Research School Network: Do Rewards Work? Should Learning Be Its Own Reward?

by Karen Roskilly, Research Lead

The first gathering of this year’s Education Reading Group took place last Friday lunchtime with a focus on rewards, using an article by Daniel Willingham entitled ​‘Should Learning Be Its Own Reward?’ which explored the research evidence around how best to use rewards in school.

Motivation

A key theme explored in the article and in our discussion was the relationship between rewards and student motivation. Evidence clearly shows that getting a reward doesn’t necessarily increase your motivation to do something and, in some instances, can actually reduce your motivation. Willingham shows that rewards decrease motivation for tasks that students initially like, with many studies showing that once a reward is no longer offered, having received a reward in the past harms the motivation for an interesting task but not a boring one!

Teacher and student perceptions

Willingham states that rewards should be desirable, certain and prompt if they are to be effective. However, this raises a few issues for us as teachers. Firstly, there is the certainty of the reward, the probability of a student receiving it if they reach the target behaviour. This is problematic as it can rely on a judgement call from us about whether or not a student has tried their best and this perception can differ from the student leading to mistrust. Secondly is the issue of delay, with Willingham stating that there is a significant cost to the reward value for even a brief delay. There is also an age factor here too, with this being more problematic for younger students than older students. We get better at deferred gratification as we get older.

Individualised Vs generalised rewards

Willingham states that if a reward system is the same for all class members, it won’t work as well as an individualised approach – there is the risk that you will reward some students for tasks they already enjoy which can have a detrimental impact on motivation. However, is an individualised approach possible in schools? It might be more feasible in individual classrooms, but this then potentially increases workload.

The article also raises the interesting question of whether student motivation is the real reason you might use rewards. For example, if you bring cakes in for a class, is this to motivate students or to create a sense of community.

Using rewards might be particularly worth it when:

1. Students must learn a task that is dull, but once mastered leads to greater interest and motivation. Learning times tables might be an example here.
2. A student has lost confidence and has given up. They might attempt a task if there is an extrinsic reward and this might then have a positive impact on self concept.

You can access the full article here.