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Eric Culpepper
English 111
Lindsay Drumm
Critical Reflection Final
8 August, 2014
Writing the AMS Essay
The Academic Multi-Source essay (AMS) reminded me a lot of the research paper that
was required of all juniors at my high school. The biggest difference between the two was the
amount of sources needed. Though the research paper in high school needed 11 sources, the
types of the sources did not have to be as credible. My main struggle writing the AMS essay was
trying to find sources that offered good, quality information about motivating students in the
classroom. I chose this topic to learn more about what teachers can do to keep their students
motivated to learn.
I chose to write the AMS essay about motivating students for multiple reasons. I have
always felt there was more that teachers could do to keep myself and other students motivated in
our own learning. By the end of this writing experience, however, I realized that teachers are
actually doing a lot of different things to try and help. For example: one of the articles that I used
for my paper talked about increasing student participation in class and asking what their
expectations of the class were so the teachers could better cater to their needs. The more I
researched this topic, I realized that teachers are already trying several different techniques to
keep their students motivated.
When I wrote my rough draft, I was writing to inform the teaching staff at Mid-Michigan
Community College (MMCC) of the ways to actively help students get motivated to learn and
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have a concern for their academic futures. By the time I reached my final draft and included a
final source, I realized that my paper was more of a pat on the back for the professors at
MMCC. One of my sources was written by a current professor at MMCC, Barry Alford, and I
used it as a good example of how to motivate students. This, hopefully, leads my readers to think
about what Alford is doing in his classroom and compare it to their own teaching techniques.
Other sources had some helpful ideas as well, though it was nice to be able to use Alfords article
in such a positive way.
As I finalized my paper, I wanted to reflect my change in thinking within my conclusion.
My original thesis was that some teachers believe their responsibilities towards students is to just
throw information at them and test them later, when they need to be taking advantage of
motivational strategies to keep students interested in their educational future. As I continued to
research this topic, the information that I found helped me to change my thesis. Although I
restated the need to use motivational techniques to keep students interested in their learning, I
opened my conclusion talking about teachers who are always willing to go above and beyond to
make their students understand what is being taught in the classroom, and to help their students
make good life choices that will impact their lives in a meaningful way.
The sources that I chose for this paper made the most sense because I felt they basically
said what I needed them to say for my argument. Alfords article was about letting students have
the floor in the classroom and talk amongst themselves with his guidance to problematize and
critically think about assignments. Alford talks about listening to his students and letting them
talk with others before sending them on their way to write an academic paper behind closed
doors. I have been in this type of situation before where even though I am not one hundred
percent sure of what I am to be doing, I know an assignment is due, so I just take my best guest
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and hope Im right. By his article, the reader can tell that Alford is an experienced professor who
has found what works best for his students over the years.
bell hooks is another experienced professor who has not only found what works best for
her students, but she genuinely cares about their futures. I first read her article, Engaged
Pedagogy, as an assignment early on in the English 111 course at MMCC. hooks talks about a
student and the choices that he made to better his own life because of her teaching. She also talks
about the importance of teaching her students to think rationally and apply their knowledge to
problems outside the classroom. The hooks article helped to disprove my original thesis, and
gave a good example of how professors should be influencing their students, which is why I
chose to incorporate it into my AMS essay.
After using two articles from Exploring Relationships: Globalization and Learning in the
21
st
Century, the English 111 required literature at MMCC, I started looking through scholarly
journal article databases to see what else I could find that would relate directly to motivating
students in the classroom. Student Motivation by David L. Kittrell and Gary E. Moore was the
first option. This is a persuasive article to convince teaching professionals that it is their job to
motivate students. Some of the analogies used to make their point made me laugh but also made
sense and supported my thesis which is why I decided to include this article.
Collin Websters article about motivating through teacher communication provides a list
of strategies to help teachers motivate their students. As I read the article, I felt it was crucial to
add to my AMS essay because it supports my original thesis. After reading through some of the
strategies that Webster offers to help motivate students, I realized that many professors are
actively trying to motivate their students. This helped me to change my ending thesis in a way
that would reflect this realization but would allow me to leave my original thesis intact.
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My overall experience of writing the AMS essay was good but challenging. I faced many
obstacles from long hours at work with having a new manager, to falling asleep late at night
trying to research articles that would work well with my AMS essay topic. In the end, I learned
that there are many professors, including my own that are willing to go the extra mile to motivate
their students. I also learned hard work and dedication will always pay off.