The Effect of a Simple Reward Model on the Academic Achievement of Syrian Dental Students
Volume 5 Issue 4
Aous DANNAN
Pages: 308-314 Download Count : 4695 View Count: 2344 DOI Number 10.24331/ijere.750108 Facebook Twitter Share on Google+
Abstract:
Reward systems in teaching are important keys which aim at enhancing students’ academic achievements. Studying the effects of rewards, as extrinsic motivators, on college students is somehow underestimated in the literature. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of a simple tangible reward on the academic achievement of Syrian dental students. A total of 139 dental students, assigned to four classes, were enrolled in the study. After completion of a first exam, all students who got full marks (i.e. 20 marks) were awarded a “Certificate of Achievement”. Four weeks later, a second exam related to the same course took place, and the same process of certification for students with full marks was performed. Records of students’ marks of both first and second exams were collected and statistically analyzed. The results showed no statistically significant differences between groups (i.e. classes) neither for first exam nor for second exam marks. The mean of marks for the first and second exams were (10.62±4.88) and (14.63±4.07) respectively. The difference of means’ records for all students between first and second exams was statistically significant. It was concluded that a tangible reward in the form of “certificate” had a positive effect on the dental students’ academic achievements. Enhancement of students’ motivation through reward systems should come under focus in higher educational institutions.
Keywords
- Reward
- dental student
- motivation
- academic achievement.