Enhancing Student Self-Study Attitude and Activity with Motivational Techniques

Kent Rhoads,Jonathan Dehaan

doi:10.37237/040303

Abstract

Research has shown that students will exhibit a positive attitude towards self-study, but that they will often fail to complete self-study activities. The purpose of this paper is to investigate positive instructor interactions and motivation of students to complete self-study activities and students’ attitudes towards self-study. Six English instructors at the University of Shizuoka created a one-semester self-access study log for use in the university self-access language laboratory in order to find out how many students would complete the log. One of the six instructors applied motivational techniques in the classroom in an effort to engender greater student self-study. Later a questionnaire was administered to 465 student participants to determine their self-study attitudes and activities. The data collected from the questionnaire and the high participation in the self-study activities suggest the positive impact the motivational actions employed by the instructor had on his students’ attitudes towards self-study activities.

Highlights

It is known that students are attracted to self-study learning activities, but to what degree? Lai and Gardner (2007) describe a “gap between theoretical support and motivation to complete activities” (p. 199)
The researchers found that the type of outside-class self-study activities that students engaged in did not vary between the LIG and the HIG. It appeared that the motivational techniques applied by Instructor Number Six had a positive impact on the students desire to complete and return the SASL by the fact that 95 percent of his students did so
Based on limited data, the results of this project suggest that the six motivational practices employed by the instructor contributed to an enhancement of attitudes toward self-study and resulted in greater rates of SASL completion

Summary

Introduction

It is known that students are attracted to self-study learning activities, but to what degree? Lai and Gardner (2007) describe a “gap between theoretical support and motivation to complete activities” (p. 199). If teachers can motivate students for greater acceptance and use of self-study, by how much, and what techniques are effective? The purpose of this study was to further the findings in this field by attempting to examine the effect that teacher motivational techniques have on students’ attitudes towards their selfaccess study. A formal research study was not initially planned, but instead the idea for a project developed as the primary researcher (one of the authors) tested different motivational techniques in his classroom in order to encourage self-study and questions from the students. In September 2009 the six Language Communication Resource Center (LCRC) instructors plus the Assistant Director of the LCRC (co-author of the paper) held a meeting that included a brainstorming session with the purpose of engendering more student use of the SALL. It was decided that a Self Access Study Log or SASL "#%

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Discussion

Conclusion