What's The Incentive?

In January I was appointed as the coordinator for my university’s student leadership development program. As I began planning the program's offerings, I wrestled with the question, “What is the incentive for students to participate in the program?” After my appointment, I established a student advisory committee for the program. The students raised the same question I did. So I asked them why they are involved. Because they want to learn how to lead, was their reply. They aren’t motivated by a grade or academic credit. They are motivated to learn about a subject that is of interest to them. Wow! What a concept. Students pursuing a subject for the sake of learning rather than for a grade! There was my answer. Design a program that appeals to those who want to learn to lead. After all, those are the students who I want to attract and work with.

I wrestle with the same question about motivation when designing my courses. How do I get students committed to learning the subject of the course? Again I turned to my students. In my performance management course this past semester I used the course as a laboratory. The students learned performance management principles by applying those principles to the course. In other words, the students designed the course. It didn’t take long for the issue of motivation to surface. What became obvious is that half the class wanted to learn the course subject and the other half wanted to know how early they could get out of class. After all, it was an evening course that ran nearly three hours. Who would want to stay for three hours to learn about performance management? I discovered the answer to that question one evening when I gave up on trying to devise incentives to motivate them all to learn. I gave the question of motivation to the class and I left early. The next day I received excited emails from a few of the students. The half of the class that stayed after I left experienced the most rewarding learning experience of the course; for some it was one of the best classes of their college career. And they stayed beyond the class period! Wow! What a concept. Students involved enough in learning to be oblivious to the clock!

For each subsequent class I gave my lesson, posed a question to the class, and left early. During the week that followed I received emails with answers to the question I posed. I emailed my feedback and in answer received the students’ revisions. Only half of the class was motivated to stay and work on the issues I presented. What those who stayed discovered, however, was that learning was more rewarding and energizing when not dampened by the listless attitude of the unmotivated students.

What did I learn? Design courses for those who want to learn the subject matter. As teachers we spend so much time and energy trying to devise ways to motivate the unmotivated that we neglect the students who are committed to learning. If someone does not want to learn what is needed to prepare them for a profession, why are we trying to persuade them to learn? We end up certifying mediocre candidates for professions they have little interest in. That is not serving the professions or the students. It would be better for us to help those who are not motivated to learn a subject to discover what they are excited to learn about. And if they can’t find a field that motivates them, then perhaps they are not ready for college.

Part of my university’s mission is to develop within students “a passion for learning.” I suggest we turn this around. Let us help students discover what they are passionate to learn. Motivation is inwardly generated. It cannot be imposed externally. Let us stop trying to persuade students and help them to discover.