Why do some students delight at the thought of challenging tasks while others only care about getting the grade? Why do some seek out opportunities to learn in and out of school while others feel anxious just showing up to class? Why do our failures sometimes debilitate and other times invigorate? How do we turn our desires to achieve into concrete action? Where do these motivational processes come from and how might we use our understanding of motivation to improve educational systems? This course will address these and other fascinating questions as we consider theory and research on motivation, primarily as it applies to educational contexts. The course will be based largely around interactive discussions of primary source articles, with some lecture in order to provide you with important background information and a framework for discussing the readings.