Feeling too lazy for school? You’re not the only one!
Colleges in California, and perhaps the rest of the United States, have failed to successfully motivate students to perform to their full potential according to Dr. Roxana Marachi, an educational psychologist.
“When students get a tangible reward, like good grades or a top spot in a class, it actually makes them less motivated,” says Marachi.
The college system is based on grades and students are rewarded and valued by rank. This is not the way to motivate students to succeed.
Marachi, San Jose State’s assistant professor of the college of education, led a workshop for teachers and staff about how to better motivate students. The session took place at San Jose State in the Instructional Resource Center room 101 on March 3 at 1:00 p.m.
It was a smaller classroom that seemed to be at full capacity with only 12 participants there. The seating was meeting room styled with everyone in a circle, a setting that encourages equality between teachers and students.
The basis of the meeting focused on healthy learning versus unhealthy learning. Marachi explained that, Behaviorism, one of the oldest learning theories, actually has nothing to do with learning.
For students, grades become the prize at the end. Students learn to work solely for a reward. This works for a short period of time, but is detrimental to their work ethic in the long run.
SJSU e-Campus blackboard.com administrator, Mark Adams said that the top performers in their field “spent an enormous amount of time in practice; they also enjoyed practice.”
The best way to learn is to learn for the sake of learning, and not to pass the class.
Marachi reminded us that it is the teachers responsibility to make the subject matter seem interesting and useful to the students. Engineering professor, Jacob Tsao, Ph.D., brought up a discussion on what student, Justin Riray, likes to call, “the cemetery syndrome,” in which the entire class seems dead. Tsao said that on a regular basis, he would ask the class a question and not a single hand would raise.
By incorporating students’ personal knowledge with the learning material, it comforts and invites students to learn and accept school.
The function of schools, according to reproduction theorists, is to reproduce the ideology of dominant groups by passing down knowledge and wisdom. In order to consume long-term information, students should feel comfortable and accepted.
Marachi explained the expectancy - value theory of motivation. Multiply what the learner expects to learn by how much he values the material to calculate their motivation level.
“This is a multiplicative model, it is not additive,” Marachi said.
“If one of them is zero, then they are all zero,” she concluded.
It was discussed that if a student believes they will do well, but is not at all interested in the subject, or visa versa, then they will have zero motivation.
Constable Todd Chadwick of the Miramichi Police Force wrote an article on how parents can communicate better with their teens. You will find that much of the advice given can be used by teachers in a classroom as well.
"Spending relaxed time with teens sets the scene for communication, but it is usually not enough. Parents also need to learn how to be good questioners to get conversations started. To do this it is important to know something about what is happening in their lives," said Chadwick.
Students are more able to learn in an environment where they are comfortable and have a relaxed connection with their teachers.
It is healthy for teachers to spend a good amount of time getting to know students and just having normal conversation about their lives. Educators will always be more capable of successful teaching if they have developed a bond with students that goes beyond just teaching.
Chadwick continues, "Another aspect of the listening process is avoiding actions that block communication. Primary among these actions is interrupting. Even if you are sure you know what the teen is talking about and have a brilliant answer for the problem, do not interrupt. Teens hate this and will not continue the conversation."
Many times, teachers will interrupt students and try to finish their answers or stop students when their response
Cutting students off mid-response usually drastically decreases their will to speak up in class, added to the fact that it takes a lot of courage for most students to even raise their hand in class. To disrespect students while they are speaking by interrupting them does no good for their learning experience.
Educational psychologist, James Sanders says that beliefs about educational psychology from half a century ago put education in danger by being based upon the notion that there are only either true or false ideas. On the contrary, educational psychology is more about rationalizing.
There is more to learning than correct and incorrect ideas. Students need to learn how to think critically instead of creating clones of their teachers’ lectures and photo copying pages of books into their minds.
American students are all taught to work hard to get good grades so they can get a good job. What happened to learning? Oh yea, doing anything to become successful took its place.
Many teachers teach facts. They teach by the books.
Dennis Hungridge, M.A., a human resources workforce planning manager reminded people how the U.S. has built itself on opposite values from the rest of the world.
“The cultural myth of the United States is working hard; not education,” claimed Hungridge.
While Europe and most of Asia founded their worth on knowledge and learning in order to succeed, the United States has founded it’s values on working hard.
Since society has taught this generation to work for short term goals, they have developed short term motivation. People give up to easily. Failing just one class could completely hinder a student’s full potential, because they are likely label themselves a failure from then on.
Marachi advised that students have to learn to love school for the sake of increasing our knowledge and preparing themselves for life using the tools offered to us by teachers. People also need to be optimistic about difficult trials and failures.
Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team.
Jordan once observed, “I’ve failed over and over again in my life.”
“That is why I succeed.”
-Justin Riray, SJSU Journalism Major
(Sidebar)
Educational Theories and What Works Best for Students
Behaviorism (Incentive Theory):
Rewards and punishments can be used to condition a person.
People are motivated to obtain pleasant consequences and to avoid unpleasant ones.
This is when people are motivated by external factors such as money or good grades.
Instead of being intrinsically motivated, in which they enjoy doing a task and find it satisfying in itself.
For example, in favor of Behaviorism, a student will try hard in school in order to be rewarded with good grades or praise.
Whereas, students who are intrinsically motivated just do well in school because they enjoy learning and achieving.
Behaviorism, which was once viewed as the best way to teach, is actually a very wrong teaching system.
By relying on rewarding or punishing students, teachers would actually diminish their self-efficiency and inner motivation.
Expectancy and Value Theory:
Expectancy X Value = Motivation Level.
The learning ability of a student on a certain subject relies on what, and how much they expect to learn multiplied by how much they value the information or skill they are being taught.
For instance, if a student loves music and is confident that she will learn a lot in a piano class, then she will do well.
Where as a student who doesn’t really care much for English class nor does he think he can do well, will do very poorly in an English class.
This works for students who are interested in a subject and have a high self-expectancy.
Teachers must do their best to make students feel like the class material is exciting and important to their lives.
As far as expectancy, teachers must also provide students with clear opportunities for success and communicate a climate of support for learning.
Achievement Goal Theories - Mastery goal vs. Performance goal:
The Mastery Achievement Goal Theory focuses on improvement and understanding. Intelligence is viewed as changeable and mistakes are viewed as opportunities to learn and perfect things.
The Performance Achievement Goal Theory focuses on ability and ranking relative to others.
The climate is more competitive, rather than improvement of oneself. The students are outcome oriented and view intelligence as fixed. Ex. All the smart kids always get A’s, but not me, I’m not that smart.
Mistakes are viewed as failures.
The Mastery Goal approach is good for average students. They will feel more comfortable making mistakes and speaking up in class, and actually try to learn the material that is difficult to them because they are focused on learning.
Therefore, they are not stressed out about getting an A, they just want to do their best.
The Performance Goal approach works great for the higher-tier students.
The “A” students will thrive in a performance goal climate.
They work hard in order to get A’s and be at the top of the class.
If they feel like they are awarded with good grades and ranked highly then they will be more motivated to learn.
The secret for a teachers to help motivate their students is to know them individually.
Teachers must know the strengths, weaknesses, and motives within each student, like a coach knows his players.
Of course, for the bigger classes, it would be hard for a teacher to remember every single student.
In order for most students to be successful in a class, they must feel like the information is relevant to their lives and they must feel supported by their instructor.
Broadcast Script:
Anchor lead-in:
Feeling too lazy for school?
You’re not the only one!
Justin Riray reports from an Educational Psychology workshop at San Jose State.
Live:
COLLEGES IN CALIFORNIA HAVE PROBLEMS SUCCESSFULLY MOTIVATING STUDENTS TO PERFORM TO THEIR FULL POTENTIAL ACCORDING TO DOCTOR ROXANA MARACHI.
THE EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST SAYS WHEN STUDENTS GET A TANGIBLE REWARD LIKE GOOD GRADES, IT ACTUALLY MAKES THEM LESS MOTIVATED.
TEACHERS SHOULD FOCUS ON HELPING STUDENTS TO VALUE THE INFORMATION THEY ARE LEARNING INSTEAD OF VALUING THEIR CLASS RANK AND GOOD GRADES.
BY BASING SUCCESS ON MATERIAL RESULTS RATHER THAN IMPROVING UNDERSTANDING AND OVERALL KNOWLEDGE, STUDENTS LIMIT THEMSELVES AS LEARNERS.
SCHOOL SHOULD BE ABOUT PREPARING PEOPLE TO ACHIEVE GREAT THINGS IN LIFE, NOT TEACHING THEM HOW TO ACHIEVE GOOD GRADES.
FROM SAN JOSE, JUSTIN RIRAY, UPDATE NEWS.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Individual Blog Post #4: Vis-Com Day Photojounalist
Dai Sugano: Passionate about Pictures
By Justin Riray
When a person has a hobby that they are passionate about, they will end up doing it until four or five in the morning.
“Editing until 4 a.m., you’re in that mode--like writing a love letter to your girlfriend. You might wake up in the morning and think, ‘Oh s**t! I wrote that!?’ It’s crazy like that.” -Dai Sugano
For the San Jose State Vis-Com day, Dai Sugano, a photo journalist with the San Jose Mercury News spoke to students about how he turned his passion into a career.
In DBH 133 at 10 a.m. on April 23rd, Sugano spoke about his journey as a photographer and gave students the privilege of watching his photo and video slideshows as he provided behind-the-scenes commentary.
He began as a street photographer, someone who uses a still shot camera to capture people, places, and things in their usual element. He made mundane scenes into beautiful pictures. Of these photos were a dog with his tongue out, a person walking out into the light from a dark alley, and a woman in a red dress, walking on the sidewalk. His ability to make aesthetics out of buildings and streets is amazing.
He explained that the reason many people yield from trying their passion as a professional job is because they are used to just being on their own and having no one to criticize them.
Sugano made the entire room nod in realization and laugh at the same time when he said, “We feel… we don’t want to suck.”
Sugano added, “You are doing it because you like to do it. It is the key to success.”
By Justin Riray
When a person has a hobby that they are passionate about, they will end up doing it until four or five in the morning.
“Editing until 4 a.m., you’re in that mode--like writing a love letter to your girlfriend. You might wake up in the morning and think, ‘Oh s**t! I wrote that!?’ It’s crazy like that.” -Dai Sugano
For the San Jose State Vis-Com day, Dai Sugano, a photo journalist with the San Jose Mercury News spoke to students about how he turned his passion into a career.
In DBH 133 at 10 a.m. on April 23rd, Sugano spoke about his journey as a photographer and gave students the privilege of watching his photo and video slideshows as he provided behind-the-scenes commentary.
He began as a street photographer, someone who uses a still shot camera to capture people, places, and things in their usual element. He made mundane scenes into beautiful pictures. Of these photos were a dog with his tongue out, a person walking out into the light from a dark alley, and a woman in a red dress, walking on the sidewalk. His ability to make aesthetics out of buildings and streets is amazing.
He explained that the reason many people yield from trying their passion as a professional job is because they are used to just being on their own and having no one to criticize them.
Sugano made the entire room nod in realization and laugh at the same time when he said, “We feel… we don’t want to suck.”
Sugano added, “You are doing it because you like to do it. It is the key to success.”
Monday, May 4, 2009
Individual Blog Post #3: The Trouble with...
The Trouble with Sex in Relationships
By Justin Riray
Why is it that the sex can turn the perfect woman into Jekyll and Hyde?
It seems to me that the majority of relationships between a man and woman, or even, girl and boy, by today’s standards, start off flawlessly.
They love each other more than life itself. They always want to be together. They spend way too much time, money, and energy together.
Everything plays out just like a fairytale.
Then it happens. Sex.
All of a sudden, women get mad about everything.
I admit I am exaggerating, but not that much.
I have heard that a chemical is released into women’s brains over the course of time. The more sex they have with a man, the more they fall in love.
Guys don’t get that chemical.
This is the science behind why most guys can have sex without feelings, but only a small percentage of women can.
When women begin to fall in love they become more possessive and obsessive.
First the women get angry about how their boyfriend talks to or hang around with other girls, even if the girls have been their close friends for many years.
Then the girls say that the guys don’t give them enough time and that they spend too much time with their friends, or family, or they work or go to school too much.
So the relationship that was made in heaven begins to go up in flames.
Both the man and woman become stressed at each other and fight or argue more than weekly.
I just wish that sex wouldn’t change relationships, because sex is great, but the emotional consequences aren’t.
By Justin Riray
Why is it that the sex can turn the perfect woman into Jekyll and Hyde?
It seems to me that the majority of relationships between a man and woman, or even, girl and boy, by today’s standards, start off flawlessly.
They love each other more than life itself. They always want to be together. They spend way too much time, money, and energy together.
Everything plays out just like a fairytale.
Then it happens. Sex.
All of a sudden, women get mad about everything.
I admit I am exaggerating, but not that much.
I have heard that a chemical is released into women’s brains over the course of time. The more sex they have with a man, the more they fall in love.
Guys don’t get that chemical.
This is the science behind why most guys can have sex without feelings, but only a small percentage of women can.
When women begin to fall in love they become more possessive and obsessive.
First the women get angry about how their boyfriend talks to or hang around with other girls, even if the girls have been their close friends for many years.
Then the girls say that the guys don’t give them enough time and that they spend too much time with their friends, or family, or they work or go to school too much.
So the relationship that was made in heaven begins to go up in flames.
Both the man and woman become stressed at each other and fight or argue more than weekly.
I just wish that sex wouldn’t change relationships, because sex is great, but the emotional consequences aren’t.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Journal 6 - Fish out of Water: Black Baptist Church
Justin Riray
Mass Com 100w - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm
Journal #6 - Fish Out of Water (350-500 words)
Pakman7JR@hotmail.com
Word Count: 536
Being a tall skinny Asian guy in the middle of a building full of black people, I felt slightly awkward.
I attended the Sunday service of a black Baptist church, Emmanuel Baptist Church in north San Jose this weekend.
To get the most out of the experience, I decided to sit in the front-middle section of the church.
The church had the usual service layout. They sang songs, prayed, collected money, and had a speaker deliver a message about how to incorporate God into our everyday lives. Though, the flavor of the entire mass was full of warmth and soul.
But, before all the music and excitement, I felt out of place. I mean, I’m used to being around black people and Baptists, but they didn’t know that.
I wasn’t nervous at all, until I parked my car and saw that I was most likely the only non-black person there. Though, there were a couple Latino people in attendance.
I could feel everyone staring at me. It wasn’t in a bad way, but in a curious way, like, “Is that kid lost?”
As I walked in, almost the entire choir up at the altar constantly took glances at me and one another.
It’s funny that, the night before as I was planning my outfit for church, I thought to myself, “Hmm, I think I’ll wear purple. That is a good color for a Sunday mass at a black church.”
I thought myself a bit racist, but to my surprise the entire choir was wearing purple.
The choir and band combination was brilliant. I haven’t heard such uplifting music in a long time.
There were kids younger than me who sang like angels with more soul than I thought God could fit in one building.
One boy, who looked no older than 19, led the choir in an amazing piece of music. When his solo came on, he could hit notes Beyonce would sing, and did it with ease and spirit.
Despite being a different race, at least we shared somewhat of the same beliefs and morals.
They must have been happy to see me come to their church. Most churches love seeing newcomers attend their services and gatherings.
At one point in the middle of the ceremony, a reverend asked all the visitors to stand up as the church welcomed them. Before I stood up, most of the people were already looking at me.
It felt great as I looked around and saw tons of smiling faces. They were real smiles, not the forced kind.
They even had a portion of the service where everyone got to get up and greet one another. A bunch of very nice people gave me a great handshake, a welcoming smile, and thanked me for coming to their church.
Although it looked like I was completely out of place, by the end of church, I felt very much a part of them.
As I walked out, passed peopled talking and hugging, I thought to myself, “How could there be such an exciting church and why was I raised in a boring Catholic church? No fair.”
My “Fish out of Water” assignment turned out to be nothing of that sort.
Mass Com 100w - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm
Journal #6 - Fish Out of Water (350-500 words)
Pakman7JR@hotmail.com
Word Count: 536
Purple-shirted Soulful Singers and Smiling Strangers
Being a tall skinny Asian guy in the middle of a building full of black people, I felt slightly awkward.
I attended the Sunday service of a black Baptist church, Emmanuel Baptist Church in north San Jose this weekend.
To get the most out of the experience, I decided to sit in the front-middle section of the church.
The church had the usual service layout. They sang songs, prayed, collected money, and had a speaker deliver a message about how to incorporate God into our everyday lives. Though, the flavor of the entire mass was full of warmth and soul.
But, before all the music and excitement, I felt out of place. I mean, I’m used to being around black people and Baptists, but they didn’t know that.
I wasn’t nervous at all, until I parked my car and saw that I was most likely the only non-black person there. Though, there were a couple Latino people in attendance.
I could feel everyone staring at me. It wasn’t in a bad way, but in a curious way, like, “Is that kid lost?”
As I walked in, almost the entire choir up at the altar constantly took glances at me and one another.
It’s funny that, the night before as I was planning my outfit for church, I thought to myself, “Hmm, I think I’ll wear purple. That is a good color for a Sunday mass at a black church.”
I thought myself a bit racist, but to my surprise the entire choir was wearing purple.
The choir and band combination was brilliant. I haven’t heard such uplifting music in a long time.
There were kids younger than me who sang like angels with more soul than I thought God could fit in one building.
One boy, who looked no older than 19, led the choir in an amazing piece of music. When his solo came on, he could hit notes Beyonce would sing, and did it with ease and spirit.
Despite being a different race, at least we shared somewhat of the same beliefs and morals.
They must have been happy to see me come to their church. Most churches love seeing newcomers attend their services and gatherings.
At one point in the middle of the ceremony, a reverend asked all the visitors to stand up as the church welcomed them. Before I stood up, most of the people were already looking at me.
It felt great as I looked around and saw tons of smiling faces. They were real smiles, not the forced kind.
They even had a portion of the service where everyone got to get up and greet one another. A bunch of very nice people gave me a great handshake, a welcoming smile, and thanked me for coming to their church.
Although it looked like I was completely out of place, by the end of church, I felt very much a part of them.
As I walked out, passed peopled talking and hugging, I thought to myself, “How could there be such an exciting church and why was I raised in a boring Catholic church? No fair.”
My “Fish out of Water” assignment turned out to be nothing of that sort.
Ad Redirect: Skyy Vodka
My Skyy Vodka ad can be redirected to the middle to upper-class, ages 45 to 60.
I would lower the brightness and sharpness of the color.
Instead of "Go natural," it would read "Feel young again."
Instead of two mouths, I would have a young looking middle aged couple smiling at each other, in a flirtatious way.
I would place the ad in US News and World Report.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Scholarly journal article summary #2
Justin Riray
Mass Com 100w - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm
Scholarly Research Summary 2
Pakman7JR@hotmail.com
Word Count: 250
Student’ Resistance in the Classroom
Bracha Alpert
Beit Barl College, Israel
There has always been a subtle resistance among students in upper middle-class high school classrooms who work toward achieving academic success.
This attitude of resistance and compliance is seen as being influenced by a teaching approach that attributes superiority to academic school knowledge and that promotes a recitation style of classroom interaction.
This study was done on three high school English classes in which two of the three had students that showed resistance toward learning, while the third class was actively participating in the classroom.
Low-key participation was almost natural form of student behavior for the third room.
By incorporating students’ personal knowledge with the learning material, it comforts and invites students to learn and accept school.
The function of schools, according to reproduction theorists, is to reproduce the ideology of dominant groups by passing down knowledge and wisdom. In order to consume long-term information, students should feel comfortable and accepted.
The gap between instruction that attributes superiority to intellectual knowledge and the students’ adolescent world was reflected in the students’ interviews with the researcher.
One student reported that her teacher “shouldn’t be so much of a teacher.”
She felt that the teacher didn’t develop a genuine relationship with the students; it was all business and the teacher took too strong of an authoritative stance.
Making more room for personal expression and responsive classroom interaction combined with subject matter is key to bridging the gap between students and school.
Mass Com 100w - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm
Scholarly Research Summary 2
Pakman7JR@hotmail.com
Word Count: 250
Student’ Resistance in the Classroom
Bracha Alpert
Beit Barl College, Israel
There has always been a subtle resistance among students in upper middle-class high school classrooms who work toward achieving academic success.
This attitude of resistance and compliance is seen as being influenced by a teaching approach that attributes superiority to academic school knowledge and that promotes a recitation style of classroom interaction.
This study was done on three high school English classes in which two of the three had students that showed resistance toward learning, while the third class was actively participating in the classroom.
Low-key participation was almost natural form of student behavior for the third room.
By incorporating students’ personal knowledge with the learning material, it comforts and invites students to learn and accept school.
The function of schools, according to reproduction theorists, is to reproduce the ideology of dominant groups by passing down knowledge and wisdom. In order to consume long-term information, students should feel comfortable and accepted.
The gap between instruction that attributes superiority to intellectual knowledge and the students’ adolescent world was reflected in the students’ interviews with the researcher.
One student reported that her teacher “shouldn’t be so much of a teacher.”
She felt that the teacher didn’t develop a genuine relationship with the students; it was all business and the teacher took too strong of an authoritative stance.
Making more room for personal expression and responsive classroom interaction combined with subject matter is key to bridging the gap between students and school.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Journal #7 - Targeting Audiences
Justin Riray
Mass Com 100w - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm
Journal #7 - Targeting Audiences
Pakman7JR@hotmail.com
Word Count: 326
This Vans full-page ad is going after 13 to 25-year-olds. Their occupation is anything that doesn't require them to dress up every day, although occupation doesn't seem to be an indicator of whether or not someone likes vans. Their household income is anywhere from $20,000 a to $120,000 a year and their education level would be anything above fifth grade. Marital status would be either, but most likely single, because they are focusing on the younger crowd. They are shoe-heads who think they have a unique, funky style, but are really just following the mainstream trend.
The ads key message lies in the imagery of the shoes and the repeated logos. It attracts a less involved audience because it doesn't require much thought to understand the ad. It is very simple and practical, especially for what it is advertising: shoes. People look at shoes and if they look nice, then they buy them. So, all Vans has to do is present what their shoes looks like; goal accomplished.
This Skyy Vodka ad is directed to, obviously, people who drink alcoholic beverages, or people who will in the near future. They are marketing towards partiers. Their age range is most likely from 16 to 40 years old. They would have a medium regard for education because the very uneducated will normally go for 40s or six-packs while the highly educated probably don't go to drinking parties as much. They would be middle-class to upper-class, economically. Singles who are ready to mingle will find this appealing.
The ad immediately makes me think of a penis with two girls sucking on one ball each; this was probably the response the company wanted my subconscious to create. It is directed at an alcoholically and overly social audience. The words "GO NATURAL" could be a sexual innuendo of sorts. Either way, like the Vans ad, this one presents much more attractive imagery than textual advertising.
Mass Com 100w - MW 1:30pm-2:45pm
Journal #7 - Targeting Audiences
Pakman7JR@hotmail.com
Word Count: 326
This Vans full-page ad is going after 13 to 25-year-olds. Their occupation is anything that doesn't require them to dress up every day, although occupation doesn't seem to be an indicator of whether or not someone likes vans. Their household income is anywhere from $20,000 a to $120,000 a year and their education level would be anything above fifth grade. Marital status would be either, but most likely single, because they are focusing on the younger crowd. They are shoe-heads who think they have a unique, funky style, but are really just following the mainstream trend.
The ads key message lies in the imagery of the shoes and the repeated logos. It attracts a less involved audience because it doesn't require much thought to understand the ad. It is very simple and practical, especially for what it is advertising: shoes. People look at shoes and if they look nice, then they buy them. So, all Vans has to do is present what their shoes looks like; goal accomplished.
This Skyy Vodka ad is directed to, obviously, people who drink alcoholic beverages, or people who will in the near future. They are marketing towards partiers. Their age range is most likely from 16 to 40 years old. They would have a medium regard for education because the very uneducated will normally go for 40s or six-packs while the highly educated probably don't go to drinking parties as much. They would be middle-class to upper-class, economically. Singles who are ready to mingle will find this appealing.
The ad immediately makes me think of a penis with two girls sucking on one ball each; this was probably the response the company wanted my subconscious to create. It is directed at an alcoholically and overly social audience. The words "GO NATURAL" could be a sexual innuendo of sorts. Either way, like the Vans ad, this one presents much more attractive imagery than textual advertising.
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