Mastery Motivation

There are specific strategies that teachers can use to promote children’s mastery motivation. For example, children have greater mastery motivation when they:

• are exposed to challenging materials (such as math games)
• receive positive feedback
• are allowed autonomy (the freedom to direct their learning)
• and receive scaffolded support (or one step-ahead help) as they engage with you during challenging activities

On the other hand, children who are not provided with challenging materials, who receive negative feedback, and whose environment is overly controlling, tend to demonstrate less mastery motivation. Math games are great examples of challenging tasks that encourage children to solve problems in a goal-directed way. They can be used repeatedly and the level of challenge can be varied as children learn. The game structure engages children and allows autonomy in their choices or “moves” within a game. Teachers play an important role in helping to promote mastery motivation by choosing challenging games, scaffolding support for children as they learn to play the game, and providing positive feedback.