ECON 490 LA Prompt for Reflection #7
This week we want to focus on incentive schemes that you've experienced. Feel free to chose contexts other than school. That will make the posts more interesting. But here I will focus on school, because that experience is common to all members of the class. You've probably taken courses that have different grading schemes. Discuss how your performance varied based on differences in the grading scheme. You can do this on an assignment by assignment basis as well, or on a team by team basis. What we're after here, is how the reward scheme influenced your performance.
Then also write about about your sense of risk aversion. Do you try to reduce uncertainty by self-insuring or self-protecting with respect to your grades? If so, what do activities do you do to reduce the risk?
The grading schemes used by professors in my experience have been quite varied. As an example, some professors take daily attendance, assign homework, give midterms and a final. Other professors do not take attendance, but give scores based on 2 midterms and a final. These two cases affect my study habits greatly.
In the first case, I usually take a more structured approach. I would go to class, take notes, and do the homework up until exams. When exams arrive, I would attend review sessions, review homework and do past exams.
In the second case, I tend to be more "casual". Since there is no attendance, I feel less guilty about missing class. If there is another class that needs more urgent preparations, I may skip class to attend office hours or do other work. If it's a morning class, I may skip to get more sleep. Since there is no homework, I would leisurely review the textbook or lecture notes.
In order to maximize my utility and get an A, both class formats require a large amount of time. Overall, my performance is better in the first scenario. However, I've realized that in order for me to do well regardless of the class format, I need to use a more structured format outlined in the first case, modified to include extra office hours.
This factors into into my sense of risk aversion in the classroom. Part of the reason why I prefer the first method is to protect myself against unexpected questions or concepts on exams. Spending time in class and doing homework exposes me to more material, and through constant revisiting makes it easier to understand. If I have questions, I try to solve it myself first before going to office hours and asking. If there is homework and/or labs, I will do my utmost to get 100% on both to act as a buffer for potentially disappointing exam scores. For further insurance, I will cram for exams regardless of how my studies are progressing. On the surface, the first method seems like much more work compared to the relaxed pace in the second case but to me, the pressure and time spent cramming for exams at the last minute gives me less utility when compared to a relatively steady study process.
Outside of academia, the "easiest" incentive scheme for me to follow was in music, in this case playing piano. For me, the reward is self perpetuating. From a young age, my piano teacher would assign several pieces for me to learn. She would ask me to sight read them. Since I wasn't adept at playing music I had never seen before, my performance was pretty terrible. Then, the teacher would give some quick words of encouragement and play the piece for me to hear. The result was wonderful. From that moment, I was motivated to get my performance comparable to the teacher's. Every time I practiced I would remember my teacher's rendition. To help ensure good results, I would listen to performances by world-class pianists and apply their signatures to my playing. After practicing for some time, I could perform the pieces well (demonstrated through a recital), and my rewards of a good performance and self-confidence were obtained. However, a new reward would quickly appear whenever I heard a new piece that I liked and wanted to learn. Using my previous confidence and successful experience as motivation, I would start practicing something new -- and the cycle still continues today. Playing musical instruments helped me learn from a young age that "Practice makes perfect" which can apply to almost every setting, including school.
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Monday, March 5, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Reflection #5
ECON 490 LA Prompt for Reflection #5
This is for material in M&R Chapter 5. It is said that actions speak louder than words. Please come up with two examples that illustrate the maxim. In the first example, the person taking the action does so with deliberation and intent. In your example address the question: what makes the action communicate? In the second example, focus on inadvertent communication, where a message is delivered though the sender had not intent in sending it. What makes the message come through nonetheless?
Actions speak louder than words is a maxim I find quite accurate. An example of actions carried out with deliberation are often found in a workplace environment. If an intern is just starting their first internship, they will usually take more pro-active actions to show they care greatly for their given opportunity, regardless of their job duties. Among these pro-active approaches includes arriving to work early, intently observing co-workers to expedite fitting in with the corporate culture, eagerly offering help to others, focusing intently on all assigned work, and staying late at the workplace when necessary. The subtleties that are attached to these actions signal a sense of responsibility, reliability, commitment, and in some cases passion. These all work favorably for the intern and may help in securing future employment at the company or obtaining better recommendation letters that aid in other future job hunts.
However, the unfavorable aspects of actions can be revealed during times of inconsistency. To illustrate, take the pro-active intern that has been performing well and say he arrives late to work twice in one week. If the intern calls ahead the first day he's late and explains the situation, there would be action with the intent to preserve the credibility gained through previous pro-active actions. If there is no call or email in advance on the second day of lateness, the "non-action" could be construed as having a deliberate negative impact on the intern's credibility. In that sense, perhaps actions can be seen as points on a scale. Positive, pro-active actions that help someone gain credibility or favor can be counted as "adding points." Conversely, actions that are detrimental to someone could be counted as "subtracting points." How the points balance out can, theoretically, determine the impact one's intended actions have on their surroundings.
For inadvertent communication through actions, I can relate to it through a classical musician's standpoint. Throughout high school, I had played the cello and was heavily involved in various orchestras. Among those, the one with the highest difficulty was the IMEA All-State orchestra, which auditioned string instrument players throughout the entire state of Illinois and selected the best. The repertoire required for the auditions are given around the beginning of the school term, and the All-State audition occurred toward the end of the semester. Thus, there is time to prepare for the auditions, but students are also busy with other tasks besides practicing constantly. Ultimately, months of preparation culminates into one 10 minute audition in front of 4 judges. In that moment, all musicians give inadvertent information through their auditions - it is unavoidable since there is no way to hide it. Some may reassure themselves mentally, but can indirectly give off a nervous vibe before auditions. When I was nervous, it showed when greeting the judges with handshakes through my shaky and clammy hands. During the brief audition, a musician's performance inadvertently shows many intangibles about the musician. An obvious point is how much time a musician has spent practicing and preparing for the audition. Someone who has practiced 10 hours a week is clearly different from someone who has practiced 40 hours a week - the difference in time spent cannot be made up and shows clearly in performances. Throughout my actual audition, there are indirect signs gleaned from my performance that result from an accumulation of factors. Depending on how I finish a musical phrase, accent certain notes, or use vibrato, the judges can determine my musical style, my interpretation, and my passion for the music.
Overall, I think the commonalities between deliberate actions and inadvertent actions boil down to the subtleties included in the actions. If we think of it in terms of layers, actions can have 2 layers. There is a surface layer, which is the actual action being performed and can be classified as a deliberate action. The second layer can be considered the inadvertent communications that are associated with the surface layer action. Both layers have subtlety so there is a balance in either case. For a deliberate action, there are indirect meanings that can go along with the action. Inadvertent communication can result from the indirect consequences of a direct action. In the end, it's easier to control direct and intended actions, but with some forethought, indirect actions can also be controlled.
This is for material in M&R Chapter 5. It is said that actions speak louder than words. Please come up with two examples that illustrate the maxim. In the first example, the person taking the action does so with deliberation and intent. In your example address the question: what makes the action communicate? In the second example, focus on inadvertent communication, where a message is delivered though the sender had not intent in sending it. What makes the message come through nonetheless?
Actions speak louder than words is a maxim I find quite accurate. An example of actions carried out with deliberation are often found in a workplace environment. If an intern is just starting their first internship, they will usually take more pro-active actions to show they care greatly for their given opportunity, regardless of their job duties. Among these pro-active approaches includes arriving to work early, intently observing co-workers to expedite fitting in with the corporate culture, eagerly offering help to others, focusing intently on all assigned work, and staying late at the workplace when necessary. The subtleties that are attached to these actions signal a sense of responsibility, reliability, commitment, and in some cases passion. These all work favorably for the intern and may help in securing future employment at the company or obtaining better recommendation letters that aid in other future job hunts.
However, the unfavorable aspects of actions can be revealed during times of inconsistency. To illustrate, take the pro-active intern that has been performing well and say he arrives late to work twice in one week. If the intern calls ahead the first day he's late and explains the situation, there would be action with the intent to preserve the credibility gained through previous pro-active actions. If there is no call or email in advance on the second day of lateness, the "non-action" could be construed as having a deliberate negative impact on the intern's credibility. In that sense, perhaps actions can be seen as points on a scale. Positive, pro-active actions that help someone gain credibility or favor can be counted as "adding points." Conversely, actions that are detrimental to someone could be counted as "subtracting points." How the points balance out can, theoretically, determine the impact one's intended actions have on their surroundings.
For inadvertent communication through actions, I can relate to it through a classical musician's standpoint. Throughout high school, I had played the cello and was heavily involved in various orchestras. Among those, the one with the highest difficulty was the IMEA All-State orchestra, which auditioned string instrument players throughout the entire state of Illinois and selected the best. The repertoire required for the auditions are given around the beginning of the school term, and the All-State audition occurred toward the end of the semester. Thus, there is time to prepare for the auditions, but students are also busy with other tasks besides practicing constantly. Ultimately, months of preparation culminates into one 10 minute audition in front of 4 judges. In that moment, all musicians give inadvertent information through their auditions - it is unavoidable since there is no way to hide it. Some may reassure themselves mentally, but can indirectly give off a nervous vibe before auditions. When I was nervous, it showed when greeting the judges with handshakes through my shaky and clammy hands. During the brief audition, a musician's performance inadvertently shows many intangibles about the musician. An obvious point is how much time a musician has spent practicing and preparing for the audition. Someone who has practiced 10 hours a week is clearly different from someone who has practiced 40 hours a week - the difference in time spent cannot be made up and shows clearly in performances. Throughout my actual audition, there are indirect signs gleaned from my performance that result from an accumulation of factors. Depending on how I finish a musical phrase, accent certain notes, or use vibrato, the judges can determine my musical style, my interpretation, and my passion for the music.
Overall, I think the commonalities between deliberate actions and inadvertent actions boil down to the subtleties included in the actions. If we think of it in terms of layers, actions can have 2 layers. There is a surface layer, which is the actual action being performed and can be classified as a deliberate action. The second layer can be considered the inadvertent communications that are associated with the surface layer action. Both layers have subtlety so there is a balance in either case. For a deliberate action, there are indirect meanings that can go along with the action. Inadvertent communication can result from the indirect consequences of a direct action. In the end, it's easier to control direct and intended actions, but with some forethought, indirect actions can also be controlled.
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