Running head: CASE STUDY REGARDING MOTIVATION

Student Case Study in Motivation:

Analysis of Influences and Strategies Regarding Motivation and Achievement
Nicole Sheppard
Azusa Pacific University Spring I 2014
Professor Scorgie
EDUC 509

Sheppard

Running head: CASE STUDY REGARDING MOTIVATION

Sheppard

Abstract
This case study focuses on a single eight grade students and the many influences that revolve around this
students motivation and achievement in school. As this student nears the end of his middle school years, motivation
and achievement will prove to be greater influences in high school, which is why this student was chosen. The first
section of this paper is devoted to a background overview of the students academic, social, and home life
experiences. The second section includes a systems-wide approach that evaluates both internal and external factors
in relation to motivation and achievement. Internal factors will include: teacher and student perceptions, selfefficacy, goal orientation, self- control, and ability beliefs. In addition, external factors will include: ability
groupings, differentiated instruction for diverse learners, classroom variables, and home life. The final section of the
paper will focus on four strategies that can be used to increase student motivation and achievement specific to this
individual student.

Running head: CASE STUDY REGARDING MOTIVATION

Sheppard

Introduction to Case Study Student

Educational Background
Student A spent his elementary school years in a public school within the San Bernardino County. This
school was close to his house and where his younger brother attended elementary school as well. When entering into
middle school, he then was transferred out of the public school system and placed into a small, private, Christian
school within the San Bernardino County. This student has had a history of struggle relating to academics and is not
heavily involved in sports or other after school activities. While the hope of the family is to continue his experience
in this private, Christian school, finances might be an obstacle, which may result in this student would return to the
public school system for his last four years of high school.
Social Interactions
Student A thrives on social interaction and attention from his peers. He has one extremely close best
friend, but both students are a part of larger groups of boys who tend to be loud and are always found making jokes
and laughing together. Student A is half Caucasian and half African-American, so this group of boys tends to be
made up of African-American students as well. There are very few moments throughout the day in which Student A
is found being contemplative, or reserved. Student A is always on the move, involved in some type of action or
movement and is very talkative both in and outside of class.
Family Life and Demographics
Student As family lives in the suburbs within the San Bernardino county. His younger brother attends
public school in their hometown. Student A must make a commute of twenty to twenty-five minutes a day to get to
school. He has both a mother and a father at home, and his grandmother (maternal) often picks him up from school.
Student As father is currently a truck driver who used to play football professionally. His mother works for a soda
company. Student A is often at school from seven-thirty in the morning to at least five at night. This student
definitely spends most of his days on the campus of the school. Student As parents simply cannot pick him up any
earlier than that due to work commitments. Student As parents are rarely seen on campus and do not comment on
Student As grades to his teachers.
Motivation and Achievement
This student is highly motivated by his peers. Academics are boring and somewhat of a waste of time it
seems for this student. There is not verbalization from this student regarding the importance of learning or

Running head: CASE STUDY REGARDING MOTIVATION

Sheppard

academics. This student is often off task in class, even when given hands on activates, which also involve group
work. Socializing overtakes any focus for Student A to complete the assigned tasks. Even when praised for efforts or
results, this student does not respond, or in other words, is neutral toward praises from teachers. While praise might
be working internally, externally it is as if this student does not hold educators opinions as highly as his peers.
Even when confronted by the middle school principle about what steps to take to improve his grades, Student A
does not follow through or take on these tasks. This student seems to not be bothered by low grades in his courses.
Finally, this student does not recognize any one class to be his favorite. All classes are long and boring, not
matter the subject area. This student would rather socialize with friends unencumbered by academics on a daily
basis.
Work Samples
This sample below is of a group activity students performed in order to practice calculating average speed.
From this example, it is highly likely that Student A copied work from another student in his group for calculations
due to no work shown, and lack of units. This student also often states, Oh no, you were collecting this? in class
when assignments are due at the end of class.

Systems-wide Data Approach to Understanding Student Motivation

Self-efficacy, self-control, and goal orientation

Running head: CASE STUDY REGARDING MOTIVATION

Sheppard

Thoughts that Student A has about his own motivation, abilities, and achievement stem from his internal
perspective of his intelligence. Dweck suggests that students and teachers alike have one of two possible theories
concerning intelligence: (1) fixed theory or (2) malleable theory (2000). If a student holds the fixed theory to
be true, then they believe their academic success as a ceiling, or in other words, their intelligence stops at a certain
point (Dweck, 2000). On the other hand, students with a mallable theory believe that their intelligence is not fixed;
in fact, it can grow and expand with no limits if one provides effort and focus to mastering tasks (Dweck, 2002).
Student motivation begins here. Student A holds a fixed theory perspective regarding his academic abilities. Since
this student believes that his intelligence has a stopping point, in which he cannot achieve any higher, he tends to be
less motivated to attempt challenging tasks (Dweck, 2000). Therefore, Student As self-efficacy is low since he
holds the view that he can only work or try so hard until his intelligence runs out. With this mentality it makes
sense as to why this student is often not motivated by school tasks.
Additionally, since this student holds a fixed theory perspective regarding his intelligence, this student
also tends to adhere to a helplessness pattern in the classroom (Dweck, 2000). This helplessness pattern occurs
when Student A encounters a difficult or challenging task, in which the student then avoids failure by refusing to
complete the assignment and then begins to socialize with his peers about other topics (Dweck, 2000). Therefore,
Dweck offers one final connection by stating that students who tend to have a helplessness pattern are more likely
to hold performance goals in the classroom versus learning goals (2000). This is largely seen though Student
As interaction with peers during in class activities. Student A typically looks to peers for assistance, and often uses
humor to do so, possibly to hide the fact that some tasks are challenging for him. Thus, in class Student A is not
interested much in learning something new, but rather impressing or keeping face with his peers as it relates to in
class work. Due to this focus on peers, Student A does not have much self control when it comes to socializing
during tasks, even when tasks are individually based.
Teacher attitudes and actions (communication, expectations, groupings, differentiated instruction)
The middle school staff at the school Student A attends is composed of all female teachers, with the
exception of one male teacher. Interestingly enough, all female teachers of Student As view him as completely
unmotivated in class, too social and disruptive and having little respect for authority. The one male teacher
agrees that this student ought to focus more on his studies but states this student is not disruptive or disrespectful in
his classroom. All of Student As grades are similar despite subject area: C- or below. Teachers are often frustrated

Running head: CASE STUDY REGARDING MOTIVATION

Sheppard

and feel helpless when trying to rationalize with Student A about choices he makes and his low grades. They feel as
if this student has no care or understanding of what this attitude toward his education will have for him as he enters
high school. Some teachers mentioned hope that this student would be set straight or come to the realization of
how important it is to study and put effort into school work when he gets to high school. Overall, teachers tend to
have an overall negative view of this student based upon behaviors expressed both in and outside of the classroom.
Most of the middle school staff expressed that they often talk with Student A about his lack of effort, or
attempt to praise him on efforts he does express, however they feel both strategies simply do not change anything.
Therefore, expectations for Student A are very low for most teachers, even the one male teacher who states to have
less disciplinary problems with Student A. Student A is often grouped away from friends to avoid socializing, and is
often placed with high achieving students in hopes to motivate this student to put effort toward the task at hand
with the help of the other student. Finally, there is not a lot of differentiated instruction going on for this student in
his classes. This student does well when he puts forth the effort, but this occurs very few and far between.
Classroom variables
There are many classroom variables that Student A must adapt to as he goes through his day. In most of his
classes, individual work is highlighted the most when completing in-class activities. In the one class in which
Student A has a male teacher, this class integrated more group activities in class on a daily basis. Furthermore, this
teachers classroom tends to involve more masculine aspects (such as trash-quet-ball as a review game for tests, in
which basketball shooting skills are part of the game as well) than Student As other classes do. In addition, despite
the small eight-grade class of only fifty students, Student A has a different group or mixture of peers for every class
setting. For instance, in science class Student A has a lot of his closest friends in the class as well, while in math
class he does not have a lot of his closest friends in that class. This means that the social make-up of Student As
classes are variables that are needed to be taken into consideration when looking at motivational strategies. Also,
different teachers have different means of motivation in their classrooms. Some strategies include: homework passes
as rewards for good behavior or hard work, extra credit, group work activities, and saving bathroom passes from the
semester can also be cashed in for extra credit at the end of the semester.
Other variables
Other variables for this student include the following: involvement of parents in education, hours spent on
school campus, plans for high school, ultimate career goals, and personal interests. All of these variables mentioned

Running head: CASE STUDY REGARDING MOTIVATION

Sheppard

also play key parts in student motivation, whether Student A or his instructors are aware of that fact. First, parent
involvement is a huge factor which colors Student As opinion and perspective of the value of education in his life.
If education is important to his parents, then they will push him toward higher goals, and the opposite is also true. At
this point, it is unclear where Student As parents stand on this issue. Of course, they want the best for their child
since they are willing to work hard and support their child financially so he can attend a private, Christian school,
but their silence on his poor grades and behavior suggest some disconnect here. Secondly, Student A spends the
majority of his day on campus, at school. Since his parents both work this student is often the first to arrive at school
and the last to leave. This is important to take into consideration since this is a lot of free time, in which this
student is not held accountable for how he manages this time. Thirdly, Student As goals for high school, an ultimate
career, and his personal interests also directly influence his motivation and achievement in school. Teachers could
essentially use this information to help focus this student toward his goals to give his studies and academics a
purpose instead of a means to an end.
Analysis of Case Study Student According to Research Sources
As mentioned earlier, Student As perception of his intelligence (fixed) directly influences his
helplessness pattern in class, thus creating more performance oriented goals rather than learning oriented
while this student is in class in front of his peers (Dweck, 2000). These theories suggest that these students are often
viewed as unmotivated in class because their perspective is that they can only try so hard until their intelligence or
skills are cut off, so they often have the internal thought of Why try hard, if this is the best I can do?. Student A
often expressed this attitude toward academics in class, and rightfully so considering his beliefs about himself and
his abilities. Therefore, these three theories influence Student As expectations for himself in regards to academics.
Additionally, Weinstein suggests that teacher feedback and previous experiences color students opinion
and perspective of what they can achieve academically (Weinstein, 2002). Students are sensitive to teacher
interaction within the classroom. If a teacher constructs his/her classroom in such as way that clearly defines the
high achieving students, average achieving students, and the low achieving students, there is no doubt a
student in this classroom internalizes this (Weinstein, 2002). Therefore, every teacher creates a classroom culture
that either makes these distinctions, or does not (Weinstein, 2002). Most of Student As teachers do recognize these
groups in someway in their classrooms. Some of these recognitions include: boards of achievement around the
classroom, and rewards for goof behavior and effort. Therefore, Student A might have a difficult time in the

Running head: CASE STUDY REGARDING MOTIVATION

Sheppard

classroom is he believes he will never make it on these boards, and thus effort becomes futile and classwork and/or
academics are not that important, especially since his peers see this distinction as well.
Finally, the discussion of Student As past experiences in school regarding motivation and
achievement are worth noting as well. Weinstein devotes a chapter in her book to discuss the influence of students
vulnerability and resilience as it relates to academics (2002). It is highly probable that Student A has much more
experience with failure or falling short of expectations than of victory or resilience in school. Due to these
experiences, Student A is not motivated in regards to academics because his failures have proven to be much more
powerful memories than and successes he has also experienced (Weinstein, 2002). Studies show that students
experiences with failure tend to continue students on the path of their intelligence theories (Dweck, 2000). For
instance, if a student experiences much success in relation to academics, they often hold a malleable theory
regarding their intelligence, thus they are master-oriented and have learning goals in class because they believe
they can success even during challenging tasks (Dweck, 2002). For Student A, his belief that his intelligence is fixed
and the need to look smart or cool in front of his peers result in low effort, and his past failures stay with him more
because they confirm his belief that he can only achieve so much academically (Dweck, 2000).
Finally, the issue of peer motivation for Student A is crucial since it is a central driving force of source of
motivation for this student. Student A is constantly socializing and thrives on interaction in this way. While many
teachers might be hesitant to give up some power and allow more discussion-based learning occur in the
classroom, studies have shown that peer-interaction and discussions have a positive effect on student motivation
(Yang, 2011). Additionally, it is important to note that even sometimes when Student A is given the opportunity to
interact with his peers for an in-class task or project, he still chooses to remain off task and not complete the task
expected of him. While this is frustrating and might even put educators at a loss as to how to accurately motivate
this student, there are studies that discuss this very occurrence, which could eventually help to motivate Student A
(Kilian, at. al., 2012).
Four Strategies to Facilitate Motivation and Achievement
To motivate Student A, there are four main strategies that his educators ought to utilize. These strategies
include: improve self-efficacy through recognizing and highlighting efforts/progress, incorporate blogging and other
peer-review type assignments, increase parent involvement and awareness regarding Student As progress and
behaviors, and de-construct previous experiences or truths Student A holds of himself by emphasizing personal

Running head: CASE STUDY REGARDING MOTIVATION

Sheppard

goals and future aspirations in order to increase motivation and achievement. First, by improving Student As selfefficacy, Student As one would create a domino effect regarding his perception of his abilities and intelligence. For
instance, by improving Student As self-efficacy, Student A would begin to understand that his intelligence is, in
fact, malleable, thus moving him from a helplessness perspective to a mastery-oriented perspective regarding
his school work, and ultimately over time lead him to have learning goals regarding his school work in class
(Dweck, 2000). Various strategies that can be used to improve self-efficacy in Student A include the following:
stress recent successes, and give corrective and instructive feedback (Margolis, 2006). Student A needs assistance in
redirecting his failures by highlighting successes, which will then give him confidence and eventually motivation to
continue with his efforts to continue to experience success. Additionally, by giving Student A corrective and
instructive feedback, educators can better understand Student As thinking process in order to better challenge and
aid this student to enhance motivation. Finally, this aid would help the student understand that the process of
learning is just as important as the end product or answers on tests or assignments, thus motivating him to put
forth the effort to experience success, regardless of how minor they may be at first.
The second strategy of incorporating blogging and other peer-type review would greatly benefit Student
As motivation (Yang, 2012). Instead of eliminating or limiting Student As involvement in peer related activities
due to his disruptive behavior in class with peers at times, educators can use this to their advantage to motivate
Student A. In Yangs study, peer-review was a tool that increases student motivation (2012). Student A is highly
motivated by his peers, which could be a great motivator in the classroom if structured correctly. Blogging would be
a great way to incorporate technology and peers into assignments for Student A because it would ensure Student A
paid attention in class, but it would also give him a way to socialize with his peers regarding assignments. Moreover,
since Student A wants to impress his peers or keep their respect, Student A would then be motivated to do well on
blog posts and peer-review related assignments. Finally, since Student A can get off topic with his peers on
assignments, his teachers would need to make sure assignments have clear expectations and guidelines to keep
Student A accountable.
Thirdly, parent involvement in Student As case is crucial. Educators must understand what type of
motivation Student A is getting at home from his parents. Studies have shown that the more parents are engaged in
their childs education and progress in education, the better their child does in school and will often result in selfregulated behaviors regarding their learning process (Cheung, 2012). This is largely due to the fact that children

Running head: CASE STUDY REGARDING MOTIVATION

Sheppard 10

respond well to reinforcement and to situations in which they know parents and authority figures are invested in.
Therefore, by inviting the parents into the academic process of Student A, educators and parents would be on the
same page, and Student A would feel more supported, thus motivating him to do better in school.
Finally, the fourth strategy that can be utilized to increase Student As motivation in school is to
incorporate Student As personal and career-related goals into assignments or at the very least have conversations
about them with the student on a regular basis. Student A does not typically think about his future nor does he
mention what the future may hold for him. By holding a conversation about such things with Student A, educations
can open his eyes to the goal he might have but be too fearful to express. Doing this would help educators have a
more whole picture of Student A, which would help them to incorporate these interests and goals into their
classrooms to show Student A that his efforts in school can help him achieve his personal goals. This would then
give Student A power or ownership over his learning and his future, which is extremely powerful for this student
entering high school.
In conclusion, strategies for motivating any student ought to be personalized and specific in order to target
key areas of motivation. For Student A, these areas were: re-directing self-efficacy, peer enhanced tasks and
assignments, parent involvement, and future goals. Every student is motivated by something, which can in turn be
used as a tool to motivate students both in and out of the classroom. There is much research that educators can
utilize as well to aid their efforts in motivating even the hardest students who seem to be unmotivated by their
academics.

Running head: CASE STUDY REGARDING MOTIVATION

Sheppard 11

References
Cheung, C., Pomerantz, E. (2012) Why does parents involvement enhance childrens achievement? The role of
parent-oriented motivation. American Psychological Association, 104(3), 820-832.
Dweck, C., (2000). Self-Theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development. Psychology Press, New
York, NY, pp. 1-19, 39-43, 73-81.
Kilian, B., Hofer, M., and Kuhnle, C. (2012) Conflict between on-task and off-task behaviors in the classroom: the
influences of parental monitoring, peer value orientations, students goals, and their value orientations. Soc
Psychol Educ. (16) 77-94.
Margolis H., McCabe P., (2006) Improving self-efficacy and motivation: what to do, what to say. Intervention in
School and Clinic. 41(4), 218-227.
Weinstein, R. 2002. Reaching Higher: The Power of Expectations in Schooling. First Harvard
University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England, pp. 89-174, 175-197.
Yang, C., and Chang, Y. S., Assessing the effect of interactive blogging on student attitudes towards peer
interaction, learning motivation, and academic achievements. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. 2001. 28,
126-135.