How to motivate your students

We know that motivation is an important tool in helping

students to achieve more. When combined with other
self-management abilities (like planning and organizing
work), motivation is a bigger predictor of grades than IQ.1
So how can we encourage this in our students?
Frequently, people think of motivation as something
either present or absent. “Jo is a motivated student, but
Ali isn’t.” However, academic research on motivation has
revealed that a more productive question to focus on is,
“What factors are motivating this person’s behaviors right About the author
now?” With this lens, we don’t focus as much on whether Dan Belenky is Director of Learning
or not a person is motivated, we focus on whether the Science Research at Pearson. Prior
to joining Pearson in 2014, he was a
motivation a person is experiencing is appropriate for
Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Human-
goals they are pursuing, and the environment. Computer Interaction Institute
at Carnegie Mellon University.
As learning is increasingly happening in online Dan earned his PhD in Cognitive
environments, independently driven, and over the course Psychology at the University of
of the lifetime, this kind of lens becomes even more Pittsburgh, where he studied how
student motivation interacts with (and
critical. As we move from thinking of motivation as “the is impacted by) innovative instructional
fuel” of behavior to considering it as a tool to effectively methods. His current research projects
“steer and accelerate” towards your goals, this guide will explore how insights from cognitive
psychology and behavioral science can
give you ideas on how to better support different aspects be used to improve learner outcomes,
of motivation to lead to improved learning outcomes. at scale.

1 Yarbro, J., & Ventura, M., (2018). Skills for Today: What We Know about
Teaching and Assessing Self-Management. London: Pearson.
Do they believe they can do it?

A growth mindset will help students if Fixed mindset Growth mindset

they hit a bump in the road.
I’m not good at I’m finding this hard
We all hit bumps in the road—it’s inevitable. this—I’ve never been now, but I can improve
But what happens next? Some people may feel good at this. with time and effort.

demotivated, taking the difficulties as a sign that

they don’t have what it takes to succeed. Others
may see these difficulties as important parts of I give up—I can’t make I can improve if I keep
this any better! trying!
the journey—they feel driven to overcome these
challenges, as a way to improve and develop
one’s abilities and skills.
Most successful people
Academic research has explored these two If I fail, I am a failure.
fail along the way.
different perspectives people may hold, labeling
the idea that you have a set amount of ability
which can’t be increased a “fixed mindset” and I can’t do this—
Mistakes help me
the belief that your abilities can develop as a I keep on making
learn!
mistakes.
“growth mindset.” In general, holding a growth
mindset is associated with more persistence,
less anxiety, and better outcomes than holding
a fixed mindset. A growth mindset helps people
who get temporarily lost to reorient themselves
back in a productive direction, rather than just
thinking, “Oh well! I’m a bit lost so I’ll head home!”

How can you help students develop a growth mindset?

“Direct” Approaches: How to talk to your “Indirect” Approaches: How to create a
students about growth mindset “growth-oriented” context in your class
1  elp students develop a growth mindset by talking
H 1 
Pay attention to how you structure your class
about what it is and how to adopt it. Researchers and the signals it sends to your learners. Are
have used a variety of approaches to deliver this you structuring assignments in ways that reward
kind of a lesson, ranging from dedicated class incremental progress (e.g., requiring multiple
time to 1-hour online modules, and they can all be drafts, letting students rework problems for more
effective. credit)? Are you allowing your students some
meaningful choices in their own learning process,
so they can feel more in control?

2 After introducing growth mindset, ask your 2  onsider the language you use with students, and
C
students to write a brief letter to a student in make sure to highlight both the effort as well as
another school, or a student who will take the same approaches that are likely to lead to success. Pair
course in the future. The goal of the letter is to messages like, “Keep trying, I know you can get it!”
explain what growth mindset is, why they should with actionable steps they can take (e.g., “Before
adopt one, and some strategies to do so. Having your next attempt, why don’t you talk this problem
students do this exercise can help them internalize over with one of your classmates and see if you can
those ideas. figure out what part is giving you the most trouble.”)

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How do they determine their progress?
A student’s motivation is more likely to increase if they gauge their
progress by looking at their own improvements, rather than by
comparing themselves to others.
Some goals are self-focused—they use self-referenced improvement as their barometer
(e.g., “How have I developed from when I started?”)—which some researchers refer to as
“mastery goals.” Others may use their peers as a way to gauge their own achievement
(e.g., “How am I doing compared to everyone else?”), often labeled as “performance goals.”
Take a look at the differences:

Mastery Goals Performance Goals

Based on progress of their Use peers as a way to gauge

own improvements: “How have I their own achievement: “How am I
developed from when I started?” doing compared to everyone else?”

Associated with outcomes like If the information to be learned requires

improved interest and achievement, a lot of memorization, or is a skill that requires a
particularly for more complex tasks and skills. lot of repetition to master, performance goals can help
students stay focused and achieve higher test scores.

Related to more positive

emotions and less anxiety. Can lead to negative emotions, like anxiety.

Associated with more Associated with less effective

effective study strategies. study strategies like cramming.

You should encourage mastery goals as a general approach and think strategically
about places where performance goals can be used effectively.

It is important to have a classroom oriented more around progress than markers

of performance (like scores). Here are three ways you can achieve that:
1 Structure lessons and assignments so they continuously build off one another.

2 Demonstrate individual students’ progress compared to their own benchmarks.

3 Allow and encourage revision of work (where possible, such as submitting multiple
drafts of writing or reworking of incorrect homework problems).

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How rewarding is it?

Help students see that it’s worth the effort.

We all do this—either subconsciously or explicitly. We ask ourselves, “How hard is it going to

be?” and, “What do I get out of it?” before deciding to do a task. If students believe they have
the knowledge and skills to succeed and understand the value of what they’re doing, they are
more likely to be motivated.

How hard is it going to be? What do I get out of it?

Known as “Expectancy” Known as “Value”

• How good am I at these

kinds of tasks?
• How important is the task to
me?

• How hard does this

particular task look?
• What costs are associated
with doing it? (What do I have
to give up? What will happen
if I can’t do it?)

How to increase expectancies (the How to increase perceived value (how

student’s belief they will succeed) important the task is to the student)
1 Research has shown that experiencing 1 A task can be seen as valuable because it is
success (or even observing success of inherently pleasant (it is fun), because we
similar peers) can help learners feel can see how it will help us do something we
more likely to succeed in the future, so want to do (it is relevant), because it would
consider how to structure tasks so they increase our social standing (it looks good),
can have “quick wins” on the way to because it gives us some external reward
harder tasks. (we get something else of value when we do
it), or many other reasons.
2 Students’ beliefs about whether their
effort will lead to meaningful changes in 2 To help students see the relevance of what
their abilities can impact expectancies, they are learning to their own lives, ask
so try some of the approaches relating them to generate those connections for
to growth mindset discussed earlier. themselves. Across a number of studies,
when students are given prompts like,
3 Helping students set appropriate,
“Consider how what you are learning could be
challenging goals and providing task-
useful to you in your everyday life,” they come
oriented feedback and support can
up with interesting connections that help
promote students’ perceptions of their
them develop stronger interest in the topic
own likelihood to succeed.
and, potentially, higher achievement. This
effect seems more meaningful for “at-risk”
students—those with lower levels of interest
and expectancies for success in the course.

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How effective are incentives?

Carefully balance external rewards

with activities that increase internal motivation.
Another way of increasing motivation relies on extrinsic (external) factors—rewards of
various kinds, or the avoidance of punishment—rather than internal factors.
While it would not be a good idea to have people rely solely on extrinsic motivation, it
can have a place in the suite of tools available. This table will help you decide when it is
appropriate to use it:

Examples of extrinsic When this might be

When this isn’t effective
motivation effective
Positive feedback from
instructors or peers

Routine tasks (e.g., studying

• Deep thinking (e.g. writing
persuasive essays)
vocabulary terms)
• Creative tasks (e.g. solving
novel problems)

Grades
When students are placed into
When points are awarded based competition and have no clear
on clear milestones and evidence guidelines about how to earn
of desired behaviors and learning points. When there isn’t a clear
outcomes. link between the points and the
learning it takes to achieve them.

When you see behaviors you want to see more of (e.g., taking out notebook at beginning of
class to take notes, asking good questions, etc.), consider offering both praise and some kind
of reward (e.g., extra credit points, ability to choose a topic for an assignment, etc.), which
can help others see what behaviors are potentially going to lead to rewards.
Really, the key to consider is how to balance different kinds of approaches. While motivation
can certainly increase when rewards are introduced, a person who relies solely on extrinsic
factors is more likely to give up when things get hard, to lose interest, and to burn out. In
addition, when people start receiving extrinsic rewards for something they already enjoy
doing, it could lead to an “overjustification effect,” where the intrinsic motivation decreases
over time.
So, consider how to incorporate factors that we have talked about in this guide that improve
intrinsic motivation.

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The different aspects of motivation discussed in this guide provide potentially useful
ways of increasing students’ engagement and perseverance in their learning journey.
Here, two educators share their own stories about improving student motivation.

Motivating students at Solefield School, UK

There are many contributing factors to student motivation, show them a WAGOLL one (What A Good One Looks Like) and
however the one that stands out for me is the one that motivates a WARGOLL one (What A REALLY Good One Looks Like) and get
all of us: progress. We all like to feel that we are doing well and them to explain which features made the latter more effective.
that effort is being rewarded. Students are no exception. To feel Creating the checklist of features together makes it more
motivated, they need to understand where they are going; why memorable for the boys. It is easy to elicit the success criteria
it is important; how they can get there and whether they are from them and this system has the added bonus of discovering
being successful on that journey. For that reason, it is important additional features that the boys come up with themselves.
to map out your course; explain why the skills you are teaching
Instant feedback is also a key factor in student engagement
are useful; provide guidelines and exemplars to show how that
and the Solefield boys prefer to have verbal feedback after a
can be achieved and then offer frequent, (and instant—when
task, rather than wait for the next lesson to read the written
possible) descriptive feedback.
comments. Sometimes I get them to read their work aloud and
One of the factors that motivates the boys at Solefield School, is I drop a scrabble tile into a cup each time I hear something
having a real purpose and/or a platform to demonstrate their impressive. This way they understand the
newly acquired skills. For that reason, when teaching persuasive effectiveness of each sentence
writing, I get them to write letters to the Headmaster or the local they have written, or point
MP with the intention of creating real change. When studying they have made, immediately
speeches, we hold debates and I enter the boys into an annual after completing a task. Setting
public speaking competition. The boys love entering contests the boys individual targets or
so I submit their creative writing and stories to a number of ‘next steps’ at the end of each
writing competitions. Their magazine articles are published and task also helps steer them in
I regularly make booklets of student work to be distributed at the right direction on their
school, usually a poetry anthology or collection of stories. In learning journey.
class we devote time to talking about how these writing skills will
stand them in good stead for the future. After showing the boys Emma Snow, Head of
model pieces of work, together we work out a checklist of skills English, Solefield School, UK
that will help them achieve their goal. I find it most effective to

Promoting a growth mindset at Amarillo College, USA

The developmental math faculty at Amarillo College are According to Edie Carter, the Dean of Academic Success, many
particularly proud of the holistic measures they have of the students in these classes are first-generation college
incorporated into the courses to promote a growth mindset and students who may have a supportive network of family or
provide additional support for students. Some initiatives include: friends, but may not have the understanding of the pathway
that a student needs to travel through college. These measures
• Instructors meet one-on-one with students for a minimum
are designed to address and support those needs. For example,
of ten minutes each during their office hours to form a more
she says that many students will look down at the bracelet’s
personal bond and to break down barriers to each student’s
inspirational message when they are struggling and remember
success.
that they need to push through to success. As evidence of the
• Students review their tests and write reflective test journals bracelets’ impact in particular, Carter relates that faculty initially
to identify their mistakes and chronicle their progress intended to collect the bracelets at the end of each term to
throughout the semester. distribute to future students, but the students wanted to keep
them! Students describe their appreciation for all of the faculty’s
• Skill drills incorporate a unique motivational quote each day.
efforts, commenting: “The class was fast paced, but (my teacher)
• Accountability partners provide support, encouragement, and was thorough and allowed us the option
build community within the classroom, with each student to ask her to slow down and made
asked to partner with three other students in the classroom us feel comfortable when we
to work with and serve as a go-to person to contact if they are thought our questions were
running late, sick, confused on a deadline, etc. silly. She provided a wonderful
environment for learning,”
• Students receive encouragement bracelets at the beginning of and “Best format/regiment
each course with the motivational reminder that, “Success is for a math course I have ever
the Only Option.” taken.”

Edie Carter, Dean of Academic

Success, Amarillo College, USA

Are you using some of these strategies with your students? Tell us how. [email protected]

Cover illustration © Davide Bonnazi