The debate over how to motivate students is a topic that has been widely discussed since the inception of education. Modern education has attempted to rely heavily on immediate concrete rewards based on productivity and achievement. Dan Pink, in his Ted Talk titled “Puzzle of Motivation,” draws attention to a different way of motivating. This way of motivating is based on autonomy, mastery and purpose. Throughout this essay, the reader will learn different ways to motivate students, both with immediate rewards and more unorthodox methods by today's standards. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Pink's TED talk highlights some very interesting motivational concepts that many people haven't considered today. It attempts to debunk some misconceptions and old strategies that workplaces tend to use to motivate. These same ideas are also used in most schools across the country and Pink believes they do a great disservice to workers and students. One of the most interesting things about this video is how Pink talks about how immediate rewards for people based on productivity greatly reduce the actual outcome. He points to a study that found people who received a monetary reward performed worse than those who didn't receive a reward. This is not only an interesting study, but also an important one to consider in a school setting. Often, schools do things like AR goals and lunches with the principal based on academic performance. Pink would say that sometimes these goals work, but often they simply lead to many children's motivators being ignored and results diminished. Pink has a different idea on how to motivate beyond concrete rewards. He believes that a person can be highly motivated based on three things. These three things are autonomy, mastery and purpose. Autonomy is a person's personal motivation and desire to accomplish a task. Mastery is whether they believe they are good at the task and are sufficiently equipped to perform it. The final motivator is purpose, this means that a person believes that the task at hand is worthwhile and interesting enough. Pink gives an example of Wikipedia vs Encarta, which are two online encyclopedias. Encarta is a company based on success and compensation based on productivity and Wikipedia is an independent encyclopedia based on volunteering. Encarta was removed in 2009 after numerous failures while Wikipedia is still thriving and enjoying huge success. Both companies had the same goal but approached it in very different ways. Pink gives some credence to traditional motivation. Indeed, he believes that rewards for very specific and targeted tasks can have concrete rewards. He argues, however, that for longer-term, more creative jobs and tasks, concrete rewards will only be counterproductive. He makes a very interesting point that is directly related to class. That's when he said many jobs today that are focused and restricted are outsourced to other countries, while jobs based on creativity and production are in high demand. It is important for teachers to realize this because many of the jobs their students will do are creative and they need to have motivators”