7 Resources for Addressing Low Motivation Mid-way Through a Class

If you teach in higher ed, you have probably experienced it.

Despite your best efforts, your entire class seems to start experiencing a huge decline in motivation. What started out well, as you watched your students' curiosities be heightened, now feels like an attempt to lift something well beyond your capacity.

You're experiencing “the dip,” and it is a common occurrence.

You may very well not have done anything wrong, to cause this to happen. However, there are plenty of strategies you can use to bring the motivation back in a course.

1. Kevin Gannon provides resources about student motivation and learning
2. Doug McKee describes ways to engage a larger class
3. The Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation provides this handout with some active learning strategies to try
4. Maha Bali reminds us that we can embrace a pedagogy of imperfection in our teaching
5. Heather Yamada-Hosley prescribes some self-care through a yoga routine for people who work on their feet (the more centered we are, the more we have to offer our students)
6. Sarah Rose Cavanagh asserts that “We don't need to coddle. But we do need to care.“
7. James Lang gives us small changes we can make in our teaching during the last five minutes of class, or the first five minutes of class

I recommend putting together a playlist of energizing music to start each class with, not taking yourself (or your class) too seriously, and just being thankful that things are probably going better for you than they are for this guy.

How do you try to address issues of low motivation, midway through your semester/term?