THE FOURTH QUARTER

Students are human beings and, from what I have seen over the decades, most human beings need some level of external motivation in order to do their best.  In my classes, probably 5-20 percent of the students need absolutely no motivation from me.  They manage to arrive at class every day completely prepared and ready to discuss the issues of the day.  That group always impresses me.  I wish I could clone those students.

The rest are more likely to resemble me as a college student.  Ready on some days and completely unprepared the next.  In my case, I desperately needed better time management skills and I tended to procrastinate and then could not get everything done in the remainder of my time.  When tests came around, I earned a lot of B’s and C’s but always knew that I could have done better, “If I could have gotten my act together.”  Looking back, I wonder why the teachers in college did not push me to do better.  I do recognize that some professors do not believe that motivation of students is their responsibility and I understand the logic.  However, if you want your students to learn and succeed, I think some motivation is warranted and almost universally necessary.  It is just human nature.

Some professors motivate with sticks (“I’m going to give a pop test if you don’t start preparing better.”) whereas others use carrots (“If you are actively engaged each day, I will give you a high Participation Grade.”).  Each teacher needs to find his or her best approach to student motivation.  I do have two pieces of advice.

(1) – Motivation of college students needs to be on a regular basis.  The half-life of any motivation technique seems unfortunately short.  As each semester drags on to its conclusion, many students begin to get distracted and run out of energy.  Batteries need to be recharged every week or two.

(2) – Try to make as much of your motivation “encouraging” as possible.  I am not a big believer in either sticks (punishments) or carrots (bribes).  For me, their benefits are, at best, short-term and can push out any true deserve for learning.  I try to remind the students on a regular basis why the material is important and that, in my mind, they are capable of learning it.  "I can't do this" is an easy way for any student to give their own failure to try.

What is your philosophy toward student motivation?  Do you think about it frequently, occasionally, or never?  If you really do want to help your students succeed, I would spend some serious time pondering your approach to student motivation.

Here is an email that I sent out this morning to my students to push them to work harder over the final few weeks of the semester.  Finishing a semester strong can make all the difference in the world in the success of the student's work.
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To:  Accounting Students

From:  JH

I watched a bit of a college football game on Saturday.  It was close and both teams seemed to play hard.  When they got to the start of the fourth quarter, a lot of the players marched around with four fingers raised to indicate that they planned to win the fourth quarter and, hence, the game.  Although those players had to be brutally tired, they so wanted to win that they were letting everyone know that they expected to play at their peak in the final quarter and win the game.  And, indeed, both teams played extremely well in the fourth quarter although those players must all have been exhausted.  The excitement of the possible win got them pumped up and ready to do well.

We have one more test and then a final exam.  I have seen way too many students fade out in the last few weeks of a semester and ruin a good grade.  I fully understand that you are tired.  It has been a long, hard semester.  Nevertheless, I want you (not the person beside of you but YOU) to show me your very best work in the last part of this semester.  If you do that, then you can still create a real upward push on your grade.  I see it every semester and you can be next.

I know that you would like to coast out from here.  That’s lazy human nature.  We are all like that.  We all want to hang out and play computer games or watch cats on Youtube.  But, the weeks from here to the end of the semester will make a difference for many of you in your final grade.  As far as I’m concerned, you can sleep 16 hours per day after the semester is over.  Until then, I need for you to dig down deep inside of yourself and show me the best work of the whole semester.  Work hard and work smart.  You can nail the last test and the final exam but that is only going to happen with your best work.  It’s not luck that you need.  It is real work.  That’s what I want – your very best work of the entire semester.

Don’t dwell on how tired you might feel.  It is easy to get into a chant, “I’m so sick and tired of this work.”  That will lead nowhere good.  Dwell on the excitement of learning new material and pushing your grade up.  With the right attitude, you will be amazed by what you can still accomplish this semester.

GO FOR IT!!!