Organizational Behavior
Discussion Posting 4
Boubacary Sogoba
Spring 2013 Instructor: Sukumar C. Debnath

Application of job characteristics theory in course analysis
Part A: Analysis of a course with high motivation
My motivation in one my course during my academic process was very high. I assign 98 out of 100 score to myself. This course required a previous knowledge in some of business courses in general and finances in particular. The course was a face to face class, but it was a requirement to take a pre-requisite class before being able to register for this particular class for different reasons.
Student’s performances in class sometimes depend on different major factors that can clearly influence how motivated they are in a particular class. Their motivation for learning and performance can be improved by making a convenient classroom environment that is also determined by the design of various structural characteristics of a course, such as type of task, student evaluation, autonomy given to them and real time feedback.
Task/skill variety: One primary reason of being highly motivated and engaged in that particular course was the challenge. The objective in this class was to achieve a goal which was established by not only the professor but also students. The course design provided students a mechanism to learn and improve a variety of skills.
Task identity: Other reason for being highly motivated related to course itself. Students were given major assignment to turn in at the end of every week. This type of assignment was comprehensive case analysis, for instance, we were given a real company cases to evaluate their financial performance and make recommendation at the end of paper. This gives you an idea about how you will be dealing with situations in real workplace. The major tasks were to analyze a company’s competitiveness, performance in the marketplace. To do so we needed to collect data, analyze them and make a recommendation and conclusion.
Task significance: Another reason for me to be highly motivated in this class was the satisfaction, pride, related to achievement. Assignment in this class was offering more than values to students. The case discussions, financial performance analysis given this class definitely demonstrate that the knowledge and skills acquired are worthwhile and have utility value refer to our future goals. In the discussion question part of the course we were required to apply the knowledge or skills acquired during the course to explain current business, finance and economic or other relevant events. We were highly convinced that the knowledge and skills gained from the course can contribute significantly to our immediate goals.
Autonomy: The other reason for being highly motivated in that class was due to flexibility given by instructor regarding term paper, the choice of topic to present, the exam time availability and so on. It was made comfortable for all the students to select whatever topic related to the subject as your term project paper. The exam was also available during a week window time which gave more flexibility to students to decide when they want to take their exam and submit before the deadline. This gave those who were working full time and going to school at the same time to take their exam on their day off. The autonomy and the freedom given in the class to choose your partner was another motivating factors
Feedback and evaluation: Finally, the method used by the instructor to evaluate each person work was very encouraging. This method was private and designated to communicate information to students about their competencies. This instant method was a mean to inform students how they can improve their performance but not the social comparison between students. The timely and frequent feedback by the instructor was increasing student’s engagement and desire for challenging tasks and to emphasize learning and efforts. Another cause of motivation in this class was the positive or negative feedback received from the instructor in a noncritical, autonomy-supportive way in order to encourage students to highly perform in the class. We were also receiving an extra bonus points every times you do really well in one the assignment. This was a mean to communicate or symbolize students’ accomplishment.
Part B: Analysis of a course providing low motivation
I have never been as un-motivated as my first semester at graduate school. This lack of motivation was due to one of my class that I have to take at my first semester. My level of motivation was as low as 40 out of 100. This management class was a face to face class and we had to meet once every week.
My low level of motivation was due to many factors. Some of them were related to the course design itself and others to my personal perception and belief.
Task variety: The primary concern was the lack of challenge in this particular class. We almost spend all the semester talking about different things that don’t have nothing to do with the subject itself. There was not weekly assignment or case study related to the real world in order to enhance student’s motivation. The instructor himself was not as engaged as he should be in teaching this class. There was no power point presentation in that class to highlight important points. This management class should have been designed to include tasks and activities that requires range of skills important in practical life such oral presentation and formal business writing, leadership program, analytical thinking and so on. There was no method to improve student’s ability to plan, to process information, to make strategic decisions and to apply systems perspectives. The course had a lack to provide students the mechanisms to learn, to apply, and to enhance human skills.
Task identity: Another reason that could explain my low motivation in this class was due to the lack of any business plan or comprehensive case analysis that would let student to evaluate companies’ competitiveness and performance in order to make a better decision as a future manager. Instead we had to deal with many short quizzes which dealt on how to write a resume or a reprimand.
Task significance: The other reason for being so un-motivated in this particular class was related to the fact that it appeared to have no utility value. The reason is the tasks (assignment) assigned appeared to be no important, no interesting or relevant to my goals. Therefore it did not have any value for me. This has caused my engagement, interest and satisfaction to be reduced altogether. The method used by the instructor did not show clearly that the knowledge and skills acquired are worthwhile and have utility value for students with reference to their present and future goals or that knowledge will let them explain current business, finance, economic or other relevant events. I am convinced that the knowledge and skills acquired from any course would contribute significantly to my immediate or long term goals. This belief always motivate me to learn and perform in any class should I take. Therefore, the class did not have such a motivate tools to make students contribute at their highest level of performance.
Autonomy: One more reason that has contributed to my low level of motivation was due to lack of flexibility and much control by the instructor about the learning processes. Little attention was given to range of choices when it comes to learning materials or processes. The instructor interpersonal skill is to be questioned. Criticisms or giving an opposite thinking in his classroom was always punished. Moreover, he would not encourage students to take initiative but always make them feel that they don’t know what they talking about instead of encouraging them. We did not have much to decide about when to take an exam or assignments, for example, the given window was only in the class.
Evaluation and feedback: Finally, student should always be evaluated in private in order to eliminate social comparison. However, the method used by the instructor was not designed to communicate information to students about their competencies rather he would prefer verbal evaluation to make some students feel that they performing than others. Immediate feedback is more likely to increase students’ motivation. The grading method was not encouraging. There was no reward method as a means to communicate student’s accomplishments and progress such an extra bonus points by taking part to class discussion or giving a critical thinking to a problem and so on.
I would probably be more motivated in this course if the related materials to its learning were appropriate; for instance, more managerial case studies, real case from different companies to let students know what it is except from them in the real workplace. It would also be motivating if he had made the course more challenging and interesting for students to achieve their goals. Another thing would be to ensure students that they would acquire the essential manager skills at the end of course to improve their motivation. Evaluation and feedback should have been encouraging to communicate or reward a hard work. There should have been a team project that would have let any group member have moral responsibility since we are called in the near future to deal with teams or group workers as manager or a team leader.