Presentation Link
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ykckR9KoNTeTSBJBROaDsxcoEfq9NtNzSJbHfS3K2ws/edit#slide=id.gc6f90357f_0_0
Link to My Research Paper so Far: docs.google.com/document/d/1_ONIWFTFfzK9nB6F97UQKZFOIXAGeIfYylDpwcpMk-g/edit#
Literature Review From My Research Paper
Given that our nation and state are struggling to find ways of better educating our elementary students, I found a surprising lack of research in the area of providing younger students with choice and how that impacts their engagement. In a study on the presence and effectiveness of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in third to eighth graders, researchers found that intrinsic motivation decreased linearly from third graders to eighth grades (Lepper, 2005). Researchers also found that while intrinsic motivation positively correlated with children’s grades and test scores, extrinsic motivation negatively correlated with academic outcomes. This means that not only are students at the elementary level more likely to benefit from student choice, as it is an intrinsically motivated learning activity, but that intrinsic motivation is likely to help them succeed. Unfortunately most of the research regarding student choice has focused on older students. In The Effectiveness and Relative Importance of Choice in the Classroom (Patall, 2010) a group of researchers randomly assigned homework-choice or no-homework-choice options to a group of 207 high schools students. The investigation was carried out over four weeks and whether or not a student got to choose their homework changed each day. At the end of the study results showed that when students received a choice of homework, they reported higher intrinsic motivation to complete the homework, felt more competent, and they performed better on the unit test compared to the students who were not given a homework choice. Another article, To Engage Students, Give Them Meaningful Choices In The Classroom (Parker, 2017), described two case studies where teachers were effectively able to implement student choice into their daily routine. One teacher began “workdays” where students could choose from three or four activities to complete. At first the students in the class were uncomfortable making these decisions, but by the third week of the study the teacher found that the students were comfortable choosing activities and were productive in their work. The other teacher wrote two warm-up problems on the board in different situational contexts each day and let students select which problem to solve. The students became very engaged and even began suggesting different contexts for the problems. The teacher found that implementing student choice lowered the amount of tardies and raised student engagement within her class.
In researching this topic, there was one phrase which kept appearing, self-determination theory. This is a psychological theory that states that people will work harder when they feel like their work is meaningful. Since I am interested in researching what motivates and engages students, I found several research articles that focused on promoting a sense of self-determination in the classroom. (Reeve, 2004) The first focused on training teachers to be autonomy-supportive, rather than controlling. Autonomy-supportive teachers allow the students to direct their own learning based off of their interests and passions, while controlling teachers tell students what they are studying and why it is important. They recruited 20 teachers from two different high-schools to participate in the study for a 10 week period. Raters first observed all teachers classrooms, then a randomly selected half of the teachers were given autonomy-support trainings for the first five weeks of the study. The raters then came back and assessed all classes again. After that they teachers who had not been trained yet participated in the same autonomy-support trainings as the first group of teachers. At the end of ten weeks, the raters again came back to observe all the classes. Their final results showed the autonomy support was an excellent predictor of student engagement, even more than students’ own engagement during an earlier class. But, as other researchers of student choice have noted, the research on this topic is still inconsistent. In an article called Effect of Choice on Cognitive and Affective Engagement, researchers assigned 84 college participants to read a 900 word fictional study. (Flowerday,2003) Half of the group could then choose to complete a crossword or write an essay to demonstrate their understanding of the story, while the other group was assigned either the essay or the crossword. They then measured both the cognitive engagement and affective engagement of the participants. They found that choice did not enhance cognitive engagement, but it did enhance affective engagement in the participants.
In addition to research on student choice it was also important to find research focused on providing an accurate assessment of student engagement. (Waggett, 2017) In one study the researchers created student surveys that were given to high school math and science teachers at a professional development training. The researchers broke down student engagement into five levels; true engagement, strategic compliance, ritual compliance, retreatism, and rebellion, based on Schlecty’s theory of engagement. The student surveys were designed so each option a student could choose corresponded to a different level of engagement. Using the test-retest method of reliability the researchers gave participants the same survey 18 hours after the activity and statistical analysis of the data showed a strong correlation between the initial and follow-up assessments, thereby demonstrating the reliability of the assessment checklist. This study was useful to me in that I modeled a part of my own assessments after Waggett’s assessment model.
In researching this topic, there was one phrase which kept appearing, self-determination theory. This is a psychological theory that states that people will work harder when they feel like their work is meaningful. Since I am interested in researching what motivates and engages students, I found several research articles that focused on promoting a sense of self-determination in the classroom. (Reeve, 2004) The first focused on training teachers to be autonomy-supportive, rather than controlling. Autonomy-supportive teachers allow the students to direct their own learning based off of their interests and passions, while controlling teachers tell students what they are studying and why it is important. They recruited 20 teachers from two different high-schools to participate in the study for a 10 week period. Raters first observed all teachers classrooms, then a randomly selected half of the teachers were given autonomy-support trainings for the first five weeks of the study. The raters then came back and assessed all classes again. After that they teachers who had not been trained yet participated in the same autonomy-support trainings as the first group of teachers. At the end of ten weeks, the raters again came back to observe all the classes. Their final results showed the autonomy support was an excellent predictor of student engagement, even more than students’ own engagement during an earlier class. But, as other researchers of student choice have noted, the research on this topic is still inconsistent. In an article called Effect of Choice on Cognitive and Affective Engagement, researchers assigned 84 college participants to read a 900 word fictional study. (Flowerday,2003) Half of the group could then choose to complete a crossword or write an essay to demonstrate their understanding of the story, while the other group was assigned either the essay or the crossword. They then measured both the cognitive engagement and affective engagement of the participants. They found that choice did not enhance cognitive engagement, but it did enhance affective engagement in the participants.
In addition to research on student choice it was also important to find research focused on providing an accurate assessment of student engagement. (Waggett, 2017) In one study the researchers created student surveys that were given to high school math and science teachers at a professional development training. The researchers broke down student engagement into five levels; true engagement, strategic compliance, ritual compliance, retreatism, and rebellion, based on Schlecty’s theory of engagement. The student surveys were designed so each option a student could choose corresponded to a different level of engagement. Using the test-retest method of reliability the researchers gave participants the same survey 18 hours after the activity and statistical analysis of the data showed a strong correlation between the initial and follow-up assessments, thereby demonstrating the reliability of the assessment checklist. This study was useful to me in that I modeled a part of my own assessments after Waggett’s assessment model.
Data Collection Instruments
1) I will use a unit quiz that is included in our science curriculum as a pre and post-test to measure the academic impact of my research.
2) I will use a student survey to measure a change in student attitudes over the course of my research.
3) Finally I will use a daily reflection survey to measure changes in my students’ self-perceived agency and engagement throughout my research.
2) I will use a student survey to measure a change in student attitudes over the course of my research.
- How much do you enjoy studying Science?
- I love Science!
- I like Science!
- Science is ok, but I like other subjects more.
- I don’t really like Science.
- I hate Science!
- How good do you feel you are at Science?
- I am really good at Science!
- I am ok at Science, but I am better at other subjects.
- I am not very good at Science.
- How much have you already studied Science?
- I have studied Science every year in school.
- I have studied Science some years in school, and I have learned about it outside of school.
- I have studied Science some years in school, and I have not learned about it outside of school.
- I have only studied Science outside of school.
- This is my first year learning about Science.
- How do you normally feel about school in general?
- I love school.
- I like school.
- I don’t have an opinion about school.
- I don’t like school.
- I hate school.
- How well do you feel you do in school?
- I am an excellent student!
- I am a good student!
- I am an average student.
- I struggle a little bit in school.
- I struggle a lot in school.
3) Finally I will use a daily reflection survey to measure changes in my students’ self-perceived agency and engagement throughout my research.
- Choose from one of the statements below that you feel best reflects your feelings about your Science project today:
- I did my best today because my project is important to me.
- I did my best today because I want to do really well on my project.
- I did my best today because I know that is what is expected of me and I don’t want to get in trouble.
- I did not do my best today because I was distracted by other things.
- I did not do my best today because my project is boring to me.
IRB Final Draft
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UnF0_jvWzymaSz4Mtv22F8d9JQBP0pFqowNRKlcDcPk/edit?ts=59ecd719
More Awesome Articles
THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF CHOICE
http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.library.touro.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=12&sid=84bfd088-8bfc-45ef-ac3c-0027597a41b5%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=508192691&db=eft
THIS INVESTIGATION EXAMINED THE EFFECTS OF PROVIDING CHOICES AMONG HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS ON MOTIVATION AND SUBSEQUENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. RESULTS REVEALED THAT WHEN STUDENTS RECEIVED A CHOICE OF HOMEWORK THEY REPORTED HIGHER INTRINSIC MOTIVATION TO DO HOMEWORK, FELT MORE COMPETENT REGARDING THE HOMEWORK, AND PERFORMED BETTER ON THE UNIT TEST COMPARED WITH WHEN THEY DID NOT HAVE A CHOICE.
To engage students, give them meaningful choices in the classroom.
http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.library.touro.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=092b986b-c196-4b69-881c-4fe56d82bb19%40sessionmgr103
Once a week, Ms R gave students in her Algebra 1 class a choice of activities to work on. On these “workdays,” as students called them, Ms. R offered a set of three to four activities.Initially when she introduced the workdays, students found it difficult to choose an activity. By the third week, students were comfortable selecting activities and were productive in their work. Overall she found that students knew what they needed to work and when they needed help, and they used their time accordingly. This meant students spent more time on-task and asked for help less often.
Optimizing the Power of Choice
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mbe.12073/abstract
Positive impacts have been seen when student autonomy is promoted through meaningful and personally relevant choice.
http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.library.touro.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=12&sid=84bfd088-8bfc-45ef-ac3c-0027597a41b5%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=508192691&db=eft
THIS INVESTIGATION EXAMINED THE EFFECTS OF PROVIDING CHOICES AMONG HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS ON MOTIVATION AND SUBSEQUENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE. RESULTS REVEALED THAT WHEN STUDENTS RECEIVED A CHOICE OF HOMEWORK THEY REPORTED HIGHER INTRINSIC MOTIVATION TO DO HOMEWORK, FELT MORE COMPETENT REGARDING THE HOMEWORK, AND PERFORMED BETTER ON THE UNIT TEST COMPARED WITH WHEN THEY DID NOT HAVE A CHOICE.
To engage students, give them meaningful choices in the classroom.
http://0-web.b.ebscohost.com.library.touro.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&sid=092b986b-c196-4b69-881c-4fe56d82bb19%40sessionmgr103
Once a week, Ms R gave students in her Algebra 1 class a choice of activities to work on. On these “workdays,” as students called them, Ms. R offered a set of three to four activities.Initially when she introduced the workdays, students found it difficult to choose an activity. By the third week, students were comfortable selecting activities and were productive in their work. Overall she found that students knew what they needed to work and when they needed help, and they used their time accordingly. This meant students spent more time on-task and asked for help less often.
Optimizing the Power of Choice
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mbe.12073/abstract
Positive impacts have been seen when student autonomy is promoted through meaningful and personally relevant choice.
Awesome Articles!
Beyond Simple Participation: Providing a Reliable Informal Assessment Tool of Student Engagement for Teachers
http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.touro.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1144327&site=ehost-live
I chose this article because I am interested in finding effecting ways of engaging my students with content material in the classroom, but was finding it hard to think of ways of "proving" that my students engagement levels had changed over time. This article provides research on a five item scale that is very useful for measuring students level of engagement.
Science Fairs: A Qualitative Study of Their Impact on Student Science Inquiry Learning and Attitudes toward STEM
http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.touro.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1132100&site=ehost-live
I chose this article because, while it is focused on older students than mine, it is starting to look at the interplay between student choice and student engagement. In science fairs, students obviously have a great deal more choice than they do in the classroom, and it was very interesting to learn how that impacted their attitudes towards STEM in general.
"Why do I study and what do I want to achieve by studying?" Understanding the Reasons and Aims of Student Engagement
drive.google.com/file/d/0B8J0wIGAN8wxQWhfbm5LV0FFblViYklhMjQtcHk2amtMVnRZ/view
I chose this article because it is focused again on student engagement, this time with students closer in age to my own. The study takes place in Singapore, which I thought was interesting considering what we have recently been reading about the differences between education in Singapore and education in The United States. The main focus of this study revolved around the important of student created achievement goals and student engagement. The study also compares the effects of autonomous motivation (student lead) versus controlled motivation (teacher led) on student engagement and overall student success.
Beyond Simple Participation: Providing a Reliable Informal Assessment Tool of Student Engagement for Teachers
http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.touro.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1144327&site=ehost-live
I chose this article because I am interested in finding effecting ways of engaging my students with content material in the classroom, but was finding it hard to think of ways of "proving" that my students engagement levels had changed over time. This article provides research on a five item scale that is very useful for measuring students level of engagement.
Science Fairs: A Qualitative Study of Their Impact on Student Science Inquiry Learning and Attitudes toward STEM
http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.touro.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1132100&site=ehost-live
I chose this article because, while it is focused on older students than mine, it is starting to look at the interplay between student choice and student engagement. In science fairs, students obviously have a great deal more choice than they do in the classroom, and it was very interesting to learn how that impacted their attitudes towards STEM in general.
"Why do I study and what do I want to achieve by studying?" Understanding the Reasons and Aims of Student Engagement
drive.google.com/file/d/0B8J0wIGAN8wxQWhfbm5LV0FFblViYklhMjQtcHk2amtMVnRZ/view
I chose this article because it is focused again on student engagement, this time with students closer in age to my own. The study takes place in Singapore, which I thought was interesting considering what we have recently been reading about the differences between education in Singapore and education in The United States. The main focus of this study revolved around the important of student created achievement goals and student engagement. The study also compares the effects of autonomous motivation (student lead) versus controlled motivation (teacher led) on student engagement and overall student success.
Problems in the classroom that will point me to my driving question:
While I have only known this year's students for a very short amount of time, they seem to follow a trend I have noticed in my students over the past few years. Many of my students are what I call "passive learners" meaning that they are not engaged in the learning process, are not trying to make discoveries on their own. They wait for the teacher to tell them if how to complete the task or what the correct answer was. I have found that in addition to this attitude making it more difficult for the students to learn and retain information, it also makes them very unwilling to take risks. In their eyes it seems that getting everything correct the first time is the goal, rather than learning something new through a process of trial and error.
What I will need to answer my question:
If my question is going to be something regarding how to encourage students to be more active learners and more willing risk takers I will need to know what prevented them from becoming that way in the first place. I will need to know their feelings about school and the learning process, previous experiences they have had in school, and maybe even what their parents own experiences were in school. I know that my mother hated Math in school and I really struggled to break out of her mold while I was in school. Essentially I need to know what the kids are afraid of, why they aren't willing to take a risk in order to learn something new.
What I already know about my students:
I know that my students were first introduced to school with an Explicit Direct Instruction method of teaching. The logic behind this was that many students at my school lack the background knowledge that would be expected of students in other, more affluent areas. The thought was that these students therefore did not have the tools they needed in order to make connections independently, and that asking them to do so would be unfair and potentially harmful towards them and their self-esteem. While I agree that many students in my class lack a lot of background knowledge, I think the EDI model made them overly reliant on teacher provided information and denied them opportunities to make connections for themselves. If this was their school experience for kindergarten through second grade (we changed our instructional format last year) it is going to be difficult for them to change how they learn.
While I have only known this year's students for a very short amount of time, they seem to follow a trend I have noticed in my students over the past few years. Many of my students are what I call "passive learners" meaning that they are not engaged in the learning process, are not trying to make discoveries on their own. They wait for the teacher to tell them if how to complete the task or what the correct answer was. I have found that in addition to this attitude making it more difficult for the students to learn and retain information, it also makes them very unwilling to take risks. In their eyes it seems that getting everything correct the first time is the goal, rather than learning something new through a process of trial and error.
What I will need to answer my question:
If my question is going to be something regarding how to encourage students to be more active learners and more willing risk takers I will need to know what prevented them from becoming that way in the first place. I will need to know their feelings about school and the learning process, previous experiences they have had in school, and maybe even what their parents own experiences were in school. I know that my mother hated Math in school and I really struggled to break out of her mold while I was in school. Essentially I need to know what the kids are afraid of, why they aren't willing to take a risk in order to learn something new.
What I already know about my students:
I know that my students were first introduced to school with an Explicit Direct Instruction method of teaching. The logic behind this was that many students at my school lack the background knowledge that would be expected of students in other, more affluent areas. The thought was that these students therefore did not have the tools they needed in order to make connections independently, and that asking them to do so would be unfair and potentially harmful towards them and their self-esteem. While I agree that many students in my class lack a lot of background knowledge, I think the EDI model made them overly reliant on teacher provided information and denied them opportunities to make connections for themselves. If this was their school experience for kindergarten through second grade (we changed our instructional format last year) it is going to be difficult for them to change how they learn.