How do we motivate students to read? Part 3

In this post, I will continue from where I left in part 2 of this series. I will discuss aspects of our reading intervention that can be explained with social cognitive theories. This is a short post. Let’s begin.

Social Cognitive Theory

Social cognitive theory posits that individuals learn through observations of social interactions in their surrounding.

Goal setting is a key motivational process as per social cognitive theorists (Bandura, 1988, 1997; Locke & Latham, 1990, 2002; Schunk, 1989; Zimmerman, 2008). In our reading intervention, we suggested to students that they set a reading goal and commit to it. We suggested they read 10 pages per day, that is, 300 pages in a month. We believed setting a goal would help students in engaging with the task (goal attainment). As these theorists suggest, observing one’s progress toward attaining the goal, individuals experience enhancement in their sense of self-efficacy, “which strengthens motivation and leads to skill acquisition” (Schunk et al., 2014, p. 175).

The goal was proximal (close at hand), specific, and moderately difficult, which may increase the level of motivational benefits one may experience from attaining the goal (Schunk & Pajares, 2009; Zimmerman, 2008). Encouraging students to commit to the goal of reading 300 pages opened the possibility that the goal may be seen as an imposition, which might prove counterproductive to their motivation and negatively affect their engagement with the task.

In this regard, self-set goals are better than assigned goals (Locke & Latham, 2002). This is an area of further inquiry. Would it be better to let the students choose their target? Will the students set specific and moderately difficult goals or will they rather choose vague and unattainable or too easily attainable goals? I wonder what the answers would be! Group goals may prove beneficial too (e.g., let’s read 6,000 pages together in one month in a class of 20 students). In the next blog, I will turn to goal orientation theories and conclude the blog series on a happy note. Keep reading!