Three Fundamental Questions of Student Motivation
At Motivate Lab, we’re interested in what motivates students and how to leverage that knowledge to improve student success. We know that motivation develops differently for every student in every context, so we have spent years partnering with middle schools, high schools and colleges to address motivational challenges. This process has led us to three questions that synthesize multiple theoretical perspectives, help explain a wide range of achievement-related behaviors, and can apply to the major motivational challenges faced by students and schools.
“Can I do the task?”
“Do I want to do the task?”
“Do I have barriers preventing me from investing time, energy, and resources into the activity?”
Learning Mindsets
Learning mindsets are individuals’ beliefs about learning that shape how they interpret difficulty . A growing body of research suggests that learning mindsets are crucial for success in high school and college. Importantly, learning mindset-supportive practices are effective at reducing equity and opportunity gaps for students from traditionally underrepresented groups.
Tools to Get Started
Measuring learning mindsets can help you understand more about your students' experience. Measuring learning mindsets can also provide evidence on whether a teaching practice or intervention is affecting your students they way you're intending.
You can learn more about mindsets in your context by asking questions of your data, students, and staff. This resource provides suggestions for first steps in that process.
Developing transition-ready students through concrete, targeted activities that support one key predictor of students’ success: learning mindsets
Messages, activities and pedagogical changes to support students’ mindset GPS.