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Reward system and motivation
The effect of reward and motivation on academic achievement
The effect of rewards and motivation on student achievement
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“The table group with the most points will get a treat for behaving so nicely today.” Well that ought to teach every student to follow the classroom rules…or does it? Reward strategies are an everyday occurrence in our classrooms. All across the country, teachers have succumbed to using stars, stickers and smiley faces to help motivate students. More than ever, a myriad of incentive programs and systems have been created to help schools and teachers manage behavior, motivate learners and encourage engagement. There is no doubt that rewarding students may result in initial compliance or short term gains. However, Children that have grown used to expecting rewards can feel discouraged when they stop coming. In the end, this can diminish their determination and curiosity. There is evidence that in the long term, reward systems are ineffective.
There are many who believe students’ motivation can be “jump started” by giving rewards. Behaviorist, B. F. Skinner coined the term “Operant Conditioning” and claims that all behavior are shaped by rewards or punishment. Skinner believed that human beings act on a "repertoires of behaviors" that can be conditioned by the environmental consequences around them (Robinson 1). Token systems, star charts, point systems, online incentive reading programs, gotcha coupons…well the lists goes on; are all example of ways to shape students’ behavior. The common belief is that rewards can help students develop a reason to do better. Supporters claim that through the use of rewards and incentive programs, children learn to listen, to complete work and to behave appropriately.
The behaviorist theory assumes the child can and will if they want to bad enough or if the reward is big enough. H...
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...otivation. I truly believe that we have the ability and the power to control our destiny, to make good choices, and to learn from our mistakes—without . When our needs as human beings are satisfied, the action of all people, be it the young or old—will be based not by short term and inconsistent extrinsic motivation , but by deep-seated, meaningful, and long term inner drive.
Works Cited
Robinson, J. “To Reward?...or Not to Reward?” American Journal of Health Promotion 13.1 (1998): 1-3. Print.
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. “Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior.” New York: Plenum.(1985) Print.
Lepper, M. R., Greene, D., & Nisbett, R. E. (1973). Undermining children's intrinsic interest with extrinsic rewards: A test of the “overjustification” hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28, 129–137.
teach new skills and decrease challenging behaviors” (pg. 24). Based on my own observation, I’ve seen teachers implement a token economy (e.g., happy faces, stars, and stickers of different forms) to shape and reinforce positive behavior in the classroom. To maintain instructional control, tokens would be delivered immediately to a student when following simple instructions (e.g., following circle time, cleaning
You shouldn’t be doing things just to get rewarded for it. This trains us to think that we only should do the things that would make us look good rather than do things all the time to help out the world. We could probably make a much bigger difference in the world if we change our
Once stated by Dwight D. Eisenhower, “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” The aforementioned ideology places an emphasis on an individual’s internal desires, rather than an outside/external force driving the individual’s consciousness (cognitive evaluation.) Therefore intrinsic motivation is one in which an individual 's own desire comes from within; a relentless and genuine passion for an intended goal. On the contrary, when an individual relies on external factors such as, a reward or any other form of external reinforcement, an extrinsic motivation is exhibited. Although society likes to stress the importance in pursuing an internal motivation, in today 's modern world, an extrinsic factor far outweighs an internal desire to accomplish an objective. As humans, we are too diverse in the way we think and develop, lending the mere classification of an internal motivation to become redundant. Furthermore, as
The use of incentives are debatable whether or not they should be used or not, however it is proven that in some cases it does work. With teenagers if a teacher says that we will get a grade boost by donating money, or time it it PROVEN (word choice) that we will feel more obligated to participate knowing that it will in some way benefit us. As much as we are being selfish and only thinking about how the outcome will benefit us, we still are committing a good deed. And should’t it just be about what the outcome is rather what gets you to the outcome. In the long run, you still end up helping and being kind even though you are doing it only because of the incentive. An incentive is defined as a th...
“Motivation is the process whereby goal-orientated activity is instigated and sustained” (Schunk, Pintrich & Meece, 2008. As cited in Eggen & Kauchak, 2010, p.284). Motivation comes in many forms and can be divided into two broad categories - extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivators are external factors which can motivate a student; rewards are an example of this. An issue with extrinsic motivators is that the desire for the learner to participate often lessens, once the rewards are withdrawn (McCullers, 1987). On the other hand intrinsic motivation comes from within - learning for the joy of it - where the desire to learn leads to a higher level of knowledge, and is a reward in itself. Kohn (1996, p.285) states that research suggests, “Rewards actually decrease interest in intrinsically motivating tasks, therefore sending the wrong message about learning” (as cited in Eggen & Kauchak, 2010a)
The author believes that goals and desires require an individual to be motivated to move from one state of being to the next. This motivation encompasses the emotional, cognitive, social, and biological drives that trigger behavior (Maslow, 1943). Accordingly, the word motivation befalls the frequently used description of why an individual achieves a goal, and the term motivation originates from the Latin root movere, which means “to move.” Therefore, motivation stands as the state that “moves” an individual to act in a particular way. For instance, when one is lying on the beach on a warm summer day and begins to feel hot, the physical need to cool down might cause one to stand up, go to the water for a dip. If the heat remains too over-bearing,
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York: Plenum
Self-determination theory is one that assumes all humans are born with an innate drive to better oneself, basically becoming self-actualized, which is referred to as full-functioning. In self-determination theory, or SDT, full-functioning is characterized as “being aware and mindful, acting autonomously…, and pursuing and attaining intrinsic life goals” (Deci, Ryan, and, Guay 2013). SDT describes three autonomous behaviors: intrinsically motivated, extrinsically motivated, and emotionally motivated. SDT also describes three psychological basic needs of every human: the needs for competency, autonomy, and relatedness. The need for competency causes people to try tasks slightly tougher than they can currently manage, in order to improve upon
In this paper I will be discussing the information I have learned from the article “From Positive Reinforcement to Positive Behaviors”, by Ellen A. Sigler and Shirley Aamidor. The authors stress the importance of positive reinforcement. The belief is that teachers and adults should be rewarding appropriate behaviors and ignoring the inappropriate ones. The authors’ beliefs are expressed by answering the following questions: Why use positive reinforcement?, Are we judging children’s behaviors?, Why do children behave in a certain way?, Do we teach children what to feel?, Does positive reinforcement really work?, and How does positive reinforcement work?. The following work is a summary of "Positive Reinforcement to Positive Behaviors" with my thoughts and reflection of the work in the end.
Lindskold, S, Banoma, T, Schlenker, B & Tedeschi, J 1972, ‘Factors affecting the effectiveness of reward power’, Psychonomic Science, Springer-Verlag, vol. 26, no, 2, pp. 68-70
Offering specific praise for a job well done on a particular assignment, chore, or activity encourages a greater feeling of positive moral. Awards are acceptable as encouragement and rewards for jobs well done, but not as bribes to complete required activities (Wright, 2012). These methods are suitable for early training of children in activities such as good behavior, self-control, and the completion of daily chores and responsibilities. As the child learns to repeat the behavior over and over, the need for reinforcement by praise and treats become less. The child will learn that it actually feels good and right to complete the task under their own motivation; “I did it!”
The reward system is a beneficial behavioral modification teaching method, which promotes more positive behaviors in the classroom (Charles & Barr, 2014). Many teachers generally use the reward method of praise within their classrooms for a variety of reasons. The first advantage of using praise within the classroom is because it encourages students do repeat positive behaviors in the classroom. Many children are simply looking for attention and enjoy it, which makes it a great technique to use in the classroom (Charles & Barr, 2014). Another advantage for this reward type is that due to the encouragement, the students are able to perform at a better rate; students excel academically. A final advantage to using praise is that it is easily implemented into the classroom and requires little to no preparation. This makes the reward method a great addition for teachers as well as students because students get instant feedback without
The utilization of positive reinforcement is a possible technique for enhancing students’ behavior for a variety of school conditions for individual and as well as for the group of students (Wheatley, et al., 2009).
They can help the children, especially the young ones, to focus their efforts on a task because small children usually need more time to develop internal motivation. (Kutner, “Rewards vs. Bribes.” Web.) Offering rewards for establishing good behavior to children can also make them feel rewarded and appreciated; therefore can motivate them to continue this type of behavior. Toward this matter, Fredric Jones, who would prefer to use the term “incentives” than “bribes”, agrees that motivation can be managed through the use of incentives. However, he immediately adds, “But incentives must be used correctly, or they can create more problems than they solve.”
I do not believe, however, in using rewards like stickers or stars, A’s or praise. To quote Alphie Kohn, "When rewards stop, people usually return to the way they acted before." I want my students to be intrinsically motivated and giving out rewards inhibits intrinsic motivation. I want my students to know it is okay to make mistakes and take risks in the classroom. I want to encourage my students by telling them specific feedback on an assignment rather than a star and a "good job." I don’t want them to become dependent on my praise. I want them to be successful learners.