Some motivation theorists believe that in order to be intrinsically motivated, students must have both a sense of competence and a sense of self-determination

Question

a. Briefly describe these two concepts, illustrating each with a concrete example.
b. With the two concepts in mind, describe four strategies for promoting intrinsic motivation in a classroom setting.

Answer 1

Answers to the separate parts of the question are as follows:
a. A sense of competence is a belief that one can deal effectively with the environment. A sense of self-determination is a belief that one is in control of one's destiny and can make choices regarding the direction that one's life will take. (The response should include a concrete example of each of these concepts.)
b. The textbook presents a number of possible strategies that should foster either a sense of competence or a sense of self-determination (the response should include at least four of these or reasonable facsimiles):
• Help students achieve success, especially on challenging tasks.
• Provide mechanisms that enable students to track their progress.
• Minimize competition and other situations in which students might judge themselves unfavorably in comparison with peers.
• Create an environment in which students feel comfortable taking risks and making mistakes.
• Give larger rewards for accomplishing challenging tasks than for accomplishing easy ones.
• Provide opportunities for independent work and decision making.
• Present rules and instructions in an informational rather than controlling manner.
• Provide opportunities for students to make choices.
• Evaluate students' performance in a noncontrolling fashion.
• Be selective about when and how to use extrinsic reinforcers.
Give credit for other strategies that are equally plausible as means of enhancing self-efficacy