Sandra Kathambi

Dr. Jeffrey Spanogle

4/6/2017

Motivational Strategies to Enhance Effective Learning in Teaching Struggling Students.

In their article, Motivational Strategies to enhance effective learning, Jessica Wery and

Margareta. M. Thomson argue that struggling learners can be helped do better in their academics

and engage more effectively in their learning based on the motivation they acquire about

learning. The authors stress that beyond solid teaching methods, improving students motivation

is the key for academic and behavioral academics. They further go on to give theoretical outlook

on two major motivational theories; achievement and expectancy-value theory. In Achievement

theory, motivation is illustrated as patterns of beliefs and feelings about success, effort, ability,

errors, feedback and standards of evaluation whereas expectancy-value theory illustrates

motivation as being influenced by how much value of the task relates to ones self. The

probability of succeeding is also based on the ability to complete the task. Intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation are also key concepts of these motivational theories and emphasized that intrinsic

motivations should be developed more than extrinsic. The authors further stated the

characteristics of reluctant learners and the most outstanding is that they believe that they are

unable to learn and expect to fail since they lack the motivation by teachers and from themselves

to believe that they can excel in studies. Some of the students react to this by avoiding academic

situations and resulting to misbehavior in class. The authors then described fifteen ways in

which teachers can use to help reluctant learners become motivated learners. Among them was

teaching in ways that the learning connects to the world, promote mastery learning and help
students find ways to focus on intrinsic motivational tasks, respond positively to students errors,

allow for independence on how to work on their assignments.

In my opinion, the article offers effective learning strategies to build motivation for

struggling learners, given from a biblical framework of education: creation, fall redemption. As

children of God these students are created to be responsible, active and take control of learning

hence thats why we are created with of achievable and expectancy-value motivational abilities.

However, due to the fall we have become broken, limited and this has led to us losing control

and responsibility as co-creators of God. This explains why the students result to misbehaving

and finding other ways to disengage in learning. They do not see themselves as valuable enough

to excel in academics because of this brokenness. Sadly enough, they are led to cheating in

exams and dropping out of school when they feel they have lost motivation to learn.

However, the methods that the article has pointed out to install motivation in learners, for

instance, connecting learning to the world defines the true task of education. When learners see

the connection between their learning tasks and the real world, they will be more motivated to

understand and sole the problem. The true task of education is to teach redemptively, to seek to

solve the problems in this world as a way to reconcile the world back to God. (Graham, 2009))

Also, as teachers we have to have grace as we teach students to be motivated to learning. We

need to be gracious and patient even when students show disinterest in learning. We need to

create a safe learning environment for them to believe in themselves and be motivated to be

better learners.

Works Cited
Graham, D. (2009). Teaching Redemptively. Colorado Springs: Purposeful Deign Publications.