STUDENT ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT: WEAPON TO PERSONALIZED LEARNING

DARIEL A. DAVID

Teachers in the modern world recognize that although personalization has the potential to improve learning and performance among our students, Our first task in utilizing any approach is to enjoin students in the learning process. And involvement is not about baiting a hook. It’s about helping students find their spark and make their own fire.

(Ryan & Deci, 2000), have identified four key elements that help develop this kind of student active involvement

• Autonomy -is the amount of power students have to determine what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. Typically, the more autonomy students have, the higher their level of intrinsic motivation.

• Competence, or self-efficacy-occurs when a student has the necessary skills to complete the assigned task successfully. “Growth mindset” notwithstanding, our students are not endowed with magical powers they can substitute for an adequate skill set. They won’t be energized by banging their heads against a wall if they have no hope of breaking through.

• Relatedness- is created when students’actions result in developing closer relationships with those whom they like and/or respect. In the classroom context, this is often about achieving high-quality relationships with teachers, as well as connecting with their classmates.

• Relevance- means that students perceive the things we ask them to do as being in their own self-interest. Do the learning activities relate to topics that students are genuinely curious about? Do students believe that accomplishing the task or reaching the learning target will help them achieve a short-term or long-term goal?

When autonomy, self-efficacy, relatedness, and relevance are combined, they have a cumulative, synergistic effect. Students feel that they have more power to proactively determine their life paths. This sense of urgency, in turn, increases the likelihood that they will be able to transfer what they learn to other contexts— and will feel that at least some of the work they do in school matters outside the school walls.

As we strive to create personalized-learning environments for our students, it’s essential that we keep these four elements of intrinsic motivation in mind—

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The author is a Master Teacher I from Angeles City National High School, Division of Angeles City