Persuasion Fall 2013 Computer Science TA Orientation

Persuasion – what is it? Influencing or convincing another person to agree with an opinion perform a desired action

Source Dr. Robert Cialdini Influence video with animation home page Science of Persuasion

How does this apply to me / my class? What are we trying to persuade our students to do? to believe? What are we “selling” to our students?

Some answers to those questions the idea that this course is going to be useful to them that they can program that they can do this without cheating that they will learn to program in this class That they can do this assignment That they should start assignments early That they can get assignments in on time

1. Reciprocation obligation to give back when you receive favors / invitations makes society function! what “gifts” can we give our students? hints small extensions bonus “Magic Excuses” Please get them approved first – so everyone gets them!

#2 Scarcity People want more of things they can have less of What resource do we have which is scarce? time! office hours! ed answers! make this fact clear to the students Don’t assume you can me at midnight and get an answer in 10 minutes What will they lose if they don’t use your available help?

#3 Authority / Expertise People follow credible knowledgeable experts Spend a little time at the first class describing your experience (establish your credentials) you could describe how you learned to program follow the guidance in other slide show – don’t fake it if you don’t know Tell them a little about some of the programs you have written I will give you a boost in lecture “the TEAM who teaching CS 115”

4. Consistency People like to be consistent with their prior behavior try to get a small agreement, a small favor first when asking for more, person will be more willing to do it because they had already done the first one “Please read the next chapter” - small task “and do the homework at the end” – larger task

#5 Liking People are more willing to do things for people who are like themselves We like people who similar to us give us compliments cooperate with us Ask students in teams to get to know each other

6. Social pressure / Consensus People look at what other people do/think Inform students what percentage of the students in the class got their homework in on time got over 80% on a program assignment were on time for lab meetings

Think Think of other ways to apply these tactics to your classes How do these tactics work on you? When do you see these tactics in real life?