All teachers face an obstacle: students who don’t care,
especially seniors. You try
everything to engage them but nothing seems to work. Treating your course like a product to be purchased allows
you to utilize research regarding social psychology to increase student
engagement.
Our goal is to have
them BUY into your course.
Calvin is right, you can’t make them care. But you can create an environment that
encourages them to care.
Tons of literature describes how decisions are made and how
people in the position of authority can help others make the right
decision. Cass Sunstein and
Richard Thaler co-authored a book called Nudge that describes to readers
the concepts regarding choice architecture (how to design a situation that encourages
favorable choices).
First, go buy the
book. Seriously.
To use a phrase from Sunstein and Thaler, lets learn how we
can nudge our students to buy into our class.
1. Help them predict
the future
Brains involuntarily make decision maps where it creates
mental representation of future scenarios that includes current variables. In other words, the brain asks itself
“how will the current situation and information change what I do in the
future?”
Help them predict the future and point them in the right
direction with carefully placed reminders.
“This class will help you as you
enter college because…”
“Remember that as a consequence of
taking this course, you will have acquired set of skills”
“This course will prove to colleges
that you are serious about perusing your interest”
Gentle reminders act as “nudges”
and act to keep the benefits front and center in their mind. They buy into the course when they
understand how it helps them in the future.
2. Incentives
are central to decision making
People make choices and act on those decisions based on incentives; your students are no
different. The incentive for
taking your class, at the most basic level is obvious: they will get something
from it.
However, there is an underlying, and very important second
incentive: they are in your class because if they were not, they would lose
something as a result of not participating.
The fear of LOSING
OUT seems to be stronger than the feeling of receiving something.
Give them the 1-2 incentive punch:
First: Remind them
what they REALLY care about- what was their initial and original motive for
joining your class? “You
enrolled in this course because you are excited about perusing your interests. You are taking the next step and
bettering yourself by learning about YOU care about.”
Second: Follow up by reminding them what the students who
are not taking the course are missing out
on. “Think about those not
enrolled in this course, they are missing our on X, Y, and Z”
This will keep their initial motive clear in their minds and highlight the second, more influential incentive they might not be
aware of.
3. Consider the
default settings
Default behaviors are natural, safe, normal, and “predetermined”. We are going to twist the concept of a
default as an attempt to place ourselves in the shoes of our learners. Our definition of default encompasses
the “natural” process of their educational careers. There are two settings that we need to be aware of:
-“what would my students be doing
if they were not enrolled in my
course?” (study hall, early release)
-“what
type of class are my students normally enrolled in?”(traditional)
These are important considerations when thinking of their decision
to buy into your course. We
realize that study halls, early releases, and traditional courses are not only
easier, but more comfortable for our students.
In summary, treating your course like a product enables you to use social psychology to help your students buy into your class. Seniors especially need an extra "nudge" in the right direction. Understanding decision maps, incentives, and defaults can help prevent senioritis.
Thanks for reading.
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