential of development. Teacher should
been repeatedly met with failure. have a positive attitude to help those
students.
Students who have difficulty getting along Teacher should communicate high
with their classmates may inappropriately expectation to students from all subgroups.
attribute their social failures to factors Teacher can assign them the role of
beyond their control. reported in a small group to enhance their
communication skill and to help them in
dealing with their peers.