by Kristin Ho, Pharm.D., PGY1
Pharmacy Practice Resident, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
Over
the past year, I’ve served as a co-preceptor for students who are completing
advanced pharmacy practice experiences.
I find it is much easier to interact with students who are motivated and
want to complete the rotation at our institution. It’s challenging when students lack
motivation and my inexperience as a preceptor doesn’t make it any
easier! But I’m not alone. According to a survey conducted at the
University of California, San Francisco School of Pharmacy, many preceptors
don’t feel very confidence in their ability to identify and manage the unmotivated
student. A majority of the survey
respondents (61.5%) stated they had difficulty determining the reason why a
student was unmotivated and 69.1% wanted more training on how to engage and
motivate students.1
What
is motivation?
Motivation is "a student’s willingness, need,
desire, and compulsion to participate in, and be successful in, the learning
process."2 There are two forms of
motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation comes from an internal desire – formulated from
both cognitive and emotional processes in the brain – to perform a task. In other words, the student perceives the
task to be "in and of itself" to be rewarding.
Extrinsic motivation is
driven by external factors unrelated to the task. Under these circumstances, the task is performed
to gain some reward or avoid a punishment that is associated with, but not
intrinsically a part of, the task.3 Intrinsically motivated students tend to do better
because they are eager and willing to learn without inducement. Conversely,
extrinsically motivated students must be encouraged, persuaded, cajoled, or, in
extreme cases, coerced to perform the task.
Whether the lack
of motivation is attributed to intrinsic or extrinsic factors, it is important
to identify the reasons why students are unmotivated in order to appropriately address
the problem. Some reasons why students
are not motivated and clues that can help you to identify students are: 4
Clues
|
Reasons
|
Student
engages in negative self-talk about abilities and/or by makes faulty
attributions to explain poor performance
|
Lack
of confidence
|
Student
procrastinates, verbal complains, frequent seeks teacher’s help, and other
avoidant behaviors
|
Effort
needed to complete work seems too much or unrealistic
|
Student
requires praise or rewards as a ‘pay-off’ in order to apply greater
effort
|
Fails
to see a pay-off in doing the assigned work
|
Student
display indifferent or hostile behavior toward instructor or preceptor
|
Negative
relationship with instructor or preceptor
|
How to
motivate unmotivated students?
If
the students’ lack of motivation stems from fear of failure, preceptors should encourage
students to focus on their improvements and help them evaluate their progress
by encouraging them to critique their own work. This method, called attribution
retraining, helps the student look for the explanations for their successes and
failures. The goal of attribution retraining is assisting
students in concentrating on the tasks rather than being distracted by their
fear of failure. Preceptors and
instructors can help the student identify alternative methods or approaches to
a problem instead of giving up; and attributing the student’s failures to ineffective
strategies rather than a lack of ability.5 For example, a student may attribute poor
clinical judgments to an inherent lack of ability. If the student believes
he/she cannot succeed during the rotation, there is less motivation to strive
for success. If a student perceives writing SOAP notes as
being too difficult, the preceptor should use attribution retraining by
encouraging the student to practice with hypothetical case studies so the task becomes
easier when the student encounters real patients.
Positive or negative feedback influences
motivation. When a preceptor praises a
student, this extrinsic motivator boosts self-confidence. Preceptors should acknowledge
sincere efforts even when the student’s performance is less than stellar. If
the student’s performance is weak, providing feedback for improvement as well
as assure that he/she can improve and succeed over time. Before the preceptor
provides feedback, ask the students to reflect on their perceived strengths and
weaknesses to determine whether the students’ self-assessment is accurate. If the
preceptor and student are in agreement, the preceptor can affirm the strengths
and provide encouragement. This should be followed by a discussion of perceived
weaknesses. This will give the preceptor
some insight into what the student identifies as areas that need improvement
and facilitates goal setting for future performance.6
Most importantly, preceptors should display
enthusiasm in teaching and a personal interest in the student to build a
positive relationship. This can be achieved by tailoring the rotation to the
student’s interest. Students are naturally more motivated to
succeed when their interests are considered in the rotation plan. Therefore, constructing
approaches to help the student realize how each learning activity relates to
his or her personal and professional goals can improve motivation. For example,
if a student has accepted a community pharmacy position and has no interest in
acute care, it might be helpful to include more patient counseling during the
rotation. This learning activity would
provide the student with more one-on-one patient interactions and boost
confidence when speaking to patients.
Motivation is a powerful
force. As preceptors and instructors, it can be challenging to motivate
unmotivated students. However, identifying students who are unmotivated by
paying attention to clues and addressing the problem with an appropriate method
to encourage motivation is a valuable teaching tool.
This resonates with me! One of my
preceptors reminds me that it’s easy to teach the intrinsically motivated
students, but the truly great preceptor is one who can increase the unmotivated
student’s desire to learn
… and achieve the intended learning outcomes.
References
1. Mitra A, Robin CL, Peter AJ, et al. Development needs of volunteer pharmacy practice
preceptors. Am J Pharm Educ 2011;75: Article 10.
2. Bomia L, Beluzo L,
Demeester D, et al. The impact of teaching strategies on intrinsic
motivation. Educ Resour Inf Cent. 1997. ED418925
3. Ryan RM, Deci EL. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions. Contemp Educ Psychol. 2000; 25 :54-67.
4. Wright, J. Six
reasons why students are unmotivated (and what teachers can do).
Intervention Central [Internet]. 2011. Accessed April 11, 2013.
5. Lumsden LS. Student motivation to learn. Educ Resour Inf
Cent. 1994. ED370200
6. Orsmond P, Merry S,
Reiling K. Biology
students’ utilization of tutors’ formative feedback: a qualitative interview
study. Assess Eval
Higher Educ. 2005; 30:369-86.
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