The Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning™
Multiples of Effort A practical approach to increasing student success
Rachel Porter, PhD Executive Director
(919) 368-7029 [email protected]
DO NOW: Please respond to the prompts on p. 2 of the handouts.
1. Understand the student effort equation:
E = ES x V
2. Connect the elements of the equation to student outcomes and teaching practices.
3. Apply strategies for increasing student effort by altering the variables within the equation.
E = ES x V Effort
Expectation of Success
Value
Student effort is affected by the student’s expectation for success and the degree to which students see value in that which they are learning. (Feather, 1982)
Motivation: A psychological state of sustained energy to perform certain actionsthe reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
Effort: The overt behavior through which motivation is translated into accomplished work.
Effort ≠ Motivation
Aptitude Persistence • Ability • Skill • Talent • “Fit” to the task
• Stick-to-itness • Continuing in the
face of challenge or difficulty
High Aptitude = “SMART KID”
High Persistence = “HARD WORKER”
Aptitude and Persistence
HAHP High Aptitude
High Persistence
HALP High Aptitude
Low Persistence
LAHP Low Aptitude
High Persistence
LALP Low Aptitude
Low Persistence
How do classroom/school feedback loops impact each type of student?
Connect your experiences
• Revisit your opening reflection.
• How did aptitude impact your persistence in each case?
• What other factors influenced your persistence?
Effort
Aptitude Persistence
Clarify learning goals and steps to reach them
Identify chunks/mini-goals
Address multiple learning styles/modalities
Model tasks & strategies Encourage self-assessment Provide the space and time for
practice Share tips and tricks for
overcoming weaknesses
Adjust the length of work time Provide effective feedback Reward persistence Frame mistakes as valuable
parts of the process
Aptitude and Persistence Good news: Neither one is “fixed”!
“When students perceive that they cannot succeed, they typically seek power in less
responsible ways, such as assuming an I don’t care attitude or becoming disruptive.”
Sullo, B. (2009) The motivated student: Unlocking the enthusiasm for learning
• Past history of little success after efforts to sustain at challenging classwork cause children's brains to automatically resist putting mental effort into subsequent similar activities. (LeDoux, 1994)
• School negativity is often the result of an
accumulation of failed efforts which eventually cause the brain to preserve energy in response to unsuccessful prior efforts. (Judy Willis)
Prior Experience
Beliefs can = Prior Experiences
"My parents said they were never good at math, so they don't expect me to be any different.“
Connect your experiences
• Revisit your opening reflection.
• How did past experience impact your success/failure?
• How did the way you perceived the challenge impact your effort?
• All students come to a learning event with some type of ‘baggage’.
• Whether positive or negative, this ‘baggage’ will affect the students’ dispositions to a learning event.
• Effective teachers intentionally design instruction to manage students’ dispositions.
Perception of Difficulty
If the US population was 200,000,000 and the cost of gasoline was $2.00 per gallon and gas mileage is 20 mi/gal and you buy every single person in the US a $2,000 car and enough gas to run it nonstop at 20 mph for a year: How much money would you spend.
Change the Perception
If the US population was 200,000,000 and the cost of gasoline was $2.00 per gallon and gas mileage is 20 mi/gal and you buy every single person in the US a $2,000 car and enough gas to run it nonstop at 20 mph for a year: How much money would you spend.
200,000,000 people/cars Gas per person = $2 x (365 x 24) hours in a year = $17520 1 car per person = $2000 200,000,000 x $19520 = $3,904,000,000,000
Expectation of Success
Prior Experience Perception of Difficulty
Identify/consider “learning baggage”
Recognize and connect prior and/or recent successes
Start with activities that give small wins to build success
Sequence learning to build challenge
Develop growth mindsets
Present tasks in smaller chunks
Provide specific guidance to
move from step to step
Avoid performance ambiguity
Think aloud through/discuss
common mistakes and how to
avoid them
Provide opportunities for “talk-
learning”
Experience and Perception
Value – Motivation of the Learner (Based on Knowles and Dilts) A
ttit
ud
e to
war
d U
sefu
lnes
s o
f C
on
ten
t/Ta
sk
Pe
rce
ive
d U
sefu
l Resistance - Neutral attitude
- Low effort
External Motivation
may have some impact on
Consequential Value
Persistence
- Good attitude
- High effort
Internal Motivation generated from Inherent Value
No
t P
erc
eiv
ed
use
ful Refusal
- Poor attitude
- No effort
External Motivation
has little impact on
Consequential Value
Toil
- Poor attitude
- Willing effort
External Motivation
may impact
Inherent Value
No Connection Connection
Effort from Personal Connection to Content/Task
Connect your experiences
• Revisit your opening reflection.
• What value did each goal hold for you?
• How did value motivate (or demotivate) your effort?
Value
Inherent Consequential
Promote self-awareness of brain functions and the chemical interactions related to effort-success cycle
Highlight connections to students’ lives
Provide specific, timely, and abundant feedback
Consider personal relevance Recognize effort connected to
achievement level
Recognize effort, not just the “score”
Use for routine, unchallenging and highly controlled tasks
Match consequence with task
Increasing Value
E = ES x V
Effort Expectation of
Success Value
Aptitude Persistence Prior
Experience Perception of Difficulty
Inherent Consequential
How did feedback influence the equation?
Performance Feedback When the brain receives immediate, specific, and abundant feedback there are chemical changes in the brain that help it to maintain focus, effort, and persistence.
• TIMELY
• SPECIFIC
•ABUNDANT
Powerful activators of the brain’s dopamine reward system are:
• making an accurate prediction in response to feedback , and
• achieving at a challenge.
Video games increase the brain’s internal dopamine-reward system.
Boosted levels of dopamine increase pleasure, reduce stress, and sustain effort.
A note about “Constructive” Feedback
“After having a successful experience that
induces positive mood and expectancy,
students are more open to learning about
areas of weakness; more so than students
who experience failure right from the start.”
(Trope and Pomerantz – 1998 - Styling added)
Differentiated Feedback
HAHP
• Chopped judging
LAHP
• Chopped kids judging
*With LP even MORE important to accentuate the positive and reward small successes
Unconditional Positive Regard - UPR
The term “unconditional positive regard” is generally
attributed to Carl Rogers, a humanistic psychologist
who believed that, during counseling, people
experienced more growth in an environment of
genuineness, acceptance, and empathy.
McLeod, 2007
E = ES x V Effort
Expectation of Success
Value
Aptitude Persistence Prior
Experience Perception of Difficulty
Inherent Consequential
6 Pathways to Increase Student Success
Student effort is affected by the student’s expectation for success and the degree to which students see value in that which they are learning. (Feather, 1982)
1. Understand the student effort equation:
E = ES x V
2. Connect the elements of the equation to student outcomes and teaching practices.
3. Apply strategies for increasing student effort by altering the variables within the equation.
The Centers for Quality Teaching and Learning™
Thank you! Rachel Porter, PhD
Executive Director (919) 368-7029
Please provide feedback on this session:
www.qtlcenters.org/feedback
Session: Multiples of Effort Location: NCMLE 2015