- When students understand the purpose of an activity/assignment/etc., they are more likely to assert effort.
- Understanding purpose increases motivation, relevancy, and saliency, which leads to greater retention.
Ways to increase the visibility of purpose for our students:
- Make the big problem visible
- Help students understand the impact of what they are doing at the class and industry levels.
- Identify challenging and overlooked aspects
- Increase communication
- Include a purpose statement on each assignment (a sentence or two is often sufficient).
- State the purpose for activities in class
- e.g., “I asked you to discuss the concepts in groups before getting started because I wanted you to…”
- e.g., “Sport industry leaders use these techniques every day to…”
- e.g., “Writers use these techniques every day to…”
- e.g., “Learning how to blend colors is important so…”
- e.g., “When you reflect on what you just learned…”
- Provide examples that support the given purpose
- How are the knowledge, skills, and values being assessed used in industry?
