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MOTIVATION
Motivation is the real key to learning anything. If a person has a reason and purpose for undertaking a task, and the desire to achieve a goal, they will have the motivation to succeed. A lack of motivation in a student is often associated with the lack of interest, and/or desire, to succeed in the task before them. Any effort made to learn has to be done for an acceptable and understandable purpose. Without a clear purpose to guide them, students will have difficulty in devoting the necessary time and effort to achieve an acceptable result. The goal is the end result, but everyone needs a logical reason to seek any particular goal, and if that reason and purpose isn t there, neither will there be sufficient motivation. The teacher s level of enthusiasm for their sub!ect will always be contagious " it is here that their style of teaching, their body language, their mode of presentation, will be reflected in their students. Teaching is really about the art of communication " it needs to be sincere " it needs to be enthusiastically presented " it must be done confidently " and it must be kept straight forward. This raises another factor to do with motivation, and that is, the student s ability to comprehend what is being taught. #nowing something, even if it is factual, doesn t mean a person can understand the purpose behind the facts, or how and why, they work. $ence, real knowledge can only be ac%uired if it is comprehended and understood. &ne of the essential functions of teaching is to constantly assess the comprehension level of the students. As they say, recognising there is a problem is half way to finding a solution. $ence, it is important to try and define, precisely, the cause of motivational problems. &nce that knowledge is available, the possibility of finding a workable solution is enhanced.

DETERMINING THE RO!"EM

'. Where does the lack of motivation occur( In other words, can the motivational problem be identified with specific sub!ects and/or specific types of students and at what phase of their studies( ). Why does the lack of motivation occur( *an the cause be identified by way of lack of interest, lack of response to a particular sub!ect, inability to comprehend what is being taught, or in respect to the mode of teaching( +. What has been tried to combat the lack of motivation. $as there been any specific in%uiry into why any individual student lacks motivation, what efforts have been made to address any concerns e,pressed by a student( -. What is the effect on the class and the teachers as a result of the lack of motivation by a student or students( .oes it impact on other students and does it affect the way a teacher presents the lesson( /. Is there any individual and independent counselling available to students lacking motivation( #OME IDEA# $OR ADDRE##ING THE "A%& O$ MOTIVATION '. Where are the !obs( In other words, how are the students going to use their degrees once they achieve them( This can be a crucial issue in terms of motivation, and it is an issue that needs to be fully understood and discussed between teachers and students. It would be beneficial to obtain statistical information about workplace needs and opportunities. ). What streams are available in the profession, and does the course allow a student to focus on a preferred stream( Is it possible to start streamlining the course, say, after the second year, to allow the students to specialise. Is there any emphasis during 'st and )nd year to guide the students in developing preferences for specialising in the subse%uent years. 0pecialisation can possibly better prepare the students for entering the workforce on graduation. +. 1ary the lesson format " use pair and group work, particularly by having the better students help the lesser students. 2ossibly consider having +rd year students spend time with 'st year students during some lessons. It is often shown that the learning process can be enhanced 'when we are

re(uired to teach others)* This can have a dual benefit for each student involved. -. *onsider arranging an occasional anonymous student survey to get feedback about the course, the way it is presented and any comments on what improvements that might be suggested and perhaps implimented. /. A ma!or motivational tool is O#ITIVE $EED!A%& to the students. Teachers should make a constant effort to catch the students doing their work well. 3eliance on negative feedback, related to correcting errors and mistakes, tends to be demoralising and more often will discourage students from trying. It is better to focus on what is appro,imately 3I4$T so you can then show the student how to do it exactly right. 5. It can pay to find out the preferred learning process for students who e,hibit obvious motivational problems. 6or e,ample, some students may be hard of hearing, hence the audio process won t work for them. &thers may have eyesight problems that makes visual learning difficult. 0ome students may be totally practical and will learn best when they can use their hands and minds in applying their knowledge in a practical way. There are many techni%ues to do this sort of research that will help teachers in the classroom. Armed with this sort of knowledge, it can help a teacher understand, and possibly overcome, an apparent lack of motivation based on inappropriate learning processes for a student. 7. 8e aware of the recognised attention spans of teenage and young adult students. 3esearch has shown that the attention span is related to age, and is in the order of ' minute for each year of age 9/: ) minutes. What this means is that '; to )< year olds have attention spans of an average around )< minutes. When you couple this with the known fact that people tend to remember the start and the finish of any given talk or lecture. Therefore, it pays to break a '<< minute lesson into )< minute segements that provide multiple starts and finishes. This can be significant in helping the student absorb the information. 0eparate each segment with short breaks. =fficient brain performance needs two sources of fuel to stay healthy and work efficiently " they are o,ygen and water. 0itting down for a /< minute lesson, or longer, can decrease the amount of o,ygen delivered to the brain by '/>.Therefore, an acti+ity as si,-le as getting students to stand u- and wal. around/ will ensure a better supply of o,ygen and

lead to more efficient brain performance. 0tudents ?and their brains@ also need a sufficient intake of water each day. ;. =very lesson should start with a review of the previous lesson and the outline of what will be dealt with in the current lesson. =ach lesson should always finish with a review of what has been studied in the course of the lesson. In other words, - tell them what you are going to teach teach it and tell them what they have been taught. &f course, that doesn t necessarily mean they have learnt or comprehended the information presented. A. .ealing with a lack of motivation is really dealing with the way people think. $ence, if a Teacher is successful in doing this they will have confirmed the truth of the sayingB '%hange the way -eo-le thin./ and you change the future*)