Teaching That Inspires: 3 Ways to Fuel Internal Motivation

Ever found yourself struggling with the persistent challenge of keeping your students engaged in your virtual classroom? In effect, student engagement is highly related to learning motivation, which is broadly categorized into extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. In this blog, we will explore the critical distinction between these two types of motivation and elucidate why it makes strategic sense to prioritize intrinsic motivation in your online classroom. Then, we'll break down the fundamental psychological needs that constitute intrinsic motivation and provide you with three powerful, actionable strategies to build your students' internal drive for learning.

Difference Between Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation in Education

The distinction between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation is clear: extrinsic motivation is driven by external rewards, such as high grades, praise, recognition, or tangible prizes, whereas intrinsic motivation is the internal drive that compels individuals to pursue activities for personal satisfaction, genuine interest, or inherent enjoyment.

For example, imagine two students playing chess: one student might participate in chess tournaments primarily to win prizes or trophies, while the other possesses a genuine love for the complexities of the game, finding deep joy in the strategic thinking, problem-solving, and intellectual challenges that chess inherently presents.

Ultimately, intrinsic motivation proves to be a more robust and lasting source of drive compared to its extrinsic counterpart. Why? Because it's all about personal fulfilment and genuine interest, creating a profound commitment to learning that stands strong even without external rewards or pressures. Consider this: if a student relies heavily on external motivators, once those rewards fade away, so often does the interest in the activity. The real question then becomes: how do we spark and keep alive that internal motivation in students for an enduring love of learning within the digital classroom?

Components of Intrinsic Motivation: Self-Determination Theory

According to the widely accepted Self-Determination Theory, intrinsic motivation largely depends on the satisfaction of three basic psychological needs inherent in all human beings: autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

• Autonomy involves the sense of having choices and willingly endorsing one's behaviour. The opposite experience is feeling compelled or controlled in one’s actions. Think about how often your students might be pressured by their parents to sign up for your course. Have you provided them with any choice in what or how they want to learn in your online classes?

• Competence encompasses the experience of mastery and effectiveness in one's activities. Consider your students' proficiency in their learning performance; do your less engaged students often exhibit lower levels of competence? Providing opportunities for perceived mastery is key for online teachers.

• Lastly, relatedness speaks to the innate human need for connection and a sense of belonging with others. Do your online classes foster enough opportunities for your learners to connect and collaborate with each other? This plays a pivotal role in satisfying this crucial psychological need and enhancing online class participation.

How to Build Your Students’ Intrinsic Motivation: Practical Strategies

Based on these three fundamental elements of intrinsic motivation, let's now dive into some effective strategies to truly captivate your students and ignite their innate passion for learning in the virtual classroom.

1. Promote Student Autonomy 

Provide your students with a variety of learning materials aligned with your teaching objectives and let them choose what they are most interested in learning. When students have the freedom to explore what they're passionate about, it directly satisfies their sense of autonomy. This not only significantly boosts their ownership of the learning process but also naturally propels them to delve deeper into the subject matter, making interactive lessons more impactful.

2. Build Student Competence

Build your students’ competence with timely, specific, and constructive positive feedback on their learning efforts and observed improvement. Acknowledging progress, no matter how small, nurtures a student's growth mindset and a profound sense of achievement.

Funclass provides online teachers with exciting, built-in rewards to celebrate students' positive learning behaviours—whether it's active participation in class discussions or answering questions correctly in gamified quizzes. This instant acknowledgment not only elevates students' perception of their own competence but also serves as a powerful motivator, propelling their enthusiasm for learning and boosting overall student engagement.

3. Cultivate Social Relatedness 

Foster a strong sense of social connectedness in your class through dynamic activities like breakout rooms, collaborative team projects, and in-class collaboration on shared documents. By integrating these interactive activities, you can not only enhance the interpersonal dynamics of your class but also create an inclusive atmosphere that emphasizes the immense value of collaborative learning in the digital classroom.

At Funclass, students can further enhance social relatedness by fighting virtual monsters collectively through quiz challenges. They also have the unique opportunity to commend their peers' learning performance by awarding each other badges, actively contributing to the development of student competence and fostering a supportive classroom community. This makes Funclass an excellent example of Zoom classroom tools that are truly designed to make Zoom classes fun.

Conclusion: Funclass - Your Partner in Fostering Intrinsic Motivation

Understanding and effectively addressing the root causes of student disengagement are crucial in online teaching. By consistently promoting autonomy, building competence through positive feedback, and cultivating social relatedness, every online teacher can create an online learning environment that fosters enduring learning motivation. To discover even more techniques for specifically boosting student engagement in online lessons, explore our comprehensive guide.