Motivating Students with PEEC teaching in Higher Education — It would be terrible if we didn't have choice in the rest of our lives because having a sense of control is a fundamental human need. Students want to do it their way because they want this sense of self-direction. They want to be able to feel like they have some control over the way they do things. We all feel like that, and it's possible to give them that choice while also developing their skills. We're trying to move from just providing the right answer to instead giving a few choices about how to learn.
This also makes sense from a learning perspective. We know students aren’t blank slates, but instead bring pre-existing knowledge into the classroom.
Telling students what to do and how to do it might not compliment the ways in which they understand the world, so could be difficult for them to process.
If we give them choice, it allows them to select the option that is most closely aligned with the way they see the world. If we let them choose from a set of tasks, they can choose the one that best suits their skills and the things they want to learn.
Options also help students solve problems. There's usually a few ways of solving a problem or making an argument, and by giving students more than one option, they can have some say over how they do it.
If you provide a few equally attractive options, students will feel more motivated because they have a genuine sense of choice.
We should add that there’s a goldilocks zone when it comes to offering alternatives. You want to offer some choice, but not too much because there is such a thing as too many alternatives. We Don't want to overwhelm students with options or giving them complete free reign all the time. Research suggests that providing between two and four equally good options gives people choice without being overwhelming.
We can add choices to instruction, to assessment, and to feedback. In instruction, we can offer students a few ways of solving a problem, or a few resources that teach them the same content. In assessment, some academics go as far as letting students choose between types of assessment, like a presentations or essay. In many contexts, we can't do this, but we can provide choices as to how they approach an assessment or how they get the information they need. In feedback, it can involve giving students a few solutions to the problem, or it can can involve giving a few tips to look into. Sometimes the problem is bigger than you can provide in a short comment. In this case, we can provide a few tips to help them find the answer on their own.
Giving students a few equally attractive choices can be very motivating. It can also help them develop better problem solving skills, because they learn to generate a few ideas before making a decision. This way my students could do it their own way, while also getting to the right answer.
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