In Motivation: A General Overview of Theories, Wang presents an overview of motivation. Beginning with goals, the chapter includes definitions and examples of goals, as well as a discussion of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Goals can be both short term and long term; and can be characterized as performance or mastery goals.
"Self-efficacy affects some of the factors that predict motivation. According to Bandura (1982), self-efficacy is a self-judgment of one's ability to perform a task in a specific domain" which is impacted by experiences (mastery and vicarious), feedback (verbal persuasion), and physiology (well being, mental state, etc.)
Other elements of motivation in this article include attributions (world view, view of self & actions), self-regulation (being a "self-starter", individual learner, etc. ), volition (reaching a goal, staying on track).
PROJECT PROCESS:
Although this chapter is just an overview of motivation, it is a timely topic. I am having some motivational issues, which are completely tied to self-regulation and the physiological state. My allergies have been awful and I'm overworked with alot of different things between art, school, and work. In the past, when I get overworked, I lose motivation and energy, even if it was something I really wanted or was interested in. Instead, I manage to somehow make it through and then when I finally have a moment to re-group wish that I had more time to make the thing (whatever it is) as great as I envisioned it OR just able to enjoy the moment because I feel like I did a good job.
Nowhere is this more true than this semester. My project hit the wall: all of the first interview is almost unusable. The lighting wasn't as good as it could have been and the audio is awful. My project was to rely heavily on video of artist interviews, but I've hit several technical difficulties (poor lighting, too much background noise) which means that I will need to re-shoot.
Because of the need to re-shoot so much of my initial interview, I am going to have to think about what this means for my project. In most likelihood, I will need to resize my project: rather than interviewing 6 artists, I may have to just stick with 4 (including myself as one). Thankfully, the number of artists to interview isn't part of the contract! :)
I have also found myself dismally unmotivated when it comes to the project journal. I am not sure why. Although in the beginning I read the project journal guidelines, somewhere along the way, I forgot them and starting thinking of the project journal as well, emm... something it wasn't meant to be (more of a project PROCESS reflection, not a reflection on the class readings and their impact (or lack of) on my project. So, because my first three entries did not include citations or quoted references nor were they quite long enough, I have added to them. I have kept the original entries (I've divided them as PROJECT PROCESS)... Anyhow, the thought of actually writing a paper at the end was actually beginning to sound appealing(!!).
I think the other part of it is me: my internal motivation. I know what (un)motivates me ; but I have a harder time pinpointing what does motivate me, although I would think that feeling engaged and not overwhelmed has got to be part of it.
The motivation that I do have right now is external: grades (obviously), peer encouragement (thanks Ericka!), but also from the artists I have talked to. The interviews are amazing. As a creative person/artist, I really needed to hear these things. I couldn't have picked a better topic/subject.
On another good note: I do feel like my project is starting to breathe a little on its own and it now has a new name. It is now SPARC: spark of potential: artist reflect on creativity). Nifty acronym, eh? ;)
Reference: Wang, Shiang-Kwei, Motivation: A General Overview of Theories, http://www.coe.uga.edu/epltt/Motivation.htm in M. Orey , Emerging Perspectives on Learning, Teaching and Technology. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia, Department of Instructional Technology.
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