Dan Pink, in his TED talk, “The Puzzle Of Motivation” describes Sam Glucksberg’s study of The Candle Problem. How does The Candle Problem relate to what goes on in our schools? Do you think there is a mismatch between what science knows and what education does? Explain. Would you prefer your students to be compliant or engaged? If your answer is compliant, why is this more important than being engaged? If your answer is engaged, how can you give your students more autonomy?
The Candle Problems demonstrates that extrinsic motivation actually hurts performance. I think when students are motivated by a "prize", they rush through the task at hand. They focus on getting an answer rather than really understanding the problem. I tell my students all the time that "Depth is more important than speed". When rushing, their creativity and flexible thinking is dulled. Finding ways to intrinsically motivate our students will help them be more successful in the future.
ReplyDeleteI think that the education system does not follow what science shows us. We are expecting extrinsic motivation to be the driving force in education, but that only work for some students. I would rather have my students be engaged instead of compliant. I would rather have them have a drive to learn something new instead of doing a task because they have to. This is definitely a hard task as teachers these days.
Dan Pink's Candle Problem shows us how traditional rewards such as a monetary reward can actually do more harm than good. It can harm thinking particularly in the area of creative problem-solving, a core issue in schools where assignments and tests often prioritize simple answers over higher level thinking. Students these days are now focus on the reward (grades) rather than actually enjoying the learning process- working and looking "outside of the box". Glucksberg's candle problem shows a large disconnect between what we do in schools vs what science has actually shown us. I would rather have my students engaged with the material rather than compliant. I feel this can be done by giving the students a bit more choice when it comes to work- write a short story, preform a skit, record yourself explaining the "big picture". The more engaged and ownership the students have, the more they not only learn but remember.
ReplyDeleteDan Pink, in his TED talk, “The Puzzle Of Motivation” describes Sam Glucksberg’s study of The Candle Problem. How does The Candle Problem relate to what goes on in our schools? Do you think there is a mismatch between what science knows and what education does? Explain.
ReplyDeleteMy school we are a PBIS school, we’re constantly incentivizing students for the positive behavior we want to see from them. Even when the behavior is expected and students know the expectations, we are rewarding them all the time for the positives. I agree with him that rewarding students dulls thinking and blocks creativity.
Would you prefer your students to be compliant or engaged? If your answer is compliant, why is this more important than being engaged? If your answer is engaged, how can you give your students more autonomy?
I would rather have students engaged because they are going to put in the work and the thinking. They are going to think outside the box. Students that are compliant they are going to do the bare minimum, they are going to do what is ask but they aren’t’t going to go beyond the bare minimum.
There is a mismatch in what science knows and what business does when it comes to the Candle problem in our schools. We know we need students to be ready for jobs that haven't been created yet but we are still preparing them for jobs that exist less than they ever have. We often define the problems for our students and then tell them the acceptable ways that they can solve these problems. What they are doing is creating the same solutions that we already have.
ReplyDeleteI would rather have students that are engaged. I can give them autonomy by letting them define problems and come up with their own solutions. I have been doing less and less for grades lately. I still grade all tests and big projects but I am trying to step away from grading the daily things we do for learning. I want to make learning the goal. I hope this also helps with engagement. I want to remove the carrot and the stick and have the learning be the reward. I believe in more intrinsic motivation.
I think education is working to catch up to what science shows. There are many ways that things have been changing based on research-based findings, but that change takes a lot of times and depends on a lot of factors. I think I prefer my kids to be engaged, because when they are we have more enriching learning, and due to that, they are naturally more compliant. I think that when they are able to make more choices, they are more likely to do what is being asked of them. In our math and language arts rotations, I try to offer choices in how they use technology by offering a couple of different websites/tools they can utilize, multiple physical games or activities to choose from and allowing them to choose what to read most of the time. This helps them to stay on task and get the most out of this time.
ReplyDeleteI do think there is a big mismatch between what science knows and what education does. Schools often reward compliance and focus on extrinsic motivators, but research like Sam Glucksberg’s Candle Problem shows that intrinsic motivation and autonomy lead to more creativity and better problem-solving. I would prefer my students to be engaged rather than just compliant. I can give them more autonomy by offering choices in activities, allowing them to explore topics based on their interests, and creating opportunities for decision-making within structured learning experiences. This way, students feel ownership of their learning and are more motivated to participate actively.
ReplyDeleteDan Pink uses the Candle Problem to show that rewards can actually hurt performance on tasks that require creativity. This relates to schools because students are often driven by grades and rewards, which may limit critical thinking and push them to focus on getting a grade rather than actual learning.
ReplyDeleteThere is a mismatch between science and education. This is because research shows us that intrinsic motivation works best, but schools still rely heavily on extrinsic rewards like grades and test scores. Not all of this is the school's fault, in my opinion, as there is a heavy emphasis on schools doing well on standardized testing, which “fuels the fire,” so to speak.
I would rather have engaged students than compliant ones. Engagement leads to deeper learning. To increase student learning, I would give students choices in assignments, allow them to set goals, and use more project-based learning so they feel ownership over their work.
This idea relates directly to what goes on in our schools. Too often, schools rely on motivators such as grades, test scores, etcetera instead of creating environments where students are motivated by curiosity, relevance, and personal meaning. I will concede that this is difficult to do all the time in a learning environment and sometimes emphasis does need to be on those extrinsic motivators. But, there is a clear mismatch between what science knows about motivation and what education often does: research shows that intrinsic motivation leads to deeper learning, yet many classrooms still emphasize compliance and external validation over engagement and autonomy.
ReplyDeleteI would much rather have my students be engaged than compliant. Engagement means students are thinking critically, asking questions, and taking ownership of their learning. For social science classes which I teach, this is huge because many of the topics are opinion based or do require multi-layered thinking where there could be multiple right answers to a question. To give students more autonomy, I offer choices in how they demonstrate understanding, encourage student-led projects, and create opportunities for real-world connections rather than strict worksheets. When students have a voice in what they learn and how they learn it, they become more invested, more creative, and more capable of self-directed learning, exactly the kind of learners we want for the future.
I would rather have my students be engaged. I feel that by having them engaged, it increases their learning. I also feel that they will be more compliant because they are engaged. I feel that they will take ownership in their learning and be more motivated without and extrinsic motivator being put in place. I feel that STEAM allows students to be more creative and provides them with more opportunities to take ownership in their learning.
ReplyDeleteThe financial incentives in business that do not seem to work, are a lot like the scores, grades, sticker charts, PBIS rewards, etc that we give kids. All of these things do not make students more motivated. There is a disconnect between what science shows us and how schools function.
ReplyDeleteI would prefer them to be engaged over compliant. I want them to be willing participants in their learning. I want students to be engaged in learning so that they take what I am teaching and engage with instead of just doing what I say because they are supposed to.
Dan Pink, in his TED talk, “The Puzzle Of Motivation” describes Sam Glucksberg’s study of The Candle Problem. How does The Candle Problem relate to what goes on in our schools? Do you think there is a mismatch between what science knows and what education does? Explain. Would you prefer your students to be compliant or engaged? If your answer is compliant, why is this more important than being engaged? If your answer is engaged, how can you give your students more autonomy?
ReplyDeleteThe candle problem relates to what happens in schools as schools utilize rewards frequently in the form of grades, prizes, etc. The external type of rewards can impact creatively and problem solving in a negative ways. When students focus on the reward rather than problem solving, creativity and learning diminishes. There is a mismatch between between what science says and what education does. We know via science that extrinsic rewards impact learning in a negative way. However, schools continue to use extrinsic type of motivators. I would prefer my student to be engaged rather than compliant. When students are engaged they learn more, critically think, problem solve, are easy to manage, etc. Giving students more autonomy can be accomplished by giving students some choice over topics, projects, and assignments. Project based learning lends it self well to this goal as well.
How does The Candle Problem relate to what goes on in our schools?
ReplyDeleteToo many of us (yes, sometimes me included) get so process blind that we miss the possibilities of how to best meet a student’s needs. I have been blessed to have some trusted colleagues spend time in my room, then offer out of the box suggestions that better meet student, peer and classroom needs.
Do you think there is a mismatch between what science knows and what education does? Explain.
Science, according to the psychology that Pink demonstrates, makes the case that as educators, my colleagues and I need to be developing our students to tackle the Candle Problem, not the Candle Problem for Dummies. We can see the changing needs that the world will have for our students because we prepare students for so many industries, and some are changing more rapidly than business.
Would you prefer your students to be compliant or engaged?
I would prefer that they be engaged, but as their brains, along with their behavior and focus, is currently developing, I oftentimes compliant is what I can get.
If your answer is compliant, why is this more important than being engaged?
They are not mature enough to work independently on a long term basis at this point in their development. There are times that I attempt self-directed or even partner / small group work , especially later in the school year. That seems to work, but I still need to keep many guardrails on for most of the school year.
If your answer is engaged, how can you give your students more autonomy?
I use small groups, partner pairs, out-of-classroom work, self-directed worktime and independent projects assigned throughout the year to help them build their engagement adn independent work efficacy.