Legal lecturer, do you also get this eeechy feeling about yourself when, in order to truly motivate your students, you use as a carrot the promise of better grades?
The explanation for your feeling could be that you and your students actually prefer “intrinsic” motivation over “extrinsic” motivation.
To get legal learners into required complicated legal thinking and stimulate innovative approaches, the promise of high grades (= extrinsic motivation) is not sufficient or even desirable. Consider designing the learning environment with at least three intrinsic motivators: learner’s autonomy, mastery and purpose. This will do the trick much better than your peptalk about grades.
For better understanding watch the interesting 6-minute presentation below on motivating legal learners. It addresses Daniel Pink’s distinction from his boek “Drive” about extrinsic and intrinsic motivators. Is the source of motivation inside or outside of the learner?