Motivation fuels student engagement, effort, and ultimately success. As an instructor, your enthusiasm, clarity, expertise, and responsiveness set the tone (Wlodkowski, 2008).
The TARGET Framework (Ames 1990, 1992)
The TARGET model offers six dimensions you can shape to enhance motivation:
Task
- Design activities that are achievable, interesting, valuable, and connected to real-life problems.
- Clearly link tasks to your course goals.
Autonomy
- Offer meaningful choices in how students engage or complete tasks.
- Encourage student initiative and ownership of learning.
- Recognition
- Use formative feedback to highlight progress and mastery.
- Recognize achievements in meaningful ways within your class context.
Grouping
- Use small-group work or other collaborative structures to build a community of learners.
- Encourage peer interaction and shared responsibility.
Evaluation
- Use criterion-referenced assessment (how students meet clear standards) rather than normative (comparing to peers).
- Provide private, constructive feedback.
- Reflect on and self-evaluate your own teaching practices.
Time
- Provide sufficient time for students to master the material and perform well.
- Balance pace and deadlines to keep students challenged but supported.
Applying the MODEL to Your Teaching
Explore each TARGET dimension in your course design and identify opportunities to shift your tasks, activities, assessments, and structures to better support student motivation. Small changes in how you frame tasks, group students, or assess work can make a big difference in engagement and performance.