Learners' developing knowledge of strategies for regulating motivation

This research investigated children's developing knowledge of strategies for maintaining motivation. First graders, third graders, fifth graders, and adults were presented with a motivational dilemma and asked to evaluate the effectiveness of several strategies for sustaining motivation. Adults demonstrated more knowledge of the effectiveness of a variety of strategies than did fifth graders, who demonstrated more knowledge than did third or first graders. The younger groups did, however, demonstrate understanding of concrete strategies for regulating motivation in contrast to more mental strategies, which were not understood until later in elementary school. The implications of these findings as well as the relationship between strategy knowledge and strategy use are discussed.