Whether students feel pressure to get good grades or keep up with classmates, the anxiety this effort produces can have long-term effects on their brains.

A theory dating back more than 100 years suggested that there is an optimal amount of stress for good performance, based on a study that had nothing to do with humans.

Researchers ran mice through a maze, using electric shocks to punish wrong choices. On harder tasks, moderate shocks produced the fastest learning, while stronger shocks made it worse. Over the years, this got reinterpreted into claims about punishment, reward, motivation and stress in humans.

But the original study was about how animals learn to avoid fear and pain, not about optimal learning at all. Once a mouse learns to avoid a shock, escape itself triggers dopamine release; in other words, the escape – not the discovery – is the reward.

  • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    16·
    3 days ago

    Grades aren’t the only source of pressure that students experience. Social comparison plays a role, too, along with the pressure to only answer questions when they’re already sure, to never seem confused and to stay constantly productive

    One of the most rewarding classes I’ve ever taken in college had a teacher that spent a significant amount of class time (maybe 1/4 to 1/3) to breaking us up into small groups to have focused discussions about one aspect of the topic we were learning about. It helped me learn several things very quickly: nobody understands everything, there will always be someone who thought of an angle you haven’t, and explaining what you do understand helps you learn more.

    That said, I am ~40ish and there were some freshmen who were clearly petrified to do this. The pressure and fear of looking ‘stupid’ is absolutely real. And it was incredible to have a class where the teacher purposefully and gently helped students work through that.

    That said, I’ve also seen the exact opposite where a professor will single out people that ask questions and make snide comments that invite other students to laugh at them. Run, do not walk, away from that if at all feasible.