Running Head: CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION 1

Case Study in Motivation

June 28, 2013

Danielle Breese

EDU 615, Motivational Theory and Classroom Management

University of New England























CASE STUDY IN MOTIVATION 2
I. Introduction

Lisa is a nineteen-year-old senior enrolled in Retail Floriculture II. Due to the fact that
she was held back in second grade because of learning difficulties, Lisa is older than majority of
the seniors in her graduating class. Throughout the remainder of elementary school Lisa worked
hard and overcame many of challenges that she faced during her early educational career.
Through discussions with Lisas guidance counselor, I learned that throughout Lisas high school
career she has been an extremely happy, outgoing, and conscientious student. However, due to
major life changes the past year and a half has been a major struggle for her.
Historically, Lisa has not maintained a strong relationship with her mother, but
maintained a close with her father. Last May Lisas father unexpectedly passed away in a car
accident and Lisas relationship with her mother continued to deteriorate to a point where they
could no longer live together. In August Lisa moved in with her long-term boyfriend, who she
planned to marry in June after graduation. However, in January they broke up and Lisa was
forced to move back in with her mother. From that point forward Lisa jumped from relationship
to relationship and often struggled with the feeling of being single. During this time Lisa also
started the trend of frequent absences from school.
When Lisa is present in class she is often visibly upset and struggles to complete school
and homework assignments thoroughly. When asked to independently complete seatwork she
becomes extremely upset and is unable to focus and asks to go to guidance, the water fountain,
or the bathroom. When Lisa returns she appears a little more relaxed, but she requires extensive
reminders in order to complete her various assignments. Despite, Lisa being easily distracted
during seatwork, she is a brilliant and talented florist. When focused she is able to quickly and
creatively complete stunning arrangements.
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At the beginning of the year, her classmates were interested in hearing about her
struggles, however as time has passed they have become less interested and politely ask her to be
quiet so that they can complete their work. However, she seems to work more diligently after she
is able to express her concerns and vent to her classmates. She still has a small group of friends
within the class who are willing to talk to her when they are completing arrangements.
Throughout her high school career Lisa has maintained above average grades with a B
average in her classes and a cumulative GPA of 3.3. Her lowest grades prior to senior year were
in Honors Chemistry in which she earned a 78% granting her a C, and French III in which she
earned a 75%, granting her a C for the class. However, this year her grades have dropped
drastically and after failing several classes in the fall her cumulative GPA has dropped to a 2.2.
According to her records she failed Physics with a 54%, American Government with a 46%, and
Creative Writing with a 39%. In the fall Lisa was enrolled in Retail Floriculture I and barely
passed by earning a 62% or a D- for the course grade. In Retail Floriculture, Lisas grade is a
direct reflection of her attendance. According to Edline in quarter one Lisa had twelve absences
and four unexcused late arrivals and quarter two Lisa has fourteen absences and three unexcused
late arrivals. Lisa typically arrives to Retail Floriculture II on time, but leaves early to go to the
guidance office. Other teachers, administrators, and guidance have expressed concern regarding
Lisas grade changes. In April administration and guidance had a long meeting with Lisa, in
which Lisa discussed the anxiety that she feels when she comes to school for an entire day.
Through this meeting administration learned that Lisa experiences severe anxiety
throughout the morning because she frequently runs into her ex-boyfriend in the hallway. Lisa
feels as though she may be depressed as she relied very heavily upon her boyfriend after the
unexpected passing of her father. As a result of the meeting administration placed Lisa on a
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modified schedule in which she comes to high school to take electives and then takes her core
classes through a Virtual Learning Academy at home or with tutors. The modified schedule
seems to have improved Lisas attendance.
I have contacted her mother on several occasions, but have yet to receive a response
regarding my concerns for Lisas progress in Retail Floriculture. After repeated attempts of
trying to unsuccessfully contact her mother, I have addressed Lisa in person regarding my
concerns with her class attendance and performance. She agrees that she is extremely distracted
by personal issues when completing seatwork, but she feels that flower arranging can be
therapeutic for her because for approximately fifty minutes she completely forgets about her
personal issues. Lisa is concerned that her frequent absences may cause her to fail the course,
because she is unable to keep up with the required make-up work, but wants to remain in the
class because she thoroughly enjoys expressing herself creatively through flower arrangements
When Lisa attends class she is consistently distracted by her personal issues, and finds it
difficult to pay attention. During class time she spends excessive time worrying about her
personal issues, which from her perspective seem to be more valuable than completing class
assignments. This behavior has limited Lisas ability to be successful in her classes this school
year. Anderman and Andermans (2014) Expectancy Value Theory (p. 6) justifies Lisas lack
of motivation towards retail floriculture. Lisa appears to be most motivated by tasks when she
feels that she can successfully complete a task and perceives the task to be valuable (Anderman
& Anderman, 2014). Through observations of Lisa she believes that she can successfully create
arrangements because she has done so in the past and her peers frequently comment on her
beautiful arrangements. She frequently asks to make more than one arrangement that she can
take home with her to give to various people that she is close with.
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II. Observations

According to Anderman and Andermans (2014), the expectancy value theory, in order
for the student to engage in the task the student must feel as though he or she can succeed at a
given task at that the task has value. Value involves the importance of the task, how interesting
the task is, how useful the task is, and the cost of engaging in the task. As teachers it is our job to
place value upon the task by implementing interesting and useful tasks. This is especially
important in career and technical education as we are preparing students to work in specific
careers.
To boost Lisas and the entire class motivation to learn Retail Floriculture, I
implemented an activity which involved the students completing an estimate and bridal bouquet
for a classmates wedding. At first, Lisa did not see the value in completing this assignment as
she thought it was going to be too much work, without enough hands-on application. However,
after I explained to Lisa that all florists must go through this same process in order to do wedding
arrangements, she began to see how it was applicable, and she began to work very diligently at
completing the estimate so that she could order the flowers and begin making the bouquet.
Additionally, Lisas mock bride was a highly motivated student who diligently completes her
assignments. During the consultation phase of the interview Lisas partner effectively kept her on
task without allowing her to excessively talk.
According to Brophy (1987) providing Lisa with a supportive environment that allows
her to feel comfortable and engages her in challenging tasks that interest her will increase her
motivation. I used this motivational technique during the marketing unit. During this unit I began
to take two to four minutes at the beginning of every class to quietly talk to Lisa and get to know
her on a personal basis by asking about her day, how she is doing and feeling, and if she has any
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plans after school. Due to the fact that Lisa struggles connecting with her classmates I attempted
to create the supportive environment to make her feel as though she is an accepted member of
the class. I let her talk and express herself daily at the beginning of class.
At the beginning she struggled with opening up and wanting to talk to me. She was very
guarded in her interactions, but on one particular day prior to the start of my lesson in which I
was presenting a power point that explained how flowers are bought from a wholesaler she
finally relaxed and began to openly talk to me. After that particular lesson I noticed a change in
her behavior. She was relaxed after every conversation and began to confidently take a seat to
begin the daily lessons. As I continued this routine with Lisa she became noticeably more
comfortable and she felt as though she was safe in my classroom. Overall this technique helped
Lisa settle and engage in the lessons. Additionally, she began to see me as someone she could
talk to when something additional happened in her personal life.
The next lesson I implemented motivational techniques suggested by Wen Jin, Chia-ju,
and Shi-an (2012) which suggested that female students are most highly motivated to learn
science by using hands-on techniques. This technique was implemented during the edible plants
unit in which the students were to complete a homework and class assignment independently
about an edible plant. During this project students were to research different aspects of an edible
plant, complete a presentation, and make a dish that used that particular plant. Since Lisa
struggles with staying on task I was hopeful that Lisa would be motivated to complete this
assignment and effectively learn the information about her particular plant as she seems to excel
in hands-on applications.
Each student signed up for a particular plant. Lisa signed up for jalapenos, I was
surprised, but did not question her choice. However, I was pleasantly surprised when Lisa
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showed up to class with Jalapeno Popper Dip and her presentation complete. She prepared one of
the best presentations in the class and I made sure to praise her effort, as I wanted her to continue
to complete assignments out of class. This technique falls directly in line with Abrahamsons
(2011) belief that emphasizes that all efforts should be appreciated facilitating a desire to learn.
Finally, when the class was able to eat her dip, Lisa explained that this had been her
fathers favorite appetizer and that it was something that she wanted to share with the class. As a
result, she thought it was important to spend the time preparing the report and baking the dish.
This particular assignment also suited Lisas style of learning as she thoroughly enjoys hands-on
activities in order to learn the desired material.
According to Martin and Pickett (2013) one of the biggest motivational factors in
students is providing them with a choice of projects. This was the next motivational technique
that I decided to try with Lisa. In the marketing unit we spend a significant amount of time on
customer service due to the green house shop that is run. After completing the notes and
information regarding customer service the students were given a choice of assignments to
complete independently. The students could work in the green house for a specified period of
time and would be graded based upon a rubric, they could create a skit about a specific situation
or they could write a paper about customer service.
When presented with the opportunity to choose her assignment Lisa quickly picked
working in the green house for a specified period of time. I was apprehensive about this option
due to her attendance history. However, Lisa promptly showed up at the specified time and
interacted incredibly well with the customers as they entered the greenhouse. When I followed
up with Lisa after she finished working in the greenhouse I quickly learned that she previously
worked in a restaurant as a hostess/waitress, but was unable to keep working after her father
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passed away due to increase obligations at home. It was great to see Lisa enjoying herself and
interacting with the clients.

III. Effective Strategies

From the beginning it was important to set out my learning expectations of the lesson, by
displaying the goals and involving the students in as many interactive activities as possible. It is
important that students are not just by-standers in the classroom absorbing the material. As
Tomlinson (2001) states learning takes place most effectively in classrooms where knowledge
is clearly and powerfully organized, students are highly active in the learning process, and
assessments are rich and varied (p. 8). To provide Lisa with the needed organization at the
beginning of each week we clearly discussed my expectations for class over the course of the
week, and developed a plan to ensure that she is able to achieve success in the interactive
activities that I planned for that week. I specifically chose activities that would push the learners
beyond their level of comfort, but were still achievable. (Tomlinson, 2001).
Even though Lisa would get-off track throughout the process setting achievable goals was
important as it gave her clear expectations and she understood what she needed to do in order to
succeed in my classroom. This provided her with a clear view of the activities that needed to be
accomplished regardless of her attendance in class. When Lisa had good class attendance and
made progress in achieving her goals I was sure to praise her attempts and let her know that I
was proud of the work that she had put into the class (Tomlinson, 2001). The following is an
example of praising Lisa for her efforts, but still holding her accountable for completing the class
assignments:

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Lisa*,
Thank you for coming in today to sell flowers at Blooming Broncos at the planned time. I
double-checked your edline account and you still owe me an exam from being absent. Please let
me know what time works best for you to make up the exam prior to Friday, May 24, 2013.

Ms. Breese
Now that Lisas father has passed away, she no longer lives with her boyfriend, and does
not get along well with her mother, she lacks the comfort and confidence that come with safe and
stable relationships. According to Wong (2005) to provide the best service as teachers it is
essential to listen, care for, and love the students that you are teaching. In order to assist Lisas
learning process it is important to show her these traits and allow her to open up about her
personal life as it assists her in feeling comfortable and allows her to complete the necessary and
required tasks. Creating a one-on-one relationship with a student can help to promote student
success as they have a supportive adult that they can talk to in order to discuss problems. It
benefits the student to know that a specific adult at the school cares about them (Sterrett, 2012).
These efforts provide Lisa with a positive role model that can encourage her to be successful at
school so that she will be able to graduate with the remainder of her class. As an educator it is
important to be a positive influence in the lives of our students. Doing this is an additional task
that will benefit Lisa in the long run.
Lisa is very receptive to all attempts to motivate her to be successful. As an educator I
would recommend that all of her teachers take the extra two to four minutes a day in order to get
to know her and allow her to feel comfortable in their classroom. This allows her to focus on her
school work and be successful. Lisa needs positive-role models in her life. The only factor that
limits her academic success is her attendance record. However, her attendance has improved
drastically since she has been placed on a modified schedule and she has had less frequent trips
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to the guidance office after I started to build a relationship with her throughout the course of this
process.
IV. Conclusion

Through my experience with Lisa I recognize that poor motivation can be influenced by
setting clear expectations in the classroom, providing a variety of interactive activities, and
fostering a positive learning environment (Tomlinson, 2001). Students are able to effectively
meet teacher expectations when the expectations are clear and concise. Also students will work
harder for teachers with who they build a relationship and foster a classroom that promotes
safety (Tomlinson, 2001). Providing student centered learning activities allows students to
develop skills and increase self-esteem. Motivating students to be successful is an essential
quality in a teacher. Every student deserves an equal opportunity to be successful in the
classroom. Never under estimate your ability to motivate a student and change their life by
providing them with the opportunity to achieve academic success.











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References:
Abrahamson, C. E. (2011). Methodologies for Motivating Student Learning through Personal
Connections. Forum On Public Policy Online, 2011(3).
Anderman, E. M., & Anderman L. H. (2014). Classroom motivation. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Education, Inc.
Brophy, J. (1987). Synthesis of research on strategies for motivating students to learn.
Educational Leadership, 45(2) 40 48.
Martin, M. R., & Pickett, M. T. (2013, May 1). The Effects of Differentiated Instruction on
Motivation and Engagement in Fifth-Grade Gifted Math and Music Students.
Sterrett, W. L. (2012). From Discipline to Relationships. Educational Leadership, 70(2), 71-74.
Tomlinson, C.A., (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Wen-jin, K., Chia-ju, L., & Shi-an, L. (2012). Promoting Female Students' Learning Motivation
towards Science by Exercising Hands-On Activities.
Wong, H. K., & Wong, R. T. (2005). How to be an effective teacher: the first days of school.

Mountain View, CA: Harry K. Wong