Fostering Student Motivation and Engagement

MOOC Syllabus
Fall 2023: October 23 – November 27

COURSE OVERVIEW
Description

Fostering Student Motivation and Engagement (FSME) is an online course for English language educators who want to
improve their teaching practices and increase their students’ level of motivation and engagement in learning English. In
this course, you will learn about key concepts related to motivation and engagement, think about how to build
classroom community and meet the needs of all your students, consider how assessment can strengthen motivation,
lean about project-based instruction, and collect games and other practical ideas for classroom engagement.
Throughout the course, you will have an opportunity to create an Activities Portfolio full of ideas you can apply in your
teaching.

Learning Objectives and Learner Outcomes

Course participants will increase their understanding of concepts and actions that can help foster student motivation
and engagement in the ELT classroom. Through participation in the course, you will be able to:
1. Reflect on factors that affect student motivation and identify goals for improvement.
2. Survey students to learn more about their needs, goals, and preferences, and apply information from the
survey to your instruction.
3. Use formative assessment to help students build confidence and take more responsibility for their own
learning.
4. Plan a project that can help students engage with the English language in collaborative and meaningful ways.
5. Wisely select games that will help meet instructional objectives for students of any age and language level.

Expectations and Grading

This course is 5 weeks long, and you will need to complete each weekly module before you can begin the next one. You
will have some required activities and some optional activities. The required activities include reading, videos, a quiz,
action items, sharing your knowledge, and a brief final reflection each week. They are designed to take 3-5 hours per
module. The optional activities include discussions with your international colleagues, and they can take as much time
as you like! All course materials are available on the Canvas platform, and also as downloadable PDF packets for
participants who want to work offline part of the time. In order to make the most of this opportunity to learn with
teachers from all over the world, we recommend that you log in as often as you can throughout the term and
participate actively on the discussion boards.
Please practice the “4 Cs” of 21st Century Skills in all parts of the course:
• Collaboration – Come to the course with an open mind and ready to learn from and with others.
• Communication – Practice respectful intercultural communication, and format your messages for clarity.
• Critical Thinking – Ask questions, listen carefully to other opinions, and look for solutions to problems.
• Creativity – Use your imagination, try new things, and have fun!

© 2023 by University of Oregon. FSME Syllabus for the Online Professional English Network (OPEN),
sponsored by the U.S. Department of State with funding provided by the U.S. government and
administered by FHI 360. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License,
except where noted. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 1
The 5 modules of this course will open one by one. A new module will open each Monday at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time,
USA. Tasks can be completed at any time before the course close date on November 27, 2023 ay 11:59 PM (Eastern
Time, USA), but we recommend that you complete one module each week, so you can finish the course on time.
This is a Pass/Fail course. Participants who complete all required activities with a final grade of at least 70% within the
time frame of the course will receive a digital badge and certificate.

Course Policies
Late or Missed Assignments
The content of each module builds on the content in the previous modules. As you complete assignments, new
assignments are unlocked, so it is important to keep to a schedule across the five modules of this course. Please note,
all coursework is due by the end of the course. The course will close on November 27, 2023 and no tasks can be
completed after that date.

Saving and Submitting Assignments

We recommend that you type and save your work in a separate document, then copy/paste it into Canvas. This will
help you avoid losing work in case there are any problems with your internet connection. If you are not sure how to
submit assignments in Canvas, please refer to the optional orientation module.

Academic Honesty and Plagiarism

Academic honesty is expected of all students in all coursework. Plagiarism is using someone else’s words instead of
your own. In this course, you are expected to use your own words and ideas, and to acknowledge any sources you use
to gather ideas. Even when you acknowledge the source, you still need to change the words and sentences to explain
the ideas in your own way.

Participant Conduct
Appropriate online behavior is defined by the instructor or facilitator and includes keeping course discussion posts
focused on the assigned topics. Participants must maintain a professional atmosphere and be polite in expressing
differences of opinion. Inappropriate discussion board posts may be deleted by the instructor or facilitator.

Participant Success
This is an online course. To be successful:
• Check the Canvas site often.
• Read all announcements.
• If you can, participate in the optional discussions.
• Read assignment instructions very carefully before you begin.
• Make a personal schedule to help you complete all required assignments each week.

Technical Support
For technical support related to the course, please contact the OPEN team at [email protected]. Technical
support requests include problems accessing the course, problems with your Canvas account, etc.

Content Support
For content support, that is, any non-technical problems or questions, please post to the Content Support Discussion.
This discussion board will be monitored by facilitators who will answer your questions and help you to solve other
problems. Content support posts include questions about assignment instructions, questions about the information
discussed in a reading or video, etc. Please do not use the Canvas inbox to send messages to your course instructor. The
inbox is not monitored often.

Resources
All course materials are free, open educational resources (OERs) from high quality sources such as American English.
Participants can share the materials with others and use them in any way they like in their local schools, universities,
and training centers.
COURSE SCHEDULE

Module Topic Learning Objectives Resources Activities and Assignments Time Estimate
1 What is Participants will be able to… • Module 1 Reading 1. Complete a pre-course diagnostic survey. 1. 30 minutes
motivation? • define and describe student • Module 1 Video 2. Read the module intro and definitions. 2. 15 minutes
motivation and engagement. • Module 1 3. Read two texts and watch a video about factors that can affect 3. 90 minutes
• identify elements that support Reflection student motivation and engagement. 4. 30 minutes
student motivation and Inventory 4. Pass a quiz on factors that can affect student motivation and 5. 15+ minutes
engagement. engagement. 6. 60 minutes
• reflect on current practices 5. Participate in an optional discussion about factors that can 7. 30 minutes
related to student motivation and affect student motivation and engagement.
engagement. 6. Use a worksheet to guide your reflection on how you teach now
and how you can foster more student motivation and
engagement.
7. Read a summary of key lessons from this module and write a
response.
2 Whose Participants will be able to… • Module 2 Reading 1. Read the module intro and definitions. 1. 15 minutes
needs can • explain how building classroom • Module 2 Video 2. Read two texts and watch a video about meeting student needs 2. 90 minutes
we meet? community, needs analysis, and • Module 2 Sample for motivation and engagement. 3. 30 minutes
differentiated instruction can Needs Analysis 3. Pass a quiz on meeting student needs. 4. 15+ minutes
affect student motivation. Surveys 4. Participate in an optional discussion about classroom 5. 60 minutes
• list techniques and considerations community, needs analysis, and differentiated instruction. 6. 30+ minutes
for meeting all students’ needs. 5. Create a survey to analyze your students’ needs. 7. 30 minutes
• create a survey to analyze student 6. Share activity ideas in the optional discussion, and copy useful
needs. activities to your optional FSME Activities Portfolio.
7. Read a summary of key lessons from this module and write a
response.
3 Can Participants will be able to… • Module 3 Reading 1. Read the module intro and definitions. 1. 15 minutes
assessment • explain how different types of • Module 3 Video 2. Read two texts and watch a video about assessment and 2. 90 minutes
be assessment can affect motivation. • Module 3 motivation. 3. 30 minutes
engaging? • discuss key considerations for Assessment Plan 3. Pass a quiz on assessment and motivation. 4. 15+ minutes
giving student feedback. Template and 4. Participate in an optional discussion about experiences with 5. 60 minutes
• explain how reflection and Sample assessment, student feedback, and metacognitive reflection. 6. 30+ minutes
metacognition can affect student 5. Create or adapt an assessment/reflection activity. 7. 30 minutes
motivation and success. 6. Share activity ideas in the optional discussion, and copy useful
• plan an engaging assessment or activities to your optional FSME Activities Portfolio.
reflection activity. 7. Read a summary of key lessons from this module and write a
response.

3
Module Topic Learning Objectives Resources Activities and Assignments Time Estimate
4 Why do Participants will be able to… • Module 4 Reading 1. Read the module intro and definitions. 1. 15 minutes
Projects? • define Project-Based Learning • Module 4 Video 2. Read two texts and watch a video about Project-Based Learning 2. 90 minutes
(PBL) and explain how it can affect • Module 4 PBL (PBL) and group work. 3. 30 minutes
student motivation and Outline Template 3. Pass a quiz on collaborative Project-Based Learning. 4. 15+ minutes
engagement. and Sample 4. Participate in an optional discussion about experiences with 5. 60 minutes
• describe key considerations and group work and projects. 6. 30+ minutes
techniques for collaborative PBL 5. Outline a collaborative project idea that will help build your 7. 30 minutes
and group formation. students’ language knowledge and motivation.
• outline the design of a 6. Share activity ideas in the optional discussion, and copy useful
collaborative project for PBL. activities to your optional FSME Activities Portfolio.
7. Read a summary of key lessons from this module and write a
response.
5 Which Participants will be able to… • Module 5 Reading 1. Read the module intro and definitions. 1. 15 minutes
Games? • explain how language-learning • Module 5 Video 2. Read two texts and watch a video about useful games in the ELT 2. 90 minutes
games can affect student • Module 5 Game classroom. 3. 30 minutes
motivation. Analysis Template 3. Pass a quiz on language-learning games. 4. 15+ minutes
• discuss considerations for and Sample 4. Participate in an optional discussion about experiences with 5. 60 minutes
classroom management when games in the classroom. 6. 30+ minutes
playing games. 5. Use a template to analyze one or more classroom games in 7. 30 minutes
• analyze classroom games to see terms of factors related to language learning, classroom 8. 30 minutes
how they support language- management, and motivation. 9. 30 minutes
learning objectives. 6. Share activity ideas in the optional discussion, and copy useful
• share new knowledge with a activities to your optional FSME Activities Portfolio.
colleague. 7. Share what you learned with someone outside this course.
8. Read a summary of key lessons from this module and write a
response.
9. Complete a post-course diagnostic survey.