This week’s tips are about motivating students through goal setting, which is a great practice to use regardless of your course delivery format!
- Why set goals. Working with students to set well-defined and personally meaningful goals is a critical step in developing motivated, self-directed learners. Trunk (2023) states that, “goals could include achieving a certain GPA, mastering specific subjects, or acquiring relevant skills for their desired profession. By setting measurable and achievable objectives, students can effectively monitor their progress and make necessary adjustments to their study plans.” Learning about our students’ goals is also a great way to tailor content and instruction so that they are more likely to see relevance and make connections between the current material and their other courses or future career (Fox, 2011; Wieman, 2013).
- When to set goals. Goal setting can take place at any point; however, some recommended times would be at the beginning of the academic term or at the start of a new project or unit/module. While goal setting often takes place at the beginning of an experience, it is important to incorporate progress checks along the way. This helps students to develop their metacognitive and reflective skills by assessing their progress on their way to meeting a goal, and communicating with their support network to adjust as needed. Building this process into existing assignments is a great way for students to see the importance of engaging in this practice so they are more likely to do it on their own in the future.
- How to set goals. It is incredibly important to scaffold the process of goal setting by providing frameworks and modeling examples (and non-examples) for students. While many students will say their goal is to achieve an “A” in their classes, Nist-Olejnik and Holschuh (2007) tell students, “If you are concerned only with the grade you’ll earn, you’ll find that you are working to please the professor instead of learning to please yourself. . . . ” (p. 48). We can help students to create more meaningful goals for themselves by using either the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals or Skip Downing’s DAPPS (Dated, Achievable, Personal, Positive, and Specific) framework. Both models a great way to help students reflect on their personal, academic, and/or career goals so they can chart a course for success.
As a quick reminder, pronouns are now showing up in multiple UNCG services including Outlook and Canvas. Learn more about how to add pronouns via UNCGenie for faculty, staff, and students.