Student motivation

What you can do in the classroom

Examples

Establish the value of class activities and goals for your students

Provide authentic, real world tasks so that students can see the usefulness of what they're learning.
Connect course content to student's interests.
Show your own passion and enthusiasm for the subject. (It can be contagious!)
Identify and reward what you value. If you value group interactions in a given project, identify what that looks like and include evaluation so it's integral in grade.

Help students develop a positive expectancy (to believe they can achieve success)

Create assignments with the appropriate level of challenge.
Provide your students with early opportunities for success (e.g., shorter assignments that build to a larger project).
Provide rubrics that will explicitly represent your performance expectations.
Describe, model, and coach your students on effective study strategies. This gives them alternatives to those habitual study routines that result in poor performance.
Identify and applaud successful student behaviors.

Adapted from How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching (2010, Ambrose et al.)

Download a pdf of all 7 principles, including ideas for classroom implementation.