EPSY 6330 - Ask the Psychologist: Analyzing Feedback Importance

This assignment, prepared for an Educational Psychology course (EPSY 6330), addresses a student's concern about their teacher's reward-based teaching style. The assignment analyzes the central issue of student motivation and learning, identifying competition as a potential drawback of the teacher's approach. It uses psychological theories, including Constructivism, Humanism, and Connectivism, to interpret the situation and provide recommendations. The first recommendation suggests incorporating Constructivism to foster students' observation skills and understanding of the world beyond the 'Student of the Day' chart, including practical activities like market visits. The second recommendation advocates for Humanism, encouraging students to identify role models and develop aspirations, fostering a sense of self-improvement rather than competition. The final recommendation emphasizes Connectivism, acknowledging the value of feedback and rewards but cautioning against creating a competitive environment. The assignment aims to guide the teacher toward methods that enhance learning attributes and student development.

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STUDENT DETAILS
STUDENT DETAIL

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Overview of the study
This is the message received by Dr. Marlowe from a student who is expressing his
concern about his teacher’s teaching style. His teacher thinks that the best way to help
students in boosting their performance to the optimum level is that to reward them. For
example: telling students that after completing his task or lesson or chapter they will get a
certain reward. According to her (teacher), offering reward is the best to boost student’s
performance in an effective and efficient way. His teacher thinks that every thing is based
upon competition and she empowers students by saying that you should focus on the “Student
of the day” chart. By focusing on this chart, you will push hisself harder to accomplish best
grades. Apart from this, when this student (the person who wrote me this letter) question to
his teacher about her teaching style then she said that psychology classes are interesting but
kids requires immediate rewards or feedback to incorporate learning. She further explains to
him that when a kid gets good feedback or reward then next time, they push themselves to
perform even better. At the end, student requested me for my advice.

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Michael Lopes - Wakanda
25th March, 2020
Dr. Marlowe
Wakanda
Dear Michael Lopes,
Centre idea of this advice will revolve around empowering student with better learning
capacity and with better observing skills rather than just focusing on incorporating better
grades. From above study, it can be identified that your teacher also operates with the motive
to make their students capable to learn new thing each and every time but the way she is
incorporating is creating a sense of competition in their mind. The motive of your teacher is
pure and positive, as she wants that children should perform better and they should
incorporate learning attributes in the better way (Javadi & Tahmasbi, 2019). Here, it is
important to understand that offering good feedback and rewards is not the bad thing to
motivate children (Javadi & Tahmasbi, 2019). Although this is the technique through which
students feels motivated. Here, the thing that create adverse situation is that your teacher is
motivating students in the way that it is creating a sense of competition in student’s mind,
which is the concerning matter that requires immediate attention. Below are the three suitable
advice for your teacher that will help her to teach students new things in a better way rather
than creating a sense of competition in their mind:
Constructivism theory is the idea that helps children to create a sense of understanding in
their own mind based upon external factors (Javadi & Tahmasbi, 2019). By incorporating this
theory, your teacher should make positive external environment for students. She should
empower students to analyse or observe things going around and see how the world actually
works rather than showing showcasing about the “Student of the day chart”. If children are
little younger (around 4 years and above) then she should also arrange a market visit for the

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children so that they can observe things as per their own understanding (Maharani &
Sukestiyarno, 2017). Now, here a question arisen that children will observe things in a
fantasy way about the market or may be possible that they do not understand anything at all.
Here, it is suggested that this constructivism theory should be followed in two below steps:
1. Take children on the market visit or create an environment in the school only to
enhance observation skills of the student.
2. After step 1, teacher should talk with students that what they had observed? This
is the master stroke point because here teacher can tell students difference
between what they should observe and what they had actually observed.
Here, the pressure on the teacher can increase in the immense way because children
will ask different questions and she have to answer them all with patience and clam
mindset (Mattar, 2018).
Second recommendation is to incorporate the aspects of Humanism theory. This hypothesis
explains that learning is a natural process that empower an individual to accomplish a self-
actualization point in an effective and efficient way. This hypothesis also suggests that an
individual can accomplish goals even better when they make any role model of their life.
Here, teacher should ask students that what they want to become in future? Some children
will say they want to become pilot, policemen, astronaut, etc (McCourt, 2016). Now, teacher
should assign each role model for every student and she should also describe their qualities to
them. It will fascinate students to become like their role model. Afterwards, teacher should
also tell students about certain actions that students should take in their daily lives to reach to
that level (Feenberg, 2017). For example: learning things in the better, study consistently,
they should be excited for knowledge, etc. Here, this will also create a sense of competition
in student’s mind but this is the sense of competition in which student have to upgrade

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themselves then yesterday rather than engaging in competition with other students for
“Student of the day” chart. Instead, she should empower students to behave and conduct work
like their role model because in this way they will achieve a better productivity in their
academic performance (Mohamed, Ubaidullah & Yusof, 2017).
Thirdly, to incorporate the aspects of connectivism theory. As this hypothesis states that
people learn and develop things when they get idea from other people. These ideas help them
to process information in an effective and efficient manner (McCourt, 2016). Here, it is
advisable to the teacher that she should help students by giving them motivational ideas such
as offering them reward or good feedback. Now, it is important to understand that offering
rewards and good feedback to the children is not a bad thing although it is the great parameter
to empower them into learning new things. But when a teacher starts creating a sense of
competition into students then it turns into a bad thing because now students perform better
for a sack of reward not for enhancing their learning attributes (Noyes, 2019).
Good Luck
Dr. Marlowe

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References
Feenberg, A. L. (2017). Concretizing simondon and constructivism: A recursive contribution
to the theory of concretization. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 42(1), 62-
85.
Fouladchang, M. (2018). The Motivational Outcomes Of Connectivism Theory In
EFL. Modern Journal of Language Teaching Methods (MJLTM), 8(2), 101-112.
Javadi, Y., & Tahmasbi, M. (2019). Application of Humanism Teaching Theory and
Humanistic Approach to Education in Course-books. Theory and Practice in
Language Studies, 10(1), 40-48.
Maharani, H. R., & Sukestiyarno, S. (2017). Learning analysis based on humanism theory
and mathematics creative thinking ability of students. Proceeding ICMETA, 1(1),
110-130.
Mattar, J. (2018). Constructivism and connectivism in education technology: Active, situated,
authentic, experiential, and anchored learning. RIED. Revista Iberoamericana de
Educación a Distancia, 21(2), 89-99.
McCourt, D. M. (2016). Practice theory and relationalism as the new
constructivism. International Studies Quarterly, 60(3), 475-485.
Mohamed, Z., Ubaidullah, N. H., & Yusof, S. I. M. (2017). A Measurement Model of
Independent Learning Based on Connectivism Theory and Web 2.0: Partial Least
Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) Approach. International
Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(11), 2222-6990.

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Noyes, J. K. (2019). Humanism, embodied knowledge, and postcolonial theory. Abingdon:
Routledge.