1. During a unit on tennis, Ms. Sommarstrom sees Marcy execute an especially good serve. "Excellent form on that serve," she tells Marcy in earshot of her classmates.

(Effective. Provided that public praise is reinforcing for Marcy, she is being directly reinforced, and other students are experiencing vicarious reinforcement for such a serve.)

2. On Monday, the coach of a cross-country team tells her students, "Each day this week we'll run the same five-mile course we ran last Friday. Try to cut down your running time a little bit each day. See if you can cut sixty seconds off last Friday's time by the end of the week."

(Effective. The coach is encouraging students to strive for challenging yet achievable goals. She is also promoting self-comparison rather than comparison with others.)

3. Ms. Ramirez has her high school students set their own deadlines for turning in the five small papers due during the semester, with the stipulation that they set five deadlines at least one week apart.

(Effective. By giving students control over an aspect of classroom life, Ms. Ramirez is promoting a sense of self-determination, which could enhance intrinsic motivation.)

Adapted from: Ormrod, J.E. (2000). Student Study Guide to Accompany Educational Psychology: Developing Learners (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill, Prentice Hall.