What's My Motivation?

This week’s TECH assignment is on MOTIVATION. I’m so glad we’ve touched based on this topic because motivation is a factor of our everyday lives. From simply just waking up in the morning and going about our day to doing something that drives you, motivation always comes into play. It is the force that moves us from just thinking about something to actually doing it.

I must admit at times I find myself thinking about my level of motivation which in turn can lead to me being immobilized and unmotivated. I find my motivation has been tested these past few weeks especially because I have received certain exam scores and the grades were not exactly what I was hoping to hey. In efforts to avoid my motivation from leveling off and to give me a little motivation boost, I decided to use one of Dr. Blumin’s motivational strategies.

I used the Academic Fears Motivation Strategy for two of my courses HTW 303 and CHE 106. I am both a visual and kinesthetic LEARNER, so using the Academic Fears Strategy was great because I was able to list down and see what are my internal and external motivators and according to what those were I could become more motivated and take ACTION on what I need to get done. External motivators are those that come from a source outside of you. Some of my external motivators are my GPA, my rewards for doing well, approval from my family (mainly my mother who is putting me through college and supporting me 100%) and my peers, and the way my professors view me as a student. Internal motivators are those that are within you. Some of my internal motivators are the my feelings of accomplishment and achievement, learning and grasping the information from all of my courses, feeling confident of my capabilities, and having a sense of satisfaction.

I have an upcoming exam for my HTW 303 course. My academic fears is failing the exam or getting a grade lower than a B, not understanding the material, or being absent from class and missing important information. I tend to think in terms of consequences and rewards. So I listed the worst and best possible outcomes. The worst outcome can be that I would not get the grade that I expected to or worked towards getting. The best outcome can be that I will understand all of the material and get the grade that I expected which is a B+ or higher. In order to stay motivated, I must take action. The ACTIONS needed for me to fulfill and achieve the best outcome possible is to prepare for HTW 303 by reading prior to lecture, create flash cards to remember terms I need to remember, and attend class/ office hours to learn and discuss MATERIAL that I should know for the exam.

( HTW 303 Academic Fears)

CHE 106 has been the ultimate struggle for me this past semester. I put in so much time and effort each week and for some reason I do not do well whenever an exam comes around. I sometimes lose faith that I can do well in this course. To change this negative outlook, that I have, I listed several of my academic fears in this course. My academic fears were similar to those of my HTW course: failing the next exam or getting a grade lower than a B, not understanding the material, or being absent from class and missing important information. I then listed my worst and best possible outcomes. The worst outcome can be that I would not get the grade that I expected to or worked towards getting. The best outcome can be that I will understand all of the material and pass the course. As always, things don’t just happen on their own. One must always take ACTION to achieve anything. The actions needed for me to experience the best outcome is to so that I can experience having the best outcome is to 1) prepare the class by reading prior to lecture 2) create flash cards to remember terms I need to remember, and 3) attend class/ office hours to learn and discuss MATERIAL that I should know for the exam and complete Mastering Chemistry with a full understanding of the material.

(CHE 106 Academic Fears)

I have followed through with my list of actions needed and I appreciate my level of motivation when I experience achievement. Throughout using the Academic Fear Strategy I learned that much of my fear is generated by impending consequences. Evaluating why these fears occur and what will happen next allowed me to view how my actions of today have a lot to do with what will happen tomorrow. I can’t take the fact that I did not do well on several past exams. All I can do is work harder now so that I can do well in my future exams. In addition, taking note of my internal and external motivators is helping me proceed in successfully accomplishing the goals that I want to achieve. I must keep all of the motivational factors in mind. Besides, I have a crowd rooting for me: my mother, my family, my friends, and most importantly myself. I can’t forget that!