Motivation Assessment: Create an Assignment that Will Inspire Students

Motivation Assessment

Steven is 15-years old and he is a sophomore at a local high school. The class I am familiar with that he is in consists of about thirty students, give or take, and it meets every day for 16 weeks during the first semester of the school year. The class duration is a little less than an hour and teaches the subject of American Government. The content of the class is not easy but it is very doable for those who are willing to pay attention and apply themselves accordingly. Content of the course focuses mainly on the foundation of the Constitution and the process that went into making it. It also outlines the three branches of government and briefly touches on modern day issues in the United States Supreme Court.

The learning process that I am going to discuss is a paper that the students have to write, 3-5 pages long. The topic of the paper has to be on a court case that was ruled on within the last year by the US Supreme Court. References are to be noted in the proper manner and included in a standard MLA format bibliography. The purpose of the learning process is to familiarize students with the types of cases that are being discussed in the Supreme Court and to outline for the students how the judicial system works in that type of a setting.

For this assignment, the teacher outlines the way the paper is to be written both verbally and with a physical handout for the students to reference as needed. The students have three weeks to complete the task and it is talked about briefly on an almost daily basis, creating an ongoing environment of open communication should the students have any questions or thoughts regarding their work or the work of others. An example paper is also given to the class from a student in a prior semester who achieved the kind of work the teacher is looking for, and it was to be used as for guideline purposes only. During the three week process of writing the paper students are to write and turn in their draft work for assessment and comments from the instructor at least once but they are welcome to do so as many times as they please thereafter.