SCL 5

1. Intrinsic motivation is motivation that comes from inside (enjoyment, satisfaction).

Extrinsic motivation comes from outside (money, grades, detention, awards, and prizes).

For example, a student who wants to be an astronaut when they grow up will exert
extra effort into their astronomy class just because they’re interested in the topic. Giving
positive feedback frequently can instill intrinsic motivation, as can using the students’
interests to teach a subject. Another example would be a student interested in dinosaurs
will have a greater interest in learning about types of plants if they are given a chance to
set up a dinosaur habitat with plants they’ve chosen to support dinosaur life.

Extrinsic motivation comes from outside the students. A student who makes an A
and gets RM 5 for it may want to make more A’s to make more money. Because of this,
many teachers set up reward systems for reading a certain number of books, for
completing homework or for successfully finishing learning tasks. While this may sound
like a falsified form of educating children, the end result may be the same; students end
up learning the same amount of material regardless of how they are motivated to do so.
However, research into the long-term gains, or lack thereof, with such an approach should
caution teachers against overuse.

Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation have their benefits and drawbacks. Intrinsic
motivation can be difficult to tap into because of its personal nature. In some cases,
students may be dealing with difficulties in their personal lives that use up their energy
and leaves little room for academic enthusiasm. In those cases, some interest in the
subject can often be encouraged by a teacher willing to show concern for the student.
One first step is to listen to your students, get to know them, their interests, and their
dreams.

Extrinsic motivation is much easier to establish once the teacher knows what the
student is willing to work for. Whether it is stickers, a bit of extra free time or some sort of
prize, students usually have a reward they value. An extrinsic reward system can teach
students to put in hard work in order to get a reward, another life skill. The real problem,
though, is that extrinsic motivation works in the short term, but it does little to light (and
keep lit) the fire of curiosity that leads to lifelong learning. It may be that the book a teacher
bribes a student to read hooks them into reading, however, there is little guarantee of this.
Better to find books that link naturally with the student’s interest and provide multiple entry
points for that student to engage in the topic in a meaningful and relevant context.

2. How the memories form? When you experience something, like dialing a phone
number, the experience is converted into a pulse of electrical energy that zips along a
network of neurons. Information first lands in short term memory, where it’s available from
anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes. It’s then transferred to long-term
memory through areas such as the hippocampus, and finally to several storage regions
across the brain. Neurons throughout the brain communicate at dedicated sites called
synapses using specialized neurotransmitters. If two neurons communicate repeatedly, a
remarkable thing happens: the efficiency of communication between them increases. This
process, called long term potentiation, is considered to be a mechanism by which
memories are stored long-term.

How we lost our memory? Age is one factor. As we get older, synapses begin to
falter and weaken, affecting how easily we can retrieve memories. Scientists have several
theories about what’s behind this deterioration, from actual brain shrinkage, the
hippocamus loses 5% of its neurons every decade for a total loss of 20% by the time
you’re 80 years old to the drop in the production of neurotransmitters, like acetylcholine,
which is vital to learning and memory. These changes seem to affect how people retrieve
stored information. Age also affects our memory-making abilities. Memories are encoded
most strongly when we’re paying attention, when we’re deeply engaged, and when
information is meaningful to us.

Another leading cause of memory problems is chronic stress. When we’re

constantly overloaded with work and personal responsibilities, our bodies are on hyper
alert. This response has evolved from the physiological mechanism designed to make
sure we can survive in a crisis. Stress chemicals help mobilize energy and increase
alertness. However, with chronic stress our bodies become flooded with these chemicals,
resulting in a loss of brain cells and an inability to form new ones, which affects our ability
to retain new information.

Depression is another culprit. People who are depressed are 40% more likely to
develop memory problems. Low levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter connected to
arousal, may make depressed individuals less attentive to new information. Dwelling on
sad events in the past, another symptom of depression, makes it difficult to pay attention
to the present, affecting the ability to store short-term memories.

3. “Intellectual style” is an envelope term that refers to all the existing style concepts,
such as thinking style, learning style, and cognitive style. Zhang and Sternberg (2005)
defined intellectual style as “one’s preferred way of processing information and dealing
with tasks” (Zhang & Sternberg, 2005, p.2). Scholars have proposed different style
concepts with their own perspectives and disregarded others’ work. This resulted in the
confused understanding of style concepts and the declined research on styles in the
1970s.

4. Cognitive Evaluation Theory, when looking at a task, we assess it in terms of how

well it meets our need to feel competent and in control. We will be intrinsically motivated
by tasks we believe fall in our current level of competency and ‘put off’ by those which we
deem we will do poorly at. This issue is often more about self-perception of one’s levels
of competency than objective truth.

So we need to ensure that before engaging students in challenging tasks that they
may perceive as being beyond their levels of competence we prepare them adequately,
cognitively and emotionally. For effective progression from a lower level to a higher one
to be possible, students must be given plenty of opportunities to consolidate the material
processed at the lower level before moving on. This does not often happen in courses
which rely heavily on textbooks. For instance, in most of the preschool was asked to teach
a unit of work every six-seven weeks, a totally unrealistic pace when contact time is limited
to one or two hours a week. The result: the weaker children are usually left behind.
 Endowed progress effect, when people feel they have made some progress
towards a goal, they will feel more committed towards its achievement. Conversely,
people who are making little or no progress are more likely to give up early in the process.

Whatever the task you engage your students in, ensure that they all experience
success in the initial stages. This may call for two approaches which are not mutually
exclusive: First, design any instructional sequence in a ‘stepped’ fashion, with ‘easy’ tasks
that become gradually more difficult; then provide lots of scaffolding (support) at the initial
stages of teaching.

5. The role of research is important in all fields, in a similar manner, the importance
of research in education is very vital. This is because it is a systematic analysis, in
education, research is essential as it gives the systematic analysis of the topic. Also, the
objectives are clearly defined through the research process. One needs to study in a
systematic and controlled manner, and this is exactly what the research work provides an
individual. Second is, leads to great observations in the field of education, the research
helps in coming to one conclusion. That conclusion can be achieved by observing the
facts and figures in depth. So, such in-depth knowledge is provided by following various
research methods only. In this way, research also assists in leading to greater
observations.

It is also improving practices, the educational research is important for the students
to improve practices and at the same time, it helps in improving those individuals who
really wish to bring improvement in those practices. So, this way educational research
helps in overall improvement of the individual. Be it a student or any teacher who is
researching on some topic, it is of great help to them. It acts as a lighthouse and
empowers the individual. Other than that, develops new understanding related to the
learning. The educators are benefited through various research as it helps them in having
a better understanding of the subject. Along with this, it develops greater understanding
related to the teaching, learning and other educational administration. The new
knowledge further helps in improving educational practices of the teachers and the
professors.
 Then, it’s also helps in decision making, the good research requires proper time
and effort. It prepares the person for taking essential decisions which further necessitates
the same from all the participants involved in the process. For better results, it is important
for the participants to consider the required consequences and all the risks involved in
the whole process. Finally, we can motivates others. The educational research builds
patience because it is a lengthy process. In order to get fruitful results, you need to build
patience and only then you will be able to motivate others. Also, if your research is full of
the right facts and figures, it will ultimately motivate others. An accurate research assists
in enhancing the reader’s knowledge which might not be possible for any other person.

6. Learning Theories, research title which is an educational perspective written by

Dale H. Schunk.

Thorndike suggested that drilling students on a specific skill does not help them
master it nor does it teach them how to apply the skill in different contexts. When teachers
instruct secondary students how to use map scales, they also must teach them to
calculate miles from inches. Students become more proficient if they actually apply the
skill on various maps and create maps of their own surroundings than if they are just given
numerous problems to solve. When elementary teachers begin working with students on
liquid and dry measurement, having the students use a recipe to actually measure
ingredients and create a food item is much more meaningful than using pictures, charts,
or just filling cups with water or sand. In medical school, having students actually observe
and become involved in various procedures or surgeries is much more meaningful than
just reading about the conditions in textbooks.

Thorndike’s views on the sequence of curricula suggest that learning should be

integrated across subjects. Kathy Stone prepared a unit for her third-grade class in the
fall on pumpkins. The students studied the significance of pumpkins to the American
colonists (history), where pumpkins currently are grown (geography), and the varieties of
pumpkins grown (agriculture). They measured and charted the various sizes of pumpkins
(mathematics), carved the pumpkins (art), planted pumpkin seeds and studied their
growth (science), and read and wrote stories about pumpkins (language arts). This
approach provides a meaningful experience for children and “real life” learning of various
skills. In developing a history unit on the Civil War, Jim Marshall went beyond just covering
factual material and incorporated comparisons from other wars, attitudes and feelings of
the populace during that time period, biographies and personalities of individuals involved
in the war, and the impact the war had on the United States and implications for the future.
In addition, Mr. Marshall worked with other teachers in the building to expand the unit by
examining the terrain of major battlefields (geography), weather conditions during major
battles (science), and the emergence of literature (language arts) and creative works (art,
music, drama) during that time period.