Emily,
Good ideas for instructors to use in providing reinforcement to their students. All of these suggestions will enable students to receive feedback that is targeted and reinforcement that is valued.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I use questions to reinforce what was taught in the class. I ask questions before the lecture about the topic and after the lecture I ask more questions. After the questions I like to point out the fact that it was a lot easier for them to answer the questions.
Reinforcement can be used to motivate students in so many different ways. Reinforcing good behaviors such as submitting work on time, completing all of the required elements, answering each question adequately, applying the material, etc. can all be reinforced positively by teacher recognition and as points given for assignments. Letting the students know early on in a course that you appreciate their hard work, their timeliness, their application, etc. goes so far in helping them have confidence in their selves and their abilities and will motivate them to continue to try and succeed throughout the course.
Kevin,
You make a good point about the need for concept building. A chain of concepts helps students to see the big picture of what is being taught. The need to see how these concepts fit together and move them toward a knowledge base that will help them to be successful in their career.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Reinforcement is the idea of building on concepts. As this is done effectively, it creates more stimulating content for students. It displays an applicble reason for the leassons. This allows the class to see the value in the content and improve retention because lessons build upon each other.
Hi Deborah and Gary,
This is an excellent point. Recently i began including recaps at the end of my presentations and class sessions. This works with the idea of repetition to help students retain knowledge and then apply it in meaningful dialouge and projects.
Arlene,
I love playing Jeopardy with my students. We use the game as a review for quizzes. The minute the board comes out they are all engaged and ready to go. Fun time with a lot of learning going on.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Dawn,
Like your reward system. It is motivating for the students as you mention plus it shows them how they can work with and encourage others to obtain a commonly sought goal.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Diana, I like the candy bar idea, we do something similar but students win points toward their quiz. It all works and both are win/wins. Arlene
With long classes and lots of material to cover students can easily tune out. Reinforcing the material by asking for feedback can be motivating especially if it is fun. I have an instructor that created a jeopardy game for her classes. She breaks the class into teams, each team has 1 spokesperson who answers the question based on team agreement; the winning team wins bonus points toward their quiz that day. This activity acts as a review for the quiz and it motivates everyone to pay attention to the materials presented the second time around, which is the reinforcement and motivating. Arlene
I tell my class that once a certain object for the class is reached they will be offered a "reward" - since we are a culinary college, the Instructors cook something special just for them. I have seen students motivating each other to complete the tasks needed. Many times they start tutoring, encouraging and actively motivating each other towards the common goal.
When I break down a topic into subtopics and give small groups a subtopic to read, condense then report their findings aloud, it is intrinsically motivating because they get to demonstrate some pride in their own findings. For me as the instructor, I know that if I have selected my subtopics for best impact, this motivated group is going to reinforce essential material for everyone who is listening.
Claudia,
This is such a good way to reinforce at the end of clinic the knowledge and skills the students have acquired. This way they are taking away a summary of what has been accomplished so they can store it in their working memory.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I like to go thru the clinic and check out errors that student make without noticing .
At the end of the clinic I ask..." what should you do if u are in a situation like............"
students will respond the right or the wrong way and I will clarify the right answer.
It reinforces the information that the right student has and corrects the information to the wrong student .
I'm sure they will never do the same mistake in their careers. Reinforcement is truly a very important word in our teaching profession
Kristia,
By giving feedback in this way it helps students to accept feedback that requires they redo or work harder at a specific task. The realize that they are making good progress with their educational development and will continue to do so if they are willing to put forth the needed effort.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
Teaching in a hands on enviroment we have the opportunity to do things over and over to get it correct. When the opportunity arises to correct a students attempt(s), I always provide them with something constructive. I end with a note of positive feedback. I feel ending on a positive note leaves them feeling better prepared and more confident for the next session.
Wendy,
I use games a lot in my classes as well and my students love playing them. I tell my students that adults are just taller children. Playing Jeopardy and Family Feud really get my students ramped up and competitive. The results of playing these games pays off with good scores on the tests.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I like to make reviewing information as fun as possible. We have split into teams and played games with the winning team getting a prize..leaving 10 minutes early. We have played hangman to review vocabulary, Jeopardy to review for final exams, pass the instruments (when the music stops you have to name the instrument in your hand. If you can, you stay in the game, if not, you leave. Last person remaining gets a prize). Anything I can think of to make it fun. We have played Family Feud also to review office procedures (name an instrument used in_______)
James,
This is such a good point. The easiest thing to do is quite and students will take that option if they feel they do not have support. By stepping in and giving them encouragement you are helping to keep them in the course and moving closer to their career goals.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
As a hands on, project oriented learning environment, as soon as the adult student feels he or she can not do a project up to standards, they shut down and allow their frustration to take over. That is where the instructor needs to step in and help the student realize they are capable and get them back on track.
