Reinforcement can be used to motivate a student by building upon a student confidence and self esteem. It allows the student to feel more confident in themselves.
Reinforcement of information that has been taught can be used to motivate students through giving grades back to students promptly as well as allowing them to be able to see how they are progressing in the course.
Poitive reinforcement is essential for motivation in a class room because many times I have encountered a student who came from a negative back ground or up upbringing and lacked the inability to look me in the eye's while talking to me, and he or she would shy away from their peers or social groups. After some positive words of encouragement they would step out of their comfort zone and start speaking up more and actually try to participate in class room conversations.
I agree with using positive reinforcement to motivate students in the class room. I have seen students who previously walked with their head down or barley speak above a whisper for lack of confidence, change into confident and might I say much happier,confiden people!
Tammie: agree with you completely. positive reinforcement reduces anxiety & increases interactive learning & increases confidence & retention.
positive reinforcement shows that you care about them, encourages them to try smarter & stimulates an interactive class & learning process.
I did not realize how much positive and negative reinforcement affected students until one day in class a student commented that I grade everything with a red pen. He had a previous bad experience with a teacher who always used red to correct work and that instructor never provided positive reinforcement. I informed the student that using red helps me see where I marked answers wrong so that I can correctly grade work. Since that student commented I had begun to use multiple colors and make sure I include positive reinforcment even for those students who do not do well. I find a topic or concept that they have grasp and help them understand how to grasp other concepts.
rienforcement can be a good motivator because they see what they have done and keeps them wanting to keep up with the learning and the value of the efforts
Once students have been given the information in small bite size portions and they begin to put it all together during a project, they suddenly seem to understand how it all makes sense and how it fits together. And if the project is relevant to their career goals, they really seem to want more.
When you are teaching students a practical skill, you need to make sure that you are reinforcing, and correcting when necessary, their newly acquired skills. Even if they complete what you just gave them as a task, sometimes they still feel unsure that they are doing it correctly. It helps to walk through the room and comment to each student to reinforce what they are doing it properly, or show them what they need to be doing in order to do it correctly.
Many ways. You could simple say, "Good Job." or discuss the good points of a paper to the whole class. All of this will help the students to see that you appreciate the hard work that they are putting into class, they may not be seeing many positive benefits to higher education. It might be that one statement given to a student that keeps them coming back to class.
Hi Julie,
I like the way you personalized your input for each student. That way each student knows that you know what they have been doing as individuals as well as progress being made in the course. This should be a very effective motivation tool.
Gary
One thing I did was halfway through a clinical course, I took each student individually and reviewed their work that far. Now, granted, I had to note areas that could use improvement but I also made a big deal of what they had accomplished thus far. I also had gathered my thoughts prior to these meetings and prepared positive attributes and skills of each student that I could share with them. I also talked to them about the areas within their field that could be successful avenues for them based upon their unique characteristics and skills. By reinforcing their accomplishments and their future, they were motivated to continue.
Hi Kacie,
So do I. Without those days teaching would not be near as exciting as it is. You never know when they will "get it".
Gary
I LOVE ah-ha! moments! It is what brings me back day after day!
Reinforcement can be used to motivate students with building their confidence and self respect. Confidence is a huge asset and without it continuing education can be a huge obstacle, not to mention the new material being presented. One thing I strive for in my classroom is consistency. With consistency, students know exactly what is expected of them and that I will be fair to each invididual student. This then develops respect.
By receiving imeadiate feedback students will learn what they are doing correctly or not. This way they can build on the new skill. If they are not doing it correctly the student can relearn the skill correctly before bad habits start to form.
To help my students with reinforcement I give them back test scores the next class period. This way the can see how they are doing and make the correct adjustment. Then I remind them that any wrong answer is an opportuntity to learn the skill correctly. Learn from the mistake now instead of later.
Hi Abigail,
This belief is the basis for respect and rapport. With these two each student will know you are there to help them be successful if they will put forth the effort.
Gary
It is always great to know that you were instrumental in a student’s confidence in themselves. A student can see right away if a instructor does not have confidence in her or him. However, the student must know that you believe in them so that they can believe in themselves.
Reinforcement can be the simple letter grade, but in classes with labs I have also found that the lab can be a motivating technique. Giving a student a task that is not graded for a practical can be just as effective as a graded one. Sometimes, an ungraded practical is even more successful because when the pressure of a grade is removed, student's really see and apply how much they have learned and have more of those "ah-ha" moments.
