Summary of " Motivation for Mandatory Courses

The article “Motivation for Mandatory Courses” is written by Professor Elsie Chan and published in the CDTL Brief in 2004. In this article, it clearly explains what the problem of negative motivation for mandatory for undergraduates is, why it comes from and the way of solving this problem. Firstly, the negative motivation is defined that “students are often motivated to succeed in the class only because they need to pass the module.” The author stresses that the intrinsic motivation helps the students do their best in modules. There are four main perspectives on intrinsic motivation: competence, curiosity, autonomy and internalized motivation. After the understanding of root of intrinsic motivation, the professor provides some practical ways to motivate students from his experience. He says that teachers could create a positive learning environment for students. Teachers can help students set a goal and action plan for learning, simultaneously; they can also help the student overcome a passive approach to the subjects and help students increase their sense of competence. For example, teaching with the help of multimedia tools, formation of discussion groups and problem solving project will excite the intrinsic motivation of students. Furthermore, the basic principles of motivation is through clear communication, setting tasks to engage students, creating situations that allow students make and correct mistakes and displaying the enthusiasm for the subject matter. Finally, he drew a conclusion that the negative motivation can be turned into positive motivation by creating a positive leaning environment with the knowledge of the root of motivation.


References

Chan, E.(2004). Motivation for Mandatory Courses. CDTL Brief, 7(3), retrieved October
21, 2007, from http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/brief/v7n3/default.htm.