Activity 1: Scavenger Hunt
Activity 2: The Teacher as Motivator - Creating a Motivational Environment
Activity 3: Attribution Theory
Activity 1


Title: Scavenger Hunt

Instructional Strategy: Cooperative Learning

Purpose:

This activity will help students work together to gain additional information concerning motivational concepts and applications.

Objective:

• Develop an understanding of motivational concepts and applications

Student Activity:

Extrinsic motivation	Growth need
Intrinsic motivation	Locus of control
Attribution theory	Self-actualization
Achievement needs	Entity theory of intelligence
Incremental theory of intelligence	Self-efficacy
Outcome expectations	Learning goals

Form teams of two to three. Select approximately two to six concepts on the list. Use at least three sources in addition to the textbook to research these concepts. At least one additional resource should come from the World Wide Web. Present what you have learned to the other groups in the class. Presentations may be verbal or via poster. Groups should generate a brief handout for class members summarizing their findings. Material may be compiled to generate a study guide.

Variations:

1. Points may be assigned to each item to turn the activity into a class competition or omitted to emphasize collaboration.
2. Students may be assigned two or more terms to illustrate in class through role-play or simulation.

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Activity 2

Title: The Teacher as Motivator - Creating a Motivational Environment

Instructional Strategy: Critical Thinking

Purpose:

To help students become aware of the impact of motivation on the learning environment.

Objective:

• Develop an understanding of the impact of motivation on the learning environment.

Student Activity:

Watch the entire tape or at least the first half hour of Dead Poets Society. Compare student life before, during, and after Mr. Keating's arrival in the movie. Answer the questions from the handout below:

Preintervention Motivational State

What are the significant components of the motivational state of the students before Mr. Keating came to teach?

Process of Intervention

What intervention strategies (direct or indirect) did Mr. Keating utilize in an attempt to alter the motivational state of his students?

Postintervention Motivational State

What are the significant components to the motivational state of the students after Mr. Keating came to teach?

Variations:

1. Watch short ten- to twelve-minute segments from Dead Poets Society, Dangerous Minds, or Rudy for two weeks in class, showing segments especially related to class topics. Brainstorm how the movies relate to motivation.

Activity 3

Title: Attribution Theory

Instructional Strategy: Critical Thinking

Purpose:

This activity is designed to help students understand attribution theory and its relevance for educators.

Objectives:

• Gain a better understanding of attribution theory
• Understand the application of attribution theory to personal experiences as well as educational settings

Student Activity:

Ask students to take a minute or two to think of something that they succeeded at and something that they failed at and to write these things on a piece of paper. Tell them that you will be asking for examples so they should not write anything that would be embarrassing. Write two columns on the board: "Successes" and "Failures" (or "Non-successes"). Ask for examples for each and a reason for the outcome. Go through the examples with the class to determine whether or not the outcomes were internally or externally controlled based on the reasons given. Do the same with stable/unstable and controllable/uncontrollable. How did the outcomes affect motivation? Discuss what the implications are for education if a teacher and a student have different reasons for why a given outcome (i.e. poor test performance) occurred.