Sparks, S. D. (2017, October 18). Small ‘Nudges’ Can Push Students in the Right Direction.

Be they toddlers, teenagers, teachers, or parents, people don’t like being told what to do, and research has shown one of the quickest ways to lower motivation is to try to force people to make changes—even if they agree with the end goal.That’s why Levitt and other education researchers increasingly are exploring “nudges”—low-cost interventions that work to influence behavior by changing how or when choices are offered. These interventions usually involve small, cheap-to-implement changes, and some have shown significant results.