Taken from an essay by Rick Reis entitled a�?How to Inspire Students to Set and Achieve Goals Which Really Challenge Thema�?, although there is ample evidence that setting challenging goals has a number of positive outcomes, as educators in the dental field, we must keep in mind that not all students come to class with a desire to be challenged. As dental hygiene faculty, we must find ways to not only develop challenging learning environments for our students, but to create learning environments whereby students set goals that challenge themselves.
There are a few things that can be done in a course to inspire students to set and to achieve challenging goals. A primary factor is to demonstrate to the students the importance of the subject matter covered in the course. Everyone is more willing to work longer and harder when there is value to the task to be completed. There are many ways to show the direct application of the material in the class: problem-based learning, cases, scenarios, application problems, web quests, or even service-learning projects. These methods are particulary useful in programs that combine theory and practical application like dental hygiene training for example.
A final method to inspire students to set challenging goals is to have them contract for grades. What is a “contract for grades”? As defined on about.com: ” Grade contracts are a method that some teachers use to help get their students to have more ownership over their grades.These contracts can take a variety of forms. The most common type of grade contracts have the students at the beginning of a semester or large project declare what grade they are striving to attain. In most cases, the teacher will have them sign an actual “contract” which does not have any weight per se but instead is a symbolic act.” Grade contracts have been reported to reduce the anxiety level of the student by having them focus on tasks, instead of worrying about specific grades on specific assignments. Research has demonstrated that grade contracting results in enhanced student learning and will often result in students setting challenging goals in the course by contracting for a high grade at the beginning of the semester.
……….an interesting view…..
