Practice and @akabruno – The Challenge Continues…

Practice allows you to make mistakes without penalty.  Practice allows you to experiment and rethink, review, revise – without having to pay the price.  That is how I'm looking at the recent discussion going on between @akabruno and myself on how to influence student behavior and reduce the number of classes his students miss.  I see this as a practice session. (I'll recap a bit below but for those of you who want the "full monty" the original post from @akabruno is here – my response is here.)

I also like how social media has added a new dimension to practice.  What it added is input and feedback on our "performance" through the comments section.  And I have to say "I. Love. It."  Thanks to all who took the time to read and post your thoughts.

Setting the Stage

@akabruno originally penalized the students by deducting points from their grade based on absences above a certain number – a "bogey" in incentive parlance.  

He wanted to change it to increasing the threshold for a grade based on absences.  A kind of reverse psychology – and he wanted to know what I thought and how I would structure something to influence these students.

My response included more "education" on consequences of missing class, using data about missing class within the subject matter (statistics), removing the "free absences" bogey and including "punishments" that decreased over time to hopefully instill the habit of attending earlier in the semester.  I also suggested opportunities for "earning back" if a student did miss a class.

@akabruno shot back with some more information – his post here.  A lot of what I had recommended was already considered and highlighted in his second post.

Here's why I like practice.  I can make a mistake, and learn from it without impacting a specific client.

Oops – Big Oops

 In this practice exercise, through the comments, I realized I had made mistakes in my initial recommendations – (I know, buildings shaking, earth opening up, Bill O'Reilly becoming a liberal.)

First of all, I never asked the best first question, and the second and the third.  I never asked "Why?"

• Why provide the incentive to attend class in the first place?
• Why penalize non-attendees if they get the grade they want?
• Why do you (ie:  the Professor) care?
• Why is this behavior more important than the others? 
• Is this the "VITAL" behavior that determines the outcome?
   

Secondly, I went immediately into "solve" mode without fully understanding the audience, the sponsor, or the environment of the solution.  I made assumptions.  And we all know what happens when we assume.

I didn't do the due diligence usually associated with solving a problem like this.  The big thing I didn't consider is the relationship between @akabruno and his audience.

It's going to get muddy here…

All of the questions I asked above are valid and important when designing a program to influence behavior.  In your own organization you need to understand the goals you want to achieve, understand the behaviors that lead to successfully achieving those goals and you have to identify the vital behaviors – the ones, that if missed, contribute the most to failure.

In the case of @akabruno – nonattendance is a key vital behavior.  Attending class has an impact on grades.  It is anecdotally, and statistically, a fact that less attendance will likely cause your grade to be lower.  Therefore, from @akabruno's perspective this is absolutely the behavior to target.  And if he wants to influence the outcome (higher grades) the best place to do that is influencing behavior around attendance.

However (this is the muddy part) – others have asked and offered in the comments that it is THEIR decision to attend – and THEIR decision to hit their goals and penalties are a HUGE negative to them.  In fact penalties for attendance may cause them to drop the class.  In this scenario no one wins, everyone loses.

Who's Paying Who?  Why This Is Different Than Work

In a work environment a person is given compensation (and incentives) for doing what other people have decided is important to the organization.  The organization determines the goals and outcomes.  In good companies they also determined the behaviors and provide training, communication and when necessary, rewards for doing those behaviors.

In a college environment the audience is paying to attend.  Their point of view is a just a bit different.  They are consuming the product they have paid for and think they should determine how they want to consume it.  A very different scenario than a worker in a company.  In effect the roles are reversed.  This makes any influence program a bit tricky.

Follow Manufacturer's Instructions

I will say however, that the reason students pay for an education at certain institutions is they believe that the brand, style of education and level of education is worth the money and therefore, you'd think they'd consume it in the manner the institution believes is best.  No different than using your lawnmower according to "manufacturer’s instructions."  In effect, @akabruno is saying – "to get the best out of your time with me – attend class – that is the manufacturer’s instructions."

This distinction puts a bit of a different spin on the recommendations I’d make.  However, if colleges were paying people to achieve grades – I’d stand by it.  They would be in control and deserve to get people to do the vital behaviors necessary to achieve their goal. 

But for students in a class, paying for an education – it’s not as clear cut.  So…

Time to Revise

Based on a bit more thinking time, and the valuable additions from my social media coaching staff I'm revising my initial recommendation slightly.

Here's how I'd do it….

1. Still focus heavily on educating the students on how attendance influences grades – not just put it in the syllabus, talk about it, use it in examples – in other words make sure they understand it is VITAL to success.
2. I would provide many options, variables and ways to earn points that total your grade – attendance being a big part of it.
3. And I’d make the grade scale immensely harder:  score 100 on all exams and quizzes = A, score 95-99 get a B, score 90-94 get a C, score 85-99 get a D and anything below 85 is failing.

Leave the decision in the students' hands – they are the consumer, they can use the product as "recommended" or they can try to cut their hedges with a power mower.

This is closer to @akabruno’s second scenario presented in his initial post – but more heavy handed.  Again, I go back to the idea that if attendance is critical – make it critical.  Make it something that can impact grades but give those that want to trim hedges something to target as well.

A long strange trip it’s been.  But it has been fun for me!  Hope you’ve enjoyed it as well.

So coaches – how we doing?