Which technique do you not apply to motivate students for learning in the…
2013
Which technique do you not apply to motivate students for learning in the classroom?
- A.
To establish healthy competition among the students.
- B.
To make them feel self-assertion.
- C.
To praise them too much.
- D.
To apply activity based teaching-learning methods.
Attempted by 3 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Motivating students effectively means using strategies that build genuine, lasting engagement -- healthy competition, a sense of self-worth, and active involvement all nurture real interest in learning. A technique stops working as a motivator once it is used indiscriminately and no longer signals genuine achievement, which is exactly why excessive, undiscriminating praise is not considered a sound motivational tool: it loses its reinforcing value, breeds complacency, and shifts a child's focus away from learning itself and toward merely seeking approval.
In this item, three of the four listed techniques are established, recommended classroom-motivation practices, so the technique that should NOT be applied is the one that departs from sound pedagogy -- praising students too much, i.e. indiscriminately or excessively.
Establishing healthy competition channels students' effort constructively and is a standard, recommended technique.
Helping students feel a sense of self-worth builds their self-esteem and autonomy, supporting intrinsic motivation.
Activity-based teaching-learning methods actively engage students in the learning process and are widely endorsed in pedagogy.
Praising students too much, however, is over-used positive reinforcement that loses its meaning, fosters dependence on external validation, and can come across as insincere -- which is why it is the technique to avoid.
Hence, the technique a teacher should NOT apply to motivate students is praising them too much.