Motivation: Academic Fears and Exploring Rewards

Hey girls! I hope you're weekend has been great so far!

So this week, I use Academic Fears in my SPA 102 class because it is one of my hardest courses. I also used the Exploring Rewards strategy for all my courses. I thought that these motivational strategies would be a great way for me to keep myself motivated for doing well in my courses.

For Academic Fears, I created a chart explaining what I was most fearful of, the worst and best outcomes, and the actions I needed to take in order to succeed in the course. My worst fear for SPA 102 was not understanding the material. Not understanding the material could lead me to failing the class, which is not good. In order to understand the material, I need to be paying full attention during class and reading the textbook thoroughly. This strategy helped me realize the consequences from not doing well in this course.

Here is my Academic Fears Chart for SPA 102:



For all my courses, I created an Exploring Rewards chart that includes no-cost, low-cost, and high-cost rewards that can be used to influence my motivation. Some rewards are more powerful than others and with this chart I have discovered that my low-cost rewards actually outweigh my high-cost rewards. In terms of expense, it doesn't cost anything to feel confident and to get into Newhouse. I much rather prefer making my parents proud and transferring into Newhouse than buying a new cool cell phone.

Here is my Exploring Rewards chart:



I have found that what motivates me is both external and internal. I want to feel successful and happy while receiving approval from my family.

Since I'm a visual learner, I liked how both of these motivation strategies helped me clearly recognize what motivates me and how I can improve my motivation.