Aids for some urban commuters crossword clue

Book Study

Enhancing Adult

Motivation to Learn

A Comprehensive Guide for Teaching All Adults

Third Edition

Wlodkowski ffirs 3 02/04/08 vi

Wlodkowski ffirs 3 02/04/08 i

Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn

Wlodkowski ffirs 3 02/04/08 ii

Raymond J. Wlodkowski

Wlodkowski ffirs 3 02/04/08 iii

Enhancing Adult

Motivation to Learn

A Comprehensive Guide for Teaching All Adults

Third Edition

Wlodkowski ffirs 3 02/04/08 iv

Copyright  2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741 www.josseybass.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey- Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax 317-572-4002.

Jossey-Bass also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Chapter One epigraph from The Boy Who Would Be a Helicopter by Vivian G. Paley. Copyright  1990 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. Reprinted by permission of Harvard University Press.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wlodkowski, Raymond J. Enhancing adult motivation to learn : a comprehensive guide for teaching all adults /

Raymond J. Wlodkowski. — 3rd ed. p. cm. — (The Jossey-Bass higher and adult education series)

Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7879-9520-1 (cloth)

1. Motivation in adult education. I. Title. LC5219.W53 2008 374.001′ 9 — dc22

2007049555

Printed in the United States of America third edition HB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Wlodkowski ffirs 3 02/04/08 v

The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series

Wlodkowski ffirs 3 02/04/08 vi

Wlodkowski ftoc 3 02/04/08 vii

Contents

Preface ix The Author xvii

1. Understanding Motivation for Adult Learners 1 2. Understanding How Aging and Culture Affect

Motivation to Learn 31 3. Characteristics and Skills of a Motivating

Instructor 49 4. What Motivates Adults to Learn 95 5. Establishing Inclusion among Adult Learners 125 6. Helping Adults Develop Positive Attitudes

toward Learning 171 7. Enhancing Meaning in Learning Activities 225 8. Engendering Competence among Adult Learners 309 9. Building Motivational Strategies into

Instructional Designs 377

Epilogue: Ethical Considerations for an Instructor

of Adults 435

vii

Wlodkowski ftoc 3 02/04/08 viii

viii Contents

Appendix: Observation Guide for Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning (Adult Version) 439

Margery B. Ginsberg

References 445 Name Index 483 Subject Index 491

Wlodkowski fpref 3 02/04/08 ix

Preface

When I wrote the last edition of this book, the question that guided its conception was, How can instructors help all adults to learn? If we consider only age, income, and ethnicity and race, we have had societal changes in the last ten years that have expanded this challenge significantly. Demographic trends and immigration have increased the diversity of adults throughout postsecondary and workforce education. More adult learners than ever before are English-language learners. The number of younger nontraditional learners and older adult learners in formal educational settings is the highest it has ever been in the history of this country. Among these learners are higher proportions of low-income students as well. Although the enrollment rates for Latino and African American adult learners in two- and four-year colleges have grown, fewer than a quarter of those who enroll complete their degrees.

The increased linguistic and cultural diversity make teaching adults today more exciting than ever before. We have more to learn from each other and more ways to do it better. Our potential as instructors has evolved with greater knowledge in multicultural studies, cognitive and biological sciences, assessment practices, online learning, use of the Internet, and the opportunity to use brain-imaging technology to study learning as it happens.

We continue to have a responsibility to create learning envi- ronments that sustain the integrity of all learners as they attain

ix

Wlodkowski fpref 3 02/04/08 x

x Preface

relevant educational success. I am convinced that in conjunction with educational policies that promote the common good, a pow- erful means to helping all adults learn is to go to the source, to the energy — to human motivation. All adults want to make sense of their world, to find meaning, and to be effective at what they value — this is what fuels their motivation to learn. The key to effective instruction is to evoke and encourage the natural inclina- tion in all adults, whatever their background or socialization, to be competent in matters they hold to be important.

As in the last edition, the model in this book for teaching and planning instruction focuses on how to continually enhance intrinsic motivation among all learners as part of the instructional process. Dr. Margery Ginsberg and I developed the Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching in 1994. It is based on the principle that learning and motivation are inseparable from culture. For over a decade, the framework has been applied nationally and internationally with productive learning outcomes.

The Third Edition of Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn is designed to be a practical and immediately usable resource for faculty, trainers, educators, and staff developers whose primary task is instructing adults in universities and community colleges, in pro- fessional and industrial settings, and in community organizations. This book will also be very useful to part-time as well as full-time faculty and administrators.

As in the earlier editions, deepening learner motivation and helping adults want to learn are the major topics throughout this text. Within the last few years, the number of books about teaching adults seems to have doubled, but this is the only volume focusing on motivation as a constant positive influence during learning. In the chapters that follow, you will learn how to teach or train in ways that make the enhancement of intrinsic motivation an essential part of adult learning. Four chapters describe in detail sixty tested strategies for eliciting and encouraging learner motivation. You can

Wlodkowski fpref 3 02/04/08 xi

Preface xi

choose the strategies that best apply to your content and learning situation.

Among the important additions are insights and examples from the past nine years of application of the motivational framework and the strategies introduced in the previous edition. With appli- cations ranging from postsecondary education to communications technology, in cities from Toronto to Tokyo, ideas advocated in this book have been tried and tested. The results have not been excellent every single time. Through correspondence and on-site visits, I have learned the framework’s limitations and advan- tages and gained a more nuanced understanding of what can be accomplished when teaching is focused on strengthening intrinsic motivation during learning.

What is most exciting to me about this new edition is the integration of a neuroscientific understanding of motivation and learning within an instructional model responsive to linguistically and culturally different adult learners. The research emerging from a biological perspective of learning is used to provide insight and confirm educational practices grounded in knowledge about adult education, the social sciences, and multicultural studies. We are at the beginning of a reciprocal relationship among adult education, biology, and cognitive science, and each has much to learn from the other (Fischer and others, 2007).

This edition has greatly benefited from instructors who use this book as a text for their courses. Their experience and suggestions continue to guide its development. As requested, there are more practical examples and case studies to illustrate the motivational framework and its strategies. In this edition, the sections relating to feedback, self-regulation, and transfer of learning are also more substantive than in earlier editions.

Any instructor who has searched for a straightforward, true-to- life, and useful book on how to enhance adult motivation for learn- ing should find this book helpful. Because the focus of the book is

Wlodkowski fpref 3 02/04/08 xii

xii Preface

on motivation and instruction, it does not discuss philosophy, cur- riculum, or policy in depth. However, there are references to allow interested readers to pursue further study in most of these areas. This book is mainly about face-to-face instruction. It can be used for online learning because the motivational framework and most of the strategies are applicable to this format. I have worked with many instructional designers for online learning, and an example of their instructional plans is included in the Chapter Nine.

Some promises to you the reader:

• A minimal amount of jargon. With the growth of tech- nology in adult education and a neuroscientific perspec- tive as part of this edition, I have had to work hard to keep this commitment.

• A little bit of humor. It’s still great to have some fun while you’re learning.

• Many examples. Instructors and learners continue to ask for more.

• A practical and consistent way to design instruction that can enhance adult motivation to learn any content or skill. This is my professional raison d’etre. I have co-taught courses in disciplines as removed from my background as dye-casting and electronics to continue to extend this commitment.

• Motivation theory and methods positively supported by my own experience Instructors have appreciated this characteristic of the book. Nonetheless, please keep in mind that my experience is not unlimited.

• A way to teach that respects the integrity of every learner This promise is a lifelong work in progress. And I do have mishaps, faux pas, and mistakes. I continue to video- tape my teaching to see if I do as I advocate: to make the learner’s history, experience, and perspective an

Wlodkowski fpref 3 02/04/08 xiii

Preface xiii

essential consideration that permeates this approach to instruction.

Overview of the Contents

This book focuses on the most important ideas and information to make effective instruction a consistent motivational process that enables optimal learning for culturally diverse adults and their instructors. Chapter One offers a neuroscientific understanding of motivation and learning with discussion and definitions of the physiology of the brain. It also explores the intersection of cultural relevance, adult learning, intrinsic motivation, and neuroscientific understanding, concluding with a view of how instruction can be a path to improving educational success for all adults.

Chapter Two addresses the characteristics of adult learners, with particular attention to age, culture, and memory. There are overviews of different orientations to adult intelligences including multiple intelligences, practical intelligence, and emotional intel- ligence. The last part of the chapter offers a rationale for using a macrocultural approach to adult instruction and learning.

Chapter Three discusses the core characteristics — expertise, empathy, enthusiasm, clarity, and cultural responsiveness — that are necessary for a person to be a motivating instructor. The chapter outlines performance criteria for each characteristic so that you can comprehend, assess, and learn the behaviors that are prerequisites to enhancing learner motivation. It concludes with Paulo Freire’s conception of critical consciousness as a guide to creating a learning environment that contributes to the common good of society.

Chapter Four introduces the four conditions — inclusion, atti- tude, meaning, and competence — that substantially enhance adult motivation to learn. These motivational conditions are dynami- cally integrated into the Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching, a model of motivational theory in action.

Wlodkowski fpref 3 02/04/08 xiv

xiv Preface

This model is also an organizational aid for designing instruction. The framework provides guiding questions for creating instruction that elicits diverse adults’ motivation to learn throughout a course or training session.

Chapters Five through Eight provide the central content of this book. Each chapter provides comprehensive treatment of one of the motivational conditions: inclusion is covered in Chapter Five, attitude in Chapter Six, meaning in Chapter Seven, and compe- tence in Chapter Eight. These chapters describe in pragmatic terms how each motivational condition can positively influence learning among culturally diverse adults. They also describe and exemplify a total of sixty specific motivational strategies to engender each of the motivational conditions. Where applicable, I discuss each strategy in terms of its cultural relevance, neuroscientific support, and how it relates to adult learners. In most instances the strategies are referenced to further readings that provide research findings and examples of their use in educational settings.

Chapter Nine summarizes the previous chapters with an out- line of all the motivational strategies and their specific purposes. In addition, it explains two ways to use the Motivational Frame- work for instructional planning, the superimposed method and the source method. The chapter also provides five real-life examples of instructional planning with discussions of how each plan has been designed, using the framework and motivational strategies from the book. With a discussion of the growing literature on self-directed learning and self-regulated learning, this concluding chapter presents useful suggestions for increasing the capacity for lifelong learning among adults. The book ends with an epilogue addressing the ethical responsibility of being an effective instructor of adults.

Wlodkowski fpref 3 02/04/08 xv

Preface xv

Acknowledgments

This edition has benefited from the insightful suggestions of instructors, trainers, and students who have read and used this book. Although they have had faith in its merits, they have also spoken to its flaws. I am particularly grateful to David Brightman, senior editor of the Higher and Adult Education Series at Jossey-Bass, for his continuing support of this project and for his enormous patience and guidance. I also want to express my appreciation to Erin Null, editorial assistant at Jossey-Bass, for her responsiveness and care, which contributed to the ease of completing this work. In addition, I want to thank my friends and colleagues at Regis University, George Brown College, and Edgewood College, where I could apply these ideas in earnest and with the benefit of their good will and support. Finally, I wish to thank Margery, Matthew, and Dan for continuing to bring light to my eyes and warmth to my soul throughout this and many other adventures.

Raymond J. Wlodkowski Seattle, Washington December 2007

Wlodkowski fpref 3 02/04/08 xvi

Wlodkowski flast 3 02/04/08 xvii

The Author

Raymond J. Wlodkowski is Professor Emeritus at Regis University, Denver, where he was formerly director of the Center for the Study of Accelerated Learning and executive director and founding mem- ber of the Commission for Accelerated Programs. He is a licensed psychologist who has taught at universities in Denver, Detroit, Mil- waukee, and Seattle. His work encompasses adult motivation and learning, cultural diversity, and professional development. He lives in Seattle and conducts seminars for colleges and organizations throughout North America.

Wlodkowski received his Ph.D. in educational psychology from Wayne State University and has authored numerous articles, chapters, and books. Among them are Enhancing Adult Motiva- tion to Learn (Jossey-Bass, 1985), the first edition of which received the Phillip E. Frandson Award for Literature; and Diversity and Motivation (Jossey-Bass, 1995), which he coauthored with Margery Ginsberg. Three of his books have been translated into Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese. Wlodkowski has also worked extensively in video production. He is the author of six professional devel- opment programs, including Motivation to Learn, winner of the Clarion Award from the Association for Women in Communica- tions for the best training and development program in 199l. He has received the Award for Outstanding Research from the Adult Higher Education Alliance, the Award for Teaching Excellence from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and the Faculty Merit Award for Excellence from Antioch University, Seattle.

xvii

Wlodkowski flast 3 02/04/08 xviii

Wlodkowski flast 3 02/04/08 xix

Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn

Wlodkowski flast 3 02/04/08 xx

1

Understanding Motivation for Adult Learners

None of us are to be found in sets of tasks or lists of attributes; we can be known only in the unfolding of our unique stories within the context of everyday events.

Vivian Gussin Paley

Like the national economy, human motivation is a topic thatpeople know is important, continuously discuss, and would like to predict. We want to know why people do what they do. But just as tomorrow’s inflationary trend seems beyond our influence and understanding, so too do the causes of human behavior evade any simple explanation or prescription. We have invented a word to label this elusive topic — motivation. Its definition varies among scholars depending on their discipline and orientation. Most social scientists see motivation as a concept that explains why people think and behave as they do (Weiner, 1992). Many philosophers and religious thinkers have a similar understanding of motivation but use metaphysical assumptions to explain its dynamics.

Today, discoveries in the neurosciences offer a biological basis for what motivation is. Although this understanding is very far from complete, what we know about the working of the brain can enrich

1

2 Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn

and integrate fields as disparate as psychology and philosophy. From a biological perspective, motivation is a process that ‘‘determines how much energy and attention the brain and body assign to a given stimulus — whether it’s a thought coming in or a situation that confronts one’’ (Ratey, 2001, p. 247). Motivation binds emotion to action. It creates as well as guides purposeful behavior involving many systems and structures within the brain and body (Ratey, 2001).

Motivation is basic to our survival. It is the natural human process for directing energy to accomplish a goal. What makes motivation somewhat mysterious is that we cannot see it or touch it or precisely measure it. We have to infer it from what people say and do. We look for signs — effort, perseverance, completion — and we listen for words: ‘‘I want to . . .,’’ ‘‘We will . . .,’’ ‘‘You watch, I’ll give it my best!’’ Because perceiving motivation is, at best, uncertain, there are different opinions about what motivation really is.

As educators, we know that understanding why people behave as they do is vitally important to helping them learn. We also know that culture, the deeply learned mix of language, beliefs, values, and behaviors that pervades every aspect of our lives, significantly influences our motivation. What we learn within our cultural groups shapes the physical networks and systems throughout our brains to make us unique individuals and culturally diverse people. Social scientists regard the cognitive processes as inherently cul- tural (Rogoff and Chavajay, 1995). The language we use to think, the way we travel through our thoughts, and how we communicate cannot be separated from cultural practices and cultural context. Even experiencing a feeling as a particular emotion, such as sadness or joy or jealousy, is likely to have been conceptually learned in the cultural context of our families and peers as we developed during childhood and adolescence (Barret, 2005).

Roland Tharp (Tharp and Gallimore, 1988) tells the story of an adult education English class in which the Hmong students themselves would supply a known personal context for fictional

Understanding Motivation for Adult Learners 3

examples. When the teacher used a fictional Hmong name during language practice, the students invariably stopped the lesson to check with one another about who this person might be in the Hmong community. With a sense of humor, these adults brought, as all adults do, their personal experience to the classroom. We are the history of our lives, and our motivation is inseparable from our learning, which is inseparable from our cultural experience.

Being motivated means being purposeful. We use attention, concentration, imagination, passion, and other processes to pursue goals, such as learning a particular subject or completing a degree. How we arrive at our goals and how processes such as our passion for a subject take shape are, to some extent, culturally bound to what we have learned in our families and communities.

Seeing human motivation as purposeful allows us to create a knowledge base about effective ways to help adults begin learning, make choices about and give direction to their learning, sustain learning, and complete learning. Thus, we are dealing with issues of motivation when we as instructors ask such questions as, What can I do to help these learners get started? and, What can I do to encourage them to put more effort into their learning? and, How can I create a relevant learning activity? However, because of the impact of culture on their motivation, the way we answer these questions will likely vary related to the different cultural backgrounds of the learners.

Although there have been attempts to organize and simplify the research knowledge regarding motivation to learn (Brophy, 2004; Stipek, 2002), instructors lack the resources and educational models to consistently and sensitively influence the motivation of linguistically and culturally different adult learners (Guy, 2005). Both culturally responsive teaching (Wlodkowski and Ginsberg, 1995) and neuroscientific understanding of adult learning (Johnson and Taylor, 2006) are recent areas of inquiry and practice in adult education. As a result, instructors still tend to rely on their experience, intuition, common sense, and trial and error. Because

4 Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn

intuition and common sense are often based on tacit knowledge, unarticulated understanding, and skills operating at a level below full consciousness and learned within our cultural groups, such knowledge can mislead us. Regrettably, some instructors in cultur- ally diverse settings still grade for participation and believe students should speak directly about personal or uncomfortable topics in front of their peers. These teachers are not mean-spirited or rigid. More likely, they are pragmatic. In general, they believe they get more learner participation by grading for it, and they do not have an effective alternative. And most important, such an approach does not conflict with their values.

Without a model of culturally responsive instruction with which to organize and assess their motivational practices, instruc- tors cannot easily refine their teaching. What they learn about motivation from experience on the job and from formal courses is often fragmented and only partially relevant to the increasing diversity in their classrooms and training sessions. However, there are a significant number of well-researched ideas and findings that can be applied to learning situations according to motivation prin- ciples. The following chapters thoroughly discuss many of these motivational strategies and present a method to organize and apply them in a manner sensitive to linguistic and cultural differences. As we will see, current neuroscientific principles and research offer considerable support for this model and its related ideas.

Why Motivation Is Important

We know motivation is important because throughout our lives we have all seen the motivated person surpass the less-motivated person in performance and outcome even though both have sim- ilar capability and the same opportunity. We know this from our experience and observation. We know this as we know a rock is hard and water is wet. We do not need reams of research findings to establish this reality for us. When we do consult research, we find

Understanding Motivation for Adult Learners 5

that it generally supports our life experience regarding motivation. To put it quite simply, when there is no motivation to learn, there is no learning (Walberg and Uguroglu, 1980). In reality, motiva- tion is not an either-or condition, but when motivation to learn is very low, we can generally assume that potential learning will be diminished.

Although there have been research studies of adult motiva- tion to participate in adult education programs (Deshler, 1996; Benseman, 2005), no major research studies thoroughly examine the relationship between adult motivation and learning. If we define motivation to learn as the tendency to find learning activities mean- ingful and worthwhile and to benefit from them — to try to make sense of the information available, relate this information to prior knowledge, and attempt to gain the knowledge and skills the activ- ity develops (Brophy, 2004) — the best analyses of the relationship of motivation to learning continue to be found in youth education. In this field of research, there is substantial evidence that motiva- tion is consistently positively related to educational achievement.

Uguroglu and Walberg (1979) performed a benchmark analysis of 232 correlations of motivation and academic learning reported in forty studies with a combined sample size of approximately 637,000 students in first through twelfth grades. They found that 98 percent of the correlations between motivation and academic achievement were positive. We can reasonably assume that if motivation bears such a consistent relationship to learning for students as old as eighteen years of age, it probably has a similar relationship to adult learning. In support of this assumption, these researchers found that the relationship between motivation and learning increased with the age of the students and the highest correlations were in the twelfth grade.

Perhaps scholars of adult education have been reluctant to examine the relationship between learning and motivation because the bond seems so obvious. As researchers have found (Pintrich, 1991), people motivated to learn are more likely to do things

6 Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn

they believe will help them learn. They attend more carefully to instruction. They rehearse material in order to remember it. They take notes to improve their subsequent studying. They reflect on how well they understand what they are learning and are more likely to ask for help when they are uncertain. One needs little understanding of psychology to realize that this array of activities contributes to learning. In a study of adult learners in an urban uni- versity, researchers found that when adults perceived their courses as supportive of intrinsic motivation, they were likely to receive higher grades (Wlodkowski, Mauldin, and Gahn, 2001).

Motivation is important not only because it apparently improves learning but also because it mediates learning and is a consequence of learning as well. Psychologically and biologically, motivation and learning are inseparable (Zull, 2002). Instructors have long known that when learners are motivated during the learning process, things go more smoothly, communication flows, anxiety decreases, and creativity and learning are more apparent. Instruction with motivated learners can actually be joyful and exciting, especially for the instructor. Learners who complete a learning experience feeling motivated about what they have learned seem more likely to have a continuing interest in and to use what they have learned. It is also logical to assume that the more numerous their motivating learning experiences in a particular subject, the more probable it is that people will become lifelong learners of that subject.

To maintain a realistic perspective, however, we need to acknowledge that although some degree of motivation is nec- essary for learning, other factors — personal skill and quality of instruction, for example — are also necessary for learning to occur. If the learning tasks are well beyond their current skills or prior knowledge, people will not be able to accomplish them, no matter how motivated they are. In fact, at a certain point these manda- tory learning factors, including motivation, are insufficient. For example, if learners are involved in a genuinely challenging subject for which they have the necessary capabilities, a point will come

Understanding Motivation for Adult Learners 7

at which further progress will require effort (motivation), whether in the form of extra practice or increased study time, to make further progress. Conversely, outstanding effort can be limited by the learner’s capabilities or by the quality of instruction. Sports are a common example for the limits of capabilities. Many athletes make tremendous strides in a particular sport because of exemplary effort but finally reach a level of competition at which their coor- dination or speed is insufficient for further progress. An example of the influence of the quality of instruction is a learner who has the capability and motivation to do well in math but is limited by an obtuse textbook with culturally irrelevant examples and an instructor who is unavailable for individual assistance. It is unwise to romanticize or expect too much of motivation. Such a view can limit our resourcefulness and increase our frustration.

One of the indicators of motivation that we most commonly rely on as instructors is effort (Plaut and Markus, 2005). People work longer and with more intensity when they are motivated than when they are not (especially if there are obstacles). Moti- vated learners care more and concentrate better while they expend effort, and they are more cooperative. They are therefore more psychologically open to the learning material and better able to process information. It is much easier to understand what you want to understand. As Freud (1955, p. 435) said, ‘‘One cannot explain things to unfriendly people.’’

However, it is important to remember that one’s cultural background can influence perceptions of effort. For example, when researchers asked what percentage of intelligence is due to natural ability and what percentage to effort, the average percentage due to effort reported by European Americans was 36 percent while Asian Americans reported 45 percent (Heine and others, 2001). Because we may vary to the extent that we recognize effort, as instructors we need to be vigilant about seeing it because motivated learners probably get more spontaneous encouragement and assistance from instructors than unmotivated learners do. We are usually more

8 Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn

willing to give our best effort when we know our learners are giving their best effort, an important reciprocity that can affect an entire class.

A Neuroscientific Understanding of Motivation and Learning

What happens biologically when we are motivated to learn? The neurosciences have confronted this question directly and provide remarkable information about what happens within our brains and bodies when we are learning. Although much of this knowledge comes from laboratory studies and work with children (Merriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner, 2007), much has been learned about the basic structures of the brain and nervous system that provides a biological understanding of motivation and learning. Although this information is not definitive and has not been extensively researched in terms of what happens when adults learn, there is enough agreement in the field of neuroscience about basic struc- tures and processes such as neuronal networks and the function of neurotransmitters to inform teaching in adult education (Johnson and Taylor, 2006).

This book aims to provide a primary understanding of this fun- damental research and to use its findings to add support and insight for those ideas that are within the realm of sound adult instructional practice. Ultimately, our ideas about adult learning will need to be considered in terms of their consistency with biological research about learning. We need not make a scientific model preeminent in adult education (Belzer and St. Clair, 2005), but we can use it to strengthen and enrich our work.

An Overview of the Brain

At its most basic level, learning is a biological function, and the brain is most responsible for this process. At this moment your brain is engaged in seeing letters on this page, assembling them

Understanding Motivation for Adult Learners 9

into words, connecting those words with meaning, and forming thoughts while it also blocks out distracting sounds like the air conditioning, noises from the outside, and other people talking. Your brain is doing not only all this, but it is also probably sup- pressing your attention to various odors, sights, and sensations, as well as a few memories and your thoughts about what you might do next after reading this passage. Your brain is also regulating your breathing, blood pressure, and body temperature. And most of the functions just mentioned are happening without any conscious awareness on your part! The brain can do these many different things simultaneously because it is so complex, possibly the most complex object known to us.

Neurons

Recent estimates are that the adult brain has about 100 billion neurons (Bloom, Nelson, and Lazerson, 2001). As illustrated in Figure 1.1, neurons have a cell body, a single long branch known as an axon, and multiple shorter branches called dendrites. The junction where signals pass from one neuron to another is called a synapse (see Figures 1.1 and 1.2). Current brain research supports

Synapse Dendrites

Axon

Figure 1.1. Two Neurons Connecting

Source: Jensen, 2005. Used with permission.

10 Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn

the idea that most learning and development occurs in the brain through the process of strengthening and weakening synaptic connections. Because each neuron may have anywhere from one to ten thousand synaptic connections, the number of different patterns of possible connections in the brain is about forty quadrillion, a staggering number, literally beyond my comprehension.

Although there are other cells within the brain, such as glia cells, the neurons are the basic functional cells that appear to control learning. They encode, store, and retrieve information as well as influence all aspects of human behavior (Squire and Kandel, 2000). Neurons act like tiny batteries sending chemical and electrical signals that create processes to integrate and generate information (Jensen, 2005). The threshold for firing at the synapse is determined by the amount of chemicals (called neurotransmitters) released onto the receiving neurons (Bloom, Nelson, and Lazerson, 2001). At the synapse, these chemicals either excite the receiving neurons and cause them to fire, or inhibit them from firing, or

Electrical impulse

Synaptic gap

Axon terminal

Neuro- transmitters

Receptors on the dendrite

Figure 1.2. The Synapse

Source: Jensen, 2005. Used with permission.

Understanding Motivation for Adult Learners 11

modify their excitability. Examples of common neurotransmitters are dopamine and epinephrine, which are involved in affecting our emotions and mood.

At the most basic level, the extent to which a neuron is active depends on the mass of its dendritic and axonal systems and its overall chemical reactions. The total of all the neurotransmitters arriving from all the dendrites to a neuron’s cell body at any moment determines whether it will fire. When we learn something, such as a new word or the name of a new acquaintance, connections containing that information are made between neurons. Through practice and repetition we strengthen the connections and ‘‘learn.’’ Neuroscientists have a cliché: ‘‘Neurons that fire together wire together.’’ When we learn something, we are building networks of neurons that represent what we are learning. According to Zull (2002, p. 99), ‘‘It seems that every fact we know, every idea we understand, and every action we take has the form of a network of neurons in our brain.’’ The brain is constructed so that a smaller unit of knowledge, such as visual recognition of the number 3, is likely to be located in a smaller network of neurons. Small networks are connected with other small and large networks to resemble a forest of neuronal networks with tens of thousands of synaptic connections. Just imagine the possible connections one might have to the number 3! All of these connections are neuronal networks (also called circuits) and are apparently dormant before we think of the number 3, but active when we remember it (see Figure 1.3).

From a neuroscientific viewpoint, at the micro level, learning is long-lasting change in existing neuronal networks. When adults learn, they build on or modify networks that have been created through previous learning and experience. These networks are the adult learners’ prior knowledge. This is an essential fact that we will return to frequently, both as it pertains to adults’ everyday learning and to their cultural perspectives.

An instructor cannot remove the neuronal networks that exist in an adult learner’s brain (Zull, 2002). They are a physical entity.

12 Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn

That is why, as instructors, we cannot simply explain something away, especially if it is a deeply held attitude or belief. Literally, another neuronal network has to take the place of the current attitude or belief. That biological development takes repetition, practice, and time. Probably new dendrites must grow and new synaptic connections must form and fire repeatedly. A logical explanation or well-constructed argument usually does not have the biological impact to cause the physical changes in a learner’s brain that need to occur for a real alteration in the learner’s attitude or belief. If a learner is ready to change a particular belief or attitude, an instructor’s explanation may be more persuasive and change can occur. In this case, the learner has developed the neuronal networks through previous learning and experience which need only minimal development or stimulation (our explanation) to

Simple network

Complex network

Figure 1.3. Neuronal Networks

Source: Jensen, 2006. Used with permission.

Understanding Motivation for Adult Learners 13

change the attitude or belief. However, in most instances, Robert Mager’s aphorism holds true: ‘‘Exhortation is used more and accomplishes less than almost any behavior-changing tool known’’ (1968, p. 39).

New learning may be able to lessen the use of and even replace particular neuronal networks. Neuronal networks do weaken and die with disuse (Zull, 2002). For all learning, the most pragmatic approach to instruction is to find ways to connect and build on learners’ prior knowledge, to begin with what they already know and biologically assemble with them the new knowledge or skill by connecting the established networks and the new networks. A biological approach to learning requires us to find out what adult learners understand and can do, to see such information as a foun- dation and a map for what we design for the instructional process. The road to masterful teaching takes a compassionate route.

Brain Structures

With the development of neuropsychological tools such as positron-emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers can study which brain activities are regulated by which brain structures. Both of these instruments are based on the principle that the part of the brain that is most active during a task needs the most oxygen (Bloom, Nelson, and Lazerson, 2001). Although these tools can scan the brain and represent areas high in metabolic activity, they are an indirect assessment of brain structures and their relationship to human action. Based largely on these forms of neuroimaging research and neurosurgery, neuroscientists have categorized areas of the brain and nervous system, aligning them with particular aspects of human functioning and behavior. According to this scheme, the cerebral cortex — the outermost layer of the brain, which is respon- sible for all forms of conscious activity — can be divided into four lobes that each carry out a set of actions (see Figure 1.4).

14 Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn

• The frontal lobe. Located in the area of the forehead; often called the executive; enables us to sustain attention, make plans, solve problems, and form judgments.

• The parietal lobe. Located at the top back portion of the head; enables us to locate ourselves in space and process sensory functions, such as messages from the skin and muscles related to movement.

• The temporal lobes. Located above and around the ears; enable us to hear, speak, and connect visual areas to language areas, enabling us to see or hear what we read.

• The occipital lobe. Located at the back of the head; enables us to see and is involved in the process of attaching emotions to memories and dreams.

Frontal

Temporal

Parietal

O cc

ip ita

l

Figure 1.4. Main Areas of the Human Brain

Source: Jensen, 2005. Used with permission.

Understanding Motivation for Adult Learners 15

The middle of the brain, also known as the limbic system or limbic region (see Figure 1.5), represents about a fifth of the brain, and is extremely important in helping us to feel what we feel about our lives and the world. The limbic system is a group of brain structures that regulate our emotions, those feelings that indicate our motivation about anything. These six are among the most important structures of the limbic system:

• The amygdala. A vigilant monitor that gives mean- ing to human experience on an immediate level. It reacts to experiences before we consciously understand them, especially those that appear threatening or dan- gerous (LeDoux, 1996). In situations of uncertainty, it primes the brain to be alert and tuned to subtle cues for further possible action (Compton, 2003).

Cingulate gyrus

Thalamus

Hippocampus

Spinal cord

Amygdala

Hypothalamus

Septum

Frontal lobe

Figure 1.5. The Major Structures Forming the Limbic Region of the Brain

Source: Bloom, Nelson, and Lazerson, 2001. Used with permission.

16 Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn

• The thalamus. A relay station for almost all sensory information (Bloom, Nelson, and Lazerson, 2001).

• The hypothalamus. Influences and regulates hormone secretion. Because it monitors information from the autonomic nervous system, it affects appetite, sleep, sexuality, and emotions (Bloom, Nelson, and Lazerson, 2001).

• The hippocampus. Helps to form long-term explicit (conscious) memories. Although it does not store mem- ories, it integrates new memories with other memories, a function very important to learning (Zull, 2002).

• The cingulate gyrus. Encircles the other structures of the limbic system and appears to mediate communication between them and the cerebral cortex (Bloom, Nelson, and Lazerson, 2001).

• The septum. Appears to facilitate the release and binding of dopamine, the neurotransmitter primarily involved in creating positive moods and emotions. It plays a role in maintaining and altering motivation (Zull, 2002).

Although identifying these structures of the brain gives us a basic vocabulary for discussing adult learning and motivation, we need to remember that the brain is part of a nervous system that extends to every part of the body. There is strong connectivity within the brain and between the brain and the rest of the nervous system. The brain works so well because its individual structures are so efficiently interdependent.

This broader understanding of the connection between the brain and the central nervous system can lead to some confusion. In conventional usage, the neursoscientific literature does not distinguish between neuronal networks and neural networks. When

Understanding Motivation for Adult Learners 17

it does make a distinction, neuronal networks are usually discussed in relation to brain functioning, whereas neural networks are more often discussed in relation to the central nervous system, which includes the brain, the spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system. As I use these two similar terms in this book, I will follow this distinction.

Our current knowledge of the central nervous system is still inadequate to explain with specific certainty how the brain oper- ates. The brain’s dynamism also makes it an elusive subject for study. As Jensen writes (2005, p. 11), ‘‘Whether you are 2 or 92, your brain is a cauldron of changing chemicals, electrical activ- ity, cell growth, cell death, connectivity, and change.’’ For these reasons we need to use our knowledge of the brain judiciously to discuss learning and motivation. Before we carry out any instruc- tional ideas based on neuroscience, we need to understand how well they are integrated and consistent with our current models, research, and practice in adult education.

A Neuroscientific Perspective of Motivation

Merging a neuroscientific understanding of motivation with cur- rent knowledge from psychology and education creates ideas that are richer, more nuanced, more complex, and, fortunately, quite promising. The brain has evolved over millions of years as the major organ for ensuring human survival. In evolutionary terms, the neocortex, the part of the brain fundamental to thinking, ana- lyzing, and planning, is considered young because it has evolved within only the last five to ten million years (Zull, 2002). As human beings, we want to learn because learning is our means for survival. Knowing what to fear and what to desire is essential to our future. We use cognition to maintain control and to generally navigate away from fear and toward pleasure.

The brain has an inherent inclination for knowing what it wants. In human terms, that means relevance (Ahissar and others, 1992). We are compelled to pay attention to things that matter to

18 Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn

us. Every moment of our lives is a competition among our senses to perceive what matters most. Our emotions usually tell us this, often before we can reflect upon the situation and especially when we feel threatened. What matters is defined through our cultural perspectives which carry language, values, norms, and perceptual frameworks to interpret the world we live in.

As we experience our world, events that are accompanied by feelings receive preferential processing in the brain (Christianson, 1992). Because they are salient for survival, emotions add impor- tance to our thoughts and experiences. Structures in the brain and their related neurotransmitters convey these emotions to us moment by moment. For example, the neurotransmitter dopamine is usually connected with feelings of pleasure and elation, and norepinephrine seems to induce a state of arousal.

Although emotions capture our attention, we spend most of our waking hours in mind-body states that are made up of sen- sations (for example, hunger and fatigue), emotions (joy and anger), and thoughts (optimism and concentration) that combine and recombine simultaneously (Damasio, 1999). These mind-body states are made up of millions of neurons in complex web-like signaling systems that represent our behavior. They are quickly shifting neuronal networks that involve multiple structures of the brain. Jensen (2005) draws an apt analogy when he compares their operation to the dynamic atmospheric patterns we call weather. From a neuroscientific perspective, when we are doing something, these mind-body states represent our motivation. We are likely to identify them by the emotion or mood most obvious to us at the moment, such as ‘‘I’m getting bored with reading this textbook.’’ Although our mind-body state may seem stable as we proceed with a task, in reality it is in a state of flux, diminishing, strength- ening, or changing into another state. On the single page of a book or in the span of five minutes in a course, we may go from feeling inspired, to feeling frustrated, to feeling creative, and then inspired again.

Understanding Motivation for Adult Learners 19

The theories of intrinsic motivation fit very well with a neuroscientific understanding of motivation. As defined by Ryan and Deci (2000, p. 16), ‘‘intrinsic motivation is entailed whenever people behave for the satisfaction inherent in the behavior itself.’’ For example, people read a novel because they find it inherently interesting. Behavior that people find intrinsically satisfying prob- ably conforms to what their brains are physiologically disposed to want and induces or is compatible with a positive mind-body state.

We know from psychological research that it is part of human nature to be curious, to be active, to make meaning from experi- ence, and to be effective at what we value (Lambert and McCombs, 1998). These are primary sources of motivation that reside in all of us, across all cultures. When adults can see that what they are learning makes sense and is important according to their values and perspective, their motivation emerges. Such circumstances elicit intrinsic motivation and probably facilitate a mind-body state con- ducive to learning. Intrinsic motivation is evoked; it is a physical energy aroused by an environment that connects with what is culturally relevant to people.

A neuroscientific understanding of intrinsic motivation con- firms that we need to create learning environments that access what biologically motivates adults from within. In addition, intrin- sic motivation is probably more emotionally salient and varied than it was originally conceived to be. We feel many different emotions while learning, and they may not all be consistently positive. As instructors, we need to pay close attention to the emotions of adult learners and construct with them a learning environment that supports the optimal expression of their emotions in service of their learning. This topic will be addressed throughout this book.

Although Csikszentmihalyi’s theory of intrinsic motivation and flow (1997) directly addresses the importance of feedback in learn- ing, a neuroscientific perspective also emphasizes that feedback is essential to the human need for survival. For how the brain operates, this means the feeling of being in control. Feedback