Motivation Case Study

Introduction
How five different students might benefit from five
different motivational theories

LeeAnna Pekel
Professor Williams-Black
EDU 615
5/12/2013





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When researching and thinking of way to motivate one's students, teachers can find many
different theories. It is important for teachers to understand as many various motivation
techniques as possible since each and every student is different. While reading Anderman, etc. I
have selected five different students could benefit from the five basic motivation theories.
Self-Determination Theory
Student Narrative
One of my current six year old kindergarteners, Katie, is a very smart and outgoing girl.
She picks up English very quickly when she tries. Katie lives in an upscale neighborhood and
has been going to a private all English kindergarten for two years now. She is the oldest of two
children. When it comes to learning, Katie enjoys a fast paced speed that often leaves her
classmates behind. Katie appears to enjoy movement based learning the most. If I had to
describe Katie in one word, I would say she is free-spirited. She has a tendency to dislike rules
and enjoys playing, acting and singing.
Observable Behaviors
When Katie likes something, you know and when Katie doesn't like something, you also
know. When we are studying something Katie likes or finds interesting, she is the most active
student in class. Her hand is always the first one up; she is full of life and energy to learn. Her
favorite class is theater where she is our school's best Evil Queen. However, the exact opposite
is , sadly, true as well. When Katie has no interest, her head is on her desk, she draws in her
books, doesn't listen and sometimes talks to her classmates, distracting them. She has no desire
to do group or pair work and prefers to work alone. All of this being said, Katie is a very bright
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student. She does her homework very well and also studies hard at home. Her test scores are
always in the top level of the class.
Theory Application
In the beginning of the year Katie would start worksheets without reading the directions
while I was giving the instructions and, as a result, do the worksheet incorrectly. However, now,
while she waits for me to finish explain the directions she doesn't listen and takes longer to focus
the work. Thus, I believe that Katie would greatly benefit from self-determination theory
(Anderman, 5). One of the key parts of this theory is the ability, or belief that, one is able to do
the work (Anderman, 5). Katie clearly has this, since she often doesn't listen to me unless she is
interested or doesn't understand. Additionally, this theory wants students to feel like they are part
of a bigger group (Anderman, 5). This is an area that I feel Katie needs to work on. She gets
along with her classmates nicely during playtime and enjoys them but she isn't very good at
group work. I want to work on this with her.
Attribution Theory
Student Narrative
Stacy is one of the most popular girl in my six year old kindergarten class. She is
outgoing, funny, and cute. Both of her parents work, with her mom being an opera singer; she
has an older sister. This is her second year in a private all English kindergarten. Her family is
what I would call upper middle class, which is rather low for our current school. Stacy loves
giving hugs and getting attention, which I am sure is rooted in the fact that both of her parents
are very busy and she doesn't get that much love at home.
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Observable Behavior
During class Stacy is always unfocused. Sometimes it will look like she is paying
attention but everything goes in one ear and out the other. More often than not, Stacy is drawing
in her book or talking with her friends. I have caught her cheating during a math test just last
week by standing up and asking her friend for the answer. I have been told by both the mother
and my vice principal that Stacy has no support at home, due to her mom's busy work schedule.
The mother even told me during parent-teacher conferences that what free time she does have,
she spends on the older sister. As a result, Stacy has no idea how to study properly at home. Each
week we have 2-3 tests. Two of them, spelling and sentence tests, mostly self studied for. We
spend some time a day on the sentence test's stories but I don't drill them. Each week Stacy
completely fails the spelling tests and gets about 50% on the readings. The math test, which is
only studied for at school, she passes with 80 or 90%.
Theory Application
Due to the lack of educational support at Stacy's house, I want to have Stacy learn to be a
self studier. As of right now, she doesn't study well in class so I know she doesn't study at all on
her own. I want to use attribution theory to help her learn how to study (Anderman, 5). Of
course I have to start with getting her to listen and study in class. Using my current reward
system that is based on behavior, not correct answers or intelligence, I want to ask her why she
does or doesn't get a smiley face (Lynch, 2007b, 3-4). Working up from the instant reinforcer, I
hope to get her to understand how she does or doesn't pass the test in class (Lynch, 2007a, 4).
Since her family is so busy, I feel Stacy needs to learn to be independent and learn how to study
properly.
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Expectancy-Value Theory
Student Narrative
At my pervious public school I taught lower income students. Jim was one of these. I
only saw him an hour a week, like every other student in the school but I think I won't ever
forget Jim. He was a sixth grade boy. He was poor and from a broken home of some kind. Every
week he was always late for class due to his counseling sessions. He seemed already resigned
and accepting of the fact that he was poor and will always be poor, which I don't believe to be
true.
Observable Behavior
Of all the grades to teach in elementary school, sixth graders have been the hardest. Jim
was the worst of the worst. He never brought his book. He had no desire to learn. He felt, that
since he was always going to be poor, that learning English was pointless. Learning English was
all cost with no reward (Anderman, 17). He would throw things, sometimes even at us teachers,
talk with his friends, and never brought his book. By the end of the year, he was skipping class
with faked illness or sleeping through class. He never completed his homework, and failed the
tests. When pressured into finishing his homework he threatened to report my Korean co-teacher
for abuse, even though she never touched him.
Theory Application
For students like Jim, learning something needs value. He will put forth no effort unless
he gets something in return. Specifically Jim thought English had no utility value for him, since
he was Korean and would never leave Korea (Anderman, 17). I believe that when Jim was
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young he could have done well in English but he put not value to it, gave up, and learned
helplessness (Lynch, 2007a, 7). With time, if a teacher can help Jim find the value of knowing
English, through an interest of his, I believe Jim could be amazing at English. They could focus
on the many borrowed words in Korean, some of his favorite songs that are in English or have
English in it, some movies or TV shows. Maybe even one of his favorite video games that can
be done in English. If someone somewhere could find a way to make Jim think English was
worth his time, I know he would be a completely different student (Anderman, 6).
Social Cognitive Theory
Student Narrative
Amy is a very sweet six-year-old girl. This is her second year at our private all English
kindergarten. She has one sister and is from a well off family. Amy is not very outgoing at all.
She is almost prohibitively shy. Her voice is very soft and she is very kind. She is a very good
student, focuses well and listens well. She does not approach friends much during playtime and
waits to be invited. This has been improving as the year goes and she gets more comfortable. We
are half way through the third month and she has just not started to assert her own desires while
playing with her friends.
Observable Behavior
When it comes to schoolwork, Amy is a very good student. She is quiet and always one
of the fastest students to be ready to learn. However, she does not understand everything quickly.
When asked to give examples, often she has to wait and hear a few of her classmates' examples
before she understands completely. She has desire to learn and has a great ability to retain the
things taught. She does struggle with hand-eye coordinated things. The hardest thing about Amy
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is that when she gets frustrated, hurt, or does not understand, she cries silently and does not ask
for help.
Theory Application
Amy is not a normal unmotivated student; she seems to enjoy learning and being in
school. I want to make her more motivated in a social sense rather than academic sense. Due to
her shyness, Amy's speaking level is rather low and I worry about her ability to make friends
when she is older. I often use Amy during class time as an example for the other students for
proper behavior, but now I always want to use her more vocal classmates as examples for her to
get her to speak up (Lynch, 2007a, 7). When I give smiley faces, I always say what the students
do to get the awards, like "who has their book open and is on this page?", but lately I have been
changing this slightly to also include people who I can hear while repeating sentences, reading
out loud or singing (Anderman 56). I hope that as Amy sees her friends get rewards for being
vocal her vocal level will increase, just has her friends' behaviors have changed to mirror her
prompt readiness (Anderman, 6-7).

Goal Orientation Theory
Student Narrative
My pervious public school's district included the city's only orphanage. As a result, in
every class I taught there was at least one orphan. Generally, in Korea, these children are orphans
solely given up for economic reasons; as a result, most of the orphans here are extremely
distrusting and disrespectful of adults. The worst in whole school was Tommy, a third grade boy.
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I thought him as both a second and third grader. Tommy lived in the group home, was always
dirty and seemed to always want attention just so that he could act as if he did not want it. Being
from the group home meant he was poor and lacked proper attention and love. All of his
classmates disliked him and this seemed to be the way Tommy wanted it. He was very outgoing
but in all the wrong ways. Putting all of these behavioral issues aside, Tommy was a smart boy.
He always did well on the tests, even if he was not in class.
Observable behavior
Tommy seemed to go out of his way to make everyone around him uncomfortable. He
would take thumbtacks from the corkboard and use them to clean his toenails during class.
Afterwards he would chew on said toenails. Sometimes he would even spit them at his
classmates. Other times he would bring how-to-draw books and try to draw throughout class.
Sometimes he did not origami as well. He never once brought his book. Many times he would
get up and just walk out of class without asking and would not' come back for half the class
period. During these absent times, he would wonder the school. On one day, he walked into the
sixth grade English class and just watched for a few minutes.
Theory Application
Tommy is smart but almost too smart. He thought he had mastered English and thus did
not need to study anymore. I believe that if a teacher is able to tap into Tommy's desire for
attention from his classmates and turn English, and studying in general, into a proper channel to
get that attention, Tommy would be a completely different boy (Anderman, 7). He has no fears
of looking dumb or bad in front of his classmates, since that is his current route for attention, so
this method, if done properly, should help Tommy greatly (Anderman, 7).
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References

Anderman, E. M., & Anderman, L. H. (2014). Classroom motivation. Upper Saddle River, N.J.:
Pearson. (Original work published 2010)

Lynch, D. D. (2007a). Comments about Behavioral Principles and Application . Retrieved May
12, 2013, from http://elearn.une.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-653189-dt-content-rid-
4417207_1/xid-4417207_1

Lynch, D. (2007b). Research-Based Issues to Consider in Using Extrinsic Rewards to Motivate
Students. Retrieved May 12, 2013, from http://elearn.une.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-653189-
dt-content-rid-4417205_1/xid-4417205_1