Blue book meme...
1. Grab the nearest book with a blue cover.
2. Open the book to page 86.
3. Find the first full paragraph.
4. Post the text in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find -- just the closest blue book.
"The best that proponents of this view can do, however, is to cite evidence with major qualifications attached. In some research, interest wasn't undermined by performance-contingent-rewards (PCRs), but neither was it enhanced. In two studies, the effect on interest was positive, but only for boys (in one case) and only for low-achieving students (in the other). Generally, for PCRs to have even a neutral effect it is necessary that people be led to believe they are successful so they feel competent. But if competence is a key to intrinsic motivation, what happens to the motivation of all those who are working for a PCR and don't get it? Moreover, if informational feedback is desirable, it's easy to tell people how well they've done without turning this into an exercise in Skinnerian manipulation. (One study found that people who got PCRs became less interested in the task than those who just received feedback about their performance.)"
Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn
2. Open the book to page 86.
3. Find the first full paragraph.
4. Post the text in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find -- just the closest blue book.
"The best that proponents of this view can do, however, is to cite evidence with major qualifications attached. In some research, interest wasn't undermined by performance-contingent-rewards (PCRs), but neither was it enhanced. In two studies, the effect on interest was positive, but only for boys (in one case) and only for low-achieving students (in the other). Generally, for PCRs to have even a neutral effect it is necessary that people be led to believe they are successful so they feel competent. But if competence is a key to intrinsic motivation, what happens to the motivation of all those who are working for a PCR and don't get it? Moreover, if informational feedback is desirable, it's easy to tell people how well they've done without turning this into an exercise in Skinnerian manipulation. (One study found that people who got PCRs became less interested in the task than those who just received feedback about their performance.)"
Punished by Rewards by Alfie Kohn