What Underachieving Middle School Students Believe Motivates them to Learn

Chapter 1: The Challenge to Educate Everyone Chapter 2: A Review of Literature Chapter 3: Methods Chapter 4: The Results Chapter 5: Discussion      An Emerging Theory        Experience        Meaning        Motivation        Environment        A Complex System        Implications      A Gap in Schools      Getting in the Way?      A Final Thought References Appendixes Biography

A Complex System It is not enough for an educator to implement only one piece of the model. The four components work in conjunction with each other and are not independent. For example, the patterns people "uncover" from their experiences usually are guided by questions they have based on their interests and goals. People cannot uncover those patterns unless they feel safe and respected. Those patterns will be shaped by the meaning each person can find in the experience. Students seem to need multiple elements from the four components in order to learn well. For example, Mrs. Edwards does lots of projects, but Ben finds her too serious, and Doris doesn’t like projects and activities that are all laid out to be done and don’t provide for some individual choice or design.

	Web site created by Mike Muir Send questions or comments to wilder@somtel.com Last updated April 25, 2001	Mike Muir Assistant Professor of Education University of Maine at Farmington 104 Main Street Farmington, ME 04938 207.778.7179 wilder@somtel.com http://violet.umf.maine.edu/~mmuir