Researcher of the Month: Professor David Putwain - Is Warning Students of the Consequences of Exam Failure an Effective Strategy?

Researcher of the month, Professor David Putwain, discusses his
recent paper which focuses on whether warning GCSE students of
the consequences of failure (otherwise known as a 'fear appeal')
is a motivating strategy in terms of their levels of engagement
and achievement. He outlines the reasons why teachers use fear
appeals, how this kind of approach can have very different
outcomes depending on the way that individual students evaluate
the message, and what this means for classroom practice. He also
provides us with some great tips and tools that teachers can use
to take a temperature check of their students' levels of test
anxiety.