Last year, Katie Hull Sypnieski and I worked with Ed Week to produce four short animated videos on motivation (see Everything You Wanted to Know About Student Motivation, But Were Afraid to Ask).

A new study brings together two schools of thought on the function of the neurotransmitter dopamine: one saying that dopamine provides a learning signal, the other saying that dopamine drives ...

Have you ever asked yourself, "Can I really motivate my learners, or can I only create the right conditions to inspire motivation?" Let’s explore what motivation is and how we can enhance it. When ...

Adults lead complex lives with limits on the amount of time they have to engage in formal learning. This reality, combined with the amount of effort and practice needed to develop one’s literacy ...

Engagement refers to the degree of attention, curiosity, or interest that a student shows when they are learning something new. Engagement can be fostered by different types of motivation—external and ...

In faculty conversations about teaching, student motivation comes up constantly: “This student is motivated,” “I hope they’re learning for the right reasons,” or “I want my students to be ...

In Jarek Janio’s Inside Higher Ed opinion column, “Beyond ‘Grit’ and ‘Growth Mindsets,’” Janio argues that, to promote better student learning, college instructors should ignore questions about ...

(This is Part Four in an ongoing series responding to specific teacher questions related to remote learning. You can see Part One here, Part Two here, and Part Three here.) Note: In addition to a ...