Motivation: Can We Trigger Motivation in our Learners

I think we all had fun in class yesterday thinking about the many factors that may stimulate our learners to set a goal, extend effort even when something is difficult, and persevere in an effort to accomplish a learning goal.  We found that it is more than just the difficulty of the goal, it is also how we feel about ourselves. Do we think we can do it?  It is the goal itself; is it something we value?  What are the consequences of meeting the goal; will there be fame and fortune?  I've never understood when friends or colleagues would not try something new until this year when  a colleague of mine wanted me to try working with avatars.  You know, I just did not want to learn this.  I didn't perceive that I wanted to use the time I have to learn this new IT trick.  Maybe it is the first sign of getting old, I hope not, but this is the first time that I can remember that I was not motivated to learn something new.  Have you ever felt like that?  Is that how our students feel?  What can we do when they do?

Purposeful Observation & Feedback

Two of the most important gifts you can give your learners are... a) your attention and b) your feedback.  As we know from reading the Merriam text, observed experience is vital to assessing learning.  Some might say that anything else is just a proxy for understanding what the learner has truly learned.  Observation, however needs to be purposeful.  We need to know first what behaviors are expected then find "High Yield" situations likely to produce those behaviors if learned.  The other side of the coin is useful feedback; that is, feedback that would be useful in improving or sustaining good practice.  This session provided the opportunity to think about and practice observation and feedback... any comments?

Emotional Intelligence and Teaching

At the end of the session today, one of your class members came up and asked if I had any articles on teaching and Emotional Intelligence.  In trying to clarify this request, we found that we had two related but different questions.

• What has been written about teaching Emotional Intelligence?
• What has been written about how Emotional Intelligence can help improve our teaching?

There is a growing literature on strategies for teaching components of Emotional Intelligence.  Most prominent being teaching around developing empathy.  As to the second question, there is not a lot out there. 

Using Goleman's adapted 4 quadrant model, we could, as a group, write a rough draft of a "new article" by hypothesizing on how addressing each component of the model would translate into transformational teaching performance.  Try reflecting on this stimulus, or address other EI thoughts and issues

ALD 701 First Session

We had a busy morning and talked about ideas (my favorite things to discuss)

We talked about Constructivist Learning Theory and Social Cognitive Theory.  We talked about philosophies and beliefs about learning and teaching.  We talked briefly about Learning Styles and the impact of Learning Styles on instruction.  We did not address your chapter reading on Behavioral Learning Theory, so I hope at least one of you addresses the contribution Behaviorism has had on teaching and learning in the US. (although out of favor, it is still very much alive). 

I look forward to reading your posts...  Be sure to respond to one of your colleagues ideas