Research on learning motivation until now has been rather general, 
according to Dr Julia Dietrich of Friedrich Schiller University in Jena (FSU). In a research project in collaboration with Jaana Viljaranta (University of Eastern Finland), Julia Moeller (Yale University) and Bärbel Kracke (FSU) the team is bringing the first building block to solve this deficit. The focus has been directed on a learner’s motivation in a specific, time-limited situation. Such as during a lecture or lesson in school.
The research shows that during a 90 minutes lecture motivation fluctuated much more strongly than had previously been assumed. Every participant experienced phases of high motivation and of strong demotivation. These moments where completely independently of the other students in relation to the timing of those phases. The conclusion of the study is that:
“The causes for the fluctuations need to be considered more carefully in future, in order to make learning contexts as a whole more motivating.”
And that every learning situation and moment counts.
Adapting learning design
But how can you accomplish this? How can you trigger motivation in a learning environment to cut the deepest valleys of demotivation? One solution is gamification and in formal school education this could mean to integrate a gamified environment that is included in both the physical classroom and in digital learning. This is adding one more layer or dimension to trigger motivation. At the same time as gamification mechanisms and triggers offers the ability to highlight the most important parts of the education. Meaning the ability to adapt the heights of learning motivation to the relevance of the content.
Written by
LarsGoran Bostrom©
Interactive books with gamification and soon augmented reality features
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