3 Strategies to Motivate Students to Learn Mathematics Effectively
Aside from constantly feeding the same set of information to every student in the class and expecting them to ace the class, teachers must also consider each student’s motivational aspects in order to encourage them to develop and do well in their studies. Extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation are the two forms of motivation.
Extrinsic motivation refers to external factors or rewards that are outside the learner’s or students' control. For example, outstanding performance could lead to economic rewards, peer acknowledgement or praise.
Intrinsic motivation is related to internal factors and is mostly concerned with the desire and will to comprehend certain concepts or to perform well in certain tasks. Students often strive to do well from intrinsic motivation from (1) the desire to understand a concept, (2) exceeding others egotistically, and (3) impressing others.
Unfamiliar Familiar Topics An example of intrinsic motivation is to fill in the gaps in existing knowledge. Making it clear to students that there exists a gap in their understanding capitalises on their eagerness to learn more. For example, after learning a topic and completing multiple exercises, they will be more or less confident in what they know, and teachers will be able to present tasks on the same topic but in different settings or situations. This would demonstrate to students that their understanding of the topic is incomplete, and would inspire them to desire to bridge the gap.
Presented a challenge Being presented with a challenge can be very effective if done correctly as it triggers both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, as when students are challenged intellectually, they react with enthusiasm.
Being given a challenge comes with hazards. The educator should be aware that the challenge is within the students’ abilities to achieve; if students are provided with a challenge that is above their level of comprehension, it could be distracting and discouraging.
Tell a story It is impossible to have a story told for every topic encountered in every subject, but it is necessary to have students’ interest in the issue increase from time to time while presenting a new topic so that they are not mindlessly acquiring material that they think "irrelevant". A historical story of how an issue occurred, or a fictitious scenario of the cement needed to reconstruct the school, might assist students in visualising a problem and increasing their motivation to solve it.