Book Description
The authors in this volume propose expanding the topic of motivation in the preservice teacher education program by including contemporary research. Margaret W. Cohen reviews a body of research and theory concerned with the effects of extrinsic reinforcers on intrinsic motivation. She notes that contemporary research in the area of intrinsic motivation has consistently demonstrated that extrinsic reinforcers may undermine rather than facilitate performance on and interest in activities that are intrinsically motivating. Carole Ames addresses the implications of attribution theory for the teacher preparation curriculum. She believes it is important for teacher educators to help preservice teachers understand the positive and negative effects of types of classroom structure and evaluation on attribution. Dale H. Schunk suggests that social comparison is an inherent factor in every classroom and can have positive or negative motivation effects. M. Kay Alderman suggests that the preservice component in motivation should provide the preservice teacher with a repertoire of motivation-linked strategies, such as goal-setting, in order to facilitate learning and to educate students with high-achievement patterns of thought and action. Drawing from research on teacher effectiveness and decision making, Mary Rohrkemper argues that if preservice teachers are to be adequately prepared, they need concrete skills that will enable them to observe motivation, diagnose the need for motivational strategies, and assess the effectiveness of strategy implementation. Bibliographies accompany each of the articles. (JD)
