Motivation for Learning and Performance

Designed for educators, researchers, practitioners, or anyone interested in maximizing human potential, Motivation for Learning and Performance outlines 50 key motivation principles based on the latest scientific evidence from the disciplines of psychology, education, business, athletics, and neurology. Using a highly applied and conversational style, the book is designed to inform the reader about how to diagnosis, analyze, and mediate learning and performance challenges influenced by motivation. The book features chapters on the biopsychology of motivation, how motivation changes across the lifespan, and the important influence of culture on motivated behavior. Three chapters are devoted to practical strategies and the implementation of motivational change. Special sections are included on enhancing motivation at work, in the classroom, in competitive environments, and during online education. Hoffman employs the innovative approach of using his interviews with "real" people including many notable personalities across diverse cultures and disciplines to illustrate motivated behavior. For example, readers will learn what motivated the colossal investment fraud masterminded by Bernie Madoff, the intimate thoughts of former NFL superstar Nick Lowery when he missed a field goal, and the joys and tribulations of Emmy-nominated "Curb your Enthusiasm" actress Cheryl Hines. The book provides a practical, applied, and multi-disciplinary resource for anyone interested in motivation and performance, but especially for university students at the graduate or undergraduate level studying education, psychology, business, leadership, hospitality, sports management, or military science. Additionally, the writing style and eclectic nature of the text will appeal to readers of non-fiction who can use the book to gain self-awareness to enhance performance of themselves or others.

Table of Contents:
Part I The Framework of Human Motivatin1. Underpinnings: Five foundational doctrines of motivational science2. Contentious Issues: How evidence refutes motivational misconceptions3. The Biopsychology of Motivation: Using evidence from neurology and endocrinology to understand motivated behavior4. Ch, Ch, Changes: The developmental trajectory of motivation5. A Rose by Any Other Name: The influence of culture on motivated behavior Part II - The Powerful Role of Individual Differences and Self-Beliefs6. You Say To-may-toe, I Say To-mah-toe: Individual differences in motives guide focus and effort7. Mount Rushmore: Bedrock theories of applied motivation8. Can I See the Real Me?: The powerful influence of self-beliefs on motivated behavior9. No Place to Hide: Motivation and emotion Part III - Mediation and Implementation Strategies to Promote Optimal Learning and Performance10. Ready, Aim, Fire…Repeat?: Self-regulation strategies to improve adaptive motivation11. Location, Location, Location: Creating and implementing context-specific interventions12. The Transformers: Overcoming resistance to motivational change

About the Author :
Dr. Bobby Hoffman is an Associate Professor in the School of Teaching, Learning & Leadership at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, Florida. He is a 2006 graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) with a PhD in Educational Psychology. He has also earned a Master’s degree in Human Resources Psychology and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He joined UCF in August 2006 after a 20-year career in human resources management and performance consulting working with the world's most successful companies including GE, NBC, KPMG, the NBA, along with other global technology, insurance, and pharmaceutical organizations. Currently, Bobby teaches a variety of classes at the graduate level in motivation, learning, cognition, and intelligence. Dr. Hoffman has numerous scholarly publications in leading scientific journals in the field of educational psychology, performance consulting, and technology. Additionally, Dr. Hoffman has authored over thirty publications in the field of management and organizational development related to his previous consulting practice. Hoffman’s current line of research focuses upon motivation and specifically how cognition and motivation are entwined. His primary research focus is on “cognitive efficiency,” which investigates the role of optimal cognition when considering the costs related to learning and performance such as working memory, anxiety, and strategy use. Dr. Hoffman is co-creator and former program director of UCF’s Applied Learning and Instruction Master’s program. In addition, Hoffman was program co-chair in 2011 for the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Division 15, Educational Psychology. He serves on several journal editorial boards including Contemporary Educational Psychology, Educational Psychology Review, and Educational Technology, Research & Development. When not devoting attention to teaching or research, Dr. Hoffman likes to spend time exercising, reading, traveling, mastering the Italian language, and focusing on the perpetual quest to motivate his two children, Robert and Rebecca. Additional information on Dr. Hoffman can be reviewed on the UCF faculty page or through Google Scholar, or on his website http://www.findingmo.com/.

Review :
"This is book is an essential read for anyone interested in human motivation and performance. It is thoroughly researched, well-written, and extremely relevant across achievement domains. As good as anything I have ever read on the topic." --Gio Valiante, PhD, Professor, Sports Psychologist, and author of Fearless Golf "Motivation derives from the Latin movere, to move, push, stir, or to agitate. And, that is precisely what I experienced when I read, Motivation for Learning and Performance, the scholarly and yet accessible book by Bobby Hoffman. This book stimulated my thinking and drew me in emotionally. Hoffman has expertly conveyed a wealth of information about an essential force in human learning and performance—motivation—by creatively nesting core principles and key concepts within the stirring lives of the famous (e.g., Cheryl Hines from HBOs "Curb Your Enthusiasm") and the infamous (e.g., Bernard Madoff; "Yes, that Madoff!"). Even the author’s own life experience serves as a powerful tool for deepening understanding about human motivation and illuminating ways that this ability to push thinking, emotions, and behaviors forward can be fostered. For these reasons and more, I regard this exploration of all-things motivation as a "must read," not only for those studying motivation or educators committed to enhancing the learning and performance of their students, but also any person fascinated with what moves or propels people forward even when the path is perilous and the footing uncertain." --Patricia Alexander, PhD., Jean Mullan Professor of Literacy, Distinguished Scholar-Teacher, University of Maryland