Week 5 ejournal

In my ID project, I am trying to find a way to get my English 1301 students more involved in the group work that we do daily. I have evaluated them over the semester and last semester to determine that they just aren't as engaged as I would like them to be. I don't feel they are meeting the requirement's set by me to fully comprehend the lessons. I will use both Cognitive Learning theory and the Motivation Learning theory to help me with my instruction. I will use the following information that I found online,
"Cooperative goal structures are characterized by students working together to accomplish shared goals. What is beneficial for the other students in the group is beneficial for the individual and vice versa. Because students in cooperative groups can obtain a desired reward (such as a high grade or a feeling of satisfaction for a job well done) only if the other students in the group also obtain the same reward, cooperative goal structures are characterized by positive interdependence. Also, all groups may receive the same rewards, provided they meet the teacher's criteria for mastery. For example, a teacher might present a lesson on map reading, then give each group its own map and a question-answering exercise. Students then work with each other to ensure that all know how to interpret maps. Each student then takes a quiz on map reading. All teams whose average quiz scores meet a preset standard receive special recognition (Johnson et al., 1994; Johnson et al., 1995; Slavin, 1995).

Cooperative structures lead students to focus on effort and cooperation as the primary basis of motivation. This orientation is reflected in the statement "We can do this if we try hard and work together." In a cooperative atmosphere, students are motivated out of a sense of obligation: one ought to try, contribute, and help satisfy group norms (Ames & Ames, 1984). William Glasser, whose ideas we mentioned earlier, is a fan of cooperative learning. He points out that student motivation and performance tend to be highest for such activities as band, drama club, athletics, the school newspaper, and the yearbook, all of which require a team effort (Gough, 1987). We would also like to point out that cooperative-learning and reward structures are consistent with the constructivist approach discussed in Chapters 1, 2, and 10 since they encourage inquiry, perspective sharing, and conflict resolution." https://college.cengage.com/education/pbl/tc/motivate.html

 I believe that some of my students have acquired what is called "learned helplessness." This theory is one that students that continue to experience failure have and I think it is one of the issues I have with students in my classes. They have lost their sense of connection between real life skills and what will benefit them from school/college. I also plan to use a motivational design to help my students. It is where they will;

1. Analyze what they think is the motivational problem for them.

2. They will design motivational strategies that they think will help them learn better in a cooperative group setting.

3. Evaluate if these work or not while in the group.