Comments on: Making the Pop Quiz More Positive http://www.teachingprofessor.com/articles/class-policies/making-the-pop-quiz-more-positive A teaching and learning conference. Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:34:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: Richard Cassidy http://www.teachingprofessor.com/articles/class-policies/making-the-pop-quiz-more-positive/comment-page-1#comment-4079 Richard Cassidy Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:04:01 +0000 http://www.teachingprofessor.com/?p=1531#comment-4079 The Teaching Professor consistently raises interesting questions, promotes interest, and enhances learning via interaction and discussion around topics that challenge our thinking. These features are the foundation of a student-centred learning environment, and as Maryellen Weimer points out in her discussion on “Making the Pop Quiz More Positive”, we want students to be “motivated by the understanding that regular interaction with the material helps learning”. Maryellen's question “Does it make a difference if you reward good behaviour instead of penalizing poor behaviour?” is exactly the type of question that one might pose in a student-centred learning environment because it quickly leads us into a host of sub-questions that lead to several core principles of teaching and learning. Should we use marks as rewards? Or even, should we use marks at all? I taught for years before I recognized the hidden assumptions connected to marks. Assigning a mark seems to create a concrete reality that can be used to judge, sort, and reward. Marks definitely measure something, but what is this something? Marks hide my values and, the literature shows that marks are extremely poor predictors of future performance in academics and in life in general. However our institutions, and our students, are not going to permit us to suddenly drop the use of marks. But, should we not engage our students in a discussion about the limitations of the marks that we assign? Rewards and their connection to human motivation and behaviour is another interesting question. Authors such as Kohn, Willingham, and Jacobs have summarized sufficient research results to raise serious questions about how we use marks and rewards. Indeed, many of our standard procedures may actually work against our desired teaching goals. Extra marks will get more students into the class. But, what type of student does this attract? Are we using rewards to control the students or enhance learning? Many research results suggest that rewards can decrease interest and creativity. Is there some important learning activity in the class, such as group discussions/problem solving, that will not be obtained otherwise? Or do we just want them in class to listen to us? If we use extra marks for pop quizzes, we will attract some students. And it should be no surprise that the students will indicate they like the pop quizzes, but what does this mean in terms of self-centred deep learning? Does rephrasing the question to place emphasis on 'good behaviour' really change the reality of the situation. Certain students are still being rewarded for attendance and others are in effect being punished irrespective of the reasons why they might not be coming to class. What are the alternatives to marks and rewards? I must admit that I do not have any simple quick answers. Kohn, Willingham, and Jacobs are good starting points, and perhaps this is an area that might be explored further in the Teaching Professor? References Jacobs, Charles S., (2009), Management Rewired: Why Feedback Doesn't Work and Other Surprising Lessons from the Latest Brain Science. Kohn, Alfie, (1999), Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes, Houghton Mifflin. Willingham, Daniel T., (2009), Why Don't Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom, Jossey-Bass. ------------------------ Richard Cassidy Professor Emeritus Chemistry Department University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5C9; richard.cassidy@usask.ca Web page:  http://chem4823.usask.ca/cassidyr/ The Teaching Professor consistently raises interesting questions, promotes interest, and enhances learning via interaction and discussion around topics that challenge our thinking. These features are the foundation of a student-centred learning environment, and as Maryellen Weimer points out in her discussion on “Making the Pop Quiz More Positive”, we want students to be “motivated by the understanding that regular interaction with the material helps learning”.

Maryellen’s question “Does it make a difference if you reward good behaviour instead of penalizing poor behaviour?” is exactly the type of question that one might pose in a student-centred learning environment because it quickly leads us into a host of sub-questions that lead to several core principles of teaching and learning.

Should we use marks as rewards? Or even, should we use marks at all? I taught for years before I recognized the hidden assumptions connected to marks. Assigning a mark seems to create a concrete reality that can be used to judge, sort, and reward. Marks definitely measure something, but what is this something? Marks hide my values and, the literature shows that marks are extremely poor predictors of future performance in academics and in life in general. However our institutions, and our students, are not going to permit us to suddenly drop the use of marks. But, should we not engage our students in a discussion about the limitations of the marks that we assign?

Rewards and their connection to human motivation and behaviour is another interesting question. Authors such as Kohn, Willingham, and Jacobs have summarized sufficient research results to raise serious questions about how we use marks and rewards. Indeed, many of our standard procedures may actually work against our desired teaching goals. Extra marks will get more students into the class. But, what type of student does this attract? Are we using rewards to control the students or enhance learning? Many research results suggest that rewards can decrease interest and creativity. Is there some important learning activity in the class, such as group discussions/problem solving, that will not be obtained otherwise? Or do we just want them in class to listen to us? If we use extra marks for pop quizzes, we will attract some students. And it should be no surprise that the students will indicate they like the pop quizzes, but what does this mean in terms of self-centred deep learning?

Does rephrasing the question to place emphasis on ‘good behaviour’ really change the reality of the situation. Certain students are still being rewarded for attendance and others are in effect being punished irrespective of the reasons why they might not be coming to class.

What are the alternatives to marks and rewards? I must admit that I do not have any simple quick answers. Kohn, Willingham, and Jacobs are good starting points, and perhaps this is an area that might be explored further in the Teaching Professor?

References
Jacobs, Charles S., (2009), Management Rewired: Why Feedback Doesn’t Work and Other Surprising Lessons from the Latest Brain Science.
Kohn, Alfie, (1999), Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, Praise, and Other Bribes, Houghton Mifflin.
Willingham, Daniel T., (2009), Why Don’t Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom, Jossey-Bass.
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Richard Cassidy
Professor Emeritus
Chemistry Department
University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan, S7N 5C9;
richard.cassidy@usask.ca
Web page:  http://chem4823.usask.ca/cassidyr/

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