By MEDILYN ORE

Motive Question by Medilyn Ore (prezi.com)

3. The Motivation Question-Motive Question Tandem - (Literacy Strategy Guide).pdf - The PRIMALS
Compendium of Teaching Resources This compendium was | Course Hero
 Motivational Questioning as a
Teaching Technique
By Monica Fuglei

Motivational interviewing: A sales technique at home in the classroom

This strategy, called motivational interviewing, has been used in both counseling and sales. However,
according to author Lisa Sheldon, it can be very useful in education as well. When used in the classroom,
motivational questioning enhances the student-teacher relationship by relying on an individual’s
motivation to change by reducing confrontation and increasing goal-setting.

OARS and FRAMES can strengthen student-teacher relationships

In her article “Using Motivational Interviewing to Help Your Students,” Sheldon explains
the two important acronyms that drive motivational questioning:

 OARS (Open-ended questions, Affirmations, Reflective listening, and Summary

statements)
 FRAMES (Feedback, Responsibility, Accountability, Menu, Empathy, and Self-
efficacy)

She explains that OARS fortify the student-teacher relationship by empowering students
to tell their stories and be rewarded for positive behavior while knows their instructor is
listening to them. Subsequently, FRAMES allow students and teachers to move forward,
focusing on positive momentum.

Author Dan Pink advises using this strategy to deal with student resistance. His
books Drive and To Sell is Human both explore decision-making, motivation, and a
concept he refers to as attunement — understanding power relationships in order to find
common ground and therefore motivate people. Attunement requires understanding the
point of view of the powerless in power relationships and exploring their decision-
making process. Motivational interviewing is what helps that exploration.
Using the two-question strategy to help
students find motivation
Pink suggests that teachers can use motivational interviewing to figure out why students
fail to do homework. This can be done with the “two-question strategy,” as he explains
in an interview: “The first question is this: ‘On scale of 1 to 10 — with one meaning not
the least bit ready, and 10 being totally ready —  how ready are you to begin doing
homework?’

Chances are, he’ll pick an extremely low number — perhaps one or two.  Suppose he
answers, ‘I’m a two.’ Then you deploy the second question: ‘Why didn’t you choose
a lower number?’

The second question catches people off guard. And the student now has to answer why
he’s not a one. He might say, ‘if I did my homework, I might do a little better on tests.’ ‘If I
did my homework, I might learn a little more.’ ‘I’m getting older and I know I’m going to
have to become a little more responsible.’”

Tap into intrinsic motivation to break bad study habits

This strategy requires the student to explore what sort of intrinsic motivation he or she
has to complete homework. Tapping into said motivation can often encourage changes
in behavior much more than point rewards, punishment, or even a compliment during
classroom discussions.

While it really seems to turn the traditional power structure on its head, it’s important to
recognize that modern changes to information access and management as well as
developments in pedagogy have already changed the power structure between teachers
and students.  Motivational questioning or interviewing is an important skill that can help
students understand these changes — letting them know that their education is
in their hands and is their responsibility.

Monica Fuglei is a graduate of the University of Nebraska in Omaha and a current adjunct
faculty member of Arapahoe Community College in Colorado, where she teaches composition
and creative writing.
Questions Before Answers: What Drives a Great Lesson?

Students engage more passionately when trying to answer a question that interests them. Here are ten
opening questions that have inspired this kind of learning.

By Richard Curwin

December 18, 2014 Updated August 12, 2015

Recently, I was looking through my bookshelves and

discovered an entire shelf of instruction books that came
with software I had previously purchased. Yes, there was a
time when software was bought in stores, not downloaded.
Upon closer examination of these instruction books, I noticed
that many of them were for computers and software that I no
longer use or even own. More importantly, most were still in
shrink-wrap, never opened. I recalled that when I bought
software, I just put the disk into the computer and never
looked at the book.

I realized that I did the same when I bought a new car -- with
one exception. I never read the instruction book in the glove
compartment. I just turned on the engine and drove off. I
already knew how to drive, so I didn't need a book. The
exception occurred when I tried to set the clock. I couldn't
figure it out, so I finally opened the glove compartment and
checked the book.

This pattern was and is true for every device I buy. I never
read the book that comes with a toaster, an iPod, or a juicer
unless I have a question. There are some people who do
read instruction books before using a device, but with no
disrespect intended, those people are a small minority. Our
minds are set up to not care about answers unless we have
a question. The greater the question, the more compelling it
is, the more we want the answer. We learn best when
questions come before answers.

The Need to Know

Too many classrooms ignore this basic learning model. They
spend most of class time providing information and then ask
questions in the form of a quiz, test, or discussion. This is
backward. Too many students never learn this way. It is
simply too hard to understand, organize, interpret, or make
sense out of information -- or even to care about it -- unless
it answers a question that students care about.

Lessons, units, and topics are more motivating when they

begin with a question whose answer students want to know.
Not only do great questions generate interest, they also
answer the question that so many students wonder about:
"Why do I have to learn this?" Finally, great questions
increase cognitive organization of the content by framing it
into a meaningful answer to the opening question.

There is a catch, though, in using questions to begin your

lesson. The question must be connected to the content, so
that the following learning activities actually answer the
question. The question must fit your students' age, ability,
and experiences. In addition, the question needs to provoke
both thought and curiosity. In fact, it must be compelling
enough to generate so much motivation so that students
can't help but want to know the answer.

Have you ever forgotten the name of a song and spent hours
trying to remember it? It gets under your skin until you no
longer want the answer -- you need it. That's what a great
opening question does for students. Compulsion more than
simple curiosity drives them to learn the information that
follows. It's what I felt when I finally wanted to read my car
manual so that I could set the clock.

10 Questions That Motivate Learning

Questions this powerful are hard to find. I suggest collecting
as many as you can (5-10 per year, for example), and after
weeding out the ones that didn't work, eventually you'll be
able to fill a notebook or computer file with them. I have
been collecting these kinds of questions from teachers for
years. Here's a sample of some great ones that worked with
students in creating enough motivation to drive an entire
lesson.

 Middle school math: What does Martin Luther King have in

common with algebra? (Answer: Both are concerned with
equality.)

 First grade science class studying particles: What is the

smallest thing you’ve ever held in your hand? (Warning:
Do not use this question in high school.)

 Upper-level history class studying the Pilgrims: Is there

anything your parents could ever do to you that would
make you run away from home?

 Elementary art: If humans could be a color other than any

of the colors that they already are, what color would they
be? Why do you think this? Draw some people of this
color.
  High school English: If Hamlet were a television sitcom,
what would be a better name for it?

 Elementary English: What is the best name for a book

about your life?

 Geography: Why does Israel have more fertile soil than

other Middle East countries that share the same desert?
(Answer: It has more trees to hold in moisture.)

 Second grade reading: We are going to redesign the

alphabet. What three letters can be eliminated? (Answer:
C, Q, X)

 Eighth grade physical education: Why is a soccer ball

harder to control inside the gym than on the field?
(Answer: Friction)

 Middle school English: Why don't good and food rhyme?

Given the definition of best, can you have more than one
best friend?
Each of these questions was used by teachers to begin
lessons that really motivated their students. Can you add
any more to the list?
SHARE THIS STORY
Motivating Students for Deep Learning
Topics

1. Linking learner motivation to deeper engagement

2. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
3. Self-determination
4. Growth and Fixed Mindset
5. Self-regulation
6. Attention Regulation
7. The student-teacher relationship
8. Alternative learning environments- The Walking Neighborhoo

https://granite.pressbooks.pub/teachingdiverselearners/chapter/motivation-2/

A crucial element for deep engagement in learning is learner motivation. With this in mind, we might ask
these four questions:

How do we know if a learner is motivated?

What kinds of factors motivate learners?

How can we increase and sustain learner motivation?

How is learning effected by a lack of motivation?

https://granite.pressbooks.pub/teachingdiverselearners/chapter/motivation-2/

Linking learner motivation to deeper engagement

The emotional state of the learner.

Emotional competence

Interest and curiosity

Fun and challenge

Affective and physical safety

Professor Annemaree Carrol from the School of Education at the University of Queensland explores
some of the factors of the emotional engagement component of the model and talk about adaptive and
maladaptive factors which impact upon student motivation

Motivation for deep learning is social.

Motivation for deep learning is emotional, and it encompasses the self in the context of peers,
classrooms, schools, homes and communities.

There seems to be a real connection to teachers and peers, a sense of belonging that creates interest
and curiosity in their learning. But there is another essential ingredient – Emotions! Learning is both
cognitive and emotional.

ANNEMAREE CARROLL: We know that the essential ingredient that enables motivation to facilitate deep
student learning is engagement. And as educators, we are very aware of how important it is for our
learners to be engaged.

Engagement has been defined as the extent to which students are connected to what they are learning,
how they are learning it, and who they are learning from.

Engagement can be behavioral – concerned with attention, effort, persistence and participation. It can
be cognitive — concerned with values and goals, or emotional — concerned with belonging to a group
or interpersonal relationships.

Engagement can be perceived as the “hook” that captures students’ attention so that the students feel
that the experience has value and relevance to their learning and their personal goals and needs.

It’s important to note that as engagement draws on behavioral, social, emotional and cognitive
dimensions, engagement in one dimension relates to the level of engagement in another. It’s also
important to note that one can be motivated, but not necessarily engaged in a learning episode. Andrew
Martin’s Motivation and Engagement Wheel graphically represents the distinction between 11 cognitive
and behavioral factors represented as adaptive motivation; adaptive engagement; maladaptive
motivation; and maladaptive engagement.

Emotions drive our interests, motivation, and engagement. Immordino-Yang and Damasio define
emotions as the perception of emotionally relevant triggers – either real or imagined – that trigger a
physiological response leading to a behavioral and psychological outcome. Importantly, they tell us that
“the aspects of cognition that are recruited most heavily in education, including learning, attention,
memory, decision making, motivation, and social functioning, are both profoundly affected by emotions
and in fact subsumed within the process of emotion.”

Emotions impact a range of cognitive capacities, including attention, memory, problem-solving, decision
making, information processing, thinking, and engagement. They affect interest, motivation, and social
interactions.

Emotions and deep engagement in learning are highly intertwined.

For example, when the emotional experience associated with the level of engagement to learning is
positive, the outcome is positive. But when the emotional experience associated with the level of
engagement is negative, the outcome is negative. As such, when a learner is not emotionally engaged
with the learning experience, learning is negatively impacted.

Emotional disengagement or disaffection with the learning context often presents as withdrawal from
the learning experience based on anxiety, boredom, frustration or apathy.

If the learner finds the content boring, irrelevant, distressing, too difficult or too easy, they may become
cognitively disengaged, as is evidenced through inattention, daydreaming, disruptive behavior and
absenteeism. If they are cognitively disengaged, they are most likely to be behaviorally disengaged
manifesting in the physical withdrawal of effort and participation.

A key emotional driver for deciding to engage is ‘Interest’.

Where there is increased value and relevance for the learner, there is increased interest, which moves
the learning experience into the optimal performance zone for the individual, leading to deep
engagement. When enjoyment and interest are combined, the overall effect is one of fun or pleasure,
and this is an essential component of creative problem-solving and deep engagement.

The experience of positive emotions and an increased sense of fun has been shown to improve the
capacity for creative and flexible thinking, increases persistence, supports the development of higher
goals and aspirations, and opens our minds to a wider range of ideas, thoughts and actions.

Interest is essential to initiate and direct attention and exploration, and is fundamental to motivation.
Interest is what predicts a learner’s decision to remain engaged in the task or activity. The experience of
the positive affect associated with fun and pleasure enhances an individual’s capacity to broaden their
perspective, explore possibilities and take creative risks. All are essential for deep learning!

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

How can it be that three students of the same age display such very different levels of motivation?

We know now that motivation is a very important factor in engaging students for deep learning, and
that motivation can manifest itself in varied ways. But where does motivation originate? Are there
different types of motivation? How does a learner’s mindset effect engagement in a task?

Dr. Julie Bower from the School of Education at The University of Queensland explores some of these
questions. Taking from the theories (Ryan & Deci, 2000) of human motivation, human development and
wellness, Julie explores self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2008) in relation to autonomous
motivation and controlled motivation.

JULIE BOWER: What makes one student curious and open to challenge, while another certain that no
improvement or growth can be made. It all comes down to the type of motivation.

In broad terms, motivation can be classified into two camps:

Intrinsic, coming from within, and

Extrinsic, originating from something external.

We can all identify examples of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in our everyday lives, and we know that
these types of motivation feel very different.

Perhaps you’ve been reading a spy novel and you’re intrinsically motivated to finish the book, and find
what happens to the main character. In this case, you have a genuine intrinsic interest in engaging with
this task. But also, perhaps you are required to read documents for a work meeting the following day
about a topic which holds little interest for you. Here, the motivation is to appear knowledgeable about
the documents in front of your team, and perhaps for fear of penalty, feels very different.

True motivation involves intrinsically driven thoughts and emotions.

This contrasts sharply to motivation for external rewards, as outlined by Schunk and Usher (2012). What
recent research tells us is that where there is true intrinsic motivation, providing extrinsic rewards
actually reduces this intrinsic motivation.

The majority of classrooms operate on a system of extrinsic rewards and yet we know that children are
curious about exploring their world and thus are already intrinsically motivated. A baby strives with all
his might to take his first steps as he truly wants to walk. And not because there’s an external reward for
reaching this milestone. That’s not to say that some forms of external motivation are not wholly
appropriate.

The key factor here is whether extrinsic motivation is used as a method of control, or if the individual
gains satisfaction from the extrinsic reward. That is, is the motivation autonomous or imposed? The
baby may be internally motivated to walk in order to say reach a toy, but walking is not imposed on him
as a means of control.
Practical strategies teachers can use to develop attention leading to motivation for deep learning in the
classroom:

How can teachers assist students when they display, low motivation for effortful work?

These students require considerable scaffolding of the use of helpful thinking, by raising awareness of
their own thoughts and helping them to understand that their thoughts have a critical impact on their
performance, feelings, learning and social behaviors.

The next step is to reframe these unhelpful motivational states by helping students to develop
productive ways of thinking through positive self-beliefs, and looking for the importance, value and
possible interest in the learning task.

Set children up for success by providing tasks of ‘medium effort’. ‘Big effort’ tasks are overwhelming and
invite unhelpful thinking, off-task behavior, or work avoidance.

It is more helpful to provide two tasks of ‘medium effort’ than to give one ‘big effort’ task in supporting
best efforts, persistence, and helpful thinking.

Teachers can prompt for attention and focused listening prior to giving an instruction and be aware of
background noise and distractions.

A settling of physical activity is considered a defining feature of attention and reflective learning.
Prompting children to check their physical activity and brain energy prepares them for listening.

Consider providing information or instructions in both verbal and visual formats where possible to help
children retain key details. Images; graphs and charts; mind maps; visual schedules; step planners;
infographics; and visual reference keys are all excellent models.

The cooperative liaison between home and school is particularly important to children’s learning of
organizational skills and strategies. Daily organizational systems can be shared with parents. These
might include organizing school bags with specific pockets for lunch, permission slips and library book;
organizing schoolwork with color-coded books; or organizing desk and work area.
The use of step planners helps children develop a metacognitive perspective. Step planners outline all
the steps involved in a task, reinforce verbal instructions, and reduce working memory demands. Step
planners could be completed on the classroom whiteboard or a small whiteboard on a child’s desk, with
an arrow or number to indicate each step.

In today’s world, the ability to focus is quite a challenge with so many competing distractions that are
vying for our attention. Some say that we are living in a state of continuous partial attention and that
our attention is in radar mode, divided by multitasking and distractions.

This brief sketch of the neural networks of attention serves as a baseline for understanding the critical
importance of regulating student’s attention for classroom learning. With these important skills,
students are attentionally focused and ready for deep learning.

The student-teacher relationship

Dr. Julie Bower from the School of Education at The University of Queensland introduces us to the
power and potential of positive social relationships in learning contexts. This includes how learners
engage with other learners, learners with teachers, teachers with teachers, and other relationships
formed within learning contexts.

Click here to watch video lecture. (8:20 minutes)

Video summary

JULIE BOWER: What is it about that one teacher we remember so strongly that makes us feel either
immense warmth and admiration or sheer dread when remembering how we learned about how to find
the area of a triangle!

I came across a really powerful statement a number of years ago by Dr. Haim Ginott that has completely
changed the way I walk into a classroom.
“I’ve come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my
personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather…I possess a
tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument
of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides
whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized”.

The student – teacher relationship is profoundly important in how students learn.

When the classroom is characterized by emotionally engaged teachers, there is a much greater chance
that students will be actively engaged and deep learning will take place.

Meta-analyses by John Hattie indicate that the student-teacher relationship is absolutely paramount –
the school context is a major source of social and cultural learning and the quality of the relationship
that a student has with his/her teacher is an important factor in that student’s well-being and learning
outcomes.

The teacher smiles, some laughter – a relaxed but structured atmosphere, students are respectful of a
teacher’s knowledge about a subject, students feel comfortable sharing opinions, students know and
accept teacher expectations, teachers treat students with respect. Cornelius-White (2007) conducted a
meta-Analysis of 119 studies to identify these teacher-student relational variables.

The emotional connectivity of the teacher with the student, the student with the student, and the
teacher with the teacher optimizes the classroom for positive learning experiences and outcomes.

Emotions drive our engagement with the world around us. They influence our decisions, how we
interpret experience, and how we create memories. As educators it is imperative to leverage this
emotional drive in our students if we want to impact student motivation for deep learning. Relationships
are a crucial pathway for doing so.

Cooperative group learning and peer mentoring have been linked to positive social and academic
outcomes, relative to individual or competitive tasks. Social emotions such as empathy, admiration, love,
and compassion meet our basic human need to belong. So providing opportunities for students to work
together, and for teachers to work together, can have important positive outcomes in schools.

Some fascinating research about empathy by Mary-Helen Immordino-Yang has shown us that being able
to empathize with others actually increases neural activity in the brain. What her research shows us is
that by engaging social emotions (such as empathy) where students experience meaningful learning and
connect socially with others, they are actually using more brain processing capacity, enabling them to
connect ideas, to remember these experiences longer term, and make meaning of their life experiences.

The Mindful Practice for Teachers program was developed with teachers for teachers. It provides an
opportunity for teachers to work together on their own well-being and experience social emotions such
as empathy. This program combines relaxation skills, self-awareness, mindful movement, and
background knowledge about the effects of stress on the body and brain to assist teachers to self-
regulate their emotions in the classroom. Teachers have found some really positive impacts on their
daily teaching practice and their relationships with their students.

We know positive relationships are crucial to learning, but what steps can we take to build an
environment where positive teacher-student relationships flourish?

Firstly, we must look after our teachers. Teachers need opportunities to plan together, to debrief, to
make professional decisions, and to learn about emotions. Teachers need to be aware of the enduring
effects that their own presence, empathy, and emotional states have on their students.

Secondly, we then need to create relaxed and respectful classrooms where students and teachers can
engage meaningfully with each other for deep learning.

Thirdly, we must find the balance between helping students to find their strengths and challenging them
to broaden their minds and build the capacity to think creatively about new and exciting concepts.

Emphasizing the importance of competition and performance outcomes, such as how much an exam is
worth, might encourage the students to work hard, but it may also produce negative emotions.

Activities that promote interest, challenge thinking, and provide opportunities for success for all
students, whether individually or collaboratively, are more emotionally engaging longer term.

Once we establish that emotionally positive educational climate, there are a number of strategies we
can use to build positive student teacher relationships. For example, we can explicitly teach social and
emotional skills for working together (for example managing emotions, mindfulness, social problem
solving, being a good communicator, naming emotions, understanding how emotions and the brain
work, finding personal strengths); we can provide opportunities for students to work meaningfully
together towards self-set goals; periodically we can check in and see if the presentation can be made
more creative or enjoyable, we can smile; we can provide a sense of predictability in the classroom to
heighten students’ perception of control; we can clearly communicate expectations and performance
demands; we can create a learner-centered classroom where learning is separate from testing; we can
encourage students to become intrinsically motivated and self-regulated learners; and we can provide a
degree of student choice in authentic learning tasks.
If we focus on building positive teacher-student relationships using these strategies, perhaps we will
become that one amazing teacher that someone conjures up and remembers when reflecting back on
what they have learned at school.