Teachers must wear many different hats. In addition to the scholar, philosopher, judge, psychologist, dramatist, and magician hats I have in my wardrobe, I found I also need that of a retailer, one adept at enticing consumers to buy the product or subject matter. When my customers grumbled about the price they were asked to pay, I developed a survey to monitor consumer satisfaction. In it, I asked my students to reflect upon the class to determine what could be modified. Here are three examples of these reflections.

This first reflection gave very specific ways that I could change the class but little indication about what he might do to change his own study habits. I found this type of attitude to be common among these teenagers. His points include: homework should be graded on a daily basis, otherwise doing the work goes unrewarded; too much material is covered each day; group work does not help with the material; and questions given for homework do not necessarily reflect the difficulty of problems on tests.

Fighting back my initial defensive response, I made some adjustments. Knowing that the number of students precludes my grading their homework everyday, I decided to collect a homework assignment every week. I also explained that I could not slow the pace of the class because the standard course of study demands teaching a large volume of material. Students had to take responsibility by taking good notes, reviewing those notes at night, reading the book, doing the homework problems (until they get the right answer consistently), and asking questions about what is unclear. If students complete their work, then the pace of the class will seem appropriate. To make group work activities more productive, I assigned roles in their groups of four. During practice time, I allowed students to work in pairs, only if they wished. In reviewing for tests, I was very explicit about the types of problems they could expect. By indicating test questions correspond to question types on earlier worksheets, students see a correlation between doing homework and doing well on the test and realize that the problems on the test are not "new," just homework problems with different numbers or chemicals.

Here a discouraged and defeated student feels there is nothing she can do to improve in the class. I met with this student one on one. I explained the grading system and demonstrated that even if she got an F on one test, she could still earn a B in the class. However, that meant she had to make time to understand the material. I wrote to her mother asking her help in getting her daughter to school early so that we could go over homework each day. Once the student realized that her misunderstandings were just over a few details here and there, she started to improve.

This studentís main concern was my grading of labs. My purpose in grading labs was to emphasize the importance of details; therefore, I began to write a list on the board specifically spelling out what I was looking for. Additionally, I either drew a table on the board or gave them a copy of one to use as a guide in reporting their findings. In this way, they were able to organize their data and thoughts more readily. Later in the course, I could wean them away from this crutch.

These three very different students each lacked inner motivational resources. Ideally, this motivation would be intrinsic; the student would naturally be curious rather than spurred by external rewards or expectations. Thinking about this has inspired me to create a list of ways to increase motivation within my classrooms.

1. Create a supportive rather than controlling environment in which students can be aware of their educational goals and outcomes and have a sense of autonomy. "Real" science takes a lot of creativity- otherwise, nothing new would be "discovered." Students should be encouraged to find easier or different ways of approaching problems by having more conceptual than factual learning, encouraging creativity or a different viewpoint, and supporting risk-taking. Along with this freedom of thought, however, there must be specific and clear limits, especially in dangerous lab situations.
2. Forge a trusting relationship with students to facilitate internalization. If a student has respect for the teacher, he or she is more likely to absorb the behavior the teacher is modeling.
3. Present material in a way that students are able to regulate and assess their own progress. Self-regulation can be encouraged by introducing various study skills and by breaking procedures into steps. The student can focus on small aspects of the problem rather than being overwhelmed by the entire solution.
4. Balance the student's skill with a certain level of challenge.
5. Submit immediate feedback, whether it be monitoring guided practice in the classroom or checking homework on the web. The student must feel able to take risks and get a question wrong without punishment.
6. Reduce anxiety in the classroom so students who normally do not participate will be more willing to be engaged.
7. Introduce a stimulus change by creating suspense, by allowing students to guess, by playing to what the students already know, by discussing a controversy, and by contradicting inferred conclusions.
8. Have students set goals, and help them formulate plans to reach those goals.
 

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