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Action Research Project!
The following is my action research paper aand project on homework and motivation.
Amy Noel Lee
EDRS 605/Dr. Dougherty
December 9, 2006
Action Research Paper
Research Problem and Purpose
The research area that I would like to pursue involves student motivation and achievement. In particular, I want to investigate techniques and strategies to increase the number of students who turn in homework assignments. In correlation, I want to see whether students who turn in assignments score higher on class assessments. I will also compare the data with students’ performance on one norm-based test given by the school district. In many low-income schools, the school-to-home connection is quite low in terms of homework completion and academic content. According to many sources, students who complete homework do better on standardized tests. I want to see if this is true, and I want to uncover methods to extract homework from students.
My objective is to determine what techniques can be used to motivate students to turn in homework assignments and whether or not homework has an effect on test results, performance, and grades. I have read some scholarship on this topic and nothing seems to apply directly to the attitudes, home lives, racial and socio-economic status, age, and culture of the students I teach. To be more specific in my objectives, I am seeking to discover what “works” for low-income, African-American, seventh grade students in Jackson, Mississippi.
Research Question
My research question will be driven by quantitative date. My control data will be the data that I possess right now. On average only 7 percent of my students turn in homework and only four percent turn in homework that is completed correctly. Currently I am using “intrinsic rewards” to motivate students to complete assignments. I will be using three different techniques to help improve homework completion scores. Each will be used for two weeks. The first technique will be to use a “homework sheet” that will be signed by parents and students. Students will write down assignments and grades for those assignments and students will need to have parents sign the form at the end of two weeks. The second technique will be to intentionally make homework assignments as appealing as possible. The third and final technique that I will be using involves a homework star chart in the classroom. Students who turn in all homework will be given a prize for their efforts at the end of the two weeks. My question is explicitly: which of these techniques will most increase the number of students who turn in homework assignments in my classroom.
My hypothesis is that changing the nature of the assignments will most likely improve students’ motivation to complete assignments outside of class. From personal experience, I usually have the highest response rate on assignments that the students genuinely take an interest in completing. I realize that I will probably not have one hundred percent of my students turn in homework, but perhaps one of these systems will work to increase the time they spend “learning” at home.
Method
My method of collecting data was rather simple. I simply counted the number of homework assignments turned in correctly. All of this data was paired with my findings from earlier this year, when I discovered that on average 6 percent of my 130 students turned in homework assignments. In Jackson, students are given a district exam at the end of every 9 weeks. On the first nine week’s district test (standardized tests) only 10 of my students passed the exam. Correspondingly the students who consistently turned in homework were the students who passed the district exams. This test is modeled after the MCT test they will complete in the spring. I had three strategies to improve homework completion that I used to gather data for two weeks at a time. The first strategy was to hand students a homework chart that students filled out during class and had their parents sign at home. This was mainly to see if parental involvement would help increase the home connection. The second strategy was to change the nature of the homework assignments. Instead of traditional assignments I assigned more creative assessments. The first assignment was a biography to be put into a class book. The second was a book cover or art work for a recently discussed story. Lastly I assigned students to write a poem about “anything.” The last method was a star chart that used student competition to enhance homework completion. Three assignments were given during each three weeks.
Data Analysis
Percentages of Homework Completion
Strategy 1 Strategy 2 Strategy 3
Assignment # 1 35% 87% 37%
Assignment #2 39% 47% 40%
Assignment #3 32% 60% 31%
Strategy 1: Homework chart and parental signatures
Assignment # 1: Write vocabulary sentences
Assignment #2: Summary of “Song of the Trees”
Assignment #3: Figurative Language Worksheet
Strategy 2: Creative Assignments
Assignment # 1: Write a bibliography to be compiled in a class book
Assignment #2: Book Cover Art Work
Assignment #3: Write a poem
Strategy 3: Star Chart and Rewards
Assignment # 1: Edit and Rewrite Persuasive Letter
Assignment #2: Finish Final Draft Persuasive Letter
Assignment #3: Test Study GuideStudents made all around progress with each strategy used. The highest number of homework was turned in with a class project. Each student was responsible for writing a biography and the next day students made an Anthology of African American Writers in class. Peer pressure prevailed as students encouraged one another to bring their biographies. Eighty-seven percent of students turned in their biographies the next class day. The star chart and the homework chart that required a parent signature showed some results but with an average total increase of 46 percent between the two strategies. This was a 41percent increase from the start of the school year.
Implications
There are many ways in which this study will influence my current teaching methods. I have learned that any (of the three methods) increase in attention to homework results in an increase in homework participation. I was surprised by these results. Often times, I would assign homework and spend little time correcting, collecting, or discussing the work in class. I believe that this attention to school work helped students to remember to turn assignments in and that the work would “count” for something. My question was easily answered: more creative (or more fun) assignments drew the largest participation: there was an average of 65 percent of my students who turned in their “fun” assignments. I think that in the future I will make more of an effort to come up with assignments that seem more appealing to students.
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