[Edu-sig] Brainstorming and a neat link

[Rob Andrews]

# -----Original Message-----
#
# Yeah, I think you are right about the motivation issue! Most of
# the people I
# know who are successful at what they do are highly motivated. In
# fact, they
# are able to pick new skills up with or without any formal training - they
# are constantly exploring new areas and trying to learn more about whatever
# it is they're interested in.
#
# The question then becomes: How do you motivate students? =) Can you, or do
# you just hope you get a motivated crowd who is ready to learn?
#

We hope for motivated students and use techniques such as Reinforcement
Schedules and anything else we can think of to encourage motivation. And
teachers should maintain their enthusiasm as much as possible, because
students model after teachers in many and unpredictable ways. Communicate a
vision of what they are accomplishing, because a clearly expressed idea
seems to take on an inertia of its own. And establish learning-oriented
routines, because a well-cultivated habit can prevent many dilemmas before
they even happen.

But I could be wrong,
Rob

"Perl is worse than Python because people wanted it worse." Larry Wall
(Creator of Perl), 14 Oct 1998
Useless Python: http://www.lowerstandard.com/python/