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CONCLUSION
By means of this investigation one would be able to find out that motivation
for learning is influenced by the learners’ interest in the class activities and they help
to learn more and be engaged in learning. So, the warm up activity used to motivate
students should be interesting and aimed at involving students to participate actively
in learning process.
In the preparation stage, a warm up exercise can act as an
important factor to arouse students’ interest to motivate them. Beginning a class with
a warm up activity is a good way to grow curiosity and interest among the learners
and motivate them to give their attention in further activities to know more.
Student engagement occurs when students are consciously invested in the
learning process and class surroundings. It refers to the willingness of the students
to participate
in the topics being discussed, attend classes regularly, submit their
designated tasks regularly, and follow the teacher's directions in the class. Students
engage when they are given the opportunity to work as their own growth agent in
the learning process and work hard to achieve their goals. It is crucial that the student
overcomes the hurdles they face in their learning path, learn from their failures and
develop self-belief. Teachers must ensure that they give
their students some control
over their learning process and stimulate them to be their own learning agent. This
enables them to work autonomously and enjoy what they learn. The students feel
more competent to achieve their own objectives which helps them to cultivate
motivation and foster self-determination that leads to student engagement
[22.p.380].
A teacher’s role is critical in the student’s involvement. A teacher should be
approachable and sensitive to the students’ needs and has to be well prepared on the
topic to be discussed in the class. Keeping students
engaged throughout the
classroom session is always challenging.
It is observed that the attention span of kids, especially of the lower grades is
extremely low. Psychologists claim that the attention span
of a typical student is
about 10 to 15 minutes long. The attention level of students varies due to many
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factors including motivation, mood, the perceived relevance
of the topic being
discussed and so on.
It is usually noticed that most of the students start to drift off at some point
during the class and start disengaging from the topic being discussed. It is therefore
essential that the teacher makes continuous and conscious efforts to ensure that the
kids are attentive during the class [23.p.199].
It is always a good idea to begin the class with a warm-up session. The teacher
can do this by asking the students to write some points related to the topic covered
in the previous class on the board. The other way is to make such sessions
collaborative by dividing the students into small teams and make them write the
main points of the topics discussed in the previous class.
The teacher can ask the
students to prepare a quick write-up of the important points that were taught during
the class. The students may then be asked to reflect upon these and give their
judgment and conclusion on it. This is a very effective way to engage the students
and make them pay more attention to what is being taught in the class. Teachers can
have a Question/Answer session in between a lesson or once a topic is completed.
Students should be encouraged to ask their questions and discuss their doubts.
It makes the classroom sessions more interactive and helps students to get a deeper
understanding of the subject. The teacher can also make such sessions more fun and
exciting by writing the questions in popsicle sticks (for smaller kids) or a small piece
of paper and put them in a bowl in the middle of the class. Each student is then asked
to pick one stick or paper and answer the question that is asked in it. This way,
students enjoy such question-answer sessions, and it helps them to reflect upon the
subject without getting bored.
Gamification is imparting education through learning-based education games
and app-based learning. They help develop observation skills, logical skills, spatial
skills, arithmetic skills, vocabulary, visualization, judgment and increases short-term
memory among kids.
Activity-based learning includes
board based creative games, teamwork
activities and manipulatives for learning. Such events also give students ownership
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over their learning process. Once the teacher covers a particular topic, a class quiz
can be conducted. If there are many students, the teacher
may divide them into
groups and form teams. This will encourage collaborations and teamwork [24.p.80].
Conducting such quiz sessions is not only engaging but also helps the teacher
access the students’ understanding. Puzzle Cards are used to encourage out of box
thinking. Such cards also have a visual impact on the students’ minds which helps
them channel focused thinking among kids. The above activities mentioned in this
blog will help the student to gain more interest in the subject with a fresher mindset.
Warm-up activities help the students stop being distracted and focus their attention
on the lesson. It is necessary to tell the students why they are doing certain tasks. A
warm-up session can be a good time to discuss the lesson objective so that students
get a valid reason to perform any activity.
