Motivation and emotion/Tutorials/Introduction/Instructor notes

2013

From 2013, this tutorial was held in a computer lab, in order to provide more hands-on skill development with wiki editing.

To make room for the hands-on wiki editing, the definitions exercise was moved into Lecture 01 and less emphasis was placed on the instructor recording/capturing work directly onto the wiki.

If possible, conduct the icebreaker in an open space outside the tutorial room. You may wish to ask participants to take pen and paper with them, so they can do the brainstorming and small group discussions etc. outside of the lab. But it is probably good to move into the computer lab for the class brainstorming about the book chapter structure and learning features.

2010-2011

These are some instructor notes and tips about running this tutorial.

This tutorial was run in 2010 for this first time, with three tutorial groups ranging in size from 14 to 26. The design of tutorial series intends to be able to accommodate large group sizes. In addition, the tutorials are intended to be hands-on, featuring small group work, experiential exercises and large group discussion.

Note that tutorials should probably take place in a largish room with moveable tables and chairs.

Overall, this tutorial worked well.

Three handouts were provided during the session:

Schedule
Tutorial overview
Wikipedia cheatsheet

Phase one

Start sitting in a circle (push desks to the outside, and put chairs in a circle on the inside) - welcome and introduce the tutorials. Start off by saying something about the challenge of tutorials - staff want students to come, students don't always want to come unless there is value/return - therefore it is staff responsibility to make tutorials sufficiently interesting and rewarding for students to attend. Handout Schedule. The structure of tutorials will be approximately 1/3rd assessment-related skills to help with the preparation of the textbook chapter, e-portfolio and multimedia.

Following the Welcome and Introduction, move into the group sociometric icebreakers (this really helps to loosen up the atmostphere). The questions go from relatively benign (thumb size and time at UC) to touching into areas of motivation (favourite fast food, political voting (joke a bit for this one - keep the atmosphere light and respectful - all views are encouraged and accepted and they can always abstain if they wish), and main emotion of the day. When the formations are made, briefly ask about each of the main features. What is the relationship between thumb size and other characteristics (usually gender and height)? Who has been at UC the longest, who the shortest? What are our favourite fast foods? Who did we vote for? What are the main emotions we experienced?

Finally, invite students to form small groups (of students' own choice) - ideally 4, could be 3 or 5.

Move into small groups (rearrange chairs/tables).

Note that there was no formal name-game exercises (they can be helpful but are overdone). Instead use other people's names as much as possible simply by asking their name in any conversation and then using it, i.e., simply make asking for someone's name and using it a norm.

This ends the first phase.

Phase two

The Definitions and Questions small and large group discussion exercises worked well. Firstly, ask students to individually define each of Motivation and Emotion. Mention to students that defining motivation should be relatively straightforward (in part because it has already been covered in readings and lectures and in part because motivation is conceptually simpler) but that defining emotion could be trickier, but have a go. Once students have developed individual definitions, ask them to share their definitions with the group and for the group to come up with a joint definition - e.g., by adopting the definition they think is best or creating a new definition by combining some of the individual definitions. Groups are then invited to share their definitions with the class (share the Motivation definitions first, then the Emotion definitions).

Whilst students are discussing definitions, the instructor logs in and gets the tutorial wiki page up on the projector and ready for editing.

Ask for the definitions to be read at 30 wpm (my typing speed!). As group answers are reported about definitions and questions, type these live into wiki (helps to walk the talk and to record emerging ideas) and discuss these (e.g., look for and comment on common elements and differences). Note the definition of emotion is much trickier (in part because it hasn't been covered in lectures yet and it is arguably more complex. In discussing Emotion, refer students to the Figure by Reeve (2009, pp. 300) - it could be helpful to have a graphic of this 4-component model. It is probable that student definitions of emotion each captured some but not all of these 4 components (Feelings - Bodily Arousal - Social-Expressive - Sense of Purpose (Motivation)). This is an important discussion to help whet students' appetite for emotion.

Students were then asked to consider what curiousities and interests they have in motivation and emotion and to note these down. Explain that you want students to formulate these interests as questions. This is the next step in inquiry. Questions are important because they invitations to explore, they invite a journey of discovery and there can be answers (even if its that there is no answer). SO, it is important to develop questions and to nurture these. Developing questions is important, for example, for those aspiring to 4th year study because developing good questions is a critical part of the research process. (i.e., try to inspire students to frame their nascent curiousities into investigable questions).

Whilst the students are discussing their curiousities the instructor should go around to each group and ask for and write down each students' name - this helps for record-keeping (if needed) but also to ensure direct contact between each participant and the instructor and to record the groups. Along the way the instructor should ask each group who and who hasn't signed up for a textbook topic. Ask people to share their topics or possible topics and help guide topic development of those who are still undecided.

Phase three

The textbook chapter brainstorm was done on the whiteboard (turn off projector - noisy!) and later transferred to wiki. This was a very valuable session and included discussion about:

What type of textbook structure do you expect to find? (e.g., parts and order)
What type of textbook features do you like? (i.e., aspects which lift the text and provide a different way to think about and experience the topic)
References (do they have to be peer-reviewed, can textbooks be referenced, how to get articles that aren't available etc.)

This discussion can then flow into the final part, where students can ask questions about how to use wiki, e.g.,:

How to get the | symbol (for renaming links etc.)
How to insert images
How to adjust layout for images
How to upload images

Depending on how much time is allowed for participants to "free talk" in small groups (there is no shortage of this - and why not? It is generally relevant to their study experiences and important for group development and social relations), the class finished up in 90 to 110 minutes. Some extra time is helpful to allow follow-up individual questions.

Note that some students are puzzled about open editing (how can it work?) - I've likened it to learning how to ride a bike - it seems illogical at first that one could balance on two wheels (just as it seems illogical that free to edit content can be 'safe') - but once one learns about how to balance and ride, one realises that it works surprisingly well.