Saturday, January 19, 2013
Motivation
Motivation is crucial in order to for people get things done. I know, for me, that if I have low motivation towards something it will most likely remain unaccomplished (or will be done at the last possible moment). I tend to use the goal theory of motivation most. I make lists for everything... groceries, school, work, things I want to do, things I want to buy... everything. Most of my lists contain performance goals rather than learning goals. In thinking about it, though, I do have learning goals even though they are not written down. While goal theory seems, to me, to be the most influential in my motivation I see how the other theories we talked about in class also play into my motivation. After having to take many science classes I think I will do well in microbiology. This makes it easier to study for this class because I believe that I can do well in it. Based on this I can see how self efficacy theory also plays into my motivation for school. In a classroom I have seen how setting goals, and encouraging self efficacy can be very helpful for students. My sister is a pre-school teacher, and she sets goals for her students and encourages them as they try hard activities like writing. I see how in her classroom her students are motivated to write and read because of these uses of motivation theories.
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I really liked your analysis of goal theory. I hadn't really thought of it terms of lists, but when you put it like that, I can really see how it's useful and relevant in the classroom. And I understand the need to make lists for everything, so I know where you're coming from! How could you relate this theory to intrinsic or extrinsic motivation techniques?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you provided the example of how you feel you'll be successful in microbiology - it often helps motivate us when we play to our strengths!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be following your blog throughout this semester.
ReplyDeleteI also wrote about goal theory in my blog, and like you, most of my goals are performance goals. I think this is the case for me because I like to see what I've accomplished. Learning goals help motivate me too, but I like to take it a step farther and see if I can use what I learn to accomplish a performance goal.
To answer the question about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation I would say that for me marking things off of a list and using goal theory is definitely an intrinsic motivator. The feeling of accomplishment is often enough to push me to get tasks done.
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