Evaluation of good practices of using rewards in online classrooms based on the five principles of motivation

Rewards are often used as a stimulus to engage students in activities they may not be interested in at first. According to Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET), the impacts of rewards on one’s motivation can vary in rewards contingency, that is, how the rewards have been given and administrated. The two most adopted rewards in education are completion- and performance-contingent rewards. Completion-contingent rewards are given upon completing a task, regardless of the performance quality, while performance-contingent rewards are awarded only when a certain level of competency is met. Previous studies presented mixed results of using these rewards on student intrinsic motivation and learning performance. There is a lack of research investigating the effects of rewards contingency on student online learning outcomes, despite student satisfaction and engagement in online classes were reported to be relatively low compared to traditional in-person classes. Therefore, this study aimed to address the gaps by implementing, comparing, and evaluating both completion- and performance-contingent rewards in a fully online class. Thirty-one postgraduates participated in the study. All reward tasks were incorporated in pre-class individual online quizzes. The quantitative data analysis showed that using performance-informational rewards can lead to significantly higher intrinsic motivation and enhanced learning performance compared to adopting completion-controlling rewards. Qualitative data analysis based on semi-structured student interviews revealed that both completion- and performance-contingent rewards could help to enhance students’ online learning motivation from different aspects. Implications for good practices of using rewards in online learning were implementing reward tasks unexpectedly, providing positive and informational feedback with reward tasks, and designing reward tasks that facilitate students’ social presence and relatedness. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.