The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink

Psychology test do not have to be a stressful thing; test scores can go up with just a few changes by the professor. In Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel H. Pink explains that Motivation 3.0 Autonomy is giving a person the freedom to do things in their own way which produces better result because Motivation 3.0 “presumes that people want to be accountable-and making sure they have control over their task, their time, their technique, and their team in the most effective pathway to the destination” (105). Psychology professors should consider giving their students more autonomy with regards to test taking so that the students can choose the method that best fits their learning style. Professors can do this by giving the students options on what style of test they want, where they would like to take it, and how long would best fit them.

By giving students the ability to choose the technique in which they take their tests, professors are giving them more confidence which increases productivity. A vast majority of professors use short and/or long answer test; however, this can be damaging too many of their students’ scores. Pink gives the example of Zappos founder Tony Hsieh who gives his employees the autonomy to work without scripts, monitoring, or timing (101). The problem with how professors are giving test is that not all students can work to their best ability in short and/or long answer test. Pinks concept is to give people the ability to choose the method that best fits them so they can produce their best results. For example, Student 1 has the best result on tests when they are multiple choice; however, student 2 has the best result when the test are oral. Professors do not want their students to ...

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...h so much of their grade students will panic but by using Pinks method of having autonomy professors are giving these students the tools they need to take this stressful situation and make it a much better experience.

Upgrading from motivation 2.0, the incentive motivator, to motivation 3.0 is very important if professors want what’s best for their students as Pink explains “Motivation 2.0 assumed that if people had freedom, they would shirk—and that autonomy was a way to bypass accountability. Motivation 3.0 begins with a different assumption. It presumes that people want to be accountable—and that making sure they have control over their task, their time, their technique, and their team is the most effective pathway to that destination.” (105)

Works Cited

Pink, Daniel H. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. New York: Riverhead,

2009. Print.