In a study, several hundred students were given a test and after the test, half were told they were very intelligent, and half were told they had given great effort. Surprisingly, when the students were given another exam, the children that were told they were intelligent did not want to take the chance of working on a harder test as they felt like they were going to disappoint their teacher. Those told they were giving great effort - 92%, chose the harder test. This shows that when used effectively, praise can be a truly amazing tool in motivating students.
The takeaway from this video and this study are that it is better to praise effort in both students and athletes. By praising intelligence it is setting a student up to feel that they will disappoint if they don't score high on a test.
The takeaway from this video and this study are that it is better to praise effort in both students and athletes. By praising intelligence it is setting a student up to feel that they will disappoint if they don't score high on a test.