Part 1

Discuss the following:

• What does education literature offer as some of the key factors that usually serve as motivation for adult learners to return to school?
• What should the balance be between self-motivation and external motivation in online education?
• What does the literature say about these internal and external motivations in online learning?
• How important is cognitive load theory when considering learner motivation, whether childhood learners or adults?

Part 2

Discuss the following:

• You are preparing to teach a 14-week course in business writing at the local penitentiary. How might you incorporate the principles of self-regulation into your instruction and into your assessment and evaluation of participants?
• How do you relate the theory of self-efficacy to self-regulation and self-motivation in high school educational settings?
• How might you have to take self-efficacy and self-perception into account if you are designing a classroom course for learners who will be in a mixed class of factory assembly workers, supervisors, and midlevel managers?
• What obstacles can you see in trying to help eighth-graders learn the use of self-reflection in their learning processes?