How It’s Been
For the longest time, it was Psych 101 that if you rewarded a certain behavior, you would get more of it. This worked in the opposite as well; if you punish a behavior, you would get less of it. Well, I (and Daniel Pink) are here to tell you that that’s not as clear cut as one would think.
Here is a great visual of what the difference between INtrinsic and EXtrinsic motivation
Notice how all of the intrinsic motivation isn’t tangible? There’s a reason for that! Here’s an animation of a TEDTalk from DRiVE author Daniel Pink that goes in to more detail about why there are differences in the motivations.
Shifting the DRiVE
In order to get your kids more motivated, you have to shift the way they view motivation. Most students (myself included) thrive off of extrinsic rewards: grades, payment, stickers, anything. However, this is not conducive to a lot of the tasks that are involved in learning.
- Positive Feedback is going to be your best friend.
- Giving the students feedback versus a grade allows for them to find the intrinsic motivation to get better, rather than focusing on a grade that they want.
- Make routine tasks less routine.
- By mixing up the game a little bit, students are rewarded intrinsically for defeating a really hard or complicated task!
- Allow your students to pursue Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose
- By giving your students more say in how they do things, more time to master a concept, and more reasoning behind what they’re doing, their motivation will skyrocket!
- Use “now-that” rewards
- Don’t tell your students, “If you do x you will get y”
- Instead, tell them, “now that you have done x, here is y for your hard work”
- ONLY USE EXTRINSIC WHEN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY
- Extrinsic motivation like grades should be used when the task is extremely routine and almost mind-numbingly boring.
- Even when you use extrinsic rewards, try to make sure the students know that you are aware the task is boring, offer a reasoning as to why they are doing the task, and give the students a little freedom as to how they complete the task
What's your DRiVE? When you figure out what motivates your students, you've figured out how to get them more involved than ever! @AnnMacKenzie #EDT431 #scienceteaching #NSTA
— Mr. Thomas (@BryceSBThomas) September 28, 2018
Bryce, this is a really great blog post. I love they way you used the the first picture to explain the difference of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It gives a really clear example of what each type of motivations are. I also really enjoyed the video that was really informational. Your shifting the drive section was very informational too. Have you ever thought about what motivates you as a student and if so is it intrinsic or extrinsic? Overall this is a really great and original post.