Which of the following is an example of effective motivational strategy to…

Concept

Effective motivational strategies rest on matching support to a learner's current ability rather than simply directing effort. Lev Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) explains this: what a learner cannot yet do alone but can do with guided help lies in the ZPD, and scaffolding is the temporary, adjustable support a teacher withdraws as competence grows.

Application

In this item, providing scaffolding when students learn a new skill keeps a challenging task within reach: it lets the learner succeed at something slightly beyond their unsupported ability, which builds self-efficacy and sustains the intrinsic motivation to keep learning — exactly the effective strategy the question asks for.

Contrast

• Emphasis on completion of work rather than learning shifts the goal from mastering the skill to finishing the task, so it rewards speed and quantity instead of the understanding that keeps motivation for learning alive.

• Giving tasks that are very easy removes any real challenge; because there is nothing to master, learners lose the sense of accomplishment that scaffolding is designed to preserve.

• Creating a lot of opportunities for competition turns the goal into outperforming classmates rather than developing the skill itself, which raises anxiety and discourages the many students who do not come first.

Cross-check

Cross-checking against the ZPD framework, only the option that adjusts support to the learner's current stage — scaffolding — meets the definition of an effective motivational strategy; the other three either de-emphasize learning, remove challenge, or replace intrinsic motivation with extrinsic competitive pressure.