Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation

The discussions about incentives and how they relate to cost and benefit have been insightful and compelling. You have all raised some excellent points. Most students seem to agree that incentives are largely effective and, in the short term at least, beneficial to students. Many also contend that responding to incentives is not a symptom of greed but of rational cost/benefit analysis. A few students took a step further into the arena by looking past the “whether or not” question to pose some “how or why” questions. How, for example, do students respond to incentives and how can these be used to help students in their studies? A few students raised the use of participation marks and bonus quizzes as incentives used to get students to attend classes or do necessary — but sometimes — tedious work. Others questioned whether such strategic incentives could prove to be detrimental in the long run. Should a student attend class because they will receive extra marks or because attending class is an essential part of learning? How do incentives function in relation to students’ long-term goals and achievements? These are excellent questions and perhaps can be further addressed in the this next discussion. Read this peer-reviewed article. It is quite long, but please take the time to read through the central arguments of the paper and their conclusions. Below are some questions to consider (though, again, feel free to discuss whatever you find worth discussing as it relates to your studies in economics or the communication of economic ideas and theories): Has this article affected your previous thoughts about the use of incentives? How? If not, why not? Does the article support some of the statements made within your group? Discuss one of them. Does the article challenge some of these statements? Discuss one of them. follow the instructions to answer questions and please give your idea to reply article called discussion .