Teaching Motivation: The Kung Fu Panda way

Abstract

The widely acclaimed animated movie, Kung Fu Panda, provides an interesting resource for teaching concepts of motivation including Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation, Self-efficacy, Self-fulfilling Prophecy and Vroom’s Expectancy Theory. This article provides clip-by-clip examples that exhibit these concepts along with discussion prompts and probable answers that facilitate engagement and understanding among students. Time stamps of clips have been provided which students are expected to watch and prepare reflection notes prior to the lecture. In-class discussions among students based on their reflection notes prove effective in analysing and learning the interwoven concepts and their application in true sense.