Group #8: Lara Buchmann-Duck, Kelsey Bahler, Tasha Tetzlaff & Tracey Driedger

Strategies
Handout
Case Study #7: Cameron is very careless on his written assignments. On math
worksheets, he misses basic facts and forgets to borrow or carry. He adds when he
should subtract and subtracts when he should add. Cameron even forgets to do
some of the problems. On reading worksheets, Camerons writing is sloppy,
questions are only partially answered, and there are many errors. Some days
Camerons handwriting is completely illegible. The quality of Camerons work varies,
but its never a demonstration of his best efforts.

Following are the

considerations for motivation
and classroom structure/climate
we believe are related to this
type of situation. We also are
providing suggestions of
techniques a teacher could use
if presented with a similar case.

Motivation
Intrinsic
Motivation

Self-Worth
Beliefs &
Learned
Helplessness

Maslows
Hierarchy of
Needs

Ask student to do something they can do to build their self-confidence and see they can be successful.

Slowly increase the challenge of the tasks you ask of them, adding to their confidence.

The teacher should connect the school work to the students personal interests or hobbies (Woolfolk,
Winne, & Perry, 2016, p. 401).

Offer several ways to meet a learning objective eg. Worksheets, presentations, writing reflections etc.
(Woolfolk, Winne & Perry, 2016, p.430).

Allow students to choose partners for work.

Seek help from a counsellor if you think your student is developing anxiety and/or depression.

Teachers should encourage mastery goal setting by helping students increase the challenges in their
goals, encouraging them to take risks, and help them cope with failure appropriately. This will help
students begin to value their achievements and increase their self-confidence (Woolfolk, Winne, & Perry,
2016, p. 416).

Make sure a student struggling with motivation has all of their deficiency needs met which include
survival, safety, belonging, and self-esteem; otherwise they wont be able to develop their being needs
(Woolfolk, Winne, & Perry, 2016, p. 404).
Contact students parents and get a sense for their home life to see if their deficiency needs are being
met. Talk to parents about the students overall health as well.

Achievement
Goal
Orientations
Work-Avoidant
Learners

Encourage the development of mastery goal orientation so students set goals with the purpose of
learning (Woolfolk, Winne, & Perry, 2016, p. 408-409). This will involve

Giving effective feedback to emphasize student progress.

Motivation

Extrinsic
Motivation

Communicatio
n

Encourage goal framing, or explaining assignments and activities in how they will contribute to a
students intrinsic goals such as growing competence and self-determination. (Woolfolk, Winne, & Perry,
2016, p. 410-411).

Cueing and Prompting: Remind students when explaining the assignment to please print neatly, etc.

Praise: Put focus on the work that has been done, not the incentive.
Nice work today, Johnny. I can tell you worked really hard on this

Token Economy: Students receive tokens or points as a reward for good work or behaviour. These points
can be used to buy a prize or privilege, such as free time (Classical & Operant Conditioning, 2015).

Responses Cost System: Students can be given points or rewards, but may also lose them when
exhibiting certain behaviours, such as being off task or interrupting.

Contracting: The child helps make decisions about what they want to achieve, how to get there, and what
the consequences will be (Smith, C. Extrinsic Motivation, 2014).
o

communicate importance of work and relate to everyday uses

give time to check over or correct work (Woolfolk, Winne & Perry, 2016, p.430)

acknowledgements to effort rather than intellect I can tell you worked hard on this, see
how it helps
communicate with parents: make them your partners (Woolfolk, Winne & Perry, 2016,

p.433)

work with families to build confidence: ask parents to highlight good effort.

Classroom Structure

understand the family's goals for children. At parent-teacher interviews or when they
pick up their child from school, ask about their goals for their child. Send home some
assignments to be signed by parents so they can see their child's work
be precise: clearly and specifically explain assignments and expectations

allow time for questions

write instructions down on the board

Starting a
Lesson

show examples and describe what you expect to see (Woolfolk, Winne & Perry,
2016, p.430-433)

clearly describe goals, activities, and evaluation procedures

specify and post work procedures and requirements

establish rules about incomplete or messy work

create evaluation criteria together. This way the students will know what is important
and expected
give frequent feedback (Woolfolk, Winne & Perry, 2016, p.452)

Classroom
Space

try new seating arrangements and evaluate changes (Woolfolk, Winne & Perry,

2016, p.449)

Motivation

move the student to the front of the room to see if seeing the board is the problem
seat student beside different students to see if bullying or self-efficacy is a problem
resulting in lack of effort

References
Woolfolk, A. E., Winne, P. H., & Perry, N. E. (2016). Educational Psychology (6th ed.). Don Mills, Ontario: Pearson.
Classical & Operant Conditioning (2015). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from
http://danielyaretzeportfolio.weebly.com/learning-theory.html
Smith, C. Extrinsic Motivation (2014). Retrieved October 31, 2015, from
http://www.education.com/reference/article/extrinsic-motivationchildren-education/