Three Levels of Motivation in Instruction: Building Interpersonal Relations with Learners

The 3LOM model developed its framework from Maslow’s (1943) hierarchy of needs, which stated that “human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs,” and “certain lower needs need to be satisfied before higher needs can be satisfied.”

In the hierarchy, Maslow included general types of needs (physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization). He argued that these “needs must be satisfied before a person can act unselfishly.” He called these needs “deficiency needs. As long as these cravings are satisfied, human beings will move toward growth, toward self-actualization. Satisfying needs is healthy; blocking gratification makes us sick or evil” (Maslow, 1943).

“Needs are prepotent. A prepotent need is one that has the greatest influence over our actions. Everyone has a prepotent need, but that need will vary among individuals” (Maslow, 1943). An actress may have a need to feel that her change of image is liked by the audience. A prisoner will need to satisfy his cravings for freedom and will not worry about his appearance. In a school setting, a professor may need students’ respect and attendance in class. A student may feel that he needs to keep up with the rest of the class. Maslow’s theory provided an effective tool that helps us understand ourselves as human beings.

Based on Maslow’s theory, we should view instructional interaction as a social process in which the learners are motivated by certain needs to be active.

The three basic principles in instructional desgn are that: instruction should be appealing, effective, and efficient (Smith & Ragan, 1999). All the three can be considered as constructs of motivation. Lacking any one of the three is likely to result in discouraging students’ interest in the instruction. The 3LOM model aims to help achieve these goals in instruction.

Literature on methods of motivation and classroom practices were referenced to make the 3LOM model more applicable. Two of the writings are especially enlightening.

Bonk and Dennen’s (in press) article “We’ll Leave the Light On For You: Keeping Learner Motivated in Online Courses” provided very detailed tips that are implementation-oriented. Bonk and Den-nen summarized 10 points that are motivating in the online classroom: tone/climate, feedback, engagement, meaningfulness, choice, variety, curiosity, tension, peer interaction, and goal driven.

The 3LOM model is in agreement with the above article. All the 10 points map directly onto one or more of the three dimensions of the 3LOM model. For example, tone/climate and peer interaction are vital. Engagement, variety, and curiosity are all valuable methods that will build up the dimension of entertainment. Feedback and goal driven are methods for edification.

Chickering and Gamson (1987), in their Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, listed the following ideas: (1) Encourage contacts between students and faculty; (2) Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students; (3) Use active learning techniques; (4) Give prompt feedback; (5) Emphasize time on task; (6) Communicate high expectations; (7) Respect diverse talents and ways of learning. These seven principles also can find their counterpart in the 3LOM model. The first principle, “encourage contacts between students and faculty,” refers to inclusion, and the second one, “develops reciprocity and cooperation among students,” refers to inclusion. The third one, “using active learning techniques,” is more about entertainment. The fourth, sixth, and seventh principle all fall into the dimension of edification.

Although the 3LOM model has many things in common with the other two articles, there are some principle differences too. First of all, as stated at the beginning, the 3LOM model looks at the issue of motivation from a social psychological point of view. It emphasizes that motivation can be gained at three different dimensions instead of many isolated points. Second, the 3LOM model implies that the teacher is an active party who is aware of the students’ needs in the teacher-student interaction process. Teachers take the initiative to satisfy those needs and make the teacher-student interaction alive.

Inclusion is a prerequisite for social interactions. We need to be included in a group to carry out communications or interactions. One implication of inclusion is unconditional acceptance. Student should feel that they are welcome simply because they are students in the class. The teacher should be careful not to be judgmental with students when they first meet. Unconditional acceptance is the door opener for the newcomer. To include people, we give them signals by responding to their presence and paying them attention, respect, or care. This is to satisfy the learner’s social or emotional needs. As Dale wrote in Audio-Visual Methods in Teaching (1946), “Good teaching involves the feelings as well as the intellect.” In class, if students feel ignored or rejected in their attempt to start a conversation, or come across some unfriendly comments, they would not find the atmosphere comfortable. An instructor should include all students in the learning process.

Inclusion can be achieved through two types of relations built in the instruction/learning process: first, a positive personal relationship between the instructor and individual learner; second, esprit de corps in the classroom. The earlier these relations are formed, the better they will help the instruction and learning process. Dale expressed similar views years ago. He used the word “mood of mutuality.” As he said, “Learning blossoms in a mood of mutuality. Such a mood must permeate the classroom, the shop, the home, or wherever else teaching takes place, if it is to be good teaching” (1946).

A positive personal relationship between the instructor and the learner should be a two-way relationship that includes two facets: the instructor genuinely cares about the learner and the learner trusts and looks to the instructor for guidance if he or she requires any. For the instructor to form a personal positive relationship with the individual learner, the instructor should prepare to build rapport with the individual learner from the very beginning. The instructor should attempt to promptly gain the learner’s trust, in class as well as after class. It is important that this friendly relationship be built in the first few contacts because the first impression is a very powerful factor that shapes our perceptions of other people. This does not mean that the teacher has totally lost the chance if he or she did not promptly become friends with the students, but an early friendship is preferable. The following methods can be used:

1. Know the students personally. This includes remembering students’ names and addressing students by name, and chatting with the students to find out some relevant background information, such as their interests and career goals.

2. Show appreciation of students’ abilities. Teachers should know clearly how the students perform in the class. It is important for teachers to spot one or two things that a student is good at and show sincere and generous appreciation. Teachers should also be understanding. If a student is not doing well, the teacher should find out the reasons and help with solutions.

3. Be available when students need help. Besides the teaching-learning interactions in class, teachers should also maintain good communication with students after class, such as keeping regular office hours or replying to emails carefully and promptly. The point here is that students should get the idea that the teacher is approachable and ready to help when needed.

For a student, unpleasant feelings with one or two peer students in the class are likely to ruin the whole learning experience. Teachers should be careful not to encourage any friction between students, consciously or unconsciously. Often, top students receive much of the teacher’s favor, while problematic students obtain much of the teacher’s attention—either in a positive or negative way. It is easy for students to feel that they have different status in the class. Negative feelings such as jealousy or contempt among students are not likely to help with students’ growth, and should be prevented.

1. Teachers should treat every student equally.

2. Students should be encouraged to respect and help each other before they compete. Students should also be encouraged to remember each other’s names.

3. Learning groups can be formed and shuffled regularly.

4. Fair group work norms should be formed in the class.

The idea of entertainment means making the learning process fun and relaxing instead of boring and frustrating. The point is to remove the fatigue or stress resulting from the intense cognitive process in the learners’ brain and help the learners to concentrate on the learning.

There are three aspects to consider when designing entertaining instruction: choosing entertaining learning materials, using entertaining delivery methods, and using the instructor’s personally-developed entertaining teaching style. These three methods are complementary to each other.

If the instructor has the authority to decide what materials to use, he or she can choose learning materials that are more appealing to the learners, such as using books written in a language that is more colloquial rather than deep and complicated professional prose.

Most of the time, instructors do not have much freedom to choose easy learning materials. If this is the case, the instructors can work on making the delivery methods entertaining. Most popular examples of entertaining delivery methods are the use of multimedia such as video, audio, graphics, games, and many other creative ways to make the instruction fun. For example, many professors bring refreshment to their classroom or arrange for students to bring food once in a while. Others start the class by playing a little piece of lively music. These different strategies all serve one purpose, which is building a relaxing or refreshing atmosphere in the classroom.

A teacher’s teaching style is much related to his or her personality. Some people have the talent to be humorous, witty, or funny when they talk. Others might be born with an easygoing and happy temperament that lightens up things. Telling jokes is a method that can help a teacher to be entertaining. However, the jokes should be relevant to the instruction, clean in both the language and ideas. If used wisely, the jokes can greatly help the learners understand and remember the learning material.

It is hard to sum up all the methods of entertaining instruction in class. Different people have different strategies. Depending on the specific circumstances, the instructor should adopt the appropriate method to cheer up the learners.

Literally, edification means intellectual, moral, or spiritual improvement. In the instructional process, a learner experiences a revolutionary upgrade in his or understanding in one or all of the above domains, which results in positive changes in his or her way of thinking and/or behavior.

Intellectual edification deals with our understanding of the objective world. In the process, we move closer and closer toward the truth. Edification in the spiritual and moral domains deals more with our life views. It helps to answer questions such as “What is the meaning of life?” and “What is a good way to lead this life?”

The strategy recommended for edification is self-actualization, and self-transcendence for spiritual and moral development. Self-actualization means to “become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming.” (Maslow, 1943) Self-actualization was used by Maslow in his hierarchy of needs. Edification in instruction should be aligned with each student’s self-actualization to be most motivating. However, helping learners achieve self-actualization is not exactly what edification means. The instructor should first make sure that the learners’ self-actualization will benefit the world; otherwise it is not edification.

Intellectual edification means the increase of knowledge about the objective world, which includes us as human beings, nature, and the relations and rules of the objects in the universe. At a basic level, learners should be exposed as much as possible to general knowledge and skills, which allows them to function well and handle the problems of daily life. At a second level, they should acquire some awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses. Based on this, they will be able to focus on their strengths and fully develop their potential. The result of the basic level is that students should have the confidence to say that “I am as good as anybody else.” Besides, some students should be able to say “I am really an expert in this area.” As a matter of fact, due to either biological or social factors, it is not reasonable to expect every student to reach this level.

General knowledge and skills have received much attention in education. One example is K-12 education: what the students are expected to learn through the K-12 years is mostly focused on general knowledge and skills. In almost every country and educational system exists a curriculum that defines the goals and objectives of K-12 education. The curriculum specifies what kind of skills and knowledge every student is expected to obtain in his or her school years. Those skills and knowledge focus on different subjects: language, mathematics, arts, history, physics, chemistry, geography, and so on. To better understand all the different general knowledge and skills, let’s borrow Gardner’s (1993) theory of multiple intelligences, which notes that:

Based on multiple intelligences theory, some general knowledge and skills students should have are: the capacity to observe and gather useful information, the capacity to effectively communicate with other people orally and in written form, the capacity to maintain good relationships with people, the capacity to understand the emotional world of oneself and other people, the capacity to make sound judgments on things that have happened and react properly, the capacity to understand nature and the universe, and the capacity to appreciate different types of arts.

Teachers should pay enough attention to students so as to detect students’ strengths or potential. After communicating with the students about their interests or ambition, teachers should provide guidance in determining an area of interest and further development. In other words, teachers should help students be aware of their strengths and potential. Students should be encouraged to become expert in one or more areas of interest or whatever their potential is.

Because of limited opportunities of contact or large number of students to work with, it might not be easy for a teacher to know students well enough to determine their potential. Some other ways can be used to help the teachers. First of all, teachers should get involved with students as much as possible; second, students should be encouraged to exhibit their strengths whenever there is a chance; third, teachers should work closely with students’ parents or families to learn more about the students.

There are two levels in moral and spiritual edification: self-actualization and self-transcendence.

As Maslow (1943) noted, “the need for self-actualization is the desire to become more and more what one is, to become everything that one is capable of becoming.” One key question here is “How can one know what one is capable of becoming?” There are two ways an individual finds out about his or her potential: personal awareness and external influence. Personal awareness is mostly developed as individuals accumulate life experiences. In the process, they gradually come to realize their potential and become determined to fully develop it. External influence comes from an individual’s community or society, such as a certain way of living or some social standards in the culture. As the individual grows up in the culture, he or she is expected to achieve it as an ideal.

Those who came to know their potential through personal awareness are most likely “people who have everything can maximize their potential. They can seek knowledge, peace, esthetic experiences, self-fulfillment, oneness with God, etc.” (Maslow, 1943). However, the appreciation and support from their family, friends, or mentors might not be indispensable but important.

An example of living up to the standards of the society to carry out self-actualization is found in Confucianism, a traditional Chinese philosophy, which is also understood as a scholar’s philosophy in China.

In the past, all scholars (men only) in China were taught to go through the same life ladder. First, a man should practice self-cultivation, which means that he should seek education and cultivate good qualities. Second, a man should raise a good family and maintain a harmonious household. This implies that men should be good husbands and fathers. Third, a man should use his wisdom and skills to serve and govern his country, like obtaining a prominent position in the emperor’s court. Fourth, a man should aim to make world peace.

Nowadays, people have much freedom to choose the things they like. Edification can happen in many different ways. Cultural background such as lifestyle and values is an important factor that influences self-actualization.

Self-transcendence means to “connect to something beyond the ego or to help others find self-fulfillment and realize their potential” (Maslow, 1943).

Examples of this are mostly found in different religions. In Christianity, Jesus Christ is regarded as the savior of the world. He sacrificed his own life for the world. A recent example would be Mother Teresa, who lived and worked to promote the happiness of a people in a strange land. In some Western churches, people are encouraged to become like God and Jesus Christ. In Buddhism, it is believed that everybody can become a Buddha, who is regarded as saint and almighty because he is completely unconnected with, therefore unrestrained by, the secular world.

The above are some areas which instructors might look to edify his or her learners morally or spiritually. A key idea with the results of edification should be changes in a learner’s way of thinking, behavior, or both. Otherwise, edification does not happen on the learners’ side.

• Choose meaningful, relevant, and applicable learning content. Learning materials should be related to learners’ careers, goals, or something that is part of the students’ themselves or their lives.

• Encourage self-reflection. Encourage students to check their own progress. Students should learn to learn from their own experiences and be able to adjust their goals.

• Provide intervention when necessary. Teachers should be aware of students’ development and be prepared to give further guidance when needed.

Inclusion, entertainment, and edification are the three things a teacher can look at to make instruction motivating. They are hierarchical in the way that they motivate the learners at different levels based on the needs and desires as expected in the psychological process of human interaction. Among the three, the levels of inclusion and entertainment are not the final goal of instruction. Rather, they help to achieve the third level of edification. Without reaching the level of edification, inclusion and entertainment have little significance in an instruction-learning interaction. Also, there are no absolute rules as to when and how to implement them in the instruction. But it is critical that teachers should use them flexibly at the appropriate time.