Can anyone suggest an instrument that could be used to measure motivation for adult learners?
In my humble opinion, a good instrument, in measuring motivation in Adult Learning, is by continuous monitoring of their persistence on gaining more knowledge as time goes by.
Between the start of the semester & the first hour test, students ought to be asked some challenging questions about what they have studied in previous lectures & they will be invited to raise questions as well. In order not to waste the time of the lecture, I usually assign the task to other students to give answers later on & I would follow that.
I believe strongly that the first hour test has to be an easy one "but not too easy". Their performance will improve if they have hope. After correcting the first test, I always encourage students to aim at an (A) mark in the end. Now, between the first & second tests the above story is repeated with an addition in which I say: 10% of the total mark will be allocated to participation which means persistence in attendance, in study, in handing homework, and in asking & answering questions. I usually give a less easier second test than the first but one which will not knock them down. My aim is to keep them more vigilant or awake. In most cases, students improve in the 3rd phase (between the 2nd & final tests).
Before the final exam, I usually reiterate that I hope that a good number of them will get excellent marks. This encourages persistence in them but I warn them that I will never give a very easy final to enhance more persistence. It looks like a psychological game but at the end of the day the students get benefits from that. For me, if 1-5 students get(A) out of 50 students then my mission has been accomplished. This worked many times but NOT all the time.
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