Motivate Lab

The Motivate Lab is driven to improve people’s lives through rigorous motivation research. Based at the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching & Learning at the University of Virginia, the Motivate Lab focuses on understanding the mindsets and motivations that promote learning, growth, and well-being. We use those insights to develop evidence-based solutions that can be applied across educational, extracurricular, and work contexts. By combining psychological science with design thinking and leveraging research-practitioner partnerships, we seek to instigate positive change in organizations, from the individual to the policy level. We’re partnering with classrooms and school systems, summer camps and sports teams, to study the mindsets that lead to deep learning across a variety of settings. Collective expertise in psychology, design thinking, and program evaluation combined with backgrounds in teaching, coaching, and mentoring makes for a highly efficient, productive team. We start small, fail fast, and learn from our mistakes as we move forward. We’re blurring the lines between researchers and practitioners as we move to improve the world around us.