EPSE 565R Martina Cawker

Spirals of Inquiry

Inquiry question:

How can I increase intrinsic student motivation through self-regulated learning to

complete course work and projects during allotted class time?

Question significance

Since becoming a teacher three years ago, I have noticed when I assign a project or

worksheet that some students begin right away, with no issues. Other students socialize while

working on the course work, and then there are others who sit and do nothing almost or the

entire class. I want to know how to get all or most of my students to complete their work within

the class time given to them. The students who sit and do nothing most of the class are often

the same students who are stumped at the end of the term when they get their grades and see

that they are not quite where they expected to be. If I can figure out ways for students to foster

self-regulation, this will build strategies and skills in my students so that they may be more

successful in the future with completing assignments and ultimately, more efficient in their lives

with achieving goals.

How to motivate students is an age-old question in the teaching practice. Teachers are

always striving to create meaningful lessons so that students will soak up information like

sponges and really take ownership over what they are learning about. When students are

motivated in their work, they are taking charge of their learning, are more likely to stay on task

throughout the class, and are more likely to remember what they learn about years down the

road. Giving students the chance to task risks and engage in something they are interested in

allows for students to cycle through the stages of self-regulation as discussed by Butler,

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Schnellert, and Perry (2017). Through my inquiry, I investigated and learned of several ways to

better engage and motivate students while fostering self-regulated learning (SRL).

Motivation: Background I nformation

It is no secret that many students struggle with staying focused and on task during

school activities. Children spend at least thirteen years in school, which accounts to hours of

thinking, working, and completing activities and assignments. Elementary school is often

nostalgically remembered as a time of playing in the sand or completing creative art projects.

Secondary school is when classes begin to become more challenging as adult-life and

responsibility creeps closer to reality. Maulana and Bosker (2013) found that intrinsic

motivation is likely to decrease from elementary to secondary school and declines progressively

over time. Knowing this, it is more important to foster SRL at the secondary level so that

students can take ownership over their learning and still reminisce in a positive light over their

secondary school experience. To persist and experience success in school, students need to

develop strong self-regulations skills so they may maintain focus on their work and get

something out of what they put in.

As a teacher, I want the best for my students and I want them to enjoy what they are

learning about. Unfortunately, students are bombarded with school demands all day and as

Sedden (2016) found, they often see projects and learning as more of a means to an end rather

than the process itself being meaningful. I can relate to what Sedden found in that many times

when I have work to do, I’d rather just “get it done” than focus on what I’m learning. However,

when I enjoy what I am learning about, it is much easier to get the process done than if I am

forced to work on something which I really do not enjoy. One of my goals as an educator is to

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provide the opportunities for my students to experience enjoyment in their learning through

giving students choice, promoting SRL practices, and creating a classroom community that is

supportive and safe.

Delving deeper into factors which affect student motivation, Sedden (2016) found that

classroom climate, relevant material, student-teacher relationships, and knowledge of student

beliefs, values, and opinions are all factors contributing to student engagement. While Sedden

was looking at the college level, I believe his findings are true at the secondary and elementary

level as well. If the classroom climate is not conducive to learning, students will not be ready to

learn. If students are forced to learn about things they are unable to connect to, they will not

be motivated to complete their work. If the students do not respect the teacher, they will not

respect what the teacher is teaching. If what the student is bringing to the classroom every day

is not considered, teachers will not be able to meet the needs of students in an appropriate

way.

Sedden covered a large variety of factors relating to motivation. One area unmentioned

by Sedden is goal setting. As discussed throughout the course, goal setting is important to set

standards for student learning. McGinley and Jones (2014) found that by allowing students to

set goals at the beginning of a course, it helped to increase overall motivation in the course.

While goal setting is proven in the research to increase motivation, goals are rarely followed up

on. I would like to develop a system with my students were goals are set and followed up on

daily or at the very least weekly to see where students are at in their learning. Setting goals

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puts the ownership of learning on the students and allows them to take charge over their

learning.

Resources drawn to advance inquiry

When I began my inquiry, my plan was to get a lot of information from journal articles.

However, as this is an inquiry and not a research paper, I quickly realised I needed to draw on

other information to focus on in the project; resources for my inquiry are all around me. I was

lucky enough that the timing of this project worked in that I could collect information from

research, practice, colleagues, and students. Much of the information I learned throughout my

inquiry was from class and the textbook. To my surprise, some of the most meaningful

feedback I have acquired throughout my inquiry was from students and colleagues and their

take on student motivation.

Currently, I teach a peer mentoring class which is outside the time table and has 95

students in it. These students oversee the junior students (grades 8, 9, 10) during collaboration

days. The peer mentors were taught a variety of lessons planned by myself and my co-teacher

and delivered the lessons to the junior students. Throughout the year, the mentors have

taught twelve different lessons to the mentees (grades 8-10) on a variety of topics which we

hoped were relevant to their lives. The peer mentors also had the responsibility of creating

their own lesson for the last collaboration day with input from the mentees on what they would

like to learn about. As the end of the term is this week (perfect timing for this inquiry), the

students are completing an assignment which has them reflect upon their teaching practices

and what went well and what they would improve. Additionally, in many of the individual

lesson reflections throughout the year, the students would comment on how they wished they

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could get the students more engaged. To address this question, I had students answer the

question, what would you do to better engage students during your lessons? As I marked the

95 reflection assignments, I began to see some common themes emerge. These themes will be

detailed below.

As discussed during my inquiry presentation, I had the opportunity to implement self-

regulation practices with my grade 9 and 10 students with hopes of increasing student

motivation. Initially, I had the students interpret the task in pairs and bring any questions

forward afterwards. After learning more strategies to foster SRL, I tried a similar but more in

depth approach with my grade 9s. I had them interpret the task with a partner, and then I had

them brainstorm what they would like to learn about relating to the topic. After generating a

list, we went through the project and assessment and discussed any changes they would like to

make. I allowed the students to choose any topic they would like relating to the theme of the

project and set them free to work for three days in the library. Through implementing SRL

practices first hand, I could see how student motivation can be influenced by simple changes

made in my teaching.

Finally, I was able to engage in many meaningful conversations with classmates and

colleagues on the topic of motivation in our students. It is interesting to see the contrasting

opinions of classmates who are in the supporting inclusive education cohort compared to some

colleagues who have been teaching for several years. Getting a perspective from both areas

allowed me to expand my thoughts on motivation in the classroom.

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Lessons learned through inquiry

In my three short years of teaching, I have learned many things. I have learned and

experienced the daily demands a teacher faces including putting out fires (literal ones in the

Foods room), fires and animosity in relationships, attitudes, repetitive questions, and endless

eye rolling from students when I tell them to put their phone away. I have learned (and am still

learning) how to regulate my emotions when students push me beyond my limits when I

already have many other things on the go. I have learned how to navigate through co-worker

and administrative relationships and am still learning exactly how to tell parents that their child

is driving me up the wall. One of the things I have enjoyed learning the most however, is how

amazing teenagers can be and the possibilities that they can achieve, if only they are given a

chance.

Throughout my inquiry, growth mindset is a term that continually arose. Bergland

(2017) found that students who had growth mindsets had stronger brain responses after

making a mistake than those students with fixed mindsets. The same students also made

greater improvements on game related tasks, the longer they played. Students with growth

mindsets feel okay to make mistakes, they know that making a mistake is not going to result in

terrible consequences and they have the opportunity to succeed. This brings me to a student of

mine in my PE 9 class, we’ll call him Joel. Joel always participates to his best ability and though

he is slightly socially awkward, he has come a long way. Joel has an IEP saying that he is a

behaviour risk and has been known for violent behaviour in the past. However, the counsellor

said that they are thinking of taking this designation off of his file next year because he has had

a few good years. I have not seen any indications of violent behaviour from him. What was

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bothering me with Joel was that every day when he came to give his mark for daily participation

(which is out of 5), he would continually give himself a “-1” or “0” when I had noticed that he

had been participating fully. I could not understand why a student of his athletic caliber and

effort level would give himself such a poor score. After speaking to a classmate from EPSE 565,

she encouraged me to talk to him about it. I spoke with Joel on why he gives himself such poor

self-evaluations and quickly realised that he has a fixed mindset when it comes to school. I

learned from him that he would rather have low expectations and not be surprised when he

does poorly than to set his sights high and be disappointed. Joel’s fixed mindset also directly

relates to his self-efficacy. Hruska (2011) linked self-efficacy to motivation in that “beliefs affect

future learning choices as well as the effort put forth to reach learning goals” (p. 5.) I knew if I

can increase his self-efficacy, we could get him more motivated to give himself a higher self-

evaluation every day. After conversing with Joel, we came to the agreement that he is capable

of higher achievement. I then encouraged him to give himself a higher grade in his daily

participations if he truly is trying hard because he deserves it. I told him he never knows what is

possible, unless he is capable of believing it. Now I am no expert in growth mindset, but if you

can believe it, since that conversation, Joel has been consisting giving himself 4’s on the regular

and the other day when I noticed him trying harder than usual, at the end of the class he gave

himself a 5. I made sure to give him positive reassurance when he gave himself a 5 because he

deserves it and is capable! Small victories such as the one with Joel are what make teaching

worth all of the eye rolls and attitudes.

A key theme that emerged in my inquiry is the importance of goal setting. Setting goals

helps promote motivation in that it sets standards for students which they are able to gage

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their achievement (Hruska, 2011). Though I have set goals with my students in the past, there

has been little to no follow up afterwards. Hruska (2011) discussed, “the types of goals that

teachers set and students adopt guide academic behaviour by influencing the amount of

motivation students have to reach learning goals” (p. 7). Not only go goals guide academic

behaviour by they also help to foster SRL. When students set concrete standards for their

learning, they have a bar that has been set in which they need to strive for. An excellent idea is

to have students set learning goals for the class or unit and then at the end of the unit, reflect

upon how they met their goal (Butler et al., 2017). This allows for some accountability in

student’s work and work habits. Personally, I always do better when my goals are written

down. For students to write down their goals and revisit them, allows for the progress of goals

to be monitored, assessed and re-vised if necessary.

Another area of SRL which promote motivation is the co-construction of rubrics. When I

first learned of co-constructing rubrics, I was not sold on the idea. I could not see how this could

benefit my students. However, since reading about the benefits and engaging in the process in

EPSE 565R, I have a better understanding how co-constructing rubrics fosters SRL and affects

motivation. When students are assigned rubrics when given a project, they may not read them

or be able to interpret the language in them. When teachers co-construct rubrics with their

students, they are more likely to take advantage of them (Butler et al., 2017). As co-constructed

rubrics will contain language that was brainstormed by the students, they are more likely to

understand what is required of them. Linking to my inquiry, “motivation is created and

maintained through the collective, interactive, and even shared activity of group members”

(Järvelä, Järvenoja, & Veermans, 2008, p. 123). Through co-creating rubrics, the teacher and

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students are actively engaged in the process and students are able to take charge of their

learning.

To further students’ empowerment over their learning involves giving student choice. As

intrinsic motivation is linked to interest, it is important to give students choice when it comes to

their learning (Butler et al., 2017). I have always been open to giving my students choice since

discussing differentiated learning in my Bachelor of Education program. When investigating

food additives with my grade 10 students in January, I had them choose a food item which they

frequently eat and determine what the effects of the food additives in such products are. With

my grade 9s in February, I gave them choice on which diet they would like to learn about. To

foster SRL in my students, I imbedded SRL practices in my lessons. Butler et al. (2017) discussed

the importance of allowing students to experience full cycles of SRL through creating

opportunities, fostering autonomy, having SRL supports in activities, and supporting learnings

knowledge. While my students did not quite get to experience the entire cycle of SRL in their

diet project, they were able to experience some activities which had SRL qualities. As they had

choice in their learning and could brainstorm topics first, this empowered their learning and

promoted autonomy. The students also had a say in their assessment and how they could

present their learning for their project. Throughout the project and process of learning the

requirements, I noticed students were more engaged than the usual stand and deliver method I

have used in the past. I also noticed students were on task and motivated to get their projects

done throughout the three days spent in the library.

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Without realising at the time how my inquiry would benefit, I created a reflection

assignment for my 95 peer mentors which looked at how to get students to be better engaged

in their lessons. While engagement is different than motivation, when students are engaged,

they are going to be more motivated to do their work. One idea I learned from reading their

answers is that having hands-on activities or games tends to increase student engagement.

Gertsner and Bogner (2010) agreed, finding that student-centered, hands-on approaches have

higher level of motivation scores on a survey than traditional, teacher lead activities. Another

thing I learned from the peer mentor reflections was how important student input in their

learning is. When students have the option of what they are learning about, they are going to

feel empowered over their work which leads to higher levels of motivation (Hruska, 2011).

Throughout the course of the year, the peer mentors were assigned lessons by myself and a

colleague on what to teach the mentees. For the last collaboration lesson of the year, the peer

mentors polled the students on what they would like to learn about. In their reflections, they

had to discuss what their best lesson of the year was and why. Again, the lesson in which the

mentees had picked came up as the students were most engaged because they had input into

what they are learning about. This teaches me that even students can recognize that they want

some input in their learning. They do not want to be a passive student, they want to have

choice in what they are learning and how they learn.

This inquiry has lead me in many different directions and allowed for me to engage in

conversations with students, colleagues, and peers which were all different and meaningful in

their own ways. I spoke to a few colleagues relating to student motivation and what they

thought motivates students. I was surprised at first that very little of the major themes that I

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have learned about in my inquiry came up in these conversations. Some of the themes that did

come up in my conversations were making parents proud, competition, getting into university,

threats, not looking stupid in front of peers, and sequencing of tasks. Linking some of these

themes to motivation, students all bring different backgrounds to the class with them. Some

students want to please others, increase their confidence, or take up actions in order to achieve

certain outcomes, such as trying to get into university (Butler et al., 2017). Many themes

mentioned were related to extrinsic motivation. As I am focusing on intrinsic motivation, I need

to consider other factors which influence motivation. Building SRL practices in my teaching

allows for greater opportunity to influence intrinsic motivation. One theme discussed in my

conversations that relates directly to SRL is the sequencing of tasks. If one task needs to be

completed to get to the next task, SRL practices need to be followed for students to be

successful. This is where tying in goal setting can be a beneficial way of keeping students

motivated and on pace with their learning.

Examining other areas relating to motivation, we need to consider the importance

social-emotional learning (SEL). One of my favourite quotes related to education is, “educating

the mind without educating the heart is no education at all” (Aristotle, as cited in Butler et al.,

2017, p. 27). Just like the case with Joel as described earlier, he had his expectations set low but

once assured that he can achieve more, he began to believe it. A recurring theme in my inquiry

and my inclusive education focus in this Masters is the importance of SEL. Hruska (2011) found

when students feel they are able to make mistakes in a classroom, they tend to persist more

when they are faced with difficulties. Classroom climate is incredibly important to foster SRL,

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SEL, and motivation. Just as we set up a strong classroom community in our class, teachers

need to be doing the same in their classrooms so students can feel that is okay to make

mistakes. If the social climate in a class is not welcoming, student’s motivation can decline

(Maulana & Bosker, 2013). This makes perfect sense; if students do not feel they are

comfortable or in an environment that is unsafe, they will not be willing to take risks, risks

which could lead to mistakes. In one example, a classroom which had been set up with SEL in

mind, the instructor had high expectations of the students, and showed that they were caring,

and the students had higher levels of motivation than when the atmosphere was not conducive

to learning (Sedden & Clark, 2016). Every student is coming from a different background and

brings different emotions to the classroom and we must recognize this to support all of the

needs of the student.

Throughout this journey, I learned an overwhelming amount of information relating to

student motivation. There are thousands of studies and opinions on exactly what motivates

students. There are dozens of factors to consider relating to student engagement, intrinsic

versus extrinsic motivation, growth versus fixed mindset, and external factors that contribute to

student learning. The MUSIC model of motivation summarizes what I have learned from my

inquiry the best. It states:

Students are more motivated when they perceive that (a) they are eMpowered, (b) the

learning activities are Useful, (c) they can be Successful, (d) they are Interested, and (e)

they feel Cared about by the instructor or other students. (McGinley & Jones, p. 160,

2014)

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We empower students through giving them choices in what they would like to learn about. We

provide useful learning activities when we foster autonomy in our students through SRL

practices and student input into co-construction of rubrics and expectations. When we foster a

sense of community in our classrooms and support students in SEL, we all them to feel that

they can be successful. Students are more likely to be interested when they are given choice

into what they are learning. Building strong relationships within and between peers and

student-teacher relationships allows students to feel cared about. All of these ideas will help

contribute to intrinsic motivation and foster SRL in our students.

Moving Forward

I am excited and inspired by what I have learned throughout my inquiry and am looking

forward to putting practices into play next school year. As there is only three months left of the

school year and I am off for one with surgery, I plan on putting all of my focus into the

September school year in relation to implementing more SRL. As I will have an extra month off,

I plan on reading the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck which

details taking the approach of a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset. Throughout my inquiry,

growth mindset reappeared in the research and from talking to colleagues and classmates and I

know that learning more about the growth mindset would allow me to teach my students more

successfully about engaging a growth mindset.

In education, there always seems to be the latest and greatest trend that comes out and

as a newer teacher, I am keen to jump on board. A couple of weeks ago I attended a workshop

on a technique which promotes the idea of understanding over knowledge and promotes a

slight tweak on how to plan for units. The approach is called Universal Design by Learning (Udb)

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and the main idea is that you plan your big ideas first, followed by unit end assessment and

then move on to everything in between. I think Udb does an excellent job of incorporating the

new curriculum in addition to creating opportunities to foster SRL into my teaching. Just like the

new curriculum, Udb focuses on project based learning, and allows for student choice. In the

fall when I am planning units for my Foods classes, I will definitely incorporate what I learned in

my two day workshop with the SRL knowledge that I have acquired both in class and through

my inquiry.

This is the second inquiry I have completed and both have been quite enjoyable for me.

After learning of teachers engaged in inquiry in the Burnaby school District, I plan on contacting

Peter Dubinsky, the district contact, who provides opportunities to interested teachers in

inquiry. As it does not seem to be an option to use my professional development days for

individualized inquiry, I will speak to Peter Dubinsky to see what options are available to me. As

I will soon have completed my Masters, there is potential in the future to become an

administrator, if I choose to go in that direction. Showing initiative in district opportunities is a

great stepping stone to administration. Additionally, if I am aware of inquiry opportunities

available, I can promote these to staff at my school to help others with their professional

development. I also plan on proposing to my professional development committee to provide a

small workshop to interested staff on how to motivate students through SRL with the findings I

have learned about in this inquiry. It is one thing to learn about motivation and use the

practices myself; to share my findings not only will other staff members benefit, but other

students as well.

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As teaching can be an incredibly demanding job, I have decided to create a tool for

myself to keep me motivated when I am feeling down or stressed out. I am going to go to

Chapters and buy a pretty journal where I can write down all the small victories I experience as

a teacher, such as the one with Joel. Sometimes all it takes to motivate me is to remind me of

the little things which makes me want to continue in this professional, not just continue, but

thrive. I remember the look on one student’s face last semester when I gave him options in how

to show his learning and he got a B. When I handed back his assessment I overheard him say, “I

got a B! For the first time in my life, I did good at something!” From then onwards, this student

felt like he could be successful in my class. It is situations like those that reaffirm why I chose

this profession.

Finally, as I have learned the importance of goal setting and co-constructing rubrics in

relation to student motivation, I intend on having students set goals at the start of a unit

directly related to what they would like to learn. I also intend on co-constructing rubrics with

my students for major assignments so that expectations can be clear and they can take charge

of their learning. Using UdB as a guide, I will have students write down what their learning

intentions are for a unit, write down specific goals that they would like to achieve, and then use

co-constructed self-assessments as a tool for feedback and to foster motivation. There are

countless strategies that I have learned about in my inquiry. I would like to use all of them in

some capacity or other but first, I need to take one step at a time, making small tweaks here

and there until I am comfortable and confident implementing SRL practices in my teaching.

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References

Bergland, C. (2017). Self-Compassion, Growth Mindset, and the Benefits of Failure. Psychology
Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-athletes-
way/201701/self-compassion-growth-mindset-and-the-benefits-failure

Butler, D. L., Schnellert, L., & Perry, N. E. (2017). Developing self-regulating learners. Don Mills,
ON: Pearson

Gertsner, S. & Bogner, F. (2010). Cognitive Achievement and Motivation in Hands‐on and
Teacher‐Centred Science Classes: Does an additional hands‐on consolidation phase
(concept mapping) optimise cognitive learning at work stations? International Journal of
Science Education. 849-870.

Hruska, B. (2011). Using Mastery Goals in Music to Increase Student Motivation. Update:
Applications of Research in Music Education 30(1), 3-9.

Järvelä, S., Järvenoja, H., & Veermans, M. (2008). Understanding the dynamics of motivation in
socially shared learning. International Journal of Educational Research, 47, 122-135.

Maulana, R., Opdenakker, M.C., & Bosker, R. (2013). Teacher–student interpersonal

relationships do change and affect academic motivation: A multilevel growth curve
modelling. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 84(3), 459-482.

McGinley, J. & Jones, B. (2014). A Brief Instructional Intervention to Increase Students’

Motivation on the First Day of Class. Teaching of Phycology 41(2), 158-162.

Sedden, M.L. & Clark, K.R. (2016). Motivating Students in the 21st Century. Radiologic
Technology, 87(6), 609-616.

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