motivational contructs

Choose three motivation constructs mentioned in the Santrock chapter and give specific examples from your own learning that illustrate their meaning.

In my blog it is to be understood that the motivational constructs discussed by Santrock are, 1. behavioral motivation 2. humanistic motivation 3. cognitive motivation 4. social motivation. I will discuss how three of these motivational constructs shaped my learning experience.
I’ll begin with a story from my childhood and how behavioral motivation played an early roll. “Incentives that classroom teachers use include... check-marks, or stars for completed work.” (Santrock, pg415) When I was in the second grade in the top left corner of our desks, was taped a piece of graph paper. Every time we completed an assignment we got to color in a square. After we had completed all of the assignments and therefor colored in every square, we got to have lunch with the teacher.
Next I’ll try and show how cognitive motivation played a role in my education. It is believed by the cognitive perspective “that students should be given more opportunities and responsibilities for controlling their own achievement outcomes.” (Santrock, pg416) I was given this opportunity to be more responsible and have control of my own outcomes my senior year of high school. I was allowed to take some of my credits through Lansing Community College and be duel enrolled. This allowed me the opportunity to see college life and prepare for it before I was totally submerged with a full class load. This also allowed for me to practice my scheduling and planning skills when I had to add a night class with additional homework.
Last I would like to relate how social motivation effected my ability to learn. When I was in high school taking geometry I had a teacher who was very competitive and believed the students could be motivated through competition. In his effort to motivate us he decided to post everyone's test grades on the cork board at the head of the class next to the chalkboard. By doing this he created a performance based atmosphere where students who were not confident got public conformation of their failings. “This dilemma leads some students to engage in behavior that protects them from the image of incompetence in the short run but interferes with their learning and achievement in the long run.” (Covington,1992; Urdan, 2004)

"Having an experience" vs "conceptual understanding"

What is the difference discussed in this article between "having an experience" and "conceptual understanding"?

War and injustice are major concepts in art. It is important to understand their role as subject matter. Francisco De Goya’s piece entitled “Execution of the defenders of Madrid”, also known as “The shootings of May 3 1808” and Picasso’s painting “Guernica” express these concepts with two completely different voices, or styles. Despite the drastic differences in style, the concepts are revealed quite successfully in both pieces on the faces and in the positioning of the characters in these pieces. So, to simply view these pieces, while it may be valuable, does not contribute to an educational experience. To have an educational experience the viewer would, number one, need to feel a level of anticipation about the events these paintings are portraying. An anticipation that there was more to be discovered surrounding these events. Second, this anticipation would need to lead to the formulation of ideas regarding what the paintings are suggesting about war and it’s effects on humankind. Third, these ideas would invoke action on the part of the viewer. An action that would lead to a more cohesive understanding of how the events or feelings depicted have been explained in the piece. Only in these actions do ideas find meaning and value. Ultimately this understanding would require the accompaniment of an emotional response to this anticipation, rather then to the general like or dislike of the piece, a response that would include feelings from participating in the experience of these ideas. This unity of Anticipation, Ideas, Action and Emotion is what Dewey would consider an authentic educational experience. These four principals are what separate a conceptual understanding of war and injustice as subject matter in art to an educational experience. They transform an indifferent opinion of a depicted event to a sublime understanding of the social commentary incorporated in art.

examples in conceptual learning

When trying to understand the "why's" in art, it is important to understand concepts. "Concepts are categories that group objects, events, and characteristics on the basis of common properties" (Zacks & Tversky,2001). With this in mind let us consider the concept of color in art, why it is chosen and what it is telling you about the art. For many artists a cognitive approach is used here, meaning they plan out the artwork first in sketches. They then have the issue of solving the problem of revising the image they had in their head to better communicate their message. This is where color comes in, an artist of this belief may choose colors of his or her own to represent feelings or ideas. This is why it is important to learn the concept of color rather than how color effects this piece. As how it applies to this piece may not be true for how it applies to different pieces. The concept of color is that each color is associated with a feeling or meaning depending on the subject matter. Take for example that the color green can mean positive things like, money, health, food and nature. It can also represent such negative things as envy, greed, jealousy, or guilt. As you can see to universally understand green as envy would show a lack of the true concept. Under a more social constructivist approach it would still be important to understand the idea of concepts, however, how you would come to this realization would be much different. In the constructivist approach you would come to recognize these colors based on cultural interpretations that are "socially constructed" rather than born from with in the artist themselves. Both Lines of thought think of concept a little differently while incorporating it into their thought process. My belief is that both of these lines are correct. I believe that when choosing color from with in as in the cognitive approach a consideration for cultural interpretations is also necessary to communicate effectively. With out understanding of the concept of color none of this would be possible.

Experienced learner vs. Intermediate learner

Seemingly everyone I know can tell me the difference between "good" art and "bad" art. They will even know such artist as Michelangelo, Monet, and Picasso. What does this mean? Is art simple to understand and create? Is that why so often you hear "my child could make that." in reference to the "bad" art? Let me begin to try and explain my philosophy on who actually understands the differences in "good" art versus "bad" art. It is believed by many that there are two types of learners. There is an expert learner for one, and then the intermediate learner. An expert learner would judge the value of a piece of art on it's "finish", meaning "how it is cleaned up and refined for public scrutiny". They also, with an understanding of art history and theory, would be able to break a piece of artwork down into core concepts for a balanced evaluation. Whereas an intermediate learner may base their feelings of what's good or bad art on such things as their personal ability to relate to the topic, or their ability to "see" or understand what it is they are looking at. Expert learners also with their understanding of art history and art theory can understand the thought process behind abstract art. They understand ideas like, "How did it originate in the artist thought process?" and "How does it relate to the progression of art throughout history?" An intermediate learner would actually have a vague understanding of abstract art. However, without rich understanding of art history, they simply would not be able to understand the progression of how something like the Mona Lisa could relate to Damien Hirst's piece The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. They also, because of their lack of understanding of the history of art would only be able to recognize society as a subject for art. An expert learner would understand how art and society shape each other. They would be able to understand the idea that art often is a critique on society and it's values. As you can see a child may make art worthy of the refrigerator, however, it takes a lot more knowledge to create art worthy of a gallery wall or space outside for all to view.