Running head: CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION

Case Study in Motivation

Sarah Leach
University of New England
August 22, 2015

CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION

Case Study in Motivation

I.

Introduction:
Isabella is a seven year old girl that came to Bloomfield Elementary
School identified as a behavioral student. She has been diagnosed with
Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). Upon arriving at the school
Isabella exhibited behaviors of noncompliance, eloping, and aggression.
Isabella comes from a low income home with inattentive parents. After
adjusting to the new school, proper assessments, and new ADHD medication
we discovered that Isabella was right on task academically with her writing
skills and mathematic skills. Her reading skills were assessed as well above
her grade level, third grade, and continued to advance daily. Socially Isabella
is right where she should be for her age; she cares deeply about her peers and
is always eager to offer help. Isabella has been identified as mostly motivated
by the self-determination theory.

II.

Observations:
When Isabella first started to attend Bloomfield Elementary School she
was often described as noncompliant, an eloper, and aggressive. However,
after she was placed on a new ADHD medication and adjusted to the new
school these behaviors decreased. It is believed that these behaviors decreased
due to becoming familiar with her surroundings and the medication. Though
Isabellas negative behaviors had decreased they were not gone. After careful
observation it was noted that specific subjects or activities would promote a
reoccurrence of the previous behaviors. Most commonly these behaviors

CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION

would occur during writing, spelling, and mathematics. Self-determination
theory strategies were used to keep her engaged.
Example 1
Isabellas class was creating a science book about plants. The students
needed to create complete sentences of the plant parts using a fact sheet, add
an image, and turn it in to be bound. Isabella immediately got to work adding
the images to each page. However, once the images were on she pushed away
the work and went under the table. It was evident that she did not want to do
the writing portion.
Knowing Isabella, I decided to motivate her using a few different tactics.
The first thing that I did was offer her the choice to work with me or with a
peer that I knew she got along with and could help her. She chose to work
with the peer. She sat next to a fellow student and they discussed what they
would write. Once they decided on the plant part and sentence they would
write the other student, Bree, began to write. However, Isabella continued to
be noncompliant. I knew from experience that Isabellas frustration with
writing generally came from her determination to spell all her words correctly.
Though she was great with spelling she needed to see the word in order to
know if it was right or not. Therefore, I presented Isabella with a word list
paper for her to refer to as she wrote. Bree and Isabella were then able to
complete their work.
Example 2

CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION

On Fridays the class took their spelling test. When it was announced that
the class would be taking their spelling test Isabella grabbed her word list. It
was her intention to use it for her test. Once the word list was removed from
her possession she eloped out of the classroom. Isabella was redirected to her
special spot in the special education classroom. There Isabella proceeded to
bang the walls, cry, and hide under her table.
After providing Isabella some time to calm down she was then asked to do
simple tasks to get her to comply, such as touch her knees. Once Isabella was
calm and complying she was redirected to her seat. I presented Isabella with a
choice between magnet letters or letter tiles. She chose the magnet letters. I
provided a few minutes for her to explore the manipulatives. Then I instructed
her to spell her name. She complied. Now that I had Isabellas attention and
she was following directions I asked her to spell her spelling words. Each time
she completed a word I wrote it down on paper. Once her words were done we
returned to class.
Example 3
Mathematics class was usually the same every day. The students watched
an introduction video on the concept, did a guided practice, an independent
practice, and then small group stations. Isabella sat through the video eager to
participate and completely engaged. It was evident from Isabellas answers
that she was very knowledgeable about using ten frames. During the guided
practice Isabella started out doing really well. She was attentive and engaged.
Though Isabellas writing skills are at grade level she still needs additional

CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION

time to actually write the content. As the teacher continued through the math
problems Isabella began to get behind her peers. She quickly became agitated
and stopped working. I told Isabella she did not need to write the answers but
listen to the teacher discuss how to do it. She did listen.
During independent work time Isabella again became frustrated with the
writing portion of the math. She was able to easily identify the answer but her
peers were finishing and moving on to the stations. Before Isabella became
too upset I had her tell me the answers of every other problem. I wrote the
answers for her. This kept Isabella focused on the content and not on the
writing. Isabella finished and was able to participate in more engaging
activities with her peers.
Example 4
During a mathematics lesson, the students were divided up into groups of
students that would work well together. Each group had a different task to do.
Isabellas group had to create a bar graph as a team. To do this they rolled a
special die that had images on it that matched the images on their bar graph.
One student would roll the die and they would mark their graph in the correct
spot based on what the die landed on. Isabella, as well as the other students,
were engaged throughout the whole process. The students were able to take
turns successfully, keep the game going, and mark their graphs appropriately.
Isabella stayed engaged throughout the task because she was permitted to
work with her peers and understood the expectations.
III.

Effective Strategies:

CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION

Considering Isabellas needs and personality she is best suited for selfdetermination theory. Isabella is highly motivated when she is provided
choices, feels like she can be successful at the task, and is involved with her
peers. Due to Isabellas need to feel successful in the task expectancy-value
theory would also work for her.
While self-determination theory and expectancy-value theory would work
well for her attribution theory, social cognitive theory, and goal orientation
theory do not work well for her. The attribution theory is when students are
motivated by the why things happen or the why something will happen.
Isabella generally does not stop long enough to ponder this aspect of her day.
Probably due to her ADHD and due to the fact that she is young and full of
energy she does not contemplate such situations. She is impulsive and reacts
based on her current thoughts, feelings, or ideas unlike attribution theory
students which are students that are often predictable based on the
uncontrollable and controllable factors (Anderman & Anderman, 2014).
Social cognitive theory may seem like it would work for Isabella since she
is highly motivated by her peers. However, Isabella will not engage in an
activity no matter what her peers are doing if she believes she will not be
successful in it. Therefore, social cognitive theory would not work with her.
Goal orientation theory is basically identified as being motivated to master
a task or to show ability (Anderman & Anderman, 2014). Knowing that
Isabella wants to be successful at a task in order to be motivated to engage in
the task would almost make this motivation technique work well for her.

CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION

However, Isabella does not seem to be avoiding her work because she thinks
others will see her as dumb. Instead she is motivated by knowing she can
just get it done and move onto something else. This also ties into her ADHD
since she wants to constantly move and has a hard time slowing down.
Isabellas teacher should be encouraged to use techniques that are
supported by the self-determination theory. To do this the teacher should
differentiate instructions. When teachers differentiate instructions they are
assessing the students prior knowledge. This allows the teacher to ensure that
the lessons are at the students level (Tomlinson, 2001). This will ensure that
the student will feel competent for the assignment. However, Isabellas
disability creates a need for additional differentiation to the assignments
which is why she is provided with one on one support. Isabella is also
provided support through written assignments so that she can feel successful.
This is why the one on one support will take turns writing with Isabella and
provide her with tools such as the word list.
Providing student choice is essential when differentiating. When teachers
provide choices to the students they are helping them feel included in the
learning. They are also allowing the student to use their interests and strengths
to show what they learned (Tomlinson, 2001). Isabella is provided with
choices to keep her engaged. Her one on one support will offer her choices as
often as possible. This usually is simple choices, such as which worksheet to
do first or which equations to do. She is also provided with bigger choices,

CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION

such as working with peers or working alone. By providing these choices
Isabella feels in control of her learning and stays more engaged in the lessons.
Social skills and involvement are another key aspect to differentiation as
well as self-determination theory (Anderman & Anderman, 2014; Tomlinson,
2001). Teachers need to schedule time for the students to work together, build
relationships, and improve their social skills. During mathematics class the
students work at stations. At each station the students are working together to
figure out a mathematical problem or concept. Isabella loved working with her
peers to use counting cubes to figure out how long a variety of objects were.
Isabella felt included and valued as she worked with her peers.
IV.

Conclusion:
Isabella has taught me that all students can be motivated; however, it is
just a matter of learning what motivates them. Through teaching Isabella I
have learned that students can have more than one motivational method and
that though some methods may seem at first to work a teacher needs to know
the student well in order to know what really motivates them. Isabella is a
unique student and has a medical condition that affects her success in the
classroom. By knowing her condition, strengths, and weaknesses the
instructions can be tailored to her needs to ensure she is successful in the
classroom. I learned that the work load for each student must meet the needs
of the student.

CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION

References
Anderman, E. M. & Anderman, L. H. (2014). Classroom motivation. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson Education.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms.
Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.