Motivating Today's Learners: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know

NTU introduces motivation through scenarios involving two learners. The sequence moves from rewards and punishment to psychological needs, explanations for success and failure, and self-regulated learning. Rather than offering a single classroom incentive system, the course asks parents and teachers to use different theories to interpret situations and choose a response.

What you will learn

• Compare behaviorist and needs-based explanations
• Examine mindsets and attributions in learning
• Apply motivational ideas to learner self-regulation

Who this suits

Parents, teachers and other educators can start at the published Beginner level. The scenarios provide an accessible introduction for someone who wants to understand motivation before redesigning a classroom routine or study expectation.

Before you enroll

The workload is approximately eight hours, including quizzes and discussion. Generational language in the course title and description should not be used to assume all young people have the same needs. A strategy that helps one learner may have different effects for another. Treat scenarios as opportunities for reasoning, and check proposed changes against the learner’s experience, school context and evidence of participation.

Coursera offers paid enrollment or subscription access. Check the enrollment screen for assessment and certificate terms, trials and any financial-aid options. Provider access terms can change; review them before paying.

Put it into practice

Write two possible explanations for a fictional learner avoiding a task. Choose a response for each explanation, then identify what you would ask or observe before deciding which response is appropriate in a real classroom.

Source and review

This overview is based on the provider's published information, checked on 12 October 2026. It is an editorial assessment, not a claim that we completed the resource. Time filters are approximate study ranges; projects and exercises can take longer.

View the curriculum and current access options at Coursera.

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