Abstract
A decline in academic motivation, organizational skills, and the desire to learn in adolescent students cause the middle grade teachers to look for ways to encourage the students in the prompt completion of assignments and achieve academic growth on a constant basis. Tactics such as positive reinforcement and punishments are frequently offered to adolescent students with the purpose of encouraging academic motivation. The inclusion of zeros in the grade book, although a hodge-podge grading practice, is often used as a tool to boost student motivation in prompt completion of assignments. However, there is a lack of research to support this. The current study has been designed to study the impact that a working lunch session, where students have the opportunity to make up missing assignments, verses a zero in the grade book, without the opportunity to make up missing work, can have on the adolescents’ completion rate and academic achievement in mathematics. The thirteen week study focused on 7th grade mathematics students in a Title I middle school in North Georgia. Along with the numerical data, pre and post student interviews were conducted to get a qualitative perspective on the students’ view of punishment and how they think and feel that a zero in the grade book verses a working lunch session impacts the level of motivation and self-regulation to complete assignments on time and grow academically in the subject of mathematics. The intended goal of the current study will be to add to the body of research that is related to the use of reinforcement and its impact on student motivation. Also, to determine if giving zeros or a working lunch session (common practices in adolescent education), can have an impact on the aspects of assignment completion rate and academic achievement.
Keywords: adolescent learners, negative reinforcement verses punishment, student motivation, assignment completion rate, academic achievement
Keywords: adolescent learners, negative reinforcement verses punishment, student motivation, assignment completion rate, academic achievement
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
BackgroundAmerican Educational System, since the 1800s have placed a significant importance on grades (Hirschenbaum, Simon, & Napier, 1971). The current educational system, reflecting no specific changes shows that progress reports and report cards are still given multiple times throughout the school year to display the students’ academic achievement, content mastery, and learning growth. The progress report card grades are analysed by the students, parents, teachers, and administrators to determine a student’s academic progress and abilities. However, research suggests that grading in many classrooms today are a “hodgepodge” of criteria ranging from student learning to student behavior (Grimes, 2010). With variables such as student behavior, motivation, attendance, organizational skills, and teacher bias impacting the grade evaluation, the validity of students’ grades is in question. Various measurement experts agree that the non-academic behaviors such as motivation, classroom behavior, and attendance should be evaluated separately from a student’s grade; however, many teachers continue to include the non-academic factors in the grading practices (Canady & Hotchkiss, 1989; Frisbey & Waltman, 1992).
Buffum, Mattos, and Weber (2009) point out that, grading practices are influential tools that a teacher can use to not only inspire but also abate the learning desire in a student. The researchers further supported the statement by linking it to the students that possess a history of poor performance. However, the use of zeros is a prevalent practice in classrooms across the United States, even though it is an inaccurate reflection of the students’ abilities (Raebeck, 1993) and can be directed and linked to the lack of formal training for teachers in successful grading practices (Stiggins, 1993). Consequently, it often reverts to the grading practices that were used by the previous teachers (Guskey & Bailey, 2011). Guskey (2004) argues that, “Teachers see zeros as their ultimate grading weapon” (p. 50). Canady and Hotchkiss (1989) points out that the teachers use zeros as a form of punishment to the students, to which the misconducts range from assignments being late to misbehaving in class (Stiggins & Duke, 1991). Although the teachers view assigning a zero as an academic punishment, many believe that the punishment is, “Justified and deserved” (Guskey, 2004, p. 50). Guskey goes on to argue that the teachers should consider alternatives to using zeros such as issuing an “I” or “incomplete” grade until the assignment is turned in, and should report the non-academic elements such as the student behavior and student motivation separately from the academic grades. Likewise, Guskey points out that changing the grading scale can also be effective.
Along with the issue of the validity of grading practices and the use of zeros as punishement grading, the motivation to learn and the organizational skills to complete and turn-in assignments in the adolescent years is also treated as a concern. Elam (1989) asserts that teachers possess an ongoing concern with the students’ lack of interest in academics. Studies have found that motivation in adolescent learners declines as the students graduate from the elementary to secondary education (Van der Werf, Opdenakker, & Kuyper, 2008; Wigfield, Eccles, & Rodriguez, 2006). Coherently, along with the decline in motivation, the adolescent students undergo biological, cognitive, self-concept and identity changes that inherently contributes to the adaptation of the students’ academic performances (Wigfield et al., 2006).
Organizational issues are concurrent to the students’ progress, as it elevates along with the academic progress of the student (Booster, DuPaul, Eiraldi, & Power, 2010; Langberg et al., 2010). Middle grades are when those organizational issues tend to escalate the most (Evans, Serpell, & White, 2005). Teachers will often look for multiple ways to enhance student motivation, ranging from a variety of positive and negative reinforcements. With research suggesting factors such as effort and motivation being the motivational tools in teachers’ grading practices, the question exists of whether the use of zero is a definite indicator of motivational technique, or if an alternative intervention can acquire the expected level of motivation, as well as the self-regulation to timely completion of assignments resulting in greater academic achievement.
Problem StatementWith the hodgepodge grading practices prevalent in classrooms across the United States and adolescent student motivation at an all-time low in the learning processes, it is essential to probe into the issue of student learning and motivation. The teachers of students in their adolescence is required to incorporate the most effluent research-based grading and motivational strategies to help engage students in self-regulation habits for timely completion and submission of assignments to increase the academic achievement.
Guskey (2007) writes,
If teachers follow assessments with high-quality corrective instruction, then students should have a second chance to demonstrate their new level of competence and understanding. This second chance determines the effectives of the corrective process while also giving students another opportunity to experience success in learning, thus providing them with additional motivation. (p.23)
If a second chance in learning should take place, shouldn’t a second chance to turn in and complete an assignment be present? Also, if that second chance to complete and turn in the assignment is available for students, does it truly impact the level of student motivation and self-regulation to complete future assignments on time, and does it enhance the level of academic achievement? These pressing questions propels further research in to the techniques that encourage assignment completion and academic achievement in adolescent students.
With the use of zeros continuing to be a prevalent practice in classrooms across the United States, it is essential for educators to look for alternative ways of redirecting adolescent students’ behaviors. Because, it will direct the students towards being more motivated and organized to complete and turn-in assignments on time. Along with increasing the level of motivation to turn in the mathematics assignments on time, it is important to note that a large percentage of American students are at or below proficiency in mathematics (Lee, Grigg, & Dion, 2007). Therefore, the educators should focus on extracting practices that has the potential to encourage and enhance the level of academic achievement and student motivation. Therefore, outdated and non-research based practices such as offering zeros in the grade book should be reconsidered when working with students in their adolescence.
PurposeThe current research study attempts to investigate the impact of a working lunch session, where the students are provided with an opportunity to make up missing assignments, verses a zero in the grade book, where the students were not given the opportunity to make up for the missing assignments, on adolescents’ assignment completion rate in mathematics and academic achievement. The study explored the assignments given in the classroom to assess whether the tasks were asked to be completed during the school day or as a homework assignment. The study also looked at the impact that a working lunch session in lieu of the assigning of zeros in the grade book had on the validity of grading practices in a middle school setting. It explored the use of a working lunch session and the use of a zero in the grade book within the seventh grade mathematics classrooms at a Title I middle school in a North Georgia school district. The working lunch session continued until the students turned in the completed assignments, reinforcing the idea that assignments should be turned-in in compliance with the initial time expectations of the teacher. When the zero in the grade book was given, the students did not have the opportunity to turn in the assignment later in time. The qualitative interviews looked at the students’ views and feelings of the working lunch session verses the zero in the grade book, which do they view more as a punishment, and whether they thought it could impact or benefit them in elevating the level of motivation and self-regulation to turn in assignments on time; as well as the students’ academic progress in mathematics.
Research QuestionsThe current study will attempt to answer the following quantitative research questions:
Null Hypothesis: A statistically significant increase is not present in mathematics assignment completion rate when a working lunch session is provided for missing assignments verses a zero in the grade book.
Null Hypothesis: A statistically significant increase is not present in mathematics assignment completion rate between sexes when a working lunch session is provided for missing assignments verses a zero in the grade book.
Null Hypothesis: A statistically significant increase will be not be present in the students’ performance on a mathematics summative assessment after the students are given a working lunch session for missing assignments verses a zero in the grade book.
While addressing the research questions, the study will either accept or reject the hypotheses.
Along with the quantitative data, a qualitative pre and post interviews to the students will be administered, so as to address the following questions:
DefinitionsAssignment completion rate- the percentage of assignments that a student completes and turns in on the time set by the teacher.
Motivation - Parkay, Hass, and Anctil (2010) asserts that “motivation is the urge to act, which results from a stimulus” (p. 189). Ferguson (2000) suggests that motivation is a person’s inner drive to do or complete something. Motivation can also be seen as a force that encourages the actions that are taken toward accomplishing a task or goal (Eggen & Kauchak, 1994). In classrooms, many teachers measure motivation as a student’s inner drive to pay attention in class as well as to complete and turn in class or homework assignments promptly. In this study, motivation will serve as the dependent variable and will be measured by the number of assignments that were not turned in to the teacher or the number of working lunch sessions that a student had to serve. A student with a track of prompt submissions of all assignments holds the definite possibility of being considered motivated, in comparison to a student that has four missing assignments or four working lunch sessions.
Negative Reinforcement- Negative reinforcement can be defined as the elimination or removal of a negative consequence so as to repeat a desired behaviour (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2003). In the current study, the researcher will determine the students’ perception of negative reinforcement, a zero in the grade book or a working lunch session through qualitative interviews. The researcher views the working lunch session as a negative reinforcement because, the working lunch session deprives the students’ of social time, reinforcing the idea that all students must turn in the assignments within the time expectations set by the teacher. However, there is a possibility that the students could view this process as a punishment.
Normalized Gain Score - Hake (1998) introduced and defined a normalized gain score as “a rough measure of the effectiveness of a course in promoting conceptual understanding” (p. 66). The normalized gain score is calculated by subtracting the pretest score from the post-test score and dividing that number by the total number of items minus, the pretest score. The normalized gain score is often described as “the amount students learned divided by the amount they could have leaned” (McKagan, Sayre, & Madsen, 2017).
Punishment- A negative consequence that derives as the result of an undesired behavior can be described as punishment. The researcher views the zero in the grade book without the opportunity to make up a missing assignment as a punishment. However, the researcher will conduct qualitative interviews to determine if the students view the zero in the grade book or the working lunch session as more of a punishment.
Self-regulation- Cook and Cook (2009) define self-regulation as the following:
The ability to monitor and control behaviors, emotions, or thoughts, altering them in accordance with the demands of the situation. It includes the abilities to inhibit first responses, to resist interference from irrelevant stimulation, and to persist on relevant tasks even when we don’t enjoy them. (p. 352)
Since turning in an assignment on time is a student’s self-regulated act, self-regulation will be measured by the number of missing assignments in the first four and a half weeks of the study and the number of working lunch sessions served in the last nine weeks of the study.
Buffum, Mattos, and Weber (2009) point out that, grading practices are influential tools that a teacher can use to not only inspire but also abate the learning desire in a student. The researchers further supported the statement by linking it to the students that possess a history of poor performance. However, the use of zeros is a prevalent practice in classrooms across the United States, even though it is an inaccurate reflection of the students’ abilities (Raebeck, 1993) and can be directed and linked to the lack of formal training for teachers in successful grading practices (Stiggins, 1993). Consequently, it often reverts to the grading practices that were used by the previous teachers (Guskey & Bailey, 2011). Guskey (2004) argues that, “Teachers see zeros as their ultimate grading weapon” (p. 50). Canady and Hotchkiss (1989) points out that the teachers use zeros as a form of punishment to the students, to which the misconducts range from assignments being late to misbehaving in class (Stiggins & Duke, 1991). Although the teachers view assigning a zero as an academic punishment, many believe that the punishment is, “Justified and deserved” (Guskey, 2004, p. 50). Guskey goes on to argue that the teachers should consider alternatives to using zeros such as issuing an “I” or “incomplete” grade until the assignment is turned in, and should report the non-academic elements such as the student behavior and student motivation separately from the academic grades. Likewise, Guskey points out that changing the grading scale can also be effective.
Along with the issue of the validity of grading practices and the use of zeros as punishement grading, the motivation to learn and the organizational skills to complete and turn-in assignments in the adolescent years is also treated as a concern. Elam (1989) asserts that teachers possess an ongoing concern with the students’ lack of interest in academics. Studies have found that motivation in adolescent learners declines as the students graduate from the elementary to secondary education (Van der Werf, Opdenakker, & Kuyper, 2008; Wigfield, Eccles, & Rodriguez, 2006). Coherently, along with the decline in motivation, the adolescent students undergo biological, cognitive, self-concept and identity changes that inherently contributes to the adaptation of the students’ academic performances (Wigfield et al., 2006).
Organizational issues are concurrent to the students’ progress, as it elevates along with the academic progress of the student (Booster, DuPaul, Eiraldi, & Power, 2010; Langberg et al., 2010). Middle grades are when those organizational issues tend to escalate the most (Evans, Serpell, & White, 2005). Teachers will often look for multiple ways to enhance student motivation, ranging from a variety of positive and negative reinforcements. With research suggesting factors such as effort and motivation being the motivational tools in teachers’ grading practices, the question exists of whether the use of zero is a definite indicator of motivational technique, or if an alternative intervention can acquire the expected level of motivation, as well as the self-regulation to timely completion of assignments resulting in greater academic achievement.
Problem StatementWith the hodgepodge grading practices prevalent in classrooms across the United States and adolescent student motivation at an all-time low in the learning processes, it is essential to probe into the issue of student learning and motivation. The teachers of students in their adolescence is required to incorporate the most effluent research-based grading and motivational strategies to help engage students in self-regulation habits for timely completion and submission of assignments to increase the academic achievement.
Guskey (2007) writes,
If teachers follow assessments with high-quality corrective instruction, then students should have a second chance to demonstrate their new level of competence and understanding. This second chance determines the effectives of the corrective process while also giving students another opportunity to experience success in learning, thus providing them with additional motivation. (p.23)
If a second chance in learning should take place, shouldn’t a second chance to turn in and complete an assignment be present? Also, if that second chance to complete and turn in the assignment is available for students, does it truly impact the level of student motivation and self-regulation to complete future assignments on time, and does it enhance the level of academic achievement? These pressing questions propels further research in to the techniques that encourage assignment completion and academic achievement in adolescent students.
With the use of zeros continuing to be a prevalent practice in classrooms across the United States, it is essential for educators to look for alternative ways of redirecting adolescent students’ behaviors. Because, it will direct the students towards being more motivated and organized to complete and turn-in assignments on time. Along with increasing the level of motivation to turn in the mathematics assignments on time, it is important to note that a large percentage of American students are at or below proficiency in mathematics (Lee, Grigg, & Dion, 2007). Therefore, the educators should focus on extracting practices that has the potential to encourage and enhance the level of academic achievement and student motivation. Therefore, outdated and non-research based practices such as offering zeros in the grade book should be reconsidered when working with students in their adolescence.
PurposeThe current research study attempts to investigate the impact of a working lunch session, where the students are provided with an opportunity to make up missing assignments, verses a zero in the grade book, where the students were not given the opportunity to make up for the missing assignments, on adolescents’ assignment completion rate in mathematics and academic achievement. The study explored the assignments given in the classroom to assess whether the tasks were asked to be completed during the school day or as a homework assignment. The study also looked at the impact that a working lunch session in lieu of the assigning of zeros in the grade book had on the validity of grading practices in a middle school setting. It explored the use of a working lunch session and the use of a zero in the grade book within the seventh grade mathematics classrooms at a Title I middle school in a North Georgia school district. The working lunch session continued until the students turned in the completed assignments, reinforcing the idea that assignments should be turned-in in compliance with the initial time expectations of the teacher. When the zero in the grade book was given, the students did not have the opportunity to turn in the assignment later in time. The qualitative interviews looked at the students’ views and feelings of the working lunch session verses the zero in the grade book, which do they view more as a punishment, and whether they thought it could impact or benefit them in elevating the level of motivation and self-regulation to turn in assignments on time; as well as the students’ academic progress in mathematics.
Research QuestionsThe current study will attempt to answer the following quantitative research questions:
- A. Is there a significant increase in the mathematics assignment completion rate when a working lunch session is provided for missing assignments verses a zero in the grade book?
Null Hypothesis: A statistically significant increase is not present in mathematics assignment completion rate when a working lunch session is provided for missing assignments verses a zero in the grade book.
- Is there a significant increase in the mathematics assignment completion rate between sexes, when a working lunch session is provided for missing assignments verses a zero in the grade book?
Null Hypothesis: A statistically significant increase is not present in mathematics assignment completion rate between sexes when a working lunch session is provided for missing assignments verses a zero in the grade book.
- Is there a significant increase in student academic achievement in mathematics when the students are provided a working lunch session for missing assignments verses a zero in the grade book?
Null Hypothesis: A statistically significant increase will be not be present in the students’ performance on a mathematics summative assessment after the students are given a working lunch session for missing assignments verses a zero in the grade book.
While addressing the research questions, the study will either accept or reject the hypotheses.
Along with the quantitative data, a qualitative pre and post interviews to the students will be administered, so as to address the following questions:
- How do adolescents view a zero in the grade book without a makeup opportunity?
- How do adolescents view a working lunch with an opportunity to make up missing an assignment?
- How do adolescent students view punishments and negative reinforces in helping motivate them to complete mathematics assignments on time?
- In what ways did adolescent students' views of the zero in the grade book versus a working lunch session change over time?
DefinitionsAssignment completion rate- the percentage of assignments that a student completes and turns in on the time set by the teacher.
Motivation - Parkay, Hass, and Anctil (2010) asserts that “motivation is the urge to act, which results from a stimulus” (p. 189). Ferguson (2000) suggests that motivation is a person’s inner drive to do or complete something. Motivation can also be seen as a force that encourages the actions that are taken toward accomplishing a task or goal (Eggen & Kauchak, 1994). In classrooms, many teachers measure motivation as a student’s inner drive to pay attention in class as well as to complete and turn in class or homework assignments promptly. In this study, motivation will serve as the dependent variable and will be measured by the number of assignments that were not turned in to the teacher or the number of working lunch sessions that a student had to serve. A student with a track of prompt submissions of all assignments holds the definite possibility of being considered motivated, in comparison to a student that has four missing assignments or four working lunch sessions.
Negative Reinforcement- Negative reinforcement can be defined as the elimination or removal of a negative consequence so as to repeat a desired behaviour (Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn, 2003). In the current study, the researcher will determine the students’ perception of negative reinforcement, a zero in the grade book or a working lunch session through qualitative interviews. The researcher views the working lunch session as a negative reinforcement because, the working lunch session deprives the students’ of social time, reinforcing the idea that all students must turn in the assignments within the time expectations set by the teacher. However, there is a possibility that the students could view this process as a punishment.
Normalized Gain Score - Hake (1998) introduced and defined a normalized gain score as “a rough measure of the effectiveness of a course in promoting conceptual understanding” (p. 66). The normalized gain score is calculated by subtracting the pretest score from the post-test score and dividing that number by the total number of items minus, the pretest score. The normalized gain score is often described as “the amount students learned divided by the amount they could have leaned” (McKagan, Sayre, & Madsen, 2017).
Punishment- A negative consequence that derives as the result of an undesired behavior can be described as punishment. The researcher views the zero in the grade book without the opportunity to make up a missing assignment as a punishment. However, the researcher will conduct qualitative interviews to determine if the students view the zero in the grade book or the working lunch session as more of a punishment.
Self-regulation- Cook and Cook (2009) define self-regulation as the following:
The ability to monitor and control behaviors, emotions, or thoughts, altering them in accordance with the demands of the situation. It includes the abilities to inhibit first responses, to resist interference from irrelevant stimulation, and to persist on relevant tasks even when we don’t enjoy them. (p. 352)
Since turning in an assignment on time is a student’s self-regulated act, self-regulation will be measured by the number of missing assignments in the first four and a half weeks of the study and the number of working lunch sessions served in the last nine weeks of the study.
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
The current chapter is comprised of a comprehensive summation of Behaviorism and Social Cognitive Theory. The researcher has adopted the two theories due to the relation it possess to the aspect of learning. An in-depth look at the selected two theories will provide a theoretical framework for the present study. In addition, the chapter will include a review of literature that pertains to the variables and concepts presented in the study. The literature review will look at the following concepts: historical context of grading, standards-based grading, and non-achievement criteria in grading, social and cultural context of grading practices, punishment, adolescent learning, assignment completion, and the use of working lunch sessions in a school setting.
Conceptual or Theoretical FrameworkThe two major and central camps of learning theories with specific assumptions on motivation are: behavioral and cognitive. Consequently, the selected theories view the aspect of motivation disparately, especially in the way that a targeted behavior will recur after a reward is taken away. A recurring issue in the research of motivation is the impact that the positive or negative reinforcement can have on the element of intrinsic motivation, a person’s inner drive to complete a task for the sole purpose of inner satisfaction. This issue stems from the vast differences in behavioral and social cognitive theories. The two theories possess differences in the application of the implications of internal and external motivation on individuals. In addition to motivation, the two theories have different views on self-regulation and self-efficacy practices.
Behaviorism. Behaviorism, founded by John B. Watson, was the leading psychological discipline for the first half of the 20th century (Schunk, 2016). Watson believed that in order for psychology to become a field of science, it was necessary to study the observable and measurable phenomena. Therefore, the researcher believed that behavior was the observable and measurable variable to be studied (as cited in Schunk, 2016, p. 73). Although the research did not include the study of education, Watson’s emphasis on environment would later be seen in conditional theories of learning (Schunk, 2016). With almost all of the theories being rooted in the aspect of behavior, the behaviorist conditioning theory of learning “explains learning in terms of environmental events. While not denying the existence of mental phenomena, these theories contend that such phenomena are not necessary to explain learning,” (p. 73). Behaviorists view people’s actions as responses to stimuli (Hueser, 1999). Hueser (1999) also stated that, Behaviorists’ view that a stimulus-response relationship can predict and control behaviors. The conceptual framework will look at connectionism, classical conditioning, contiguous conditioning, and Skinner’s operant conditioning.
Conceptual or Theoretical FrameworkThe two major and central camps of learning theories with specific assumptions on motivation are: behavioral and cognitive. Consequently, the selected theories view the aspect of motivation disparately, especially in the way that a targeted behavior will recur after a reward is taken away. A recurring issue in the research of motivation is the impact that the positive or negative reinforcement can have on the element of intrinsic motivation, a person’s inner drive to complete a task for the sole purpose of inner satisfaction. This issue stems from the vast differences in behavioral and social cognitive theories. The two theories possess differences in the application of the implications of internal and external motivation on individuals. In addition to motivation, the two theories have different views on self-regulation and self-efficacy practices.
Behaviorism. Behaviorism, founded by John B. Watson, was the leading psychological discipline for the first half of the 20th century (Schunk, 2016). Watson believed that in order for psychology to become a field of science, it was necessary to study the observable and measurable phenomena. Therefore, the researcher believed that behavior was the observable and measurable variable to be studied (as cited in Schunk, 2016, p. 73). Although the research did not include the study of education, Watson’s emphasis on environment would later be seen in conditional theories of learning (Schunk, 2016). With almost all of the theories being rooted in the aspect of behavior, the behaviorist conditioning theory of learning “explains learning in terms of environmental events. While not denying the existence of mental phenomena, these theories contend that such phenomena are not necessary to explain learning,” (p. 73). Behaviorists view people’s actions as responses to stimuli (Hueser, 1999). Hueser (1999) also stated that, Behaviorists’ view that a stimulus-response relationship can predict and control behaviors. The conceptual framework will look at connectionism, classical conditioning, contiguous conditioning, and Skinner’s operant conditioning.
