Literature Review: The Power of Choice

This is a review of an article titled, "Optimizing the Power of Choice:  Supporting Student Autonomy to Foster Motivation and Engagement in Learning."  It was written by Miriam Evans and Alyssa R. Boucher, and published in 2015 by the International Mind, Brain and Education Society and Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This article focuses on the importance of student choice and how students can show increased engagement in learning activities when they are able to make choices about their learning that are relevant to their personal values.  The authors introduce this idea by stating that all children are born with curiosity and intrinsic motivation to learn, however they lose this motivation through time when they are always told what to learn and how to show it (Evans, 2015, p. 87).  Basically, the process of learning stops being fun and students stop asking their own questions because they lose the sense of choice.

To better understand human motivation through choice, we look at the self-determination theory of motivation which promotes autonomy in increases intrinsic motivation (Evans, 2015, p. 88).  The self-determination theory states that autonomy comes from a feeling in which someone has choice and engages in self-directed activities that are aimed at meeting a goal. A teacher can promote autonomy by allowing students to have choice in order to promote these self-directed activities.

In order for a teacher to provide appropriate choice to students, the teacher must focus on what is relevant and meaningful for the students.  Available choices should relate to the personal values and interests of the student.  The authors also note that extrinsic motivation can also lead to intrinsic motivation when choices are given and students are self directing their learning (Evans, 2015, p. 89).

Another important key to providing students with choices are to provide choices that enhance competence.  In order for students to succeed, they must feel that they are capable of successfully completing the task they are choosing.  The resources provided must be appropriate and task demands must be reasonable.  If the task is too easy, the students will get bored.  If the task is too difficult, the student will most likely become frustrated and lose motivation (Evans, 2015, p. 89).

The amount of choices should also be limited to a manageable amount for both the teacher and student. If a student has too many options to choose from, it may be too overwhelming.  We experience this when we look at a menu with too many options and feel overwhelmed when deciding on what to order (Evans, 2015, p. 90). 

Some teachers struggle to embrace the idea of giving students more choices, even though they believe in doing so.  One strategy is to be well prepared before hand, limiting the amount of choices to a manageable amount, providing appropriate resources for students, and promoting student interests to maintain student motivation (Evans, 2015, p. 90)

Implications to my study:

I appreciate how straight forward and honest this article is about promoting student choice.  I often find myself wondering where the curiosity in my students disappeared to.  The authors make a good argument that many students lose motivation through their years at school because they are no longer asking questions, only answering them. If we always tell the students what they need to learn, then they don't need curiosity. 

I am focusing on increasing the academic attitudes in Tier 2 level math classes.  Although I am not directly measuring curiosity, I am interested in student motivation and academic behaviors.  The self-determination theory of motivation encompasses the idea that providing opportunities for autonomy can lead to increased motivation levels.  This article focuses on providing students with choices in how they engage with material.  I want to look at providing students with a few choices in how they want to engage with resources that are available to help them meet learning goals they set for themselves.  This article provides a great rationale for why incorporating choices into my study is important This article also provides guidelines in how to do so, such as limiting the number of choices and focusing on how the resources they are choosing from should meet them at their learning level for maximum engagement. 

References:

Evans, M., & Boucher, A. R. (2015). Optimizing the Power of Choice: Supporting Student Autonomy to Foster Motivation and Engagement in Learning. Mind, Brain, And Education, (2), 87. doi:10.1111/mbe.12073