The decision to retain information depends in part on whether you have a reason — a Compelling Why (CW) — to learn and remember it, and participate in the learning process. In this course, you will become aware of the motives and reasons, conscious and unconscious, that drive people to learn and to remember what they have learned. You will learn how to identify students' reasons for learning and to capitalize on these reasons why you teach.

A Compelling Why is the motive or emotionally-linked reason that drives a person to want to learn, to commit information to long-term memory, and then to recall it when desired. A Compelling Why answers the question, "What's in it for me?" The teacher influences the student's basic needs verbally, non-verbally, and through teaching strategies she or he uses.

As a teacher, you orchestrate learning activities that appeal to your students' Compelling Whys. Addressing Compelling Whys in your teaching compels students to become involved in, remember, and recall what you teach so that your job becomes easier and students' learning is more successful.