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Present Purpose First

Tags

^21st Century Skills All Ages Strategy

Skills

Flexible Thinking Working Memory Attention Verbal Reasoning Abstract Reasoning

Present Purpose First

If your student isn't inherently motivated by the topic

Teach It!

  1. Objective: Students will be motivated about the topic they're learning when they are provided with a purpose. (Why are we learning this?)
  2. Teacher Takeaways: Learning new information in the context of how the information is used and why it is important helps make the learning meaningful and increases student motivation.
  3. Instruction: a) Introduce new information by providing the "why" first: Why it is a key skill to mastering another skill, how it can be applied in daily life, or why the skill is critical for certain types of careers. b) Help students understand how it makes their life easier. If students understand that multiplication is a faster way to do addition, they have an incentive to learn multiplication facts. c) Include altruistic and societal benefits of learning. Research shows when students learn with a social purpose, their interest and motivation increases.

Why It Works (the Science Of Learning)!

It is easy for students to get lost or overwhelmed in the details of what they need to do or the grade, losing sight of the overall importance of learning. When you begin a discussion with an explanation of why the information is relevant, you are most likely to have their full engagement which will increase motivation to follow through.