Encouragement
The idea of reward seems intertwined with student participation in discussion. They seems to naturally seek a sure fire format as instructed and hover around the idea of affirmation rather than constructive criticism. The ego of some is demonstrated by trying to outperform the others in total verbiage.
Scott,
Good point. We do need to integrate (carefully) the praise and constructive criticism to help the students be motivated to improve. Thanks!
This is a good point Scott. I have come to realize that a lot of students do want to be agreed with rather than criticized during a discussion post. This is why it is always a good practice to provide positive feedback first and criticism last. Even when giving the negative, it should be done in the most positive way so that the student will be more open to acceptance and make the change with a more positive attitude.
Rick Johnson
Rick and Scott,
Thanks for continuing the conversation. I also like to set the stage with positive feedback and then constructive criticism. We want to provide it in a way to help motivate students to do better. Thanks!
Rick,
I agree with you. Providing positive feedback first softens the blow of the not so positive feedback.
Derrick and Rick,
Thanks for continuing the conversation. And, remember the "not so positive feedback" should be constructive and not just negative. Good job.
Hi Rick
I feel this approach is effective for some students. I have had students tell me that because I gave them positive feedback, without any negative criticism they thought they were doing just fine, when in reality they had failing grades. I told them why they lost points, but they did not take this a negative criticism
I use the sandwich technique. I start with praise, slip in what needs work, and end with praise. It works, too! I was from the old school where we marked up the paper and returned it. It took some re-training on my part, but after a few months of struggling, I have had wonderful results with this method! I don't feel so negative!
