Deal or Dud? Do Extrinsic Motivation Strategies Truly Improve
Student Academic Performance and Behavior?
Angie McLeod
Lamar University Academic Partnerships
Abstract:
After researching extrinsic motivational
strategies that can be used in the classroom, I am left with more questions
than I am answers. Do extrinsic motivational strategies work? The answer is
yes. However, one still ponders how much is too much? By implementing rewards systems
in my classroom am I creating students that demand something every time they
complete a simple task? My goal as a teacher is to mold students into
independent life long learners that are
internally motivated to be successful and productive citizens. Finding the
right balance between extrinsic motivational factors and developing
relationships that foster intrinsic motivation is the key.
Introduction /
Background:
I am a 3rd grade teacher
at a 3A school in Canton, Texas. Canton is a rural community located about
sixty miles east of Dallas. At Canton Intermediate School we have approximately
474 students on our campus with 143 third graders, 164 fourth graders, and 167
fifth graders. There are eight teachers per grade level making twenty students
the average class size. Our student population’s ethnic distribution consists
of 2% African American, 2% American Indian, 2% two or more races, 8% Hispanic
and 85% White. Approximately 30% of our students are considered at-risk* and
41% are economically disadvantaged*.
Each year student motivation
decreases as the school year progresses, especially during the second semester following
Christmas and spring break. This lack of student motivation causes a snowball
effect where academic performance and positive behavior tend to decline. During
the second semester I found myself constantly nagging and redirecting students
all day long. By always focusing on the negative behavior, unhealthy
relationships between the students and myself would sometimes develop. After expressing
my concern with several teachers they all agreed and seemed to have similar
problems in their classroom, especially when it gets close to the STAAR test. I
once read that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but
expecting different results. I asked myself “Why do I continue to implement the
same management systems in my classrooms year after year, but expect different
results from my students?” I must be insane. According to American
Psychological Association and their Learner-Centered Psychological Principals, “Educators
need to be concerned with facilitation motivation by strategies that enhance
learner effort and commitment to learning and to achieving high standards of
comprehension and understanding.” This year I finally decided to change things
up in my classroom and try implementing several positive behavior management
techniques during the second semester that will increase student motivation and
hopefully improve behavior and grades.
While conducting this research
project, I found myself wondering, “How much is too much?” Motivational
techniques used by teachers are often extrinsic in nature and offer the
students incentives such as ice cream party, pizza party, pajama party, sticker
charts, extra recess, free 100 in the grade book, movie day, no homework, and
etc. “Extrinsic reasons elicit pleasure not from a process or activity itself,
but for an outcome or reward associated with it” (“Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic
Motivation,” n,d.). Most teachers would agree that extrinsic motivational
strategies* are immediately effective and work on the majority of students. According
to J.E. Omrod, “In some instances, extrinsic motivation – perhaps in the form
of extrinsic reinforcers for academic achievement or productive behavior – may
be the only thing that can get students on the road to successful classroom
learning and productive behavior.” By using extrinsic motivational strategies
we may get the immediate results that we want from our students, but in the end
are we creating students that constantly feel that they deserve something each
time they complete a task? I was enlightened when I read a statement from
Daniel Pink’s book Drive that said, “People use rewards expecting to
gain the benefit of increasing another person’s motivation and behavior, but in
doing so they often incur the unintentional and hidden cost of under mining
that person’s intrinsic motivation toward the activity.” “When intrinsically
motivated*, a student is moved to act for the fun or challenge entailed rather
than because of external prods, pressures, or rewards” (“Intrinsic vs.
Extrinsic Motivation,” n,d.). Isn’t this what we really want? The ultimate goal
of every teacher is to create students that are independent life long learners
that are internally motivated to be successful in life. According to Ryan and
Deci, “Because many of the tasks that educators want their students to perform
are not inherently interesting or enjoyable, knowing how to promote more active
and volitional (versus passive and controlling) forms of extrinsic motivation
becomes an essential strategy for successful teaching.” With all this
information to take into consideration, how do teachers find a balance between
intrinsic and extrinsic motivational strategies in order to ensure our
students’ success not only now, but in the future as well?
Depending upon the outcome of my research on extrinsic
motivational factors, my principal and I have discussed implementing school-wide
behavioral management strategies next year that will motivate students to
perform better both academically and behaviorally. I will create and lead a
professional development session where results can be analyzed, broken down and
discussed. Teachers will leave with a better understanding of the different
types of motivation and several strategies to use. These classroom strategies
can be modified to best fit the needs of not only a class, but a specific
student as well. As educators, we all know that every class and every student
responds to reward and punishment systems differently. It is important to keep
this in mind during implementation. During the professional development session
we will also brainstorm campus wide behavioral management plans and discuss a
few that will possibly be implemented next school year. On a larger scale, we
would like the community to contribute and support the program by offering
various items (free or discounted prices to local businesses, restaurants,
amusement parks and theatres) to use as incentives with our students.
My action research blog (http://angiemcleod.blogspot.com/2011/08/action-research-and-how-administrator.html), Google site (https://sites.google.com/site/amcleod652/home) and teacher web page (http://is.cantonisd.net/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=153804&type=u) are easily accessible. Fellow educators and
administrators that are looking to further their knowledge in student
motivational strategies will have the opportunity to access each site and apply
the information learned to their school, classroom, or with a student.
Research Design:
I researched extrinsic motivational
strategies to see if they would improve student motivation and overall academic
performance in my classroom. At the beginning of the school year I created a
student classroom rewards survey, which allowed my 3rd grade students
the opportunity to express the classroom rewards they preferred. I had twenty
students in my class, ten girls and ten boys. Students were to circle their top
eight choices. The results of the survey are shown below.
The top five student
choices were getting a “Free 100” pass (19 votes), getting to go out to lunch
with your teacher (19 votes), earning a classroom party (18 votes), getting an
item from the treasure box (17 votes), and earning an extra recess (16 votes).
I also sent out an open ended survey to the entire faculty and staff in
order to get more ideas to try with my class. On the survey I asked the
teachers to list five motivational strategies that they have successfully
implemented in their classrooms. Only eleven teachers responded to the survey.
However, their comments were encouraging and they had several great ideas. Here
are a few.
·
Have You Filled
A Bucket Today? I read this story at the beginning of the year. Each student
has a bucket made out of colored paper or you could use a small bucket. I use a
punch card and as I see a student being kind, helpful, or any other outstanding
behavior, I punch their card. Whenever they get five punches on their card,
they receive a reward.
·
I did a 30 Point
Party. If the entire class received compliments about behavior, they all
brought their homework, or they all passed a test they received points as a
class. When they made it to 30 points we had a celebration for good work.
·
I pass out
tickets for good behavior, neat desks, helping others, etc. They can trade
tickets for prizes or sometimes I did auctions for prizes. I like the auctions
the best because they had to decide whether to use their tickets or save them
for later. It was a good lesson in decision making and it became very
competitive.
·
I wrote “Sunny
Grams”, positive notes, to parents. In another school, we turned these in to
the office and the assistant principal called parents to share these. Positive
phone calls were a HUGE hit!
·
As a class we
would earn paper clips. I would link them together and when they measured a
certain distance we would have a class celebration. This was a great way to
connect math and measurement in with the classroom reward system.
·
I have a
competition in my classroom with Accelerated Math. The first three students
that finish 146 objectives, I take on a date to Pizza Hut in my sports car.
The teacher survey
helped me to broaden my knowledge and awareness of positive motivational
classroom strategies that teachers have successfully used in the classroom.
This also helped me to decide which incentives I would use throughout the
second semester in order to improve student motivation.
Findings:
Throughout the first semester I charted the amount of conduct folder
write-ups and failing papers in my classroom each six weeks. During the second
semester I implemented several of the motivational strategies described on the
student survey given at the beginning of the year. After the implementation of the
strategies during the 4th six weeks, I continued to chart the amount
of conduct folder write-ups and failing papers. Below you will see where I recorded
and charted the data.
In order to prepare for next school year I created an end of the year student
survey for classroom incentives. I listed all the incentives I had used
throughout the second semester. Students were to number the items from their
favorite to least favorite. I recorded the top five choices for each student.
When the end of the year survey was taken I had only 18 students participate.
The results are shown below:
The top five choices
were going to Pizza Hut with your teacher (17 votes), extra recess on Fridays
(16 votes), ice-cream party for learning their multiplication facts (14 votes),
good behavior movie at the end of each six weeks (13 votes) and being a helper
during specials (8 votes). By taking this survey at the end of the year
students better understand each incentive and how it is applied in the
classroom. I feel the end of the year survey is a more accurate reflection of
my student’s top choices for motivational factors that influenced them to do
well both academically and behaviorally. I was surprised that being a helper
during specials was chosen and in the top five. I didn’t realize how big of a
deal this was to them. This data will be very beneficial for next school year
when considering which incentives to offer in my classroom. When developing a
school wide management strategy, surveying all the students in the beginning of
the school year and then again at the end of the school year would help us gain
a better understanding of what truly motivates them. Sometimes as educators we
aren’t always accurate when deciding on incentives or activities that spark
student’s interest.
Conclusions and Recommendations:
When looking at the data, it appears that the extrinsic motivational
strategies that were implemented weren’t very effective in the classroom. However,
overall I felt that they had a huge impact on my students. They were eager to behave
and do well on assignments in order to earn each reward. Earning an extra twenty-minute
recess on Fridays was a top priority for my class, especially the boys. I also
had several students become very competitive with their AR points. They enjoyed
“feeding” their monkey a banana for every ten points they earned. As strenuous
as school can be for students I feel that the extrinsic rewards I put in place
made the classroom atmosphere more positive and fun. Students had several
things to look forward to on a daily basis and I wasn’t constantly redirecting
behavior.
There are several variables that one must consider before drawing
conclusions based on the bar graph. After Christmas, during the 4th
six weeks, I assigned reading and math homework almost daily in order to
prepare for the STAAR test. If students didn’t complete the homework or if they
didn’t get it signed by a parent they were written up in their conduct folder. Due
to the increase of assigned homework the number of conduct write-ups for not
doing homework or not getting their parent to sign their homework increased. As
you can see, conduct folder write-ups almost doubled from 54 during the 3rd
six weeks to 101 during the 4th. You will also notice the number of
failing papers during the second semester increases. Once again, in preparation
for the STAAR test, daily work and tests become more difficult. This increase
in academic rigor explains the drastic increase in failing papers during the 4th
and 5th six weeks. It is also interesting to take a look at the 1st
six weeks and 6th six weeks number of failing papers. During the 1st
six weeks we are reviewing material from 2nd grade and becoming
familiar with the classroom rules and policies. The number of failing papers
during this time is relatively low with 127. During the 6th six
weeks the STAAR test is over and I try to do more fun, hands on activities that
aren’t as strenuous. Once again, the number of failing papers during the 6th
six weeks is low in comparison to the 2nd through the 5th
six weeks with 129.
One thing that I would do different
is I would include the total amount of papers assigned each six weeks as well. The
chart above can be misleading because I didn’t calculate the percentage of
failing papers each six weeks. For example, when looking at the highest amount
of failing papers, 272 during the 4th six weeks, one must take into
consideration that the workload had increased and more assignments had been
assigned during this time period. Having a percentage each six weeks would
definitely have been a more reliable comparison.
After conducting this research and
analyzing the results I believe that deciphering how many rewards are too many
is a complicated task. Teachers have an intricate and complicated job of
finding effective motivational strategies that truly work. Every student and
every classroom is so different. What works one year on one class may not work
the next year on the next class. The same is true from student to student. What
works on one student may not work on the next. As we all know and must not
forget, teachers wear many hats in the classroom. An important part of our job
is not only to motivate our students, but it is also our job to provide a warm
and welcoming environment where they feel safe and secure. Developing positive
relationships with students is a great place to start. It is imperative to
build relationships in order to gain a better insight of each student’s
background and culture. Students don’t care until they know how much you truly
care. When a student feels that their teacher truly cares about them they tend
to perform at a higher level both academically and behaviorally. Obtaining
student’s trust and respect is, perhaps, a more effective management strategy
in the long run. Motivation to learn is influenced by the individual’s
emotional states, beliefs, interests and goals, and habits of thinking.
(“Learner-Centered Principals”, 1997). If a student doesn’t trust their teacher
or feel welcomed in the classroom it is less likely that any motivational
strategy will be effective or successful.
References:
Education.com. (n,d.). Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/reference/article/punished-rewards/
Learner-Centered
Principals Work Group of the American Psychological Association’s Board of Educational Affairs. (November, 1997).
Learner- Centered Psychological
Principals: A Framework for School Reform and Redesign.
American Psychological Association. Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/ed/governance/bea/learner-centered.pdf
Ormid, J.E. (2008). How Motivation Affects Learning and Behavior. Education.com. Retrieved from: http://www.education.com/reference/article/motivation-affects-learning-behavior/
Pink, Daniel H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth
about what motivates us. New York: NY. The Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Ryan, R. & Deci, E. (2000). Intrinsic and
Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions. Contemporary
Educational Psychology 25, 54-67. Doi:10.1006/ceps.1999.1020
* Economically Disadvantaged students are on free lunch, reduced lunch
and/or homeless.
* At-Risk
Students are students that have scored below 2.8 on the STAR
diagnostic test given online in the computer lab (3rd graders that
haven’t taken a state exam), previously failed a TAKS Test (4th and
5th graders), or have been held back a grade level (3rd,
4th or 5th graders).
* Extrinsic
Motivation elicits pleasure not from a process or activity
itself, but for an outcome or reward associated with it.
* Intrinsic
Motivation is when a student is moved to act for the fun or
challenge entailed rather than because of external prods, pressures, or
rewards.
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