October 9, 2011

I am surprised by the research about incentives. A ton of studies have been done about reading motivation, but very little about the effect of the type of rewards or the choice of rewards. There are so many variables that I'm not sure a definitive answer can be found. Children have different learning styles and skill levels, so the research participants will never be completely homogeneous. Reading is a skill just like playing an instrument or sport. What about the kids who just aren't good at reading. Will they respond to an intrinsic or extrinsic reward. Barbara Marinak states in Intrinsic Motivation and Rewards: What Sustains Young Children's Engagement with Text? That extrinsic rewards have had some positive effect on reluctant readers. In my Materials for 5-8 class, we read a book about reading that explored the idea of reading as a skill that not everyone will attain at the same level. Chapter one in Representing Youth briefly discusses the idea that research on teens is not pure, developmental stages are taken into account. So many things bouncing in my head. Hopefully further reading will help connect the dots.