Methodologies for Motivating Student Learning through Personal Connections.

Abstract

Introduction I teach in the areas of abnormal, social, clinical, and physiological/neurological psychology, and through the years I have worked with many of my colleagues in application of this approach, from various disciplines including the empirical sciences, business, political science, computer technology, history and languages, and they have indicated through various feedback techniques that there has been consistent increase in student's acquisition of course content while utilizing certain aspects of this model. In this paper we are going to explore the following topics: methods of creating interpersonal connection in teaching within the university/college context; creating a mutual relationship the first day of class; utilizing storytelling as a method for teaching concepts; the history of storytelling in education; narratology in context; using the learning story; and a special case of using hypnotic trance in storytelling. Examples throughout this discussion will illustrate how storytelling can be an effective mechanism for motivating students not only in learning course content but also to utilize the principles of course content as potential tools for personal application of essential content. Creating Interpersonal Connections Interaction between instructor and student is the interconnected spheres of both thought and emotion (Biber, 1971), and within this process the instructor reflects a sense of oneself, students, and the content in an integrated fashion. Within the classroom, sensory activity is continually taking place, and the assimilation of new information fits into one's past experiences by producing a reflective and reflexive response as the assimilation draws from memory and produces emotion (Gold, 2002). Since this active learning process often causes an emotional response, it is essential for the instructor to encourage the students from the beginning of a course by showing faith in each student's ability to learn the course content. The instructor should recognize and appreciate each student's real effort during classroom tasks, such as class participation, thus facilitating the student's desire to learn (Carlson & Thorpe, 1984) and generating interpersonal connectedness among students and the instructor. Instructors of college/university courses need to continually utilize positive reinforcement when students participate in the learning process, not all of which comes from verbal communication. Much can be communicated through body language. The instructors also need to be continually aware of what types of messages body language is communicating. Often, students are able to read their professors quite readily. Thus, when students appear to be actively engaging in the learning process in the classroom through their own verbal and nonverbal expressions, the instructor needs to be aware also that s/he is expressing his/her appreciation of the class through body posturing or verbal expressions. For example, during a class discussion in a course that I was teaching regarding the possibility of inherited physiological tendencies in personality types, a student began describing her beliefs. Another student interrupted to comment that he could tell that I didn't agree with her because of my facial expressions. I concurred with his assessment immediately and stated that I would share my thoughts once the student finished talking. If I had not openly admitted my own feelings, I would have lost the class's trust and our rapport would have been compromised. When interpersonal connectedness is truly a part of the classroom dynamics, it is possible to motivate students to interact with the course content and to apply it to their own lives, which can be a powerful reality. With a foundation of trust and mutual respect, students and instructors can work and share together in an atmosphere that is non-threatening (Johnson & Johnson, 1982), and the story continues to be enhanced. …