Using Technology to Motivate Students free essay sample

Heafner, T. (2004). Using technology to motivate students to learn social studies. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 4(1), 42-53. Using Technology to Motivate Students to Learn Social Studies Tina Heafner University of North Carolina at Charlotte Abstract Many teachers struggle with motivating students to learn. This is especially prevalent in social studies classrooms in which students perceive social studies as boring (Schug, Todd, Berry, 1984; Shaughnessy Haladyana, 1985). This article advocates the use of technology in social studies as a means to motivate students by engaging students in the learning process with the use of a familiar instructional tool that improves students’ selfefficacy and self-worth. The potential that technology has to motivate students is discussed as it relates to expectancy-value model of motivation which focuses three areas of motivational theory (Pintrich Schunk, 1996): value (students’ beliefs about the importance or value of a task), expectancy (students’ beliefs about their ability or skill to perform the task), and affective (emotional reactio ns to the task and self-worth evaluation). We will write a custom essay sample on Using Technology to Motivate Students or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Recently, during fieldwork, the author was observing in a high school government class. The social studies concepts discussed in the lesson were political parties, the role of campaigning, and the impact of media on citizens’ decisions. The teacher integrated a variety of traditional and constructivist instructional methods. She incorporated a brief lecture, questioning strategies to discuss readings, graphic organizers, and video clips of recent election campaign commercials. Despite her efforts to engage students, the class was chaotic. What follows is an excerpt from the author’s field notes describing the complexities of the classroom environment. Twenty -five students are seated in pods of four. One girl in the back is putting on eyeliner and eye shadow. She frequently chats with two boys seated at her table. She proceeds to mash zits. Two girls and one boy socialize in the back of the class. They are more concerned about the social complexities of the school rather than listening. However, periodically one will shout out a correct answer without interrupting the flow of the social conversation. One girl, sitting in the back of the class, totally isolates herself and has no verbal or nonverbal communication with her peers or the teacher. A quiet boy and two girls sit at a table located in the front of the class. They do not share comments and appear to be intimidated by their peers. 42 Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 4(1) A girl on the other side of the class begins to sing and continues to do so periodically throughout the class time. Another girl gets up and walks around the room. She is told to sit down, which she does, and in five minutes gets up and walks around again. She is struggling to stay in her seat and is clearly unconcerned with the class discussion. A boy in the center of the class covers his head with his hood, lays his head down, and goes to sleep. Two other girls at his table are engaged in a conversation about who will be homecoming queen. What is a teacher to do with a class like this? This is a perplexing situation, yet a common dilemma teachers encounter. Many teachers struggle with the lack of student interest in the content which translates into a lack of motivation to learn. This is especially prevalent in social studies classrooms. Research indicates that students often are uninterested in social studies because they perceive it as a boring subject (Schug, Todd, Berry, 1984; Shaughnessy Haladyana, 1985). Students tend to equate uninteresting with unimportant; thus, students are not motivated to learn social studies content due to the lack of value of the content. Educators suggest that lack of student interest in social studies is related to the instructional methods utilized in disseminating information (Martorella, 1997). This paper describes my investigation of technology integration in social studies instruction to build an understanding of why technology is being used to teach social studies content. Given the nature of social studies instruction and the need to engage students in the learning process, I selected motivational theory as a theoretical frame for this research. Motivational Theory To clarify a general misconception, motivation and ability are not equivalent. Motivation refers to what a person will attempt, yet ability is defined as what a person can do (Pintrich Schunk, 1996). Thus, the purpose of motivation theory is to explain student behavior and influence future behavior. Recent theories of motivation can be categorized as variations of expectancy-value model of motivation (Pintrich Schunk, 1996). This model focuses on three areas: value (students’ beliefs about the importance or value Figure 1. Expectancy -Value Model of a task), expectancy (students’ beliefs about their ability or skill to perform the task), and affective (emotional reactions to the task and self-worth evaluation). Figure 1 represents the 43 Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 4(1) relationship between the three areas of expectancy -value motivational theory (Pintrich Schunk, 1996). First, task-value motivational theory addresses the question of why an individual completes a task.

Business Management Vs Leadership - Critical Analysis Essay

Business Management Vs Leadership - Critical Analysis EssayI am writing this article to get a sample critical analysis essay of management vs. leadership in a business setting. There are many components to a business management vs. leadership statement.The second component is an essay which will be based on the first part. In a critical analysis essay, the essay will ask the question of 'why.' The essay will not only ask about why the statement was made. It will also present and contrast what would be the results if the change is not made.In a business, the vision and mission of the company will come from its founders, but today, most companies are owners and managers. The original purpose and vision of the company are no longer a necessity. What happens when that vision is changed?First, it will become a goal that employees want to achieve, a goal that they will strive for to be successful, but the customer will be the primary driver behind their success. Second, their customers wil l have a greater impact on their business, but it will become the 'third part' which will be a corporate board, in order to maintain its ability to make the most profits, which may require ownership, but the philosophy of ownership, no longer needs to dictate their success.Ownership has been replaced by leadership, as an avenue to success. Once the individuals, who were the vision and mission of the company, are replaced by those who are the owner, and the customers are taken out of the equation, then the original goals and the ability to be successful in achieving them, no longer exist. The business can no longer fulfill its true purpose.Freedom of choice, creativity, and independence will no longer exist, but the results of freedom and creativity must still be valued by the owner, but the original purpose is not. The results of free will and independence are not as important to the business as profits.The third part, ownership, and the freedom of choice and creativity will be repl aced by the board, whose philosophy is the belief that the role of the manager is no longer needed. The goal is to have the job done so well, that no one has to be at the helm. However, there will still be competition, but competition will not bring a better value for the owner.As I mentioned in the beginning, this analysis of business vs. leadership is for the 'individual people,' and not to give answers to a question. This is meant to show a person the results that a situation will have, and if they do not like it, or if they choose to ignore it, it may not be fair.