{"id":1502,"date":"2020-12-15T10:48:55","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T10:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/?p=1502"},"modified":"2021-04-28T10:18:27","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T09:18:27","slug":"motivation-strategies-for-online-engagement-reflections-from-the-last-academy-forum-in-semester-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/2020\/12\/15\/motivation-strategies-for-online-engagement-reflections-from-the-last-academy-forum-in-semester-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Motivation strategies for online engagement \u2013  reflections from the last Academy Forum in Semester One"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For the last Academy Forum in Semester One we chose one of the most common topics raised by teaching staff; how to motivate students, particularly when it comes to online learning?<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1503\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/files\/2020\/12\/motivation-photo.png\" alt=\"decorative image\" width=\"602\" height=\"401\"><\/p>\n<p>The first part of the session was a general discussion which started from reflection on <strong>when we feel most motivated<\/strong> and it revealed factors such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>When there is external pressure (deadline)&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>When it is enjoyable<\/li>\n<li>When it involves other people&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>When the tasks are not that difficult, important or multifaceted<\/li>\n<li>When you receive positive feedback<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Attendees also shared their <strong>strategies for keeping themselves motivated<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Switching between tasks<\/li>\n<li>Breaking big projects into smaller tasks<\/li>\n<li>Asking yourself&nbsp;<em>why do you need to do it?<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Completing a smaller, manageable task and using the \u2018success high\u2019 and motivation that comes with it to work on something else<\/li>\n<li>Complaining less about having to do it and just getting on with it<\/li>\n<li>Using lists and being able to cross things off<\/li>\n<li>Setting realistic targets&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Looking after yourself (trying to see work in perspective)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>As well as <strong>what contributes to student motivation <\/strong>based on their teaching experience:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Getting good grades and positive feedback&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Growth mindset \u2013 not being so afraid of failure (not taking the learning so personal)<\/li>\n<li>Remembering why they are doing it and what for<\/li>\n<li>Making things interesting \u2013 avoiding boredom<\/li>\n<li>Being passionate\/excited about the subject (and how having even one student like this helps with the motivation of the entire cohort)&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Giving them suggestions, but also freedom to study in the way that fits with them<\/li>\n<li>Feeling part of the learning community (belonging)<\/li>\n<li>Seeing the importance of activity<\/li>\n<li>Validation and encouragement<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We also discussed some of <strong>the barriers inhibiting student motivation<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fear \u2013 being afraid of not being good enough, failure&nbsp;and comparing their own abilities with others<\/li>\n<li>Not having clear enough instructions, not being able to understand what they are supposed to do<\/li>\n<li>Personal issues \u2013 difficulties in their home lives etc.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Disappointment in their own achievements against their expectations<\/li>\n<li>Peer influence<\/li>\n<li>Complaining<\/li>\n<li>Fatigue&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Lastly staff shared their <strong>strategies for motivating students<\/strong> which included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Using discussion boards for communication with classmates and the tutor<\/li>\n<li>Organising digital seminars&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Emphasising the purpose\/importance of the activities&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Linking all activities to the learning outcomes\/assessment<\/li>\n<li>Using tools such as blogs or discussion boards to facilitate communication and a sense of community<\/li>\n<li>Giving students choice, but within structure that gives them a reassurance<\/li>\n<li>\u2018Investing\u2019 time in giving students opportunities to bond with each other and you as a tutor at the beginning of the module\/year<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The second part of the session focused specifically on the self-determination theory of motivation. In three groups, corresponding to the three components of the theory, attendees discussed how they already foster either <strong>autonomy, competence, or relatedness<\/strong> in their teaching and how they could develop it further. We have previously shared <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/2020\/10\/05\/engaging-students-with-asynchronous-online-tasks-self-determination-theory-sdt-perspective\/\">a blog post on facilitating intrinsic motivation in students from the self-determination theory perspective.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>We wanted to thank all staff for the incredible engagement with the Academy Forum sessions this year! Make sure to book the following dates into your calendars for Semester Two:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/stafftraining.aber.ac.uk\/sd\/course_details.php\"><strong>27\/01\/2021 15:00-16:30 Academy Forum: How can I plan in person and online activities?<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/stafftraining.aber.ac.uk\/sd\/course_details.php\"><strong>19\/02\/2021 10:00-11:30 Academy Forum: How can I make my teaching more inclusive? <\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hope you will have an enjoyable break!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the last Academy Forum in Semester One we chose one of the most common topics raised by teaching staff; how to motivate students, particularly when it comes to online learning? The first part of the session was a general discussion which started from reflection on when we feel most motivated and it revealed factors [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50455,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academy-forum"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9XLJV-oe","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50455"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1502"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2251,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1502\/revisions\/2251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.aber.ac.uk\/e-learning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}