Intellectual Need and Problem-Free Activity in the Mathematics Classroom [pdf] | Hacker News Reader

Intellectual Need and Problem-Free Activity in the Mathematics Classroom [pdf]

math.ucsd.edu

I've only skimmed it, but it seems like they're implying that "Intellectual Need" (emphasis on intellectual, as opposed to social or economic needs) is the only possible way to meaningfully motivate students. I see their point that it might be argued as one of the most effective ways to motivate students, but it seems to me like it's unrealistic to expect this "Need" to always be present, and is a trivialization of a more complex situation.

Academic motivation is a force caused by a wide range of internal and external factors, which people experience in different quantities at different times. Sometimes, you are in a course simply because you are obligated to be there and you do well because you need it to accomplish a long-term goal. Sometimes, you are solving a course problem because you find it intellectually stimulating. Sometimes, you give up on a problem because you believe you cannot succeed. Sometimes, you are simply unmotivated because you are tired and don't want to deal with stuff anymore. The MUSIC model of academic motivation [1] suggests a number of factors involved in the process.

Of course, I don't want to sound entirely dismissive - I definitely see the value in ensuring students perceive the "need" to solve a problem, and it's undoubtedly fantastic for an instructor to create that perception. I just wanted to voice that there's more to motivation than just the one avenue, and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[1] http://www.themusicmodel.com/

I don't read the authors as saying that intellectual need is the only way to motivate. Rather, they're saying that regardless of motivation, students are unlikely to learn certain concepts unless they directly experience the need for those concepts ("disequilibrium"). (Of course, it's possible to learn to solve a class of problems that "require" certain concepts without learning those concepts.)

Where the MUSIC model addresses motivation, the DNR framework addresses what to do with that motivation. So they seem compatible to me. The teachers described in this article would certainly benefit from studying the MUSIC model. I winced a little at the teacher who said, "Well, you care if you want to get a good grade on your test."

Instructors teaching problem-solving techniques for which students have no intellectual need is at best wasting their time. I certainly do not feel like educators care about my education or me as a person when I am forced to learn something merely so that I can be tested on it, rather than because it is intellectually useful. Students are a great deal more perceptive of this than you might think.

At a fundamental level - if there is no intellectual need for a concept, how do you justify teaching it? You might say, "well, because the state or national standards test for it." But then why is it on those tests?

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