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It might work; it's a good experiment; but it's dangerous. I'd lean in favor of the Deci argument against "cheapening" the reward system for learning. The autho

It might work; it's a good experiment; but it's dangerous. I'd lean in favor of the Deci argument against "cheapening" the reward system for learning. The author seems to disagree. He closes with: I ask her about the psychologists' argument that she should work hard for the love of learning, not for short-term rewards. "Honestly?" she asks. "Yes, honestly," I say. She looks me dead in the eye. "We're kids. Let's be realistic." I think that it is a bad closing. No matter how intelligent you are, there is something that challenges you that you find rewarding -- sports, math, BMX, etc. The problem with education -- pointed out by the iceland article from earlier this week that I can't find -- might be that children are not given appropriate challenges. Incremental advancement by grades seems ugly and woefully imprecise. Some students are learning far behind their levels; some, far ahead. the former students learn to hate learning; the latter are bored. So again, good experiment, but cause for concern. I'd be more interested in experiments that educate kids by intellectual level, not years in the school system. (Although, admittedly, parents are the obstacle. "What?! Billy's not in the highest class?!")

araneae 17y ago
The thing is, schools already use a reward system. What do you think a grade is? An A is like a gold star. Yes, obviously if a kid is doing something for pleasure, you should continue to let them do it for pleasure. But if they aren't doing anything to begin with, no amount of waiting around for them to discover they'll like it will work. You need a stick or a carrot. And in schools, they have been using sticks and carrots from the very beginning. This was just a study on what is an effective carrot. And rewards don't completely kill your intrinsic rewards. I loved reading as a kid, and I also participated in those summer reading programs. I got lots of prizes, and I still loved reading. The studies show that rewards do diminish intrinsic rewards, but to what extent? Maybe it's worth mildly damaging some children's intrinsic rewards in order to encourage kids without that motivation. Remember, their studies found that the rewards showed the greatest improvement in some of the lowest performing students. The ones that are intrinsically motivated are probably already at the top, so public schools are less concerned about them.
- timwiseman 17y ago
  The thing is, schools already use a reward system. What do you think a grade is? An A is like a gold star. Yes, but you have to care about the reward for it to make a difference. Those targeting competitive colleges and going for competitive scholarships will care very much about the grades, the rest will only care about pass or fail. At least that is the impression I got when I was going to high school.
- tokenadult 17y ago
  The thing is, schools already use a reward system. What do you think a grade is? An A is like a gold star. Moreover, those rewards mostly go to kids from the richest families at present, without genuine regard for "work ethic" or "performance" or whatever else grades are said to reward. http://www.amazon.com/Wad-Ja-Get-Grading-Game-American-Education/dp/0805501134 http://www.amazon.com/Wad-Ja-Get-Grading-Game-American-Educa...
sp332 17y ago
How does being challenged by BMX help a kid learn basic reading skills?

araneae 17y ago

The thing is, schools already use a reward system. What do you think a grade is? An A is like a gold star. Yes, obviously if a kid is doing something for pleasure, you should continue to let them do it for pleasure. But if they aren't doing anything to begin with, no amount of waiting around for them to discover they'll like it will work. You need a stick or a carrot. And in schools, they have been using sticks and carrots from the very beginning. This was just a study on what is an effective carrot. And rewards don't completely kill your intrinsic rewards. I loved reading as a kid, and I also participated in those summer reading programs. I got lots of prizes, and I still loved reading. The studies show that rewards do diminish intrinsic rewards, but to what extent? Maybe it's worth mildly damaging some children's intrinsic rewards in order to encourage kids without that motivation. Remember, their studies found that the rewards showed the greatest improvement in some of the lowest performing students. The ones that are intrinsically motivated are probably already at the top, so public schools are less concerned about them.

timwiseman 17y ago
The thing is, schools already use a reward system. What do you think a grade is? An A is like a gold star. Yes, but you have to care about the reward for it to make a difference. Those targeting competitive colleges and going for competitive scholarships will care very much about the grades, the rest will only care about pass or fail. At least that is the impression I got when I was going to high school.
tokenadult 17y ago
The thing is, schools already use a reward system. What do you think a grade is? An A is like a gold star. Moreover, those rewards mostly go to kids from the richest families at present, without genuine regard for "work ethic" or "performance" or whatever else grades are said to reward. http://www.amazon.com/Wad-Ja-Get-Grading-Game-American-Education/dp/0805501134 http://www.amazon.com/Wad-Ja-Get-Grading-Game-American-Educa...

sp332 17y ago

How does being challenged by BMX help a kid learn basic reading skills?