Running Head: MOTIVATIONAL CASE STUDY

ED620 Motivational Theory

Module 8 - Motivational Case Study
Toni Taylor
University of New England

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I. Introduction
Wes is a sixteen year old sophomore who loves to skateboard and wrestle. Wes lives
with his adoptive father, a local firefighter, as his parents are divorced. His family adopted Wes
when he was nine years old. His early childhood was marked by severe neglect and abuse. He
also spent several years bouncing from foster home to foster home. He has no contact with his
biological parents or sibling. Wes was identified at a very young age and has received special
education support services since early elementary school.
His father was unable to attend the open house due to work commitments and until
recently, the only contact I had with him was via email. During these email conversations, Dad
has been very responsive to my concerns and suggestions, yet seems to be overwhelmed with
the responsibilities of raising a teenager. He often asks Wes case manager for parenting advice
and guidance.
Wes is currently enrolled in Geometry PSP (post secondary prep). Wes has been
identified as having ADHD and weak executive functioning skills. In ninth grade Wes was
placed in Algebra AB, a class designed for students who need additional time to process and
master traditional Algebra One concepts. Wes demonstrated that he was capable of a faster and
more rigorous curriculum and was reassigned to Algebra One PSP where he was successful for
the first three quarters of the 2012-2013 academic year (82%, 76% and 81% respectively). He
failed fourth quarter (67%), but was able to pass the year with a C (75%).
As we approach the end of the first quarter, Wes is failing every class that he is enrolled
in and will be the subject of a child study team meeting this week. Geometry and Biology are
the only classes that he has a chance of passing for quarter one as his current average is a 67%
and 68% respectively. His case manager shared with me that these are the two classes he likes

MOTIVATIONAL CASE STUDY

the best and it is partly because that he likes the teachers the best. His lack of success in school
is not attributable to limited academic capability as achievement tests administered in 2012
showed that he was average in all areas except written expression and working memory. Other
teachers have cited task completion and the ability to sustain attentiveness as two problem areas
for Wes. These are both issues related in part to ADHD, but Wes is inconsistent in taking his
prescribed medications. His reasons for not taking them are based on the fact that they make
him feel down and depressed and though they are beneficial in helping him focus, he doesnt
like the other effects.

II. Observations
Very early in the year, I recognized that Wes was a student who would need some
special attention in class. He was unwilling to show or admit any weakness to me. This in turn
was preventing him from taking any risks, which translated into lack of task completion.
Developing a rapport with Wes and creating an environment that he felt comfortable in would
be the foundation for helping him to be successful. Brophy (1987) suggests that a supportive
environment is one of the non-negotiable elements that must be in place in order to motivate
students.
When part of the lesson requires note taking, Wes is most successful if he is given an
organizer for his notes and when I model/highlight the important information. This is one of his
least favorite tasks to do in class because it is difficult for him and he doesnt recognize the
importance of having good reference material.

He participates in the activity inconsistently

and tries to fill in the information, but isnt always successful. It is necessary to closely monitor
his notes for accuracy. Wes often fidgets in his seat; rocks back in his chair, asks to leave the

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room and needs to be refocused during this type of activity. He is exhibiting avoidance
behavior because if his notes are incomplete he can attribute it to the fact that he wasnt in class.
Wes seems to enjoy the opportunity to work with a peer. However, he usually takes a
subordinate role in the task, preferring to allow the other student to suggest a strategy for
completion. The one partner activity that he seemed to be most engaged in involved the use of
manipulatives and required the students to sketch geometric representations as opposed to
solving multi-step problems. That was the first time that I saw him take the lead role
successfully. The use of manipulatives relates closely to his kinesthetic learning style.
Wes is inconsistent with his independent classwork and homework completion. Reasons
for non-completion include didnt have time, had other homework to do first, didnt know
how to start, didnt know if it would be right. He is more likely to attempt it if the teacher is
in close proximity. However, when we were working independently using dynamic geometry
software, Wes was one of the first students to successfully complete the investigation and he
even found some alternative ways to do things by exploring the program on his own. The use of
technology seems to be a high interest area for Wes and he seems to be very tech savvy.
On one of the first assessments, Wes left several problems completely blank. At first I
thought it might have been an oversight because I often tell the kids that they dont have to
complete the problems in the same order as they appear on the test. However, when given an
opportunity to complete them, he said no thank you, I would just get them wrong anyways.

III. Effective Strategies

In order to establish the environment that would best support Wes, I began to check in
with him frequently. I made sure that it wasnt always related to a math task. We began to have

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conversations about topics relevant to his life like wrestling and his job at the local grocery
store. During class I stop by his desk frequently and offer low-key one-on-one support, which
he feels more comfortable with as opposed to during whole class instruction. Additionally, I
started dropping in during his Skills class and using that time to develop plans with Wes for
showing competency. These competency recovery plans also include allowing Wes to revisit
the assessments that he scored poorly on. We identified areas of strengths and weakness,
created a remediation plan and he is working on them as time permits in skills class. Though he
may not have the work done in time to impact his Q1 grade, it will be beneficial for his yearly
average which is what BHS looks at to determine whether a student passes the course or not.
All of these things helped establish that I care about him as a student and a person and that I was
there to help him be successful. I think this has had a positive result as demonstrated by him
stating that my class is one of his favorites and by the fact that his average is 20 points higher in
my class than most of his others.
It was clear that Wes would benefit from strategies based upon the Expectancy-Value
Theory as he demonstrates that his completion of tasks is based upon either the value of the task
or his perception of how successful he will be. He seems to engage in tasks that he perceives as
high value (he likes or is interested in it). He also demonstrates that he is willing to attempt a
task if he thinks he will do it correctly, but if not, he is willing to jeopardize his grade.
Wes is very interested in and enjoys using technology. Brophy (1987) suggests using
student interests to increase intrinsic motivation. Knowing that Wes was also in need of
structure and would benefit from a program of study that allowed him to set mastery goals, I
began to implement Khan Academy as part of the class. Khan is unique in that it allows the
teacher to differentiate the instruction by creating play lists based on a students readiness for

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particular skills/concepts. Students then work on them individually, trying the practice
exercises (which provide immediate feedback) and the program keeps track of information like
which exercise sets have been completed, how long it took the student to do them correctly and
how many hints they accessed. This has allowed Wes to engage geometric content via a
platform that is of higher interest to him, organizes the information for him (less taxing on his
executive function skills), and provides the feedback necessary to support his self monitoring of
skills mastered and progress toward a goal. This has resulted in Wes have greater self-efficacy
toward similar tasks in class and therefore he is demonstrating some increased motivation to
complete tasks. Ames (1990, p.42) notes self-efficacy is often a critical factor predicting
childrens task choices, willingness to try and persist on difficult tasks.
Providing Wes with opportunities for choice has also been moderately successful in
increasing Wes intrinsic motivation to complete a task (Brophy, 1987). Student choice is also a
means suggested by Tomlinson (2001) to differentiate assignments. For example, in preparation
for the unit test, I allowed the students to choose which review assignment they wanted to
complete. One choice was traditional paper review packet, another was an online quiz designed
as a practice test, and the third was to design a jeopardy game (I provided the categories). All
students had to be working on one of the three choices. As expected, Wes chose the online quiz.
He finished it and was able to use it to identify some additional areas to study. Had he not been
given this choice and been expected to do the traditional review packet, I suspect that very little
work would have been accomplished. Even though the online quiz was essentially the same
information and problems as the review packet, his perception of the worthiness of the task
made the online quiz an option that he engaged.

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Along the way, I have been sure to provide feedback to Wes. As he has successfully
reached a goal, I reinforce to him how his progress is supported by his demonstrated mastery of
the concepts and continued effort. Andeman & Andeman (2010) suggest that receiving
attributional feedback in this manner is also related to increased self-efficacy toward a task. In
the span of one month, he has raised his average from a 33% to a 68%. He is happy with the
improved grade, and is hopeful that his next assessment will bring his grade above passing for
quarter one.
IV. Conclusion
Motivating students is really about learning who they are as people. How do they learn?
What are they interested in? What do they value? What relationship do they have with their
parents, the school, the community? Many motivational techniques are intricately tied to
instructional best practices, including differentiated instruction. By implementing these, a
teacher is far more likely to motivate students to be engaged and successful in their classroom.
Working with Wes has further reinforced the idea that the student- teacher relationship is
also a key factor in helping to motivate a student in your class. Knowing that Wes has been let
down by a lot of important people in his life inspired me to show him that Im not going to give
up on him. By building the relationship and trust, and balancing it with reasonable, attainable,
growth-oriented goals for success, I hope to continue to build upon Wes increasing motivation
to be successful in Geometry.

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References

Ames, C.A. (1990). Motivation: What teachers need to know. Teachers College Record, 91 (5).
409-421
Anderman, E. M., & Anderman, L. H. (2010). Classroom motivation. Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.
Brophy, J. (1987). Synthesis of research on strategies for motivating students to learn.
Educational Leadership, 45 (2) 40-48.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms. (2 ed.).
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development.