Motives for Motivation

For a while now I have been intrigued by the objective of cultivating "intrinsic motivation". The phrase is from a 2000 conference paper by Deborah Hanson, Ph.D. presented online at the Teaching Online in Higher Education conference.

The underpinnings of interactions, which result in successful learning, involve the transfer of knowledge coupled with changes in intrinsic motivation

Thanks to the preservation efforts of William E. Fogarty the abstract and paper are archived at http://www.ofogartaigh.com/pro/portfolio/conference/Papers/hanson.htm. And we can gain more context:

For this reason, Crowder College developed extensive procedures, orientation, and guidelines for students. In support of the thesis, "The underpinnings of interactions, which result in successful learning, involve the transfer of knowledge coupled with changes in intrinsic motivation," the author has identified and examined seven distance learning interactions which help to promote interactivity:

Increase participation and feedback
Build communication and understanding
Enhance elaboration and retention
Support learner motivation and self-regulation
Develop team building
Promote exploration and discovery
Generate learner self-diagnosis and closure

I draw your attention to "Support learner motivation and self-regulation". This translates into the skills and knowledge to learn on one's own. I find it interesting that this characterization of metacognitive abilities appears to be couched in moral terms.

It begins to lift and unlock a somewhat for me cryptic statement (divined and devised by yours truly in one of those moments). I can bring the phrase "intrinsic motivation" into a reverberating proximity with this statement:

Rhetoric is a question of bringing valence to bear on the tautological.

A phrase such as "intrinsic motivation" is a perfect example of the more abstract principle. That is not a fault. It becomes easy to remember. And what is remembered can be more easily applied.

And the whole question of appropriately motivating students has a long tradition. For example, consider this wise observation from Montaigne's "Du pédantisme":

Or ce n'est pas assez que nostre institution ne nous gaste pas, il faut qu'elle nous change en mieux.

And a loose translation: it's not enough to be wasted ;)

And so for day 839
31.03.2009