About Us
Education Motivation was created to address a clear gap that exists in our schools and with other tutoring services. By combining the latest research on learning from cognitive science with the motivation strategies used in psychology, we hope to create an empowering program for students that allows them to become self-sufficient learners who can engage in independent, original research.
Situating Our Work
Traditional tutoring prepares students for a specific goal- acing a test, improving grades, or understanding a challenging piece of content. While tutoring can be important for achieving these goals, it does not typically address the principles necessary for a student to approach a long-term academic research project.
This is where Education Motivation differs. Our program seeks to prepare students for the tests of life and takes a “values first” approach when preparing a student for independent research projects. The values and actions of the student drive their progress with each session. Project progress is achieved through identifying the key motivations of the student and using this as the foundation for actions they take as their work transitions to the different stages of the research process.
As the program progresses, the hope is the student will internalize the skills we practice, and they will require less of our services. Our aim is for the student to apply the mindset from the program to all of their goals, not just the goals tied to their research project.
We ground student actions in what they value most and then contextualize those values in their research project.
“Our end goal is to create a sense of independence in students. With each session, the hope is that students internalize a way of thinking that promotes psychological flexibility. By fostering these principles, our services seek to make academic research an empowering experience for the student.”
— Dan Olivo, Founder/Direction of Education Motivation