Hi Samuel,
This is an important part of being a supportive instructor. The reasons you listed for returning assessment grades by the next class are dead on. Knowing their results quickly can be so valuable to students as they move forward in the course.
Gary
I particularly liked the suggestion to return assessment grades by the next class. While in application this can often be difficult to do, instructors should strive for this for many reasons. While going over the assessment, student anxiety is relieved but the most important aspect of this is that you recap the previous topic, scaffold or build upon it and move forward!
Most of the time reinforcement can be motivational. There are times when the effort is just not there. Thats when you need to try to understand the student circumstances as to why they are failing, and see if we can help them succeed.
Positive reinforcement is a great tool to motivate any student, young or old. We all like to be acknowledged for our work; it is human nature to feel accomplished when a professor takes the time to provide a positive feedback regarding the work completed. This positive reinforcement will serve as a motivation to continue performing at the student's maximum effort.
Hi Sheri,
As you know students really like it when instructors share life experiences with them. It shows the students that the instructors have been out there and been successful in their field. This really helps with earning the respect of the students.
Gary
Hi Nacole,
I agree with you about the use of games with adults. My students really enjoy when we play games as it gives them a mental break yet they are using the knowledge they have been covering. They make for great review since they are fun, fast paced and competitive and beneficial.
Gary
I have found that using examples from my own life as part of the teaching experience helps to create real life learning examples for the students.
Even when working with adult students, I find it very helpful (and fun) to incorporate a game focused towards lesson plan recall. This really gets everyone to see just how far they have come, and shows places for improvement. It works really well around mid-term and finals time, and is a great way to review without just giving students a sheet of paper to write definitions/concepts on. We always have a ball.
Allowing students to know where they are and when they are doing well will help them continue on with the actions that will make them successful.
Hi Beth,
I can't reinforce enough how important prompt feedback is to students. As you experienced yourself if feedback is delayed it quickly loses value to the student.
Good point, thanks for making it.
Gary
Michele,
I agree with you. It's super important to give students plenty of time to practice as well as reinforce the benefits of practice. In our reading it is stated that transference happens when the information is repeated 45 times or applied 30 days in a row. Simply hearing the information once in a lecture is NOT practicing it!!
Beth
As a student, it was a personal pet peeve when instructors took a long time to grade material. Sometimes I had long forgotten the information by the time I received feedback. Since I hated this myself, I have made it a personal standard to have material graded by the next time I see the students. This means I have to be organized about due dates, but this level of organization actually helps drive the schedule and standards for everything else. My students love the quick response time!
Beth
If you give reinforcement for each student they will do better in class.
Hi Virginia,
Great recipe for success. The easiest thing to do is fail because you can blame others and not hold yourself accountable. By following your formula you are supporting the progress of your students throughout the course.
Gary
Motivation increases as students understand and value the reinforcement.
Motivation increases by concrete examples of application.
Positive reinforcement breeds success.
Success raises self-esteem.
Evaluation serves to improve performance.
This breeds success
Success raises self-esteem.
All the sabatoge questions disappear such as--"What if I fail?"
Students as any other human being want to be told that they are doing well or how they can improve.This is probably one of the skills that is more difficult to master for an instructor. But, nevertheless should be in high priority in his style of teaching for the results he is going to obtain from his students.
One way that I have used reinforcement as a motivator is by having the students do peer reviews. I am an English teacher so it is easy to have students read one another's papers, but when I stress that they all know how to offer constructive criticism on the paper, it is amazing how indepth they will become. Some students, of course, may argue that they do not know enough to review another student's paper, but I will help them walk through the process by asking questions, such as "Do you feel like the student covered all the areas of the topic?" or I might even draw on a strength I have seen in them and say "You always write great introductions to your papers. What do you think would improve this introduction?"
Dolores Kiesler
I couldn't agree more...School is training for the real world. There needs to be a balance of both positive and negative reinforcement. Not everybody in the work field is going to be as caring as teachers are. We must provide them with constructive criticism. This will allow the students to see what they did good and where they can make improvements.
I think reinforcement is a valuable tool when used correctly to motivate students.
I have shared both positive and negative aspects of my chosen field with my students in hopes to reinforce career choices and various methods that might be used to motivate various students.
I have worked in the tax industry and have shared countless tax stories including some positive and negative outcomes to better prepare my students for their role as tax preparers and have used Reinforcement as Motivation often when explaining their upcoming role as seasoned tax professionals.
Most students who attend the school in which I am a part of are obtaining their degree for various reasons and having an ability to share various tax situations that have come up is a way in which students can take the material and apply to real world examples through motivational reinforcement.
Kim H.
