Guess That Motivation

Guesser players get to present situations to a Student player whose job is to act out their chosen motivation topic.
Players learn how to identify student motivations by both demonstrating the correct behaviors as a Student and correlating those behaviors to the right motivation as a Guesser.

Motivation Topic Tiles

(currently 8 topics, one per player)

Game Card

(one per player)

Motivation Topic #1: Intimidation by Grades

This is a student who feels intimidated by grades and doesn't do well when it comes to high-stakes assignments.

Motivation Topic #2: Motivation by Grades

This is a student that does well in order to get a good grade

Motivation Topic #3: IRL

This is a student who gets excited about a subject when the teacher connects the topic to current events.

Motivation Topic #4: Intrinsically Motivated

This is a student that really enjoys the subject.

Motivation Topic #5: Y U No Like Me

This is a student who is struggling in class because they feel intimidation or apathy from the teacher.

Motivation Topic #6: Extrinsically Motivated

This is a student that will be more likely to put in effort if they receive some sort of reward for satisfactory completion.

Motivation Topic #7: The Effect of the Unimportant

This is a student that doesn't think that a certain subject is important for their future knowledge.

Motivation Topic #8: I Wanna Be the Very Best

This is a student that becomes motivated by the idea of being the best at understanding a certain topic or turning in the best assignment.

FAQ

How do we "flesh out" the classroom?

Describe extra situations - a past game included that a bear was wandering the campus
Add classroom dynamics - another game included the fact that this was a project-based class
Add a time frame - perhaps this is the end of the year
You are not limited to just these extra details. The more details you add, the richer the game play becomes.

How do I “present a situation” to the Student player?

See the section above called “Presenting a Situation.”

When we are choosing random motivation topics, does each player get their own unique set of topics?

No, everyone should have identical game boards.
This means that if the group chooses topics 1, 3, and 8, everyone should get one motivation tile for each of the topics. Now everyone have tiles for 1, 3, and 8 in front of them.

When can I call “Pause” in a game?

Any time during the round.
This is includes while either the Guesser or the Student is speaking, in between scenes, and a minute after the last scene .

Example