id the fact that some students will be amotivated at times would not be realistic. After reviewing behavioral and cognitive theories of learning, it appears to be obvious that the most effective measure to be taken to motivate students to learn would be to implement the best parts of each of the mentioned theoretical concepts (Banks and Thompson, 1995). "Behaviorist make a strong argument for limiting the study of learning to observable behavior that can be counted and analyzed for its meaning. Observable behavior is easy to validate and changes are recognizable" (Banks and Thompson, 1995, p.273). But from the cognitive perspective, there is more to learning than stimulus-response correlation. This involves insight, creativity, drawing conclusions, and problem-solving (Banks and Thompson, 1995). By customizing these theories to use in the classroom, teachers can begin to understand why it is easy for intrinsic motivation to learn can be undermined and then take action to mend the problem.The Role of the TeacherThe art of correctly tailoring the use of extrinsic reinforcement in the classroom to enhance intrinsic motivation to learn lies in the hands of the teacher. After becoming familiar with various theories of learning, the teacher is in a position to perceive their students learning experiences from a new perspective (Ramirez, 1983). Ramirez comments that having this broadened insight toward students motivation to learn helps the teacher to become more conscious of their own behavior and the events that take place in the classroom.The Skinnerian approach for a teacher to use power to reward and punish their students to motivate them can be ineffective if executed in and of itself. Glasser (1986) agrees to some extent that the role of the teacher is comparative to that of a manager because they use their power to reward or punish their students to get results. Then Glasser (1986) takes this concept one step further and comments tha...
