Motivation and Performance in an Applied Setting

• Create a PowerPoint presentation of 7–12 slides on a topic that you selected previously.Goals give motivation a place to go. Without goals, our motivation may wander, and we may not be aware of potential outcomes or consequences of our actions. How do our impulses, desires, and thinking develop into goals? How do we find the steps to take to achieve the goals we desire? What happens to our motivation when we succeed and when we fail? What is required to make a goal work? These are a few questions that we explore as we consider motivation and goals.A main goal of psychology is to make change happen, resulting in improved human life and welfare. Use of psychology is intended to make this happen through developing theories, researching the accuracy and applicability of those theories, and applying those findings to make changes for the better. For this assessment, you will work toward that very goal of positive change as you select an area—such as business, education, sports, or cultural interactions—in which you will examine a problem and recommend a solution based on theory and research.Overview
  For this assessment, you will create a PowerPoint presentation on a topic that you selected last week from the list below and narrowed to look at a specific problem.General topic areas (choose one):
  • Motivation and performance in the workplace.
  • Motivation and performance in education.
  • Motivation and performance in sports.
  • Motivation in cross-cultural experiences.
  • Narrow your focus to a specific topic. The following are examples. You are not required to choose one of these. Think about a topic of interest to you or search the library to give you ideas on topics that have been researched.
  • Within the broad topic of education, you might want to explore how video games can improve children’s learning in subjects such as math, language, or social studies.  
  • You might be interested in knowing how self-efficacy and self-determination are related to athletic performance.
  • You might want to explore how movies and books increase cultural competence and empathy.
  • To help prepare, complete the Applying Motivation Theory media activity. You may also wish to review the Guidelines for Effective PowerPoint Presentations. Instructions
    Select a general area of interest to you from the first list above. Once you select your area, articulate a problem statement within the general area that you would like to investigate: 
  • For the topic, select theories of motivation from your readings to apply to the topic.
  • Present research on the topic and recommend ?a potential solution to the problem.
  • Apply theory and research findings to support the effectiveness of the solution that you have recommended.
  • Finally, analyze how this information can be applied by professionals to promote motivation and performance in the area (education, workplace, sports, or cultural competence) you selected.
  • The following is a recommended structure of your PowerPoint slides:
  • A title slide.
  • 1–2 slides to introduce the problem.
  • 1–2 slides to introduce your recommended solution?.
  • 1–2 slides to present theory.
  • 1–2 slides for each of your three scholarly articles (up to six slides for research)?.
  • 1–2 slides summary/conclusion?.
  • Reference slide?.
  • You may find that you need more or fewer slides than the recommendation above for specific areas based on your topic and findings.You may use graphics for your slides if you choose. It is best to use graphics sparingly so that they contribute to, rather than detract from, the goals for the presentation.Use the presenter’s notes underneath each slide to provide details relevant to each slide. ?Your content slide speaker’s notes should be written in full paragraphs. Review the Distinguished level of the assessment scoring guide for each criterion to determine how much detail is needed to reach Distinguished.Submission Requirements
  • Length: Your presentation should be about 7–12 slides in length. Use the notes section at the bottom of the slides to provide details for slides that contain content about the problem, theory, research, and analysis. 
  • Resources: Minimum of four resources. Of those four, three must be scholarly resources. The other can be a professional source, such as the course textbook.
  • APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current APA style and formatting.
  • Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 points.
  • ePortfolio: You are encouraged to save this learning activity to your ePortfolio. See the Online ePortfolio Guidelines [PDF] for assistance.Motivation and Performance in an Applied Setting Scoring Guide
    CRITERIANON-PERFORMANCEBASICPROFICIENTDISTINGUISHEDApply motivation theory to understanding a problem in an area of motivation and performance within a specific setting, citing professional literature.Does not apply motivation theory to understanding a problem in an area of motivation and performance within a specific setting.Describes motivation theory but does not apply it to a problem in an area of motivation and performance within a specific setting.Applies motivation theory to understanding a problem in an area of motivation and performance within a specific setting, citing professional literature.Applies motivation theory to understanding a problem in an area of motivation and performance within a specific setting with clear explanatory links between the theory and the problem, citing professional literature.Apply research findings to increase motivation in an area of performance within a specific setting.Does not apply research findings to increase motivation in an area of performance within a specific setting.Describes research findings but does not apply them to increase motivation in an area of performance within a specific setting.Applies research findings to increase motivation in an area of performance within a specific setting.Applies research findings to increase motivation in an area of performance within a specific setting, with clear explanatory links between the findings and motivation within the setting.Analyze how knowledge from theory and research can be applied by professionals to promote motivation and performance in a setting.Does not analyze how knowledge from theory and research can be applied by professionals to promote motivation and performance in a setting.Analyzes how knowledge from theory or research, but not both, can be applied by professionals to promote motivation and performance in a setting.Analyzes how knowledge from theory and research can be applied by professionals to promote motivation and performance in a setting.Integrates knowledge from theory and research to promote motivation and performance in a setting and identifies criteria that could be used to evaluate the plan.Write in a manner that is generally concise and logically organized, with mostly correct punctuation, spelling, and grammar.