Monday, May 23, 2005

Motivation: applying motivational theory to grading

A seminal work in classroom motivation is Keller (1987), "Development and Use of the ARCS Model of Instructional Design." Journal of Inst. Dev., 10 (3), 2-10. Since it's about classroom motivation, it's not always relevant to workplace motivation. BUT... given that entrepreneurs are often in companies no bigger than classrooms, and in situations where they learn something every day, I think the ARCS model is worth at least not being ignored. ARCS == "attention, relevance, confidence, satisfaction," by the way.

So here's how I can use the ARCS model to improve my own classes:
  • Attention
    • vary tasks
  • Relevance
    • explain how each task contributes to final grade
    • explain how each task contributes to potential start-up
  • Confidence
    • estimate time and type of effort to be expended on tasks
  • Satisfaction
    • give immediate feedback
    • give rewards for individuals and teams
Some of this stuff I am already doing. But I am applying more information to my grading structure, because I sense that my students feel there's a disconnect between the work they do and the grade they get.
  • 30% blog
    • rubric for blog established
    • blog must average minimum of one post per week, with average minimum of 250 words per week, and every month or other four-week period in which nothing is posted will cost 5% of blog grade.
  • 30% business plan
    • rubric for business plan from writing perspective established
    • rubric for business plan from content perspective is as follows:
      • executive summary: one page, summarizes the entire work
      • financials: at a minimum, includes break-even point, start-up financing needed (which must be reasonable), purpose(s) of financing
      • market: at a minimum, includes market entry strategy, barriers to market entry, major competitors, and assumptions
      • management: at a minimum, includes your team and one experienced adult with complementary skill, full biographical info, no pointers to youth and lack of experience, roles in company clearly defined
      • product or service: at a minimum, includes what's to be offered right away, and conditions under which that is to change and/or grow
  • 20% book review
    • In your OWN words, you describe -- within four pages --
      • the central message(s) of the book
      • what you learned from reading it
      • whether or not you would have done things the same way
      • whether or not you recommend that others read it
    • To familiarize yourself with writing style, read at least two book reviews in trade magazines with an audience similar to yours.
  • 20% other participation, with the following choices of graded assignments:
    • Participation in Writing Program assessment at start and end of the semester. You get 5% of your final grade if you participate in both; you LOSE 5% of your final grade if you participate in neither.
    • Creation of a brochure for your business, including graphics: 5%
    • Creation of a one-page lecture handout for a relevant subject of interest, including sources: 5%
    • Peer evaluation of three classmates' works: one blog, one business plan, and one book review: 5%
    • A one-page handout offering suggestions for a small business problem defined by your instructor: 5%
    • A five-minute presentation on a relevant subject of interest, plus Q&A: 5%

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posted by Ron @ 10:25 AM

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