boh7850x_CL5.p256-265.indd

cluster fi ve

Case Studies

Early Childhood:

“The Worksheets”

Elementary School:

“Writer’s Block”

Middle

School:

“The Math Review”

High School:

“Exam Grades”

Module 15:

Behavioral Theory

Outline and Learning Goals 266 A Behavioral De

ﬁnition of Motivation 267 Rewarding Students

for Learning 268 Praising Students for Learning 271 When the Reward is the Activity Itself 273

Summary 276 Key Concepts 276 Case Studies: Re

ﬂect and Evaluate 276

boh7850x_CL5.p256-265.indd 256

10/9/08 8:51:16 AM

C L U S T E R

EARLY CHILDHOOD

MIDDLE SCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOL

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

motivation

Module 16:

Cognitive Theories

Outline and Learning Goals 278 Congitive Theories of Motivation 279 Developmental and

Cultural Differences in Motivation 283 Applications: Enhancing Students

‘

Motivation 288 Serious Motivational Problems 290 Summary 293 Key Concepts 293 Case

Studies: Re

ﬂect and Evaluate 294

Module 17:

Self Theories

Outline and Learning Goals 296 Self-Ef

ﬁcacy Theory 297 Self-Worth Theory 300

Self-Determination Theory 303 Integrating the Self Theories 307 Summary 310 Key Concepts

310 Case Studies: Re

ﬂect and Evaluate 311

As you read the case, make notes:

WHO

are the central characters in the case? Describe

them.

WHAT

is taking place?

WHERE

is the case taking place? Is the environment

a factor?

WHEN

is the case taking place? Is the timing a

factor?

lizabeth Garvey, a second-year teacher at Fitzgerald Elementary School, enjoys teaching

kindergarten because the children are eager to learn new things and approach each new experience with
excitement. As with any kindergarten class, it is typical for some students to have trouble adjusting to the
structured, academic environment of elementary school. Elizabeth tries to balance formal instruction with
opportunities for social interaction and play. This year seems especially challenging, as she has a large
class of 21 students with diverse backgrounds. Three students are English-language learners, many
students have had no preschool experience, and there are large disparities in readiness skills among the
children.

After morning meeting, during which Elizabeth and the children

go over the date, the day

‘s weather, the lunch count, and any special

news or events, Elizabeth begins a lesson on math concepts that
includes a game of

―Numbers I Spy.‖ After the group lesson, the

children return to their seats to complete some worksheets. Elizabeth
gives them instructions to match digits on the left side of the page to
sets of objects on the right side of the page. She shows them how to
complete the

ﬁrst one, drawing a line from the number 5 to the ﬁve

hats.

―When you‘re ﬁnished, use the color key at the bottom of the

page to color the sets of objects,

‖ Elizabeth says, pointing to the

bottom of the page.

As the children begin working, Elizabeth walks around the room

to check on their progress. She notices Melissa coloring instead of
doing the worksheet.

―Melissa, why haven‘t you started your math

sheet?

‖ whispers Elizabeth.

―I can‘t do it,‖ replies Melissa, slouching in her chair.

―I know you can do it if you just try,‖ says Elizabeth with a

reassuring smile. Melissa tends to need a little extra coaxing and
then ends up doing

ﬁne work. ―I‘ll come back and check on you.‖

Melissa has been raised by her grandmother since she was one.

From the age of three, she has attended Head Start, a preschool
program for economically disadvantaged children. Her academic
skills are steadily improving, but she still lacks con

ﬁdence in her

abilities.

As Elizabeth continues moving around the room, she notices

Emanuel, Kristina, and Martin at the building center playing with
Legos. She approaches the children and says,

―Now is not the time

for building.

‖

―But we‘re already done with our math sheets!‖ exclaims Martin.

―I already know numbers and adding so I don‘t need to do baby
worksheets. My mom says I

‘m smart at math.‖

―Yes, I know you three are good at doing math,‖ Elizabeth says.

―Show me your work-sheets so I can check to see if they are correct
and neatly colored, and then you can play with the blocks while the
others

ﬁnish.‖

Because Elizabeth needs to follow the district

‘s curriculum, she

often lets advanced students play while others

ﬁnish their work. She‘s

not sure whether their playing affects other students

‘ motivation,

though. She always has a few students who want to rush through
their work so they can play as well.

Early Childhood

The Worksheets

EARLY CHILDHOOD

MIDDLE

SCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOL

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Assess:

Elizabeth walks past the next table and says,

―Nice work,

Alannah and Mahiro!

‖ She then stops at Kayvon, and leans over

his shoulder saying,

―The seven ﬁsh don‘t go with that number,

Kayvon. It

‘s this one. Count them with me.‖

Tugging at her shirt is Claire. Claire is anxiously waiting for

Elizabeth to check her answers, as she does with all her work,
even art projects. Claire never wants to get anything wrong.

―Ms. Garvey, I‘m done with the numbers. Are they all right? I

want to color the pictures now,

‖ says Claire. Elizabeth glances at

the sheet and gives her a nod. Everyone looks like they

’re doing

ﬁne, she thinks as she goes back to check on Melissa and
Kayvon.

How motivated do you think Melissa, Martin, Kayvon, and

Claire are to learn in this case study? What evidence
supports your point of view?

In your opinion, should Elizabeth allow Martin and the

others to play while they wait for other students to

ﬁnish their

work? Why or why not?

Which student

‘s motivation would you be concerned with most? Why?

As you read the case, make notes:

WHO

are the central characters in the case? Describe

them.

WHAT

is taking place?

WHERE

is the case taking place? Is the environment

a factor?

WHEN

is the case taking place? Is the timing a

factor?

uiko Okuda is a third-grade teacher at White Eagle Elementary School who believes that

hands-on experiences are essential to students

‘ understanding and skill development. Yuiko uses many

different activities to help her students improve their writing skills. Every week, she has her students write
a letter home to their parents about what they have learned in school that week, any upcoming events
they are looking forward to, and any exciting activities they will be participating in. Most of the students
enjoy writing letters home to their parents. Every Thursday morning Yuiko uses another activity, called
―free writing,‖ in which students are given 30 minutes to write about a given subject, such as a favorite
season or family traditions. Yuiko gives the essays a grade based on whether or not they are completed.
She displays them all on the bulletin board outside the classroom.

This Thursday morning Yuiko announces,

―The topic of the day

today will be your favorite pastime during summer vacation. After

you

‘ve completed your assignment, you may read, use the computer,

or play a board game quietly at the back of the class.

‖ James, Zara,

Ronnie, and Shanti begin chatting as they quickly take out a piece of

paper to start writing.

―I love writing!‖ says Shanti, eagerly beginning her assignment.

―I like that we get to show the other kids in the school our writing

work,

‖ whispers Zara. ―I just like to write about things I like. It‘s more

fun than other subjects like reading,

‖ adds James. ―Plus we don‘t get

graded on it.

‖ James dislikes reading and would much rather be

doing math, playing sports, or using the classroom computer. But he
generally likes school and is a good student because his parents
have tried to instill in him the value of hard work and a good
education.

Carter takes out a piece of paper and a pencil, writes his name

at the top of the page, and then turns pale, quietly staring at the blank
paper. Carter is a high-achieving and popular student who turns in
letters to parents, journals, and other writing assignments that have
all been above average. But he seems to have dif

ﬁculty when it

comes to the free writing activity. Lately he has asked to go to the
nurse after Yuiko announces the topic, but Yuiko has caught on to his
attempt to avoid the assignment.
Yuiko notices Carter

‘s demeanor and asks, ―What‘s wrong, Carter?‖

―I don‘t know what to write about,‖ Carter replies, as he typically

says at every free-writing activity.

―I want this to be the best story, but

I don

‘t know where to start.‖

Yuiko sits down with Carter and begins to help him brainstorm.

―What was the most fun for you during your last summer vacation?‖

―I went on a sailboat for the ﬁrst time!‖ Carter replies. A smile

spreads across his face and he begins to write.

Before Yuiko returns to her desk, she walks by Mason to see

how he is doing. Mason has a learning disability in reading and
spelling and usually needs some help with writing, although he never
asks for it. She is happy to see Mason working hard.

―Here‘s a

suggestion. Try to use more adjectives so that the story is more
descriptive,

‖ Yuiko says as she glances over his shoulder.

Writer

’s Block

Elementary School

After about 15 minutes, Shanti and James place their essays on

Yuiko

‘s desk. Shanti heads to the reading corner with a book from the

shelf, and James hurriedly walks over to the computer before anyone
else gets there. Yuiko glances over their essays and gets up.

At the reading corner, she whispers,

―Great use of vocabulary in

your story, Shanti.

‖ She then goes over to the computer, kneels by

James, and sternly says,

―James, your thoughts are very incomplete

and you

‘ve forgotten about the rules of punctuation. Go back to your

seat and

ﬁnish your work. I know you can do better than that.‖

Assess:

Which student do you identify with and why? In your own words, describe this student

‘s motivation.

Do you think it is okay for Yuiko to allow the students to read,

use the computer, or play a board game quietly at the back of the
class after completing their assignments? What might be some
problems with this? What might be some alternatives?

In your opinion, is Yuiko

‘s practice of hanging all the papers on

the bulletin board outside the classroom a good idea? Why or why
not?

boh7850x_CL5.p256-265.indd 261

10/9/08 8:51:47 AM

262

Prepare:

As you read the case, make notes:

WHO

are the central characters in the case? Describe

them.

WHAT

is taking place?

WHERE

is the case taking place? Is the environment

a factor?

WHEN

is the case taking place? Is the timing a

factor?

s the bell rings for the start of third period at Washington Middle School, Jack Pantera announces to his

eighth-grade class,

―Today we‘ll be doing a math review for the state mastery test next week.‖ The room

ﬁlls with groans and sighs. Jack understands the students‘ reaction, but he also realizes the importance of
this test. Last year Washington Middle School did not meet its annual goals for math, with only 27% of the
eighth graders in the district performing at the pro

ﬁciency level.

―Come on, everyone, we‘re going to make this fun,‖ he explains.

―I‘ve assigned all of you to four-member teams. Each of you will be
given a set of problems and will

ﬁrst work on the problems by

yourselves. When everyone on the team is done, you will compare
answers and work together to make sure everyone understands how
to solve the problems. The

ﬁrst team to ﬁnish all the problems

correctly gets a prize, and . . .

‖

―What is it?!‖ Jeremy interrupts.

―That‘s a surprise,‖ Jack replies. ―Let me ﬁnish. If all teams

complete the problem set correctly by the end of the period, the
entire class will get a surprise.

‖

Jack hopes the prize will encourage students to work together

and help each other. Some students in the class are very skilled in
math, and others either struggle with math concepts or have anxiety
about math.

While students are working in their teams, Jack moves around

the room to monitor their progress. As Jack approaches the

ﬁrst

team, he notices Aaron missing. Aaron had gone to sharpen pencils
and stopped to talk to Ben.

―Aaron, this isn‘t time for socializing. You

should be helping your team. I see you haven

‘t even started the

problems yet,

‖ says Jack, a bit exasperated. Aaron appears to lack a

strong work ethic, although he gets good grades.

―Team Two looks like a contender for the ﬁrst prize. Everyone‘s

working hard!

‖ Jack announces. He stops at the next team because

he notices Sam erasing all her answers.

―Sam, what are you doing?‖

he asks.

―I‘m no good at math. All my answers are wrong,‖ she replies,

holding back tears.

―How do you know they‘re wrong? Sam, you just

need a little con

ﬁdence in yourself,‖ says Jack, a bit perplexed. ―You

get As on all your homework assignments and got a B

– on the

midterm exam. I

‘d say you‘re doing ﬁne,‖ Jack says, trying to be

reassuring.

―That‘s just it. I think I know the stuff. But when it comes time for

an exam or a competition like this, I go blank! I must not be smart at
math,

‖ Sam sighs.

―Math is about working hard and practicing. Just try a little harder

and I

‘m sure it will pay off,‖ says Jack.

―But Aaron doesn‘t try at all and he gets As,‖ Sam retorts.

Knowing that he has to check on the other groups, Jack

discourages Sam from comparing herself to other students, asks her
to

ﬁnish the problems, and suggests that they talk further after class.

Jack overhears some arguing and heads over to Team Five to

check out the disturbance.

―Hurry up, you guys! I want to win this

prize,

‖ Jeremy shouts to Gabriel and Rachel.

―I want to be sure I understand how to do the problems myself

before we all go over them. It

‘s not all about the stupid prize, you

know!

‖ Rachel replies.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

―Rachel‘s right,‖ says Jack, looking over Jeremy‘s shoulder.

―Jeremy, you used all the correct procedures. But you should
double-check your work. You made simple computation errors on
three of the problems. Slow down and concentrate on what you

‘re

doing.

‖

Jack looks around at all the students and musters a serious tone.

―I want to see everyone working together.‖

―We‘re all done,‖ announces Renee from Team Four, with her

hand raised. Jack goes over to check the team

‘s answers.

―We have a winner!‖ Jack announces. ―The remaining

teams should keep working. We have 15 minutes left, and we
can still get the class prize.

‖

In your opinion, was it a good idea for Jack to encourage his

students to do math problems by making it into a friendly
competition? Why or why not?

In your opinion, how effective was Jack in motivating Sam? What would you have done differently?

What experiences have you had with state-wide or district-wide

testing? How did these experiences affect your own motivation?

Assess:

boh7850x_CL5.p256-265.indd 263

10/9/08 8:51:56 AM

264

Prepare:

As you read the case, make notes:

WHO

are the central characters in the case? Describe

them.

WHAT

is taking place?

WHERE

is the case taking place? Is the environment

a factor?

WHEN

is the case taking place? Is the timing a

factor?

‘s Monday morning at Davis High School, which is located in a large metropolitan city and boasts

a variety of programs such as Advanced Placement (AP) classes, vocational/technical, and the arts.
Today, Curtis Womack, a

ﬁrst-year teacher, is handing back exams in his classes. As the bell rings for his

second-period sophomore general science class, Curtis begins distributing the exams and says,

―Class,

‘m very disappointed that the highest grade was a C+. But I must say that I‘m not very surprised. Many of

you turned in exams after only 20 minutes. With 25 multiple-choice questions and one essay, that meant
you weren

‘t putting a lot of effort into answering the questions. I don‘t know what‘s going on. Can you help

me with this?

‖

―A C+ sounds pretty good,‖ Reggie says with a sly smile.

―Yeah, pretty good for not studying,‖ Tamika adds. ―I mean we

can drop the lowest grade we get, and we can even do an

extra-credit project at the end of the marking period.

‖ ―But those

options are supposed to help you get the best grade you can,

‖ replies

Curtis,

―not make it easy for you to get out of work.‖

―Mr. Womack, I‘m not trying to get out of work,‖ Carla explains. ―I

just want to focus on my other classes, ones that are more important
to my arts program, no offense!

‖

―Yeah, why do we need to know this stuff anyway?‖ adds

Reggie.

―It‘s not like we‘re going to be engineers or scientists, or

something.

‖

Curtis

‘s concern over his students‘ motivation is apparent. He

spends almost half the period discussing their aspirations, motivation,
and work habits. He is eager to understand their perspectives on
school and ways to motivate them. But the day

‘s schedule leaves him

little time to think about it further. The bell rings, signaling the end of
the period, and he begins gathering another set of exams to hand
back to his next class, AP physics.

―Good morning, everyone. I have exams ready to hand back,‖

Curtis announces. The classroom

ﬁlls with groans and sighs.

―Not to worry,‖ says Curtis, ―the scores were actually quite good.

The highest grade was an A

–, congratulations to Madelyn—and the

lowest grade was a C

–. There‘s deﬁnitely room for improvement, but

you all are doing

ﬁne.‖

As Curtis continues distributing the exams, Nicholas leans over

to his longtime friend Chelsea and whispers,

―What‘d you get?‖

Chelsea hesitates.

―C+. I can‘t believe it. I‘ve never gotten a C in

my life,

‖ she admits. ―What‘d you get?‖

―I got a C+ too,‖ he says. ―I guess we‘ll have to study harder next

time if we want to get a good grade.

‖

―That‘s just it. We‘ve always gotten As and hardly ever studied,‖

says Chelsea. She doesn

‘t tell her best friend that she did study and

wondered whether he did too.

After class, Chelsea approaches Curtis about her grade.

―Mr.

Womack, I

‘m not sure what to do. I studied for the exam and am not

happy with my grade. I think I want to drop AP physics and take
another science class,

‖ Chelsea says.

―I wouldn‘t make such a drastic decision based on one test

score, Chelsea. I

‘m sure you‘ll improve next time. Maybe you just

need to study more,

‖ replies Curtis. ―Tell me, why did you choose AP

physics in the

ﬁrst place?‖

High School

Exam Grades

boh7850x_CL5.p256-265.indd 264

10/9/08 8:52:02 AM

EARLY CHILDHOOD

MIDDLE

SCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOL

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Assess:

―Because I like math and science, and my dad‘s an engineer, and

ever since I can remember I

‘ve wanted to be an engineer too. I ﬁgured

AP physics might be a good preparation for an engineering major in
college.

‖

―So you want to give up your dream?‖ Curtis persists.
―No, uh, I don‘t know. I know I don‘t want to fail or hurt my GPA.

That will hurt my chances of getting into a good college. That is, if I
even want to choose engineering. I must not be as good at science as
I thought. I was always the

‗smart‘ kid in the class. Getting a C+ must

mean I

‘m stupid compared to the other kids.‖

―No, I wouldn‘t say that at all,‖ says Curtis in a reassuring tone. ―I

say sleep on this and let

‘s talk more tomorrow.‖

Which student do you identify with in terms of motivation? Why?

What recommendations would you give to Curtis for dealing

with Chelsea? For dealing with students in general science?

Do you think it was a good idea for Curtis to announce who

received the highest grade in the AP physics class? Why or why
not?