Wednesday, June 5, 2013
PLE post 2
The theory of motivation that was most helpful to me was Task Value. Task Value is the most relevant for high school math where I am asked nearly every day about the usefulness of the lesson. If I provide real-world examples and make the relevance of the material more immediate and useful to my student's lives then they will likely be more interested in the material presented. Including an applications portion at the beginning or end of each lesson to help bring the material home for them could go a long way in motivating them.
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This is a great idea, because I remember hearing 'Why do I need to go to math, I have a calculator on my phone?' I think that if you focus on why math is meaningful - and it may be more than just the content, maybe even the skills you learn in problem solving that can be applied elsewhere - then your student's expectancy of success may be greater and they may be more motivated.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Task Value is motivating especially in your subject area. I don't hear it much in English, but I do hear students talking about "when are we ever going to use this" in their math classes. I know that it must be a challenge to make those connections at times. I always remind them that everything does not always have a practical application but may simply be brain exercise and practice at problem solving which applies to all areas of life.
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