Motivation influences our decisions to participate in sports, determines how hard we work at them, and how long we stick with them.

• Direction, Intensity & Persistence

  🎯 Real-life example: Think of trying out for your school's football team.

  • Direction: What activity we choose.
  • Intensity: How hard we work at it.
  • Persistence: How long we're willing to work at it.
  • Direction: You chose football over, say, basketball.
  • Intensity: During practice, you give it your all, hoping to make the cut.
  • Persistence: You keep coming back to practice, even when it's tough.

• Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation

  🍦 Fun Fact: Kids generally prefer fun and skill improvement (intrinsic factors) over trophies (extrinsic rewards)!

  • Intrinsic: Doing an activity because it's enjoyable or personally satisfying. It's about proving to yourself!
  • Extrinsic: Motivated by external rewards or recognition.

• Why Intrinsic Rocks 🎸

  🚴‍♀️ For instance: You might ride your bike because it feels awesome, not just to win a race.

  • Intrinsic motivation often leads to
    • Better learning and performance.
    • More satisfaction with performance.
    • Picking more challenging tasks.
    • Spending more time and effort on tasks.

• Boosting Intrinsic Motivation

  🛒 Real-world scenario: It's like choosing your project topic in class. If you pick a topic you're passionate about, you'll probably dive deeper and enjoy the research more!

  • Reduce external rewards.
  • Encourage personal goal setting.
  • Provide choices and relevance in learning.

• The Power of Relevance:🎮 Game On: Imagine playing a video game without knowing its storyline. TGfU is like giving you the game's story, so you understand why you're battling those monsters!
  • Making learning meaningful boosts motivation.
  • The "Teaching Games for Understanding" (TGfU) approach emphasizes understanding the game's context first.

• The Double-Edged Sword of Extrinsic Motivation

  🏅 Picture This: Winning a medal for a race feels great. But if you run only for medals, you might lose the joy of running. And if the medals stop? Your motivation might vanish!

  • Can be useful for certain sports or individuals.
  • But, it might lead to negative behaviors and dwindling interest.

• Mixing Intrinsic & Extrinsic Motivation

  ⚽ Kick-off Thought: If you're playing soccer, it's fantastic to get a trophy. But isn't it also amazing to master a tricky move or feel the thrill of teamwork on the field?

  • Coaches/teachers should aim to cultivate intrinsic motivation.
  • Offer feedback on improvements, not just praise or rewards.