"motivation"

The student who was falling asleep at the tutoring table for the third time in an hour. He had the work in front of him; he had the book in front of him. Brain, however, was clearly not engaged.
On impulse, I told him that he could move to a computer and use our software with math lessons. Often the response to this is no, because the motivation is to get the homework done, and this is "extra." Not this time: I'd estimate there's been 4 hours of sustained engagement with that program (in the last 24), with questions and scribbles all over paper and all the other signs that the student is genuinelyl trying to learn the stuff. The motivation was there -- the accessible instruction wasn't.
Yes, the whoel "responsibility for learning" issue looms large - students need to learn to identify when learning isn't happening, and change the plan. Our job is to enable them to learn that.