Teaching Strategies to Increase Students’ Motivation

Students’ motivation is what helps them learn best and as a teacher, it is important to effectively use teaching strategies that enhance their students’ motivation. Strategies include establishing a connection with students that makes the class personal for them because this gives the students a safe space to learn and feel welcome. When students feel welcome and have a connection with their teacher, they are more likely to be excited to learn and their self-efficacy will increase. Their self-efficacy comes from their past experience in school and their level of confidence so ensuring that they are encouraged and have the confidence to learn helps them to be more open when encountering new concepts. Aside from creating a positive environment for students, teachers need to also teach their content in a way that increases their students’ motivation to learn. Establishing learning goals that connect to the students’ personal interests is one of the most effective ways to teach because the students are more likely to be interested in the content if they have a connection with it. Mathematics is a subject that becomes much more difficult to teach because of the bad reputation it receives. However, teachers can help their students learn more effectively and be excited to learn mathematical concepts by using a more conceptual approach. This includes utilizing discussions and visualizations to assist in teaching concepts. Both of these strategies help students understand the content at a deeper level which helps them in their future mathematical courses. Lastly, the student-teacher connection is very important, so the teacher should also establish a connection with their students’ parents. The parents should know about the class their child is taking and by creating this connection, students can learn more effectively.