Motivated students more apt to learn something<\/p>\n
By Hendra Gunawan<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): I could try to teach my dog how to whistle, but
\nI guess -- however hard I tried -- my dog would not learn. I
\ncould not then call it teaching, could I? If it was teaching,
\nthen it should be categorized as bad teaching.<\/p>\n
Everybody would agree that the main task of a school teacher
\nis to teach. But what is teaching for? Is it just to fulfill the
\ntask? Or is it for transferring knowledge or information to
\nstudents, as many people would say? What if the students do not
\nlearn at all?<\/p>\n
Teaching, in the sense of transferring information, is a
\nrelatively easy job. What is more difficult is to make students
\nlearn, process and do something with the information presented to
\nthem, and think about it further.<\/p>\n
So, the main question is not what is taught or how
\nsophisticatedly it is taught, but should be: do the students
\nlearn or not? Teaching is a waste of time if students do not
\nlearn anything.<\/p>\n
Good teaching should make students learn. Moreover, it should
\nencourage students to learn by themselves, even when teaching is
\nnot taking place. Student learning is the main activity, and so
\nstudents -- not teachers -- must become the main actors.<\/p>\n
If students were eager to learn, then there would be no need
\nto teach at all. We could provide them with books or material and
\nlet them learn by themselves.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, it is rare to find students like this. In most
\ncases, we are faced with students who would not automatically
\nlearn if we did not do something to make them learn.<\/p>\n
One says that students learn if motivated. Motivation is the
\nkey to student learning. Some students might have intrinsic
\nmotivation, but most of them do not. In most cases, there is no
\nother choice but to motivate them. But how?<\/p>\n
There are many things that can motivate students to learn.
\nSome students might be motivated if they are afraid or
\nthreatened. A student will study hard if he or she fears some
\nuntoward consequence of failing. Parental pressure often causes
\nsuch fear. Fear is a great motivator, but -- beware -- it can
\nalso become counterproductive. One thing is for sure, it is not
\nwise for a teacher to instill fear into a student's heart.<\/p>\n
Some students will be motivated to learn if they need to know
\nthe material, for instance if they are told that it will be
\nincluded in the next test. However, learning is not just about
\npassing tests.<\/p>\n
Many students will also be motivated to learn if they
\nexperience success in their learning, in understanding a concept
\nor doing things that they learn. In most cases, students who have
\nfailed once will be reluctant to continue for fear of future
\nfailure. Thus, experiencing success in learning is important.<\/p>\n
However, it will be better if students are motivated to learn
\nbecause they perceive the material to be relevant or they can
\nrelate the material to their life experience, or -- the best of
\nall -- because they find the material interesting.<\/p>\n
Hence the very first thing a teacher should do when he or she
\nis teaching is to motivate students to learn, for instance by
\nshowing them that the material is relevant or interesting. As
\nDonald Norman put it in his 1993 book Things That Make Us Smart:
\n\"... the trick in teaching is to entice and motivate the student
\ninto excitement and interest in the topic ...\"<\/p>\n
Of course, a teacher should have adequate mastery of the
\nmaterial. But then he or she should also know its relevance or --
\nwhenever possible -- what is interesting about it.<\/p>\n
It is not hard, for example, to find music interesting. But do
\nwe know what is interesting about mathematics? For some people,
\nmathematics is needed, and interesting too. To know that the
\nmaterial is interesting, we need -- for instance -- to read and
\nfind out more about it.<\/p>\n
Knowing a little about the history of mathematics often helps
\nin having something interesting to tell our students.<\/p>\n
To summarize, the main task of a school teacher is nothing but
\nto facilitate students' learning. Motivation turns out to be the
\nkey, and so the problem is how to motivate students to learn.<\/p>\n
Once students are motivated, one can start presenting basic
\nconcepts and information, giving exercises and providing enough
\ntime for exploration and reflection. One may then expect that
\nstudents will learn something. That is what teaching is for.<\/p>\n
The writer is a lecturer at the School of Mathematics of
\nBandung Institute of Technology.<\/p>",
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