Case
Student Motivation

I teach foreign language and for two of my three courses there is no final required at the end of the year and no Student Learning Objective. Students know that all they have to do to complete the class, is pass. Students will therefore take their grade of a C, even when given the opportunity to improve it, and move on. What can I do to increase the student's intrinsic motivation? How can I encourage them to try harder- to push for an A or B instead of a C?

Solution #1
Top Solution
The class dojo works really well for positive reinforcement and rewards. You could set up your class dojo and motivate students to perform well on quizzes and tests. The students could come up with their own rewards, sometimes it could be a class activity such as team building games like "ships and sailors" or extra recess. My students love team games and will work hard for Fun Friday, The whole class is allowed to bring in board games or Karaoke and have a party in class with teacher supervision.

I think this is a good solution.

Solution #2
Top Solution
My biggest suggestion for this issue is to bring relevance of your students' lives into the classroom. When a teacher can bring relevance into a classroom, students are much more likely to push themselves and want to do better on all forms of assessments.

I agree with this solution for the situation.

Solution #3
You could aim to make the content more rigorous as well as realte it to the students' lives. If they are able to find a connection or purpose to the content, they will be more likely to perfrom well. Additionally, you could set up parent conferences to address the issue and hopefully gain support at home. This may increase student motivation.
Solution #4
This is not merely your class structure, this is in general when it comes to certain cultural climates. I believe the only way to intrinsically motivate students is to teach the meaning of learning and the use of practicing for success. You may also want to show them how the C grade affects their GPA and the cons of having a low GPA in terms of college and secondary options. Long term connections that show students why we learn and achieve is important. Have them do a project on the quality of life they would like to have and show them the tools needed to get it. Many times students do not recognize what they need to get to places they may have never dreamed of until someone opens their minds to the possibilities. Dreams will cause people to become more motivated... hopelessness will cause them to be complaisant.
Solution #5
I think a good way to get students to do better and want to gain the B or A instead of being happy with a C is make the class more fun. Make it so they want to participate and try their best. Incorporate different activities that really make them learn the language. I took ASL in high school and the only way we could talk in class is if we signed ASL and that worked! We all wanted to talk but couldn't unless we know what the sign was.
Solution #6
Material rewards can bring great motivation for students. Growing up I had a teacher that rewarded his students with tickets for sporting events when obtaining perfect scores on tests. This or any other option that requires funds might not be feasible. Looking back now and remembering the crowd size and location of the seats, I'm sure my teacher was given tickets to fill seats that were very unlikely to be sold. Regardless, it was the experience that lasted. Learn who the students are and what moves them would be the way to get a step closer in motivating students.
Solution #7
Offer some sort of incentive program offering free grades, homework excuses, cell phone time. There are many ideas online that enforce positive behavior in class, but instead twist them to make it for grade level. Offer something that the students would really be interested in at the end of the course - possibly a field trip learning culture about the language being taught.

Those are great incentive options.

Solution #8
In order to achieve the motivation you are looking for, create a reward at the end of the semester. The reward can be something all the students like to do, but it is only given to the student with the best academic performance.
Solution #9
I would suggest putting a final on your syllabus. If students receive an A or B, they can opt out of taking the final and any student that has a C will have to take it. This may motivate students to push harder to get an A or B because many of them will not want to take a final for the course.
Solution #10
Giving students rewards for completing their work with a passing grade often works. Perhaps giving students twenty minutes at the end of class to socialize if everyone completes their work could help. Students who do not complete the work can go to another room and work on an assignment.
Solution #11
I would suggest you bring encouragement with the assignments. Make it less about a grade and more about an enjoyable lessons. When students are enjoying their learning process a good grade usually follows. Motivation is key, using a reward system could also help.
Solution #12
It may be beneficial to add an end of the year final just on your own standard and make it work a lot of points. It should help student try harder in your course and motivate them.
Solution #13
Start a classroom rewards system where students can earn homework passes and other prizes for good grades.
Solution #14
That is a tough situation. It is hard to motivate students to do extra work when they have no true reason to do so. That being said I feel you have to find a way to make these students WANT to do extra. Try to find ways to make activities interactive and integrate fun into the learning process.
Solution #15
You should implement rewards when students are doing great in any of their assignments but also being in strict in the classroom helps students to focused more.
Solution #16
I believe that a rewards system would encourage them to do better in this scenario. You can offer them donuts if they get an A or B or offer to have some kind or celebration party if the class as a whole can average an A.