Overcoming Instant Gratification

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Overcoming Instant Gratification

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Let’s face it, we live in a world of instant gratification. We get our news anytime and anywhere and purchase anything we want with the touch of a button. Technology has pushed us further into the instant gratification age with millions of movies, games, channels, and social media sites.

Let’s stop for a moment and think about this in relation to assessment. No one would deny it feels good to get a hole in one or prepare the perfect filet mignon. But, just because you got a hole in one, once, on a miniature golf course, doesn’t mean you win The Masters. It takes time, preparation, repetition, and talent to achieve that. It also takes a lot of feedback and modification to practice. On high-stakes tests, students rarely have the opportunity to analyze, correct, and learn from errors. Informative, and constructive assessment takes time; it requires recognizing errors, revisiting learning, and revising work as steps towards improvement.

In order to slow down instant gratification, it is necessary to change assessment from one right answer to a process of discovery. Instead of moving a word or number on the screen into the correct box, it means considering other strategies or solutions. Ways to do this include working progressively on complex tasks, planning goals and strategies from the start, portioning the steps into feasible and actionable steps, and frequent check-ins that inform progress and adjustments.

The challenge comes in redirecting the dopamine response that stimulates our reward centers when we get something right on a test. It is not easy to say to a child “stop for a moment and reflect on your answer.” Yet, it is possible to ask learners: “Are there other ways to solve the problem or could there be different outcomes or perspectives?” or “Consider why your answer is correct or why you got it wrong?” Using these strategies, followed by an affirmation of a student’s response, keeps the dopamine flowing.

Also, acknowledge that making mistakes is an assessment option as well as an opportunity. Using mistakes to identify misunderstandings leads the teacher and student to an analysis of errors. Turning mistakes into learning opportunities and then celebrating improvement provides a similar dopamine rush. Try these: Play learning games by making silly or extreme errors and then analyzing them. Explain why the foil-wrapped ice cube in the microwave didn’t melt. Ask students to give wrong answers to test questions, then explain the right ones. Use multiple opportunities to show learning through multiple channels and diverse strategies.

When students are feeling especially frustrated, watch the video on Famous Failures. Even Walt Disney, Oprah, and Michael Jordan, who worked persistently, failed before succeeding. Make sure your students know that failure is okay because it leads to growth which leads to long-term rewards.

 


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