Pronounced: mō-tə-vā-shən Function: noun Meaning: 1 [noncount] a: the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something : the act or process of motivating someone ▪Some students need motivation to help them through school. b: the condition of being eager to act or work : the condition of being motivated ▪employees who lack motivation 2: a force or influence that causes someone to do something [noncount] ▪His behavior seemed to be without motivation. = There seemed to be no motivation [=reason, motive] for his behavior. [count] ▪Many people have questioned her motivations in choosing to run for office at this time.
"When adults are motivated to learn, they work harder, learn more, have a sense of enjoyment and achievement, and want to continue learning" - Raymond J. Wlodkowski 2
Motivation...this is what every instructor wants to see in his or her students. We want to see students that are interested in what we are teaching them, doing their coursework without constant prodding, and positively looking forward to what they can learn next. Motivation helps students to complete and hopefully enjoy our courses, which makes us feel better as instructors.
Key Questions:
Why is motivation important for learning? How are adult students specifically motivated? How does this knowledge help us as instructors of adults? What are some commonly-known barriers to adult motivation?
Motivation is Important for Learning
If we want learning to be long lasting and truly meaningful for students, we want to aim for intrinsic motivation (see section in this wiki Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic). We want them to carry the skills or knowledge they’ve learned in our course beyond the course.
If students are motivated, they will enjoy the learning experience more, be more cooperative3 , and we as instructors will enjoy teaching them. And we’ll feel pretty good about ourselves, that we are doing a good job.
Characteristics of Adult Learners
Between various authors and sources, one can come up with a pretty comprehensive list that describes adults as learners:
Adults are pragmatic learners – material needs to have some practical consequence for them
Adults are more demanding then children or adolescents
Adults need this “equation” met:
Success (has to be chance of success) + Volition (a sense of choice) + Value + Enjoyment
As Instructors of Adults
We must be enthusiastic, we must be clear and organized, and we must consider our audience. Adult learners expect a lot, but in most cases, actually want to be in our class. We also must consider that it may be more difficult to change their ways of thinking than we realize.
Since adult learners are usually there to improve a job situation or better themselves, we must work on encouraging them in this and always trying to relate “why” a particular concept is being covered and how this will help them in the workplace or further education. Make them feel good about their choice to take your course.
Wlodkowski emphasizes that it is as important to have a motivational plan as it is to have an instructional plan. Although we as instructors may do a lot of this by instinct, it is important to be aware of some of the theories of motivation to increase our chances of success with the learner.7
Barriers to Adult Motivation
The biggest factor affecting motivation seems to be the idea that “life gets in the way”. Adult learners have grown-up responsibilities, like family/children and job/money issues—responsibilities that are often higher on the priority list than a course they are taking – which they should be. These responsibilities sometimes cause resentment and stress in that education and schoolwork can sometimes get in the way of dealing with the ‘regular’ things in life. So as instructors we have to be understanding of this, to a point. It doesn’t mean students can totally shirk their responsibilities in our course. But perhaps we can be a little flexible in allowing assignments to come in slightly late. If we don’t recognize adult students have these outside stresses in their lives, this may increase their frustration and decrease their motivation for our course.
We have to remember that adults are somewhat demanding learners, at least in comparison to children or adolescents. The fact that they are paying for their learning, and taking time away from other responsibilities to better themselves, contributes to this. Therefore adults might be especially frustrated by instruction that is not organized or enthusiastic.
Adults like to be physically comfortable. Classrooms that are too cold or too hot affect their ability to learn and be motivated.
Wlodkowski points out that the older the learner we are dealing with, we actually may be dealing with physical and mental results of aging itself. Hearing and memory loss, as well as other health issues, could very well be barriers that we have to consider when teaching adults.8
Wlodkowski, R. J. (1985). Enhancing adult motivation to learn: a comprehensive guide for teaching all adults (p. inside flap). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Wlodkowski, R. J. (1985). Enhancing adult motivation to learn: a comprehensive guide for teaching all adults (pp. 3-4). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
mo·ti·va·tion1
Pronounced:mō-tə-vā-shən
Function:
noun
Meaning:
1 [noncount] a : the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something : the act or process of motivating someone ▪Some students need motivation to help them through school. b : the condition of being eager to act or work : the condition of being motivated ▪employees who lack motivation
2 : a force or influence that causes someone to do something [noncount] ▪His behavior seemed to be without motivation. = There seemed to be no motivation [=reason, motive] for his behavior. [count] ▪Many people have questioned her motivations in choosing to run for office at this time.
"When adults are motivated to learn, they work harder, learn more, have a sense of enjoyment and achievement, and want to continue learning" - Raymond J. Wlodkowski 2
Motivation...this is what every instructor wants to see in his or her students. We want to see students that are interested in what we are teaching them, doing their coursework without constant prodding, and positively looking forward to what they can learn next. Motivation helps students to complete and hopefully enjoy our courses, which makes us feel better as instructors.
Key Questions:
Why is motivation important for learning?How are adult students specifically motivated?
How does this knowledge help us as instructors of adults?
What are some commonly-known barriers to adult motivation?
Motivation is Important for Learning
If we want learning to be long lasting and truly meaningful for students, we want to aim for intrinsic motivation (see section in this wiki Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic). We want them to carry the skills or knowledge they’ve learned in our course beyond the course.If students are motivated, they will enjoy the learning experience more, be more cooperative3 , and we as instructors will enjoy teaching them. And we’ll feel pretty good about ourselves, that we are doing a good job.
Characteristics of Adult Learners
Between various authors and sources, one can come up with a pretty comprehensive list that describes adults as learners:Stephen Lieb4:
3106 Course Materials5:
Raymond Wlodkowski6:
Success (has to be chance of success) + Volition (a sense of choice) + Value + Enjoyment
As Instructors of Adults
We must be enthusiastic, we must be clear and organized, and we must consider our audience. Adult learners expect a lot, but in most cases, actually want to be in our class. We also must consider that it may be more difficult to change their ways of thinking than we realize.Since adult learners are usually there to improve a job situation or better themselves, we must work on encouraging them in this and always trying to relate “why” a particular concept is being covered and how this will help them in the workplace or further education. Make them feel good about their choice to take your course.
Wlodkowski emphasizes that it is as important to have a motivational plan as it is to have an instructional plan. Although we as instructors may do a lot of this by instinct, it is important to be aware of some of the theories of motivation to increase our chances of success with the learner.7
Barriers to Adult Motivation
The biggest factor affecting motivation seems to be the idea that “life gets in the way”. Adult learners have grown-up responsibilities, like family/children and job/money issues—responsibilities that are often higher on the priority list than a course they are taking – which they should be. These responsibilities sometimes cause resentment and stress in that education and schoolwork can sometimes get in the way of dealing with the ‘regular’ things in life. So as instructors we have to be understanding of this, to a point. It doesn’t mean students can totally shirk their responsibilities in our course. But perhaps we can be a little flexible in allowing assignments to come in slightly late. If we don’t recognize adult students have these outside stresses in their lives, this may increase their frustration and decrease their motivation for our course.We have to remember that adults are somewhat demanding learners, at least in comparison to children or adolescents. The fact that they are paying for their learning, and taking time away from other responsibilities to better themselves, contributes to this. Therefore adults might be especially frustrated by instruction that is not organized or enthusiastic.
Adults like to be physically comfortable. Classrooms that are too cold or too hot affect their ability to learn and be motivated.
Wlodkowski points out that the older the learner we are dealing with, we actually may be dealing with physical and mental results of aging itself. Hearing and memory loss, as well as other health issues, could very well be barriers that we have to consider when teaching adults.8
References