The COVID-19 pandemic made clear just how critical it is to find the most effective ways to reach learners. As instruction moved online, teachers were left wondering — “how can I translate classroom teaching tactics to a video platform?” Thereafter, with the announcement of NEP 2020 and the recent launch of the NCF – Foundational Stage (2022), it is more than evident that the GOI-MoE is very serious on revamping the educational system in our country. The processes and efforts are focussed now on redefining India’s educational system into one that moves away from the age-old, rigid & inflexible, disconnected, memory-rote based learning methods, to the one that will nurture deep understanding, real-life relevance and the building of core competencies with 21^st Century skills.

Given this scenario, it is all the more reason for Educators across the country to upskill and empower themselves with knowledge, skills, attitudes and insights on gradually transforming content, pedagogy, learning environment and assessments to match-up to and comply with NEP 2020 expectations

“Knowledge is not power, knowing a concept is only potential value. The execution of knowledge is where the power lies.
~ Tony Robbins

The above quote in a sense is an understatement of what is required in the education world today – rightly said – “…the EXECUTION of knowledge is where the power lies.”

Apart from the regular 50 hrs of training and skill enrichment sessions that teachers are encouraged to complete annually, a question that is puzzling teachers today is “How do I empower myself to plan the new way?” The answer lies in Instructional Design; instructors can leverage its theories and models to create effective lessons, regardless of the setting.

This article focusses on demystifying Instructional Design or ID and its undeniable importance in the realm of Student Learning. In fact, many educationists believe that ID should (some say ‘must’) become a core component of B Ed / M Ed / PDEM, MEdM / programmes. While ID is applicable for instructional designs for training across education, workplace, NGOs, governance, corporates, business houses, banks, etc., we will focus on ID in school education.

WHAT IS INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN?

In short, instructional design is the process by which learning products and experiences are designed, developed, and delivered and may include online courses, instructional manuals, video tutorials, learning simulations, informational resources and evaluation.

But short, may not always be enough to fully fathom the concept; so, let us explore some technical definitions that every educator can connect to in an instant! Here goes, instructional design is …

Instructional Design Central:

“… the process by which learning products and experiences are designed, developed, and delivered. These learning products include online courses, instructional manuals, video tutorials, learning simulations, etc. The terms instructional design, instructional technology, learning experience (LX) design, curriculum design, and instructional systems design (ISD), are sometimes used interchangeably.”

Wikipedia:

“… the analysis of learning needs and systematic development of instruction. ISD models typically specify a method, that if followed will facilitate the transfer of knowledge, skills and attitude to the recipient or acquirer of the instruction.”

Umich:

“… the systematic development of instructional specifications using learning and instructional theory to ensure quality of instruction.”… “the entire process of analysis of learning needs and goals as well as the development of delivery systems to meet those needs (e.g. instructional materials, activities, assessments; as well as the try-out and evaluation of the instruction and learner activities.”

Merrill, Drake, Lacy, Pratt (1996):

“… a framework for developing modules or lessons.”

Reiser, Dempsey (2007):

“… a systematic process that is employed to develop education and training programmes in a consistent and reliable fashion.”

RELATED TERMS

Along with Instructional Design, we should know about some other terms that are a part of the ID process:

1. “Educational Technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.” Source: www.cjlt.ca

   “The term educational technology is often associated with, and encompasses, instructional theory and learning theory. While instructional technology is ‘the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning,’ educational technology includes other systems used in the process of developing human capability. It includes, but is not limited to, software, hardware, as well as Internet applications, such as wiki’s, blogs, and activities.” Source: www.wikipedia.org

   Educational technology, sometimes termed EdTech, is the study and ethical practice of facilitating e-learning, which is the learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources. It includes other systems used in the process of developing human capability.” Source: www.edtech.wikia.com

2. “Learning Experience Design (LX), an emerging discipline, draws from other disciplines including experiential learning, cognitive psychology, interaction design, user experience design, instructional design and design thinking.” Source: www.learningexperiencedesign.com

   “Learning Experience Design™ (LX or LX Design)—a synthesis of instructional design, educational pedagogy, neuroscience, social sciences, design thinking, and UI/UX—is critical for any organization looking to compete in the modern educational marketplace.” Source: www.sixredmarbles.com

3. “Instructional Designers are the PEOPLE who create and deliver learning products for business, K-12 education, higher education and government organizations.”

BENEFITS OF INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

Any project with evaluated needs, a clear goal, detailed plan, process-flow and measurement of achievement as one proceeds, is bound to be a success; e.g., take the architect’s plan as you build a house.

Likewise, using the theories of instructional design to build TL processes can have immense positive benefits for learners, educators, trainers and curriculum planners. Regardless of the where in society it is used OR what the targeted goals are, those seeking to make effective learning / training systems MUST understand the theories, tools and processes of Instructional Design. One can then consistently expect these benefits:

• Creation of focused/customized programs
• Encouragement for more student participation (interactive instructional design)
• Setting clear and measurable objectives
• Creating consistency
• Simplifying learning and making it more relevant for students

One must not forget though, that these benefits have a domino effect from one anchoring principle —that instructional design is a systematic process rooted in theory. This ensures that instructional designers can maximise their knowledge & skills to propose and design the ‘most ideal’ instructional activities and assessments that align with the desired learning objectives for the target audience.

PRIMARY COMPONENTS OF INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN

Having understood the WHAT and WHY of instructional design, we see that the MOST important components or the 3 pillars at the core are none other than:

• Clear goals & objectives
• Learning Activities
• Assessments

The Magic Triangle of Learning

School and higher education educators are quite familiar with the 3 pillars, since they outline the Learning Design Framework and are used for regular lesson planning. They encapsulate what is termed as the Magic Triangle of Learning.

The triangle represents the relationship between the 3 elements and while they appear distinct and separate, they must be considered as supporting each other.

Instructional design is most effective and learning outcomes are most successful when the three pillars are built with the “intention of interdependence.”

Objectives – are the goals or learning outcomes that describe what the learner will be capable of (in terms of knowledge-skills-attitude-behaviour) at the end of a learning programme.

Learning Activities – these refer to the actions / hands on experiences the instructional designer plans during the Design Phase and the learner / student carries out to learn in the Implementation Phase.

Assessments – Encompassing tools such as tests, projects and presentations, assessments form part of the third vertex of the Magic Triangle. They are also created during the Design Phase and must be aligned with both the Learning Objectives and Learning Activities.

The balance and the interplay among the 3 is vital; if one or more of these three components is not optimal, then learners could become discouraged, confused, bored, or unhappy; thereby negatively affecting learning outcomes.

Once the above 3 core aspects have been formulated, designers then proceed with creating learning solutions that determine HOW the learning, activities and assessments will proceed. They should be:

• Theory-driven
• Query-driven
• Data-driven
• Outcomes-driven

EXAMPLES OF INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN MODELS

While using instructional design to develop curriculum, TL practices, activities/experiences and evaluation, educators can use any of these 5 popular models:

1. Bloom’s Taxonomy

“A hierarchical ordering of cognitive skills that can help teachers teach and students learn.” As you can see it has 6 levels ascending from lower-level learning to higher level learning.

It is this taxonomy that is used to create the Learning Objectives in behavioural terms (the verbs indicate what the learner can do.)

2. ADDIE Model

An acronym which stands for Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation and Evaluation — is used as a process guide when developing effective training tools. While the model was originally developed to be hierarchical, today it is often used with a continuous ‘iterative’ approach – the five phases are first followed in order. Once complete, the model can re-start from the analysis phase to continue improving the end product.

A number of factors stretched the capabilities of the original ADDIE process, like – increasingly complex job requirements, constant changes in the instructional environment, and emerging instructional technologies and instructional development tools. This resulted in a revision of the ADDIE model to be adaptable, making it more interactive and dynamic to today’s instructional environments. For instance, it was found that in many new iterations of the ADDIE process, evaluation assumed a central function that took place at every phase.

3. Iterative Design

Calls for “incrementally developing and refining a design, based on feedback and evaluation.” The iterative process is an approach to continuously improving a concept, design, or product. Creators produce a prototype, test it, tweak it, and repeat the cycle with the goal of getting closer to the most ideal solution.

Additional instructional design models have been spun out of iterative design including Rapid Prototyping and the Spiral Model.

4. SAM Model

Short for Successive Approximation Model, it is a simplified version of the ADDIE Model. It develops instructional material through iterations and is an agile process created for performance-driven learning.

The model is broken down into three large phases:

• the preparation phase,
• the iterative design phase, and
• the iterative development phase.

Where the SAM Model differs is that feedback is collected earlier so designers can build working models earlier in the process. Where ADDIE processes are quite linear, SAM is a recursive process.

5. Learning Circle Framework

An instructional design model that works in three phases: target, create and launch.

• The target phase defines the focus of the content, the audience, and any other information that should be considered when creating the material.
• The create phase where the learning materials are created, tested, and revised.
• Finally, there is the launch phase, which is concerned with material delivery.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A “GOOD” INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNER

Instructional Designers are an essential part of any learning program. Whether in schools, universities, or businesses, they play a critical role in the learning and development space. They are responsible for creating learning experiences that are beneficial to learners and provide them with the knowledge-skills-attitudes and tools they need to succeed in life.

For a Learning System / Programme to be successful, the Instructional Designer must have these qualities:

• Knowledge of technology and basics of education
• Knowledge of the developmental milestones in children and how children learn (if designing for schools)
• Knowledge of the ID models described above
• Basics of human psychology and recognition of audience needs
• Efficient skills in – oral and visual + artistic presentation, communication, teamwork, conviction, collaboration and project management against deadlines.

In addition, they also need to factor in the importance of the learning process being easy cum challenging for the level of individual learners, engaging and fun, and finally, outcome-based and effective. It involves developing new ideas and guidelines on how new technologies can be used in the physical learning space or metaverse!

If you are keen on upskilling yourself with a course on Instructional Design, you may like to explore these:
https://findbestcourses.com/instructional-design-courses-india/

IN CONCLUSION

Understanding the basics of ID is one thing; but it is equally important to understand where instructional design is headed these days. Given that learning programmes need to be designed for students, teachers, workplace employees, just about anywhere and for anyone, a new trend emerging in this field is called Microlearning.

Microlearning is the idea that instructional materials can and should be crafted in small digestible segments that learners can access wherever they are. Learners who commute long distances or have time pockets between 2 activities / 2 places that they need to be at, can learn from these bite-sized learning capsules, which may have just one learning objective. So Instructional Designers can create Microlearning instructional materials that can be fitted into that timeframe, accessible from any device, so that learners can complete the micro-module before the next scheduled event.

We hope this article has provided some basic understanding about Instructional Design, its relevance today, benefits, tools & models. It also stresses upon the importance of education planners embracing ID into their work life, as a throughline, across all realms of Learning Systems. ID can give you Power Beyond Measure, the QEDRAK theme for 2023!

Mathematics is omnipresent and required by everyone! As an integral part of school curriculum worldwide today, Mathematics is one of the core fundamentals in the formal educational system. It is an important subject with broad applicability to everyday life and yet, mathematics is often considered as a difficult subject in schools (Kaur, 2017). Read on to know more about how we can turn the tide by understanding how a student’s attitude towards the subject plays a very important role in getting ‘MADdened by Math‘ OR enjoying the subject and ‘Being MAD About Math‘!

The journey of MATHEMATICS can either be a cake-walk, or hang like a Damocles’ sword over the heads of students, parents and educators alike. The seemingly easy confidence and stellar performance in pre-school numeracy through primary school arithmetic, progressively dissipates for many by the middle school – when concepts become more complex, varied and require more than 4 step calculations, a lot of patience and of course the time old adage – practice, practice, practice!

Familiar statements? When and why does the FUN with numbers turn into a FEAR of Mathematics!

As early as Grade 1, students can start demonstrating negative attitudes towards learning mathematics and this gradually develops into a form of mathematics anxiety (Hornigold, 2015). Students find mathematics a boring and disengaging subject (Colgan, 2014); they hate mathematics, and try to avoid it due to the stress associated with remembering formulae, steps and being accurate with the answer. Even teachers and parents have negative attitudes towards mathematics; it is expressed as a hard subject relegated to the elitist lot – inaccessible, uninteresting, not cool nor engaging for normal people, and certainly not for girls (Boaler, 2016).

The key to making Mathematics a FUN subject lies in the approach taken. The QEDRAK team has experienced Math in the classroom and has researched extensively on how to shift the attitude from MADdened By MATH to MAD About MATH! We’ve put together a list of some of the ways we had explored and we hope they will help students in your class also love Math.

Math games

Online or in-class Math games are tried-and-tested methods for bringing excitement and healthy competition while learning Math. These games can align your lesson plan and robustly engage your students.

Visual aids and picture books

Charts, picture books and other visual aids can help Visual Learners unravel the mysteries behind new concepts and offer quick look-up tips as they work. Students can be encouraged to make their own visual aids to reinforce the key terms and concepts! Picture books are also a great way to engage students that prefer seeing and reading to written math work.

Using Digital Technology

When it comes to teaching math, ICT & digital technology like smartphones, tablets, laptops (which have vastly impacted student learning in the last 2 years), can broaden horizons and offer students different ways to engage with math on their own terms and at their own pace. Students will apply and reinforce current, or previously learned standards, in an independent learning rotation using technology.

Take a hands-on approach & encourage physical involvement

We all know that worksheets aren’t always the most ‘engaging’ way to reinforce concepts. Strategies that encourage movement out of the seats or just engaging in hands-on learning activities can help a variety of different learners. For the kinesthetic learners, you need to be really innovative about making math a DO and LEARN experience. This involves finding real-life examples of formulas and concepts, or including student interests in relevant work problems.

Stick to fixed routines

Building a familiar tested math class routine can comfort students into feeling settled and confident when math class starts, especially the ones with fear about Math. At the onset, outline expectations and what students need to bring to class, whether that’s a sharp pencil and paper, or just a sharp mind!

• To start your lesson, pick something interesting and unfamiliar, whether it’s introducing a new concept or reviewing an old one.
• Spend the middle of your lesson teaching or giving your class hands-on experience with new concepts.
• End the class on a high note with quick activities that reinforce learning.

Use real objects & apply lessons to life

To help students picture abstract math concepts in the real world, you can try some Math tools that can be incorporated into problem-solving activities for varied ways to learn. A common phrase heard in many math classrooms is, “Are we really ever going to this in real life?” To help students understand the benefits and wonder of math, relate what they’re learning to the real world!

Use interesting and engaging questions + humour too!

Students love stories, so word problems are a great way to connect student interests in Math. The excitement to find their favourite literary or TV show character or their own names on your next handout will energise the class or and make them excite for HW. Don’t forget to add humour!

While you may be a master at framing word problems, try a flipped approach of getting students to frame word problems using their understanding of the concept. Students feel engaged and you get your answer on the level of conceptual clarity.

Integrate math into other subjects

Whether it’s statistics in social studies or dimensions in art and sports fields, there are endless ways to connect math topics and excite students into learning wide & deep. Ensure that some math talk happens in other subjects as part of interdisciplinary teaching activities to help students stay engaged — especially if the second subject appears more interesting. This provides a holistic real-life picture.

Focus on your students & Address learning issues promptly

Many educators get through the annual curriculum by teaching in a time-bound flow, with a one-size-fits-all approach. Particularly for Math, a shift to Student-Centred Learning techniques can help a teacher support the needs of every student. The SCL technique involves kids in decisions about their studies, which helps them to build a growth mindset and make connections between concepts.

Learning issues can crop up at any time. If you notice students falling behind (or racing ahead), address it early to avoid any long-term engagement problems.

Encourage communication with students and parents

Knowing your students well and connecting regularly with parents are both equally important. PTMs and Post-It-notes home are ways for you to share positive notes and get meaningful insights from parents about how students feel about math. Math journaling as well Entry Slips & Exit Slips after each class, allow students to reflect on what they’re struggling with, what they enjoy doing and where they think they need more practice.

Finally, it would be fair to say that mathematics is NOT everyone’s favourite subject, since we are all gifted differently. However, with a POSTIVE approach and support of Parents & Teachers, any student can be made to understand basic everyday mathematics.

There’s NO one-size-fits-all solution for engaging a Math class, because it’s a process that looks and feels different for every student. We discussed many techniques – don’t be afraid to mix it up and try different techniques to make math fun in your classroom! See which ones your class responds to best, then use them to keep your students loving math class.

The Success Mantra is – Keep your Math Class FUN and INTERACTIVE, with SURPRISE elements and connected with REAL-LIFE.

Hello and greetings from QEDRAK!

This time’s blog is in the QED-SYNC segment, i.e. for Educators! Let’s begin by complimenting all of you for being YOU…. Passionate Educators with a desire to make a difference in the lives of the students you mentor; selflessly and endlessly, be it for a term or a year or (for the lucky few) spanning a few years with the same batch!

Maintaining student engagement, interest, focus, and excitement for learning can be quite challenging. You may have already read and heard our previous series titled MOTIVATING THE LEARNERS.

However, as you become ensconced in teaching, you may find that you need a refresher – with a range of different ideas and tricks to keep your students ‘excited about learning’.

A common scenario facing educators is that you notice the students in your class seem to be tiring out or losing interest, more so with the online scenario, (which we hope will soon phase into a blended model, if not completely Offline).

We get it! Every class cannot be 100% effective, or a ‘Eureka!’ moment or a ‘creative’ insight.

But there ARE a couple of ways that you can have your kids more focussed and ‘back on track’. They will help both the short-term and the long-term ‘excitement for learning’ mindset of students and help them to focus and concentrate in your class.

Here are some simple, doable and amazing short-term ‘Excitement Building’ ideas that you could try while teaching:

1. Define the Objectives Clearly

If you have a detailed lesson plan ready with goals, objectives and learning outcomes, a good idea would be to clearly state what you expect students to learn at the beginning of a session.

Students have a clearer direction and vision to keep going if they know where they are headed and what is expected of them.

2. Clearly define the study schedule

Students also like to know, in advance, how long a particular exercise or part of the class is likely to last. If your students know that you will be starting an activity after half the class is over, they are less likely to waste time wondering what the accessories on your table are for.

3. Change your Sessions style

If you always follow the same routine, and worse still use the traditional method of talking through a topic and then getting the class to answer a question sheet individually, they’ll get bored.

However, if, for example, you start with a game OR you can show your class a relevant short film and then get them to brainstorm their ideas in groups to put on a poster, they will use a multitude of personal, thinking and social skills and learning approaches. So, go ahead and experiment with different styles of teaching, different ways to introduce a topic, different ways of assessing their ongoing knowledge and retention, and discover what works best for that topic and that group.

4. Sneak in some WHITE bribes!

Social studies teachers are well aware of the British ruling style of the ‘carrot and stick’ approach. Well, at times as educators, it isn’t a sin to indulge in a wee bit of the same, which we call WHITE bribes!

Telling your students that they can play a learning game at the end of the lesson if they have done the necessary written work can help to keep them on task, and within the planned time schedule.

‘White bribes’ can be truly magical for subject areas which are difficult for the students to relate to. Answer their question: ‘Why do I need to learn this …. How is it going to help me?’

5. Get a pulse on their Understanding

In other words – assess your student’s learning, even mid-way through the lesson. Alerting them that there will be a quick quiz at the end of the session or the start of the next one, usually helps to ensure that students listen to you.

A quick quiz of ten basic questions will give you a quick insight into their level of engagement, alertness and understanding. Of course, the praise that you offer to the best scores will be encouraging for the others.

These were the simple Short-term excitement building techniques.

Although short-term energisers can help get you and your students through a teaching session, long-term ‘stay on track’ strategies have the potential to be a lot more powerful.

Here are some Long-term ‘Excitement Building’ tips:

Create a Good Atmosphere in your Sessions

The class mood and atmosphere can set the perfect learning environment. Students are most likely to do well if …

• They offer encouragement to one another;
• If they feel that they can make mistakes without being laughed at or ticked off. They are unlikely to take risks unless they are supported in doing so.
• If you praise those who try and don’t tolerate those who discourage others from trying.

Relate Current Outcomes to Life and a Future Assessment

The success of the journey of learning is dependent on how well students relate the new knowledge to everyday life AND, if you can relate the learning outcomes to the upcoming assessment. Telling your class roughly what grade or score they are likely to get by working at their current level is often highly motivating, especially if it is lower than they would wish.

Talking to the class as a whole means that everybody is involved and the energy of the group is likely to improve as a result. Needless to say, you may still wish to individually address some students who require a harder push or motivation or have a special need.

Feedback after assessment or in class observation

This is one aspect that is often missed in the best of schools and is a glaring gap in education these days – offering quality, individualised and timely feedback to each student.

As a student, if I am NOT aware of the finer detail or If I attempt the questions too slowly and don’t reach the last one or I don’t know where I erred and for what I lost out on the grades, then the learning pathway ahead will be static. It won’t move, I WON’T show any progress.

So, make sure you set aside enough time for feedback. Finding that they can improve their grades by trying some simple techniques can be a great vitamin pill to make them focus on the grey areas and shoot for higher achievement.

However, if you consistently tell your students that they need to work harder, even when they have performed well for you, they will become very disenchanted.

Similarly, excessive praise for an easy task may encourage them to believe that they can get away with anything. Be honest, positive yet realistic with your feedback.

Building Class Rapport

Looking back, as students ourselves, we have all wanted to do better & that little bit more for teachers that we ‘liked’, isn’t it?

The excitement to welcome them with enthusiasm, taking extra care to be attentive and to do his/her HW more neatly. I am sure many of us have been there and done it. Analyse what was different in the TL practices of those memorable gurus. Rapport building! Connecting!

Building a rapport with students beyond academic demands, is a very important long term ‘excitement’ strategy. And this is not applicable to class teachers alone; but also, to the transient subject teachers that the time table forces in and out of classes for brief periods during the day.

To keep the excitement alive – be different.

On some days, engage them in discussion or an activity that helps you to bond with them, and avoid judging their effort or the outcome. It may also be worth asking particular students to stay behind for a ‘small chat’ with you: they may be happy to express themselves with you individually and in private, on matters that they would never raise before others.

Peer Talk

Sharing good as well as unsuccessful classroom practices with peer teachers is a great way to be on the same page and plan as a team. If there is a particular student whose performance is worrisome, it might be worth finding out if that is only your perception, or if the team also shares the same worry.

If a specific teacher is in charge of their pastoral care, they should know about your concerns and might be aware of an explanation for them, such as a family or health issue. This would help you to then change the learning style and approach for that student.

Parents as Partners

Schools that connect regularly and in faith with Parents, seem to achieve greater success in student achievements.

Most schools have some parent – teacher meetings during the school year. This is an ideal time to either ask parents to support you in motivating a student to work harder, and/ or to gain insight into any aspect of the child’s life outside school that may be hindering their performance. For some, the frequency and nature of the meetings would vary depending on individual need. With parental support, the excitement for learning can be holistically kept alive more meaningfully and for a longer time.

Building excitement for differentiated learners

Our classroom is a mixed bag of the ‘super capable’, ‘less able’ and ‘average’ students. The ‘less able’ students struggle to stay motivated if no amount of work brings them a top grade. Similarly, ‘super capable’ students may feel cheated if an average student is celebrated for achieving the kind of good grade that they manage effortlessly all the time.

Here’s a tip – it may help if you can plan for some goal setting and give students their individual ‘target grade’, so that they feel assessed in terms of their own ability. Setting target grades requires good knowledge of your students and may be done best in consultation with colleagues, but it is worth it if your students feel that they are aiming at something realistic and achievable.

Students in the ‘driver’s seat’

Hmmm, letting go of the control of ‘teaching’ in your class can make some teachers feel really shaky. But, the whole focus of modern day education (including the goals of NEP 2020), is towards putting students ‘ in-charge’, making them ‘responsible’ and ‘accountable’. When they engage completely, mind-body-spirit, in the learning process they are excited.

So PUT THEM in the driver’s seat and see how the journey of learning unfolds before you – through self-learning, peer learning, research, discussion and so much more. Your role becomes that of the navigator; keeping watch as an alert and mindful mentor; at times becoming a participant to revive the excitement.

No, not by giving them the ready-made answers, but suggesting different points of view and by asking further questions to solutions they come up with, to push for HOT and HOL (levels 4-5-6 in the Bloom Pyramid).

“Teaching for life-long learning, is more about asking the right questions than giving the right answers.”

So, Educators, these were just a couple of the short term and long-term ideas for building ‘excitement for learning’ in your classroom. In finality, remember . . . your ultimate goal is not just to give your students some knowledge, but to aid their development as individuals with their unique abilities, interests, pace & styles, each developing future readiness in all aspects.

Good Teachers introduce new thoughts,
Great Teachers introduce new ways of thinking.

Good Teachers care about the subjects,
Great Teachers care about each student.

Good Teachers teach us what they know,
Great teachers teach us how to learn.

– Adam Grant

Be a GREAT teacher and kick in the Excitement for Learning in your classroom!

Hello from Team QEDRAK!

If, you have chanced upon this blog, we recommend that you first listen to the Podcast titled Learning to Motivate the Learner – Part 1, to familiarise yourself with the topic, before proceeding.

If, however, you have reached this blog AFTER listening to the podcast titled Learning to Motivate the Learner – Part 1, then please continue reading.

As Educators, we all know deep within that ‘extrinsic motivations’ such as grades, standardized tests and financial rewards, are merely temporary incentives that cannot provide the desired ‘sustainable framework’ for quality learning, higher studies, goal accomplishments and future careers.

How then can we encourage our ‘future world citizens’ to develop their own determination to learn and succeed? How do we develop their ‘intrinsic motivation’, which we all agree, is more lasting and effective?

We must first acknowledge that there are 3 major components of motivation: –

• Activation involves the decision to initiate a behaviour towards a goal, such as – engaging in self-study to keep abreast with the class.
• Persistence is the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist. An example of persistence would be putting in extra hours every day (at the cost of some fun, games, movie, etc.) to ensure that one has had enough practice and that one is prepared at all times.
• Intensity can be seen in the concentration and vigour that goes into pursuing a goal. For example, one student might coast by without much effort, while another student will study regularly, participate in discussions, and take advantage of research opportunities outside of class. The first student lacks intensity, while the second pursues the educational goals with greater intensity.

The degree of each of these components of motivation can impact whether or not a student will achieve the goal. Strong activation, for example, means that the student is more likely to start pursuing a goal. Persistence and intensity will determine if the student will keep working toward that goal and how much effort s/he will devote to reach it.

Although it seems paradoxical to us to ‘extrinsically’ motivate our students to ‘intrinsically’ motivate themselves to be able to engage in Activation-Persistence-Intensity, there are 5 main areas in which educators can help to create an environment that will offer the ideal conditions for intrinsic motivation to develop in their students. They are:

• Area 1: Establish relationships with students and build on their strengths
• Area 2: Give the students choices whenever possible
• Area 3: Whenever you can’t give students choices, find ways to make it relevant
• Area 4: Model goal-setting and goal-tracking
• Area 5: Offer Consistent and Constructive Feedback

Within each of these areas, there are doable strategies to gain the trust of your students and learn what is meaningful to them. We hope that you will find these useful in motivating your learners.

A. Establish relationships with students and build on their strengths

“Positive relationships between teachers and students are among the most commonly cited variables associated with effective instruction. If the relationship is strong, instructional strategies seem to be more effective.” – says Robert Marzano.

Here are some great ways to build motivation by establishing sound relationships with your students.

Strategy 1: Let students show what they value most.

Strategy 2: Make better decisions by keeping and using ‘telling’ data about your students.

Strategy 3: Ask students what they expect from you and make sure you meet their expectations.

B. Give the students choices whenever possible

Many educators, agree that a sense of autonomy is a major factor in intrinsic motivation. Though there are many requirements for teachers regarding the required skills for each level, we do, generally, have autonomy over the way we can teach and assess these skills. We have the opportunity to offer some choices to the students, especially in all these areas:

Strategy 5: Give students options for HOW they want to learn something.

Strategy 6: Let students CHOOSE their own assessments.

C. Whenever you can’t give students choices, find ways to make it relevant

Students need to see connections between what they are learning and their own lives in order to feel compelled to exert effort. How many times have we heard, “When are we going to use this?” from our students (or said it ourselves)? If we can show how our lessons apply to our students’ lives, their engagement will be stronger–and, of course, that leads to greater motivation!

This is where the interest inventories and other relationship-building activities will become useful. Try some of these ideas to make real-world connections.

Strategy 7: Leverage social media.

Strategy 8: Create authentic learning experiences instead of abstract challenges.

Strategy 9: Integrate pop culture into your lessons using song lyrics, memes and clips from movies and television shows.

D. Model goal-setting and goal-tracking

When students are intrinsically motivated, they are not concerned about receiving the highest grade in the class or winning a trophy for their accomplishments. They care more about measuring their own learning and progress and less about comparing themselves to others. Here are some ways you can help them to monitor goals and achievements:

Strategy 10: Publicize goals to help students to stay accountable.

Strategy 11: Use ICT to create Vision Boards and Online Notice Boards.

Strategy 12: Give opportunities to reflect on those goals.

E. Offer Consistent and Constructive Feedback

How often have we seen some teachers underline entire assignments as s/he reads them, then write a “B” at the top of the papers–with no explanation. As you can imagine, this information is meaningless for the student, and provides no advice / guidance / direction and no opportunity for growth.

Strategy 13: Give effective and objective feedback.

Strategy 14: Give meaningful praise that will help students to know what they are doing right.

Strategy 15: Give timely feedback.

And Finally….

It is our duty as educators, however, to dissuade our students from continuously searching for immediate gratification. As we show our students that they can trust us to care about what is important to them and to work in their best interests, they will gradually learn the value of learning for their own sakes. They will find it is much more fulfilling to drive themselves than to have others drive them.