Sabtu, 10 Desember 2011 Motivating Students Through Challenge-Task Diposting oleh an.pane di 18.20

From the role-play in previous meeting, I got a description where a shy student is challenged by a teacher to be the main character in a role-play performance. At the beginning, she wanted to refuse it because she knew that she was not capable in doing that kind of assignment. However, the teacher kept motivating her and telling her that she could do that. From the practicing process, time to time, she became able to give her best in doing the role play. She could put her shyness aside .

The scene that I saw above showed how students can be motivated through a challenge-task. The teacher’s encouragement played an important role there. She was sure that the student could do it. The shy students became challenged by the task, tried to practice, then she could perform well. The task that she thought as the inappropriate one for her character could take her to diminish the shyness and give her best effort.
Teachers should make the students used to doing challenging tasks in order to build their self-efficacy too. The students who can accomplish a challenging task will have a high self-efficacy. They believe that they have a good capability in accomplishing that kind of task. The challenge-task could be in various forms, such as role-play, games, group discussion, and any other activities that trigger students’ thinking skill and creativity. Killen (2006) state that students should be engaged in trying and mastering challenging tasks to achieve their best ability.

Although teachers should keep giving a challenge task comprehension for students to guide them in improving their abilities, they are not suggested to take any challenging tasks randomly. The important point should be considered in selecting tasks is teachers’ measurement of a challenging task that was appropriate for particular students since students in one class can have various comprehension levels, abilities, or styles. In my experience when I was in high school, it was very helpful for me when I can apply my learning styles in accomplishing challenge-tasks, such as making speech and performing drama. They did not burden me and I could enjoy the learning process. Miller & Meece (as cited in Perry, Turner, & Meyer, 2006) through their research find that students are motivated by high-challenge task that are suitable for their learning styles.



References:
Killen, R. (2006). Effective teaching strategies: Lessons from Research and Practice. New Zealand: Cengage Learning Australia.
Perry.N.E, Turner, J.C., & Meyer, D.K. (2006). Classrooms as contexts for motivating learning. In P.A. Alexander & P.H. Winne (Eds.), Handbook of Educational Psychology. (pp.327-347). New Jersey: Routledge.