edtechdev/chatbotfiles · Datasets at Hugging Face

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question of “Why should I accomplish this?”
4. Have hope in what you are doing.
Have hope in what you are doing and in how it will make things different for you or others. While this is
somewhat related to purpose, it should be viewed as a separate and positive overall outlook in regard to what
you are trying to achieve. Hope gives value to purpose. If purpose is the goal, hope is why the goal is worth
attaining at all.
5. Surround yourself with gritty people.
Persistence and tenacity tend to rub off on others, and the opposite does as well. As social creatures we often
adopt the behaviors we find in the groups we hang out with. If you are surrounded by people that quit early,
3 Stoltz, Paul G. (2014). “GRIT The New Science of What It Takes To Persevere, Flourish, Succeed”. ClimbStrong Press

Access for free at openstax.org

2.2 • The Motivated Learner

before achieving their goals, you may find it acceptable to give up early as well. On the other hand, if your
peers are all achievers with grit, you will tend to exhibit grit yourself.

APPLICATION

Get a Grit Partner

It is an unfortunate statistic that far too many students who begin college never complete their degree.
Over the years a tremendous amount of research has gone into why some students succeed while others
do not. After reading about grit, you will probably not be surprised to learn that the research has shown it
to not only be a major contributor of learning but to be one of the strongest factors contributing to student
graduation.
While that may seem obvious since, by definition, grit is a tendency to keep going until you reach your goal,
there was something very significant that turned up in the details of a study conducted by American College
Testing (also known as ACT). ACT is a nonprofit organization that administers the college admissions test by
the same name, and they have been looking at over 50 years of student persistence data to figure out why
some students complete college while others do not. What they have found is that the probability a student
4
will stay in college is tied directly to social connections. In other words, students that found someone they
connected with and that provided a sense of accountability dramatically increased their grit. It did not
matter if the person was another student, an instructor, or someone else. What did matter is that they felt a
strong motivation to keep working, even when their college experience was at its most difficult. It has been
surmised that from a psychological perspective, the extra grit comes from not wanting to disappoint the
person they have connected with. Regardless of the reason, the data show that having a grit partner is one
of the most effective ways to statistically increase your chances of graduation.
A grit partner does not have to be a formal relationship. Your partner can simply be a classmate—someone
that you can talk with. It can be an instructor you admire or someone else that you establish a connection
with. It can even be a family member who will encourage you—someone you do not want to disappoint.
What you are looking for is someone who will help motivate you, either by their example or by their
willingness to give you a pep talk when you need it. The key is that it is someone you respect and who will
encourage you to do well in school.
Right now, think about someone who could be your grit partner. Keep in mind that you may not have the
same grit partner throughout your entire college experience. You may begin with another classmate but
later find that a school staff member steps into the role. Later, as you near graduation, you may find that
your favorite instructor motivates you more to do well in school than anyone else. Regardless, the
importance of finding the social connection that helps your grit is important.

Uses and Gratification Theory and Learning
In the middle of the last century, experts held some odd beliefs that we might find exceptionally strange in our
present age. For example, many scholars were convinced that not only was learning a passive activity, but that
mass media such as movies, television, and newspapers held significant control over us as individuals. The
thinking at that time was that we were helpless to think for ourselves or make choices about learning or the
media we consumed. The idea was that we just simply ingested information fed to us and we were almost
completely manipulated by it.

4 King, David R., NduM, Edwin, Can Psychosocial Factors Predict First-to Second Year College Retention Above and Beyond Standard
Variables, ACT (2017) https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/R1656-psychosocial-factors-retention-2017-12.pdf

39

40

2 • The Truth About Learning Styles

What changed this way of thinking was a significant study on audience motivations for watching different
5
political television programs. The study found that not only did people make decisions about what
information they consumed, but they also had preferences in content and how it was delivered. In other
words, people were active in their choices about information. What is more important is that the research
began to show that our own needs, goals, and personal opinions are bigger drivers for our choices in
information than anything else. This gave rise to what became known as the Uses and Gratification Theory
(UGT).

Figure 2.4 Concept maps, or idea clusters, are used to gather and connect ideas. The exercise of creating, recreating, and improving
them can be an excellent way to build and internalize a deeper knowledge of subjects. (Credit: Johnny Goldstien / Flickr / Attribution
2.0 Generic (CC-BY 2.0))

At first, personal choices about television programs might seem a strange topic for a chapter on learning, but
if you think about it, learning at its simplest is the consumption of information to meet a specific need. You
choose to learn something so you can attain certain goals. This makes education and UGT a natural fit.
Applying UGT to education is a learner-centered approach that focuses on helping you take control of how and
what you learn. Not only that, but it gives you a framework as an informed learner and allows you to choose
information and learning activities with the end results in mind. The next section examines UGT a little more
closely and shows how it can be directly applied to learning.

The Uses and Gratification Model
The Uses and Gratification model is how people are thought to react according to UGT. It considers individual
behavior and motivation as the primary driver for media consumption. In education this means that the needs
of the learner are what determine the interaction with learning content such as textbooks, lectures, and other
information sources. Since any educational program is essentially content and delivery (the same as with any
media), the Uses and Gratification model can be applied to meet student needs, student satisfaction, and
student academic success. This is something that is not recognized in many other learning theories since they
begin with the premise that it is learning content and how it is delivered that influences the learner more than
the learner’s own wants and expectations.
The main assumption of the Uses and Gratification model is that media consumers will seek out and return to

question of “Why should I accomplish this?”

4. Have hope in what you are doing.

Have hope in what you are doing and in how it will make things different for you or others. While this is

somewhat related to purpose, it should be viewed as a separate and positive overall outlook in regard to what

you are trying to achieve. Hope gives value to purpose. If purpose is the goal, hope is why the goal is worth

attaining at all.

5. Surround yourself with gritty people.

Persistence and tenacity tend to rub off on others, and the opposite does as well. As social creatures we often

adopt the behaviors we find in the groups we hang out with. If you are surrounded by people that quit early,

3 Stoltz, Paul G. (2014). “GRIT The New Science of What It Takes To Persevere, Flourish, Succeed”. ClimbStrong Press

Access for free at openstax.org

2.2 • The Motivated Learner

before achieving their goals, you may find it acceptable to give up early as well. On the other hand, if your

peers are all achievers with grit, you will tend to exhibit grit yourself.

APPLICATION

Get a Grit Partner

It is an unfortunate statistic that far too many students who begin college never complete their degree.

Over the years a tremendous amount of research has gone into why some students succeed while others

do not. After reading about grit, you will probably not be surprised to learn that the research has shown it

to not only be a major contributor of learning but to be one of the strongest factors contributing to student

graduation.

While that may seem obvious since, by definition, grit is a tendency to keep going until you reach your goal,

there was something very significant that turned up in the details of a study conducted by American College

Testing (also known as ACT). ACT is a nonprofit organization that administers the college admissions test by

the same name, and they have been looking at over 50 years of student persistence data to figure out why

some students complete college while others do not. What they have found is that the probability a student

4

will stay in college is tied directly to social connections. In other words, students that found someone they

connected with and that provided a sense of accountability dramatically increased their grit. It did not

matter if the person was another student, an instructor, or someone else. What did matter is that they felt a

strong motivation to keep working, even when their college experience was at its most difficult. It has been

surmised that from a psychological perspective, the extra grit comes from not wanting to disappoint the

person they have connected with. Regardless of the reason, the data show that having a grit partner is one

of the most effective ways to statistically increase your chances of graduation.

A grit partner does not have to be a formal relationship. Your partner can simply be a classmate—someone

that you can talk with. It can be an instructor you admire or someone else that you establish a connection

with. It can even be a family member who will encourage you—someone you do not want to disappoint.

What you are looking for is someone who will help motivate you, either by their example or by their

willingness to give you a pep talk when you need it. The key is that it is someone you respect and who will

encourage you to do well in school.

Right now, think about someone who could be your grit partner. Keep in mind that you may not have the

same grit partner throughout your entire college experience. You may begin with another classmate but

later find that a school staff member steps into the role. Later, as you near graduation, you may find that

your favorite instructor motivates you more to do well in school than anyone else. Regardless, the

importance of finding the social connection that helps your grit is important.

Uses and Gratification Theory and Learning

In the middle of the last century, experts held some odd beliefs that we might find exceptionally strange in our

present age. For example, many scholars were convinced that not only was learning a passive activity, but that

mass media such as movies, television, and newspapers held significant control over us as individuals. The

thinking at that time was that we were helpless to think for ourselves or make choices about learning or the

media we consumed. The idea was that we just simply ingested information fed to us and we were almost

completely manipulated by it.

4 King, David R., NduM, Edwin, Can Psychosocial Factors Predict First-to Second Year College Retention Above and Beyond Standard

Variables, ACT (2017) https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/R1656-psychosocial-factors-retention-2017-12.pdf

39

40

2 • The Truth About Learning Styles

What changed this way of thinking was a significant study on audience motivations for watching different

5

political television programs. The study found that not only did people make decisions about what

information they consumed, but they also had preferences in content and how it was delivered. In other

words, people were active in their choices about information. What is more important is that the research

began to show that our own needs, goals, and personal opinions are bigger drivers for our choices in

information than anything else. This gave rise to what became known as the Uses and Gratification Theory

(UGT).

Figure 2.4 Concept maps, or idea clusters, are used to gather and connect ideas. The exercise of creating, recreating, and improving

them can be an excellent way to build and internalize a deeper knowledge of subjects. (Credit: Johnny Goldstien / Flickr / Attribution

2.0 Generic (CC-BY 2.0))

At first, personal choices about television programs might seem a strange topic for a chapter on learning, but

if you think about it, learning at its simplest is the consumption of information to meet a specific need. You

choose to learn something so you can attain certain goals. This makes education and UGT a natural fit.

Applying UGT to education is a learner-centered approach that focuses on helping you take control of how and

what you learn. Not only that, but it gives you a framework as an informed learner and allows you to choose

information and learning activities with the end results in mind. The next section examines UGT a little more

closely and shows how it can be directly applied to learning.

The Uses and Gratification Model

The Uses and Gratification model is how people are thought to react according to UGT. It considers individual

behavior and motivation as the primary driver for media consumption. In education this means that the needs

of the learner are what determine the interaction with learning content such as textbooks, lectures, and other

information sources. Since any educational program is essentially content and delivery (the same as with any

media), the Uses and Gratification model can be applied to meet student needs, student satisfaction, and

student academic success. This is something that is not recognized in many other learning theories since they

begin with the premise that it is learning content and how it is delivered that influences the learner more than

the learner’s own wants and expectations.

The main assumption of the Uses and Gratification model is that media consumers will seek out and return to