Chapter Incentive Packages Student’s Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Rewards Each chapter has been provided funds through the Chapter Service Contracts to be used to create an incentive package of extrinsic rewards to help encourage students in developing their projects, completing assignments, participating in research and evaluation activities. Developing student incentives is particularly important for chapters that conduct club-based model programs that do not include the academic accountability provided through the classintegration model. Most students who join EnvironMentors are highly motivated in the early months of the program. In reality, however, EnvironMentors is a long term project for a high school student to undertake. TIP: Coordinators and teachers should explain the significance of each of the program’s major components, assignments, and milestones in the beginning of their EnvironMentors school year. Students typically do well in the early weeks and months of the program. The going can get rough for many students after the Winter Holidays. Most students lose contact with their mentor over the winter break resulting in loss of focus on EnvironMentors and their projects. TIP: Encourage your mentors to stay in regular contact with their students during your university’s break particularly since this is longer than the high school’s winter break. Additionally, the background research paper, annotated bibliographies and expert Interview assignments are all due during the second half of the program after students’ winter break. At this time many students need a series of incentives to encourage timely completion of their assignments. Student incentives and extrinsic rewards and the Program Calendar: Coordinators and Teachers are encouraged to work together to build incentives and extrinsic rewards into your program calendar aligned with spring due dates. Types of Incentives and Motivators: Field trips (i.e. a hiking, skiing, or a skating trip); Movie or bowling nights; or Gift Cards to popular retail outlets or movie theatres. Plan In Advance: Whatever you determine is the best use of your incentive funds for extrinsic rewards, planning in advance for: what you will include in your incentive package and how and when you will allocate these incentives will go a long way to supporting your students in completing their projects during the crucial latter months of the program.
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