Pygmalion Effect
This is a hard one for me to do at times. I try not to say "this is going to be difficult" or "not very many people get this right" Statistics show that is an accurate figure, however, I may be maintaining that figure due to the way I teach it. If I always say "this is going to be difficult" then it will be difficult and I subconsciously will give in to that "fact" and never make changes to improve. Great topic and I will work on making a difference there.
Working with the confidence of students to understand the material by adding in statements like "I know you can do this" or "you can do this" is a positive reinforcement to the outcome of the student. This should also support the Pymalion Effect by showing better results from the students.
Thank You,
Ian
I certainly agree with your thoughts, Kevin. Should we not provide objective expectations to the learners since we, facilitators, have assessed the content and recognized the complexities in spite of the teaching strategies we already have used in the past. While I also agree that the Pygmalion effect creates one's reality, the sandwich-approach can be more reasonable and appropraite as we apply it to the real world.Just my humble opinion. :-)
I think back to when I was a student, and I remember when instructors would say things like what Kevin was saying, I remember how it made me lose hope that I would understand or be able to do the project. I am going to try to do a better job of being encouraging and motivating.
We always need to make sure we are building confidence in our students & helping to believe they can be successful. I personally don't have a problem with being real, that a project may be hard. But if we portray it as nearly impossible, then I have a concern.
Ryan
I agrre, I always try to be honest with my student, sometimes I may not be verry diplomate about it, but it is always important to encorage learning, and help student build selfconfidence in their learning abilties...
In some ways I've already put this into effect, though, not the way it has been described in this course.
The first day I teach a new cohort, I have made it a custom to say, "You're going to get out of this place what you put into it."
I then go on to explain how to get the most out of the school, including beyond just the classroom and workshop experience.
In the way the Pygmalion Effect was described in this course I hadn't considered that I may be projecting my own judgement of the student onto to him/her and that may have an impact on the outcome.
Carter,
I think we need to always remember that our attitude & expectations toward the student will have an impact upon their performance. Now, we also must keep in mind that their abilities & motivation are internal & we cannot change those. We can however help bring those things out.
Ryan
Dr. Ryan Meers
