Adults and stickers ~
Okay ~ I have found this to be SO successful! I teach advanced Respiraotry courses to adults. Things like Mechanical Ventilation and Advanced ER Care. One of the things I have done is out stickers on exams that earned an A or B When they first get to my class...they look at their returned exam with a stiker and say, "What the H**L is this?" I tell them.."you wait! You might think my tickers are foolish...but it won't be long until you don't care what grade you get. All you will want to know is whether you got a sticker or not." And EVERY class...EVERY student...EVERY semester behaves the same way. They cannot wait to take thier exams and they cannot wait to see if tey earned a sticker. It's wonderful. Just a little motivation...but it takes them a long way!
We all like to be rewarded for doing well, regardless of our competitiveness level
I think for some people who are not the competitive type , it can have a good effect. Giving them something extra to work toward.
Melanie, what courses do you teach and what type of stickers are you handing out that has your students so excited?
My students really enjoy the stickers and have fun showing classmates what type of sticker they received.
Joseph, the conventional wisdom is that competition encourages people to improve their performance. Are you suggesting that it has the opposite effect?
Loren Kroh
Joseph, the conventional wisdom is that competition encourages people to improve their performance. Are you suggesting that it has the opposite effect?
Loren Kroh
competition is healthy, but also can harm students that don't perform as well. The stickers become a symbol of being accepted or not.
then the people that don't get a sticker begin the thought process of stagnate deterioration because they are not in the accepted level of performance.
How can a classroom with various backgrounds increase the process of learning without creating a prejudice method.
eliminate the fear of not fitting in and dissolve highly competitive environments that stimulates deterioration.
I have had adult students actually ASK for stickers! I have found that most of my female students want them; but my older male students would be humiliated by them. Every class id different.
Do you ever have students that don't "buy into" the stickers? Does it ever come across as demeaning to adult learners? Thanks for the idea!
Amanda, I assume that although the students didn´t know the prize, they did know why they were receiving the tickets. They have to know why they are being rewarded.
Wow, that's actually an interesting idea! I am going to suggest this one at our next staff meeting. Thanks for the idea!
We've had instructors use raffle tickets to reward good behavior, being on time, etc. They don't tell the students what they are for, and then at the end of the week had a drawing for some nice prizes--not too pricey, of course. The students went crazy over it!
People are competitive by nature. Even small rewards can be a strong driver of performance.
Loren Kroh
Funny....great idea. We have a cute "Teacher store" here & I think I am going to invest in stickers or stamps to see if that works!
