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If effort isn’t rewarded, effort won’t be applied. Those who doubt that they can find the right answer won’t even try.
The richness that comes from inviting students to do their best will be left by the wayside. New approaches to old problems won’t be pursued, new solutions won’t be chased, and new problems that might be recognized by those who see themselves as outside the box won’t emerge.
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I teach incredibly talented students, including many first-generation college students from immigrant families and international students who aren’t always sure they belong at the university. They come with life experience that doesn’t always match the curriculum. We should be focused on how to create meaning and confidence in students who don’t always see themselves as sufficiently entitled to seek either. They fear speaking up in class or approaching an instructor.