Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

According to the “Flow Theory” created by Csikszentmihalyi, students learn in eight different dimensions. Those dimensions are:

            1. Clear goals/immediate feedback—which is when the students understand why they are learning what they are learning. (This also relates to Zull; see below.)

            2. Equilibrium between challenge and personal skill—the students should be challenged and they also need skill to do so. When these two are at optimal level (not too easy, not too hard) the student will learn best.

            3. Merging of action and awareness—students need to be involved and also aware of what they are doing to become involved.

            4. Focused attention—students need to be focused while they are learning and not be distracted, otherwise the optimal learning level is gone.

            5. Control—when students feel that they are in control, they are motivated to learn.

            6. Loss of self consciousness—students need to be able to not worry about themselves and go outside their boundaries.

            7. Time distortion—engaging students in an activity is key to time distortion. Once students are engaged fully, the time will seem to pass very quickly since they were involved in the activity they were doing.

            8. Self rewarding—students need to be intrinsically motivated and in order to do this, teachers need to stay away from extrinsic rewards as much as possible and use intrinsic rewards. (This also relates to Kohn and Zull.)

 

The optimal area to be learning is in the flow area. There are two other areas that could also be considered optimal or ideal areas and those are:

            Arousal-is the area that most students learn from. The students are pushed beyond comfort zone of skill but are challenged enough to be learning at an idea level.

            Control-is the area where students have a high level of skill so they feel comfortable. However, they are not being challenged enough. Students learn in this area but could be challenged more.

James E. Zull

          There are four things that help motivate students to learn: pleasure, fear, control, and cognition. The brain wants to be happy and to feel safe (Zull 51, 49).Without these two things, learning becomes extremely difficult. It’s important to set a safe environment right away in a classroom. Learning begins with the part of the brain called the amygdala. The amygdala controls whether a student decides to fight or to flight. It also helps decide meaning that it receives from an experience (Zull 59). Therefore, when students’ minds are put to work doing a stimulating task, the amygdala becomes less active and the students will feel less afraid and/or nervous.

            Also, students want control of the classroom. “To survive we must be in control, or believe that we are. Wanting survival means wanting control” (Zull 49). When students do not feel in control, their learning ability decreases. Students choosing to do different tasks help motivate their learning. They feel that they are in control and they will learn to the best of their ability since they do not feel like the teacher is nagging and telling them what they need to be accomplishing.

            When students understand why they are learning what they are learning and how it relates to their lives, they will be motivated to learn. Teachers need to be open and honest with their students and explain to them why they are doing a task rather than responding with something such as, “No questions. Just do what I tell you.” Students will not respond positively when they do not understand why they have to do something. Also, when a student succeeds, it generates understanding; understanding allows survival; survival helps with cognition; cognition triggers internal reward system; internal reward system means we want to learn.

            Furthermore, students are not motivated by extrinsic rewards such as grades or gold stars. Extrinsic rewards actually reduce motivation. Students are motivated by intrinsic rewards such as control, curiosity, and challenging tasks.              
            Lastly, there is a connection between happiness and movement that was discovered in the front cortex. When students are moving around and becoming engaged in different activities, their amygdala will be happy since they won’t have to fight or flight. Student learning can be achieved and students will be motivated when action is involved.

A. H. Maslow

In order for students to be motivated and to learn, their needs must be met. There are five different stages of needs: physiological, safety, love and belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization. These stages must be met before they can learn to their full potential. The starting point for motivation is physiological needs. Once these needs are met, others can be met. It’s scaffolding for motivation. However, not all needs need to be met at 100%. Only once a need is satisfied or partially satisfied, can we move on to the next need/desire. As always, there are some exceptions in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Maslow)

Alfie Kohn

          There are three main things that motivate students: collaboration, content, and choice.       Students are motivated by collaboration because the social part of school is huge to secondary students. When students are able to bounce ideas off each other, they will benefit because they will be learning more. Think about when you have a question in a class. You think about it for awhile by yourself, trying to get the answer. When you cannot figure it out, you ask a peer and collaborate on the concept together. Sometimes it helps to have a peer explain something rather than the teacher. Students listen to their peers and sometimes teacher information goes in one ear and out the other.

            Students are motivated by content because they want to know things that have a connection to their lives. When students can make connection with content to their daily lives, they will be motivated to learn more since they can relate. “Learning is decontextualized” (Kohn 216). When things relate to one another, students understand much better. Also, students do their best when the tasks they are working on are neither so easy as to be boring nor so difficult as to cause anxiety. Students need to be engaged and intrinsically motivated in tasks that reach their developmental stage, just beyond their current cognitive level (Kohn 220). When the learner’s interests are the focal point, rather than having the teacher as “the sage on the stage,” the student will be motivated to learn since they are doing the learning themselves (Kohn 219).

            Students are motivated by choice because they want to have control. If you “deprive students of self-determination, you deprive them of motivation” (Kohn 221). When students have a say in what they are doing in a classroom, they will be more likely to do their work and learn. Teachers can offer students guidelines and the students can choose what they want to do. Teachers can also ask students how they should approach a task that needs to be learned/addressed and the students can choose how to do so. Giving the student choice, or at least the perception of choice, motivates them since they think they are in control. (This idea also relates to Zull.)             
            Intrinsic rewards are what motivate students to learn. Collaboration, context, and control are three rewards that motivate them. Extrinsic rewards, such as grades, do not motivate students to learn. They are destructive of interest and achievement since they focus student’s attention on their performance. Instead, students need to be encouraged to focus on their work and not their performance. (This idea also relates to Zull.)

            Active learning is another thing that motivates secondary students.

            When teachers do not give reasons for assignments, do not set examples, and reject mistakes, students are not motivated to learn. Instead, teachers need to do the opposite and elicit students’ curiosity in order to see motivation results.

Yerks and Dodson

          These two men tested mice where they had two options to choose from. One was a white electrical box and the other was a black electrical box. The “correct” choice was the white box. When the mice chose the black box, they were shocked with either a weak, medium, or strong stimulus. Results found that when the weak and strong occurred, mice were not as apt to learn as quickly. However, when the medium stimulus occurred, mice were apt to learn quickly (Yerks, Dodson).

            This can be applied to teaching and students because when students are highly stressed, learning and motivation are not productive. When students are bored, learning and motivation are not productive. The strength of the stimulus or curriculum cannot be too hard because it will decrease motivation due to anxiety and/or disorganization. Learning will not be as productive. However, the curriculum cannot be too easy either because it will also decrease motivation due to sleepiness and/or boredom. Therefore, curriculum must be in the middle. It should challenge students just enough to get the motivated in doing the work. When the curriculum provides just enough stimuli, students will be motivated to learn and they will learn better. When students are anxious or bored, learning decreases. Students are motivated by becoming engaged in what they are doing. When students are motivated and engaged, they are at the optimal level of learning. At this level, their cognitive abilities increase.