I was so struck by the story of an eighty-eight-year-old professor’s encounter with a student who would not wear a mask that I missed this choice bit in The New York Times about “tangible inducements” to get college students to wear masks in class:
The University of Texas at Austin told professors that they could offer nonacademic rewards, like cookies, to cajole students to wear masks. (A university spokeswoman, Eliska Padilla, said this was informal, not an incentive program.)Good thing UT Austin has administrators to clarify these points for the public.
A related post
On games and candy in the college classroom
comments: 2
Seriously, ccokies to wear a mask? What are they 5 years old? Isn't that what we are doing? Treating "adults" like 5 year olds and for what? And what happens when they get in the "real" world -- are we going to offer them cookies and candy for showing up on time?
Sarcasm aside: does this mean the professors/instructors/teaching assistants have to have a variety of cookies on-hand to meet the dietary concerns of students: nut-free, gluten-free, soy-free, milk-free.
This just seems to be a lawsuit in waiting.
Kirsten
ps my university is offering prizes for getting vaccinated: https://www.k-state.edu/covid-19/vaccine/faculty-staff-vaccination-incentive.html and https://www.k-state.edu/covid-19/vaccine/student-vaccination-incentive.html
I didn’t think about the complications that come with cookies. I hope everyone practices mindful baking!
I joked in some other post about prizes and vaccination that people in teacher ed now have a perfect illustration of the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic rewards. It’s not enough to do the right thing; there must also be cookies.
Post a Comment