Learning: the Role of Internal and External Rewards - Term Paper Example

 Learning: the Role of Internal and External Rewards Introduction The research paper discusses the importance of external and internal rewards in the learning process. Learning difficulties can be prevented if psychological, emotional and social conditions are favorable. Therefore it is important to work out appropriate learning strategies for students. The role and importance of motivational strategies, development of self-esteem in the learning process are considered further on. In the learning process student’s active participation and a thirst for knowledge is required. Motivational strategies play a crucial role. Families, friends and inner attitude of a person to learning are important. In such a way, people will feel more confident in their learning success and self-performance if their inner attitude to learning and surrounding atmosphere and people is favorable for them. On the example of involvement of external and internal rewards, social approval of surrounding people will be discussed further on. Such issues as family understanding, teachers’ and employers’ attentive and careful attitude etc. belong to external rewards, while such issues as motivational strategies, self-esteem development belong to internal rewards In order to create appropriate atmosphere for students, it is necessary to decrease a negative attitude of young people to learning, i.e. to involve external and internal rewards. The role of external rewards can’t be underestimated, because with regard to learning many people feel emotional oppression and social disapproval very often. Having overcome a psychological barrier (internal rewards’ involvement), having reached a strong desire to learning, students are able to concentrate, put them together and learn efficiently. Generally, motivational difficulties prevent students from the learning process. Teachers and psychologists have to put all their efforts in order to fulfill motivational gap, i.e. involve external rewards. It is possible to reach this goal in the following way: to work out interesting materials for learning process; to involve personal charisma of a teacher; to use examples from real life (Peer, 1998). In such a way, students will feel more confident in their learning success and feel a thirst for knowledge. The abovementioned strategy involved in the learning process is an example of external rewards used for students. For example, a practical decision on external rewards’ involvement can be the following: the teachers have to offer such kind of tasks, which may seem to be very easy. Nevertheless, it is a necessary measure while a feeling of a progress is a core aspect of successful learning of students. If this first stage is reached and a person realizes his/her success and gets an understanding that he/she copes with the task well, then further repetition of material, successful tasks completion will be reached for sure. A right psychological mood, a positive spirit of a learner will result in a successful learning. Thus, a teacher, through external reward, creates both external and internal positive conditions for students. The learning process for students with learning disabilities is a more complicated issue. A close attention to the study of learning disabilities began in 1987 after a report of the interagency Committee on Learning Disabilities (ICLD). American Universities have joined this initiative and launched researches on the study of dyslexia. The results of the study on dyslexia conducted in Yale by Shaywitz are still relevant (2003). The attention in that study was focused on peculiarities of dyslexics’ brains work in comparison with the brains of normal people. In order to discuss the pros and cons of external and internal rewards involved in the learning of dyslexics, there is a necessity to understand how their brains work. Nowadays the results of this study and many others can be even more accomplished, because thanks to the modern technologies it is possible to see how someone’s brain works. A printed word is converted into a visual icon in the brain, turns into phonemes and activates a word meaning stored in brain (Pumfrey, 1993). Brain work of dyslexics differs from brain work of good readers in the following way: a good reader’s brain is better activated in the back and a dyslexic’s brain is better activated in the front (Ott, 1997). Another study conducted by the national Reading Panel discusses development of programs of systematic and explicit phonetics’ teaching: a teaching from a single phoneme to the whole word. Systematic teaching is based on the following principle: a teaching of sounds-letters relations. Thus students convert letters to some sounds and then read the whole word. Explicit approach to teaching phonics is focused not on separate sounds or letter’s learning, but on a word meaning learning. Therefore a student is made to spell out a word and then he guesses about its meaning from the context. A teacher encourages a student to restore in his memory required knowledge. He motivates him with praises, encouragements etc. Thus a teacher uses external rewards on every stage of the learning process. In the result of a complex usage of systematic and explicit learning it was found out that both left-side systems and right-side secondary pathways for reading were activated in the brains of dyslexics. In a year the abovementioned research, based on the results of successfully involved systematic and explicit approaches to learning, witnessed further development of neural system of the left side of the brain (Shaywitz 2003). As far as it can be seen, the importance of internal and external rewards in the learning process both of normal students and students with disabilities is underlined in the scientific works and researches. The importance of internal rewards will be discussed further on. An importance of external rewards in the learning process can be explained in the following way: if a student feels no external support or is socially disapproved, he is prevented from active social position, learning, working etc. In order to consider the importance of internal rewards for students, a number of works devoted to this theme are considered further on. Nevertheless there are also cons of external and internal rewards. In the studies by Bouffard and Couture (2003), Fulk et al (1998), Thomas and Oldfather (1997) and others motivation is considered either as a moderator of achievement, or a mediator, or both. The scientists are united by their common idea that motivation has positively changed students’ attitude to learning and increased the level of achievement (internal rewards were involved). On the other hand, the absence of external rewards from teachers will develop a negative attitude to learning process. For example, who will motivate a student while doing home tasks or preparing research papers? Therefore external motivation does not have a long-time effect and is essential only in class. An interesting study conducted by Sideridis et al (2006) was based not only on data obtained from questionnaires filled in by dyslexics, but also by students with no learning disabilities. An influence of motivation on cognition, psyche and learning abilities of two groups of students showed that a factor of competitiveness led to efficient results of motivation involvement in the learning process. Therefore the scientists came to the conclusion that motivation plays a great role in reading and comprehension and worked out practical recommendations for both normal and dyslexic students’ teaching. The role of internal rewards is also discussed with regard to a low self-esteem among students. They may be scared off by their failures during learning process of by the very fact of failures. The majority of people are afraid to fail; failures are considered to be bad and destructing ones in our society. In order to increase self-esteem of a student (internal reward), it is necessary to work out a personal approach to this person by his psychologist or teacher or employer. Unfortunately, very often our society doesn’t provide with services of these specialists. A student with psychological problems, disabilities etc has to increase his self-esteem himself. What is self-esteem, actually? It consists of self-worth and self-competence, as it is determined by West (1997). An importance of self-esteem can be explained in the following way: a person with high self worth believes in his happiness and prosperity; a person with high self competence believes in his ability to cope with daily challenges. The attention of the scientists to the problems of self-esteem, their reasons and treatment resulted in numerous scientific researches on this theme. The scientists have shifted their accents from medical treatment and general approaches to social and emotional aspects to considerations of the self. As far as it can be seen, an importance of internal rewards is more considered by the researches than the role of external rewards. Thus a development of self-esteem among children with dyslexia was studied by Rosenthal in 1973. His approach to children with dyslexia and their distribution in to groups is relevant not only to children, but also to the adults and normal individuals. This scientist also pays attention to the importance of external rewards. He talks about families, who partly understand problems of their children with dyslexia, who do not, families of normal children and children with asthma. He shows different attitudes of the society to different groups of children and claims that if surrounding people had better understanding of dyslexia, self-esteem of children with dyslexia would be higher. The same claim can be applied to the adults and people with no disabilities, but with no proper motivation to learning. A social acceptance of people with a low self-esteem determines their role in the society and their ways of life. In the study conducted by Thomson and Hartley (1980), based on several measures to make an assessment of self-concept and self-esteem of people, the attention is paid to consideration of the self and learning difficulties. The researches considered children with dyslexia though their conclusions are relevant to adults with dyslexia too (Smith, 1996). For example, of course, people with dyslexia had lower self-esteem in comparison with normal people. This conclusion is an expected one and it is not surprising. These researchers focus their attention on the development of a favorable learning atmosphere and underline the role of a teacher. Thus their study discusses the importance of external rewards. Another study devoted to the research on self-esteem conducted by Kelly Grid (1955) is focused on the associations of constructs. Children with dyslexia drew parallels between ‘good reading ability’ and ‘happiness’; they consider these two concepts to be equal. This scientist is focused on investigation of inner rewards involved in the learning process of children with dyslexia. Generally, the majority of studies on external and internal rewards in learning discuss importance of these issues with regard to the self (following Rosenthal, Thompson and others). In such kind of studies the attention is paid to a role of specialists’ help in self-esteem increase. The emphasis is made on a negative influence of mainstream environment and lack of specialists’ care, i. e. a lack of external rewards. Moreover, social environment, where learning is motivated, is more favorable for self-esteem increase then a specialized academic environment. Thus the importance of internal rewards is also underlined. It is also necessary to notice that researchers pay attention to emotional aspect in the learning process. A desire to be uneducated causes a great impact on a human psyche and emotional stress occurs. In the study conducted by Edwards (1994) it is underlined that emotional stress among dyslexics is often met among those whose families don’t pay much attention to dyslexia. Disappointment, frustration, shame, sadness, depression, fierce and embarrassment are often met among people with no learning motivation. These negative feelings occur both in families and in social lives of such kind of people. In order to reach success in the learning process, both adults and children have to work at their self-esteem, develop it and if a specialized help is available, then self-esteem will be increased as soon as possible. In order to overcome a social disapproval, a combination of external and internal rewards is required. Conclusion As far as it can be seen, the importance of internal and external rewards in the learning process both of normal students and students with disabilities is underlined in the scientific works and researches. Difficulties in the learning process prevent people from normal life due to the following reasons: inability to memorize and understand the required material, difficulties of words’ cognition etc. Moreover, the most intimidating factor of the learning process difficulties is its destructing impact on a human psyche, emotional stress and social malfunction of a person. Numerous researches and scientific works are devoted to define the external and internal rewards of learning process. A crucial role of motivational strategies (external rewards) and methods of self-esteem increase (internal rewards) are indisputable ways to reach success in the learning process. Works cited 1. Crisfield, J (1996). The Dyslexia Handbook. BDA Reading. 2. Greenwood, C., Horton, B. & Utley, C. (2002). Academic engagement: Current perspectives on research and practice. School Psychology Review, 31, 328-349. 3. Klem, A. & Connell, J. (2004). Relationships matter: Linking teacher support to student engagement and achievement. Journal of School Health, 74, 262-273. 4. Lamorey, S. (2002). The effects of the culture on special education services: Evil eyes, prayer meetings, and IEPs. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34(5), 67-71. 5. Leedy, P. D. & Ormrod, J. E. (2001). Practical research: Planning and design. (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall. 6. Ott, P. (1997). How to Detect and Manage Dyslexia. Heinemann Educational Publishers. 7. Peer, L. (1998). Winning with Dyslexia, a Guide for Secondary Schools. British Dyslexia Association. 8. Pumfrey, P., Reason, R. (1991). Specific Learning Difficulties – Challenges and Responses. Windsor: NFER-Nelson. 9. Shaywitz, S. (2003). Overcoming Dyslexia. New York. 10. Sideridis, J. D., Scanlon, D. (2006). Motivational Issues in Learning Disabilities: Editors' Introduction to Special Issue. Learning Disability Quarterly, 29 (3), 131+. 11. Skinner, E. & Belmont, M. (1993). Motivation in the classroom: Reciprocal effects of teacher behavior and student engagement across the school year. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 571-581. 12. Smith, D. (1996). Spotlight on SEN, Specific Learning Difficulties. NASEN Publications 13. West, T. G. (1997). In the Mind's Eye: Visual Thinkers, Gifted People with Dyslexia and Other Learning Difficulties, Computer Images, and the Ironies of Creativity. NY, Amherst: Prometheus Books. Read More