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2.4 Discussion Board II: Motivation (Required to earn certificate)
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Posted by CUNY Mindset Initiative on March 11, 2024 at 10:58 am💬 Discussion:
- To effectively promote learning mindsets to students it is helpful to adopt them & use them in your own life. When you learn how to make value connections in your own work, the easier it will be for you to assist students.
- Think of a time when you had to do something you did not want to and were successful. How did you navigate that challenge? By what means did you transition from, “I don’t want to do this.” to “I want to do this.”? Where did you find the motivation? How did you stay engaged?
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The answer below is for the following prompt:
Think of a time when you had to do something you did not want to and were successful. How did you navigate that challenge? By what means did you transition from, “I don’t want to do this.” to “I want to do this.”? Where did you find the motivation? How did you stay engaged?
There are quite a lot of times when I needed to do something I didn’t quite want or like, either since that required action didn’t interest me, contradicted some belief I had, required an approach that I didn’t like to use, had a scheduling conflict with another action that I was supposed to cancel because of it, or due to pure laziness on my side 🙂 I am not perfect and never claim to be one 🙂 For the sake of this discussion, I’ll use the example of studying for an exam in an undergrad class that wasn’t closely related to my major (Computer Science).
In general, what I’ve found out was the most motivating in situations when I didn’t want to do something was the understanding that, if I hadn’t performed the action that was expected from me, I would disappoint or hurt someone who is important to me. When understanding that someone I love and cherish will suffer from negative results of my refusing to do an action, or just be sad or disappointed, I proceed full-force to performing that action, regardless of how much I dislike it or have something more important to do. Specifically, for the example of a course, I wasn’t especially interested in, the fact that not only my parents but, surprisingly, also the instructor of the course would be disappointed drove me to do my best and study for the class. I was smart enough to notice the effort that my undergrad instructors put into teaching their classes and the instructor’s true wish to have their students succeed, which led me to understand that doing badly in class will result in the disappointment of good people, which I tried to avoid as much as I could.
From these experiences, I deduce that the interpersonal communication that the instructor has with their students, in its own right, decides whether students will be motivated in the class or not. If the instructor respects their students, shows how they love their subject of study/research, and expresses how important it is for them that their students succeed, the students will ‘catch’ on to this positive attitude and will be motivated to study the subject.
I think my resistance in learning or trying out something on a job as fear and ego. Since I am a career changer twice over, I usually point to an example of when I was asked to take on teaching Math for students with IEP’s at the High School level. I had a fear of Math that went begin in 9th grade when the Math was becoming more abstract and had many more steps to it. My teacher at the time had a low voice and even though I sat in the front of the class I missed some key concepts. Years later when I was asked to pilot a Math program for learners with learning disabilities I had to really buckle down and examine my fears. I was one step ahead of the students in the textbook. My boyfriend at the time tutored me and he was amazing because he had dyslexia and math was his strength. I not only went on to teach the class successfully, but when the boss left, I was able to go back to my chosen subject.
I share this with my teacher candidates when they come down on themselves for failing the Math portion of the teacher’s exam multiple times. Some of them use the term, ” Not a Math person”. I remind them that they have not had this Math for a few years and simply taking a little study course (free by our School of Ed) can help them. If they still cannot pass it, I give them more resources. Nine times out of ten (now I’m using Math), they find that a little bit of openminded-ness and a little bit of elbow grease helps.
Wow, this hit me hard. I have definitely been avoiding the discussion surrounding AI, which is not going to benefit me in the long-term, or my future students! It’s challenging to realize that my approach towards AI has not reflected a growth mindset. Maybe you could share some resources for learning more?
Thanks for sharing your experiences! I teach math and encounter so much mental resistance to engaging with math content – especially more abstract concepts! Many students tell me, “I’m just bad at math”. I think for students like these, overcoming their fears and getting motivated to learn is really half the battle. I often tell students on the first day that one of my goals is to help them see that they can do math, and that by the end of the semester they would even consider voluntarily taking another math class in the future! Thankfully, I have seen that negative attitude change in many – though not all – of my students by the end of our time together, and that is always rewarding to see.
In various personal and professional situations, I’ve experienced initial reluctance towards certain tasks, only to achieve success ultimately. The fear of the unknown or failure often held me back. To overcome these fears, I invested time in fully understanding the project at hand and set specific, measurable, and achievable goals. Seeking guidance from experienced individuals or mentors proved incredibly beneficial, providing me with the motivation and inspiration I needed. Engaging in self-reflection helped me transition from reluctance to a mindset of capability as I tracked my progress toward my goals. Additionally, receiving constructive feedback from mentors and peers significantly contributed to this change in perspective. Internal motivation, the satisfaction of achievement, and external incentives derived from potential outcomes or the impact of my efforts on myself and others were critical in maintaining my engagement and determination.
One of my course requirements in graduate school was neuroanatomy. I did not feel like it was relevant to my research interest on neural development and I was much more focused on my actual research than my coursework at the time. I tried to do the minimum just to pass the class and satisfy the requirement, but I ended up failing the class. I initially asked my program director if he could waive the requirement since it was not relevant to my research but he said he couldn’t. Therefore, I asked my instructor to recommend a tutor who walked me through the course by my side as I retook it. My tutor was amazing and I had a great rapport with him and I ended up loving neuroanatomy and doing really well in the course. In retrospect, I think about how my tutor was able to get me to love something I initially didn’t want to do. He broke up the complexity into tiny manageable steps and made sure I was able to grasp each step before moving on. Sometimes students think there’s no point to making an effort because something is “impossible” to understand. I will share my neuroanatomy lesson with my students as a way for them to see the purpose in getting help.
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