Motivation

Motivation

I really like teaching about motivation because often times students really want to know WHY people behave a certain way and these modules help to explain that.  One thing that interests me is intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation.  Here are a few examples of how I identify with this theory:

1.  I'm a pretty organized person and like things clean.  Okay, I'm not great at cleaning, but I definitely don't like things cluttered.  When I was a kid I used to clean my room really well ~ that is when it was my idea (intrinsic motivation).  However, whenever my mom wanted me to clean my room, it was much more of a chore and a lot less fun (extrinsic motivation).  

2.  I played sports in high school.  Volleyball, cheerleading and I even schlepted ran track.  I was a distance runner (because I wasn't fast and the coach had no idea where else to put me!).  The only reason I ran track is because I wanted to get in good with my volleyball coach, who was also the distance track coach.  I hated every second of track practice and hated track meets even more!  I was extrinsicly motivated to run.  However, now as an adult, I actually like tolerate running and sometimes I even enjoy it.  No one is making me run, I just do it for me.  As an adult, I am intrinsicly motivated to run.

3.  As an instructor I can tell a HUGE difference in the students who are in my class because they want to be (intrinsic motivation) and because they are genuinely interested in learning and those who are in my class because they have to be (extrinsic motivation) and just want an A and don't care as much about the material.  My guess is that as students, you can probably spot this when you read through the discussion posts, too.  Now, I'm not judging, I totally understand there are classes you are into and classes that you just feel the need to get through (for me those were art history and math).  We all have priorities, so no offense taken :).  The students who are intrinsicly motivated tend to do much better in my class than those who are extrinsicly motivated.