Final Project

PAR

act, observe, reflect, revise, I am (interested/ intrigued/ in agreement/ ...) with this aspect of teacher action research: The inquiry principles involved with action research is a step forward in our pedagogy because we critically and collectively analyse our own interests rather than observing and reproducing others. I wonder though if this is beneficial to the diverse learning styles of students I think action research will promote intrinsic motivation because it's self-driven and participatory.

Reference list

Part 5
Dweck, C. S. (2007). Boosting achievement with messages that motivate. Education Canada, 47(2), 6-10.

- Carol Dweck is extremely well know for her work in developmental psychology and research in motivation.

Mueller, C. M., & Dweck, C. S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children's motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(1), 33-52. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.75.1.33

- One of the major articles used in the field, cited by 174 articles.

Dweck, C. (2007). The perils and promises of praise.EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP, 65(2), 34-39.

- Takes a stand on both sides of praise, negative and positive effects.

Dweck, C. (2011). The effect of Praise on Mindsets [Video File]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTXrV0_3UjY

- Short video of Carol Dweck on the effect that praise has on children's mindsets.

Kohn, A. (2001). Five reasons to stop saying "good job.".Young Children, 56(5), 24-28.

- Takes an aggressive stance against simple praise, Alfie Kohn is a controversial leader in education

Strain, S. P., & Joseph E. G. (2004). A not so good job with "good job": A response to kohn 2001. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 6(1), 55-59. doi: 10.1177/10983007040060010801

- A rebuttal directly aimed at Kohn's article

Hawkins, S. M., & Heflin, L. J. (2011). Increasing secondary teachers’ behavior-specific praise using a video selfmodeling and visual performance feedback intervention. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions,13(2) 97–108.

- Looks at effects of praise on students with emotional or behavioural disorders

Teacher Praise: An Efficient Tool to Motivate Students. Retrieved from http://www.interventioncentral.org/behavioral-interventions/motivation/teacher-praise-efficient-tool-motivate-students

- Website containing specific ways teachers should praise their students

Henderlong, J., & Lepper, M. R. (2002). The effects of praise on children's intrinsic motivation: A review
and synthesis.Psychological Bulletin, 128(5), 774-795. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.128.5.774

- Review of numerous major studies done in the field of praise.

Dewar, G. (2008). The effects of praise: What scientific studies reveal about the right way to praise kids.
Retrieved from http://www.parentingscience.com/effects-of-praise.html

- A website created by Gwen Dewar containing information on parenting and child development.  More specifically, I looked at an article on the effects of praise.

Corpus, J. H., & Lepper, M. R. (2007). The effects of person versus performance praise on children's motivation: Gender and age as moderating factors. Educational Psychology,27(4), 487-508. 
- Looks at the differences that age, gender have in the effects of praise

Final Project Positioning of the Researcher

Part 1. Research question(s) and explanation of what you mean by them

As a teacher candidate, the most concerning topic, for me, is student motivation.  It's disappointing, but the reality is that the current status of an average mathematics classroom is one that is not filled with motivation.  With student motivation being such a large, cumbersome topic, my inquiry project will focus on the effects of praising on students.  Praising is the act of using positive statements or gestures towards someone.  Most people have the intentions, upon praising an individual, of motivating, boosting confidence and self-esteem, or trying to reinforce good behaviour.  This paper will inquire into the research behind the effects of teacher-student praise.     

Part 2. Positioning of the researcher(s): What makes this question compelling to you? How does it relate to your life? Any biases or conflicts of interest that should be mentioned at the outset? 

This question is compelling to me because I have been heavily involved with athletics both as a player and as a coach for almost my entire life.  With this background, it has almost become habitual to praise team-mates and athletes with the idea that it will increase motivation, confidence, and have an overall positive effect.  This habit of praising has certainly transferred into my teaching, and initially I thought this wouldn't be a problem.  However, upon reading Alfie Kohn's article, "five reasons to stop saying good job," and having some class discussions on the matter, I realized that praising might not be as beneficial as I thought.  Having been raised and surrounded in praise filled environment, hearing accusations such as "praise can undermine independence, pleasure, and interest," (Kohn 2001) was extremely shocking and sparked an immediate reaction of disbelief.  How can saying something as simple as "good job," have such long term negative effects?  For the past month, with the volleyball team I coach, I have been trying to stay away from praising and instead move towards asking questions or not saying anything at all.  Simply put, we have had our most successful month ever.  Obviously there are numerous factors that attribute to our recent success, nonetheless it's triggered an even further interest in the effects of praising, or rather, not praising.  While I think am still currently in favour of using praise, I am finding more and more research indicating that praise might actually be detrimental.  For this reason, I hope to gain more insight and apply what I have learned from this inquiry project to my long practicum experience.        

As an aside, I also hope to inquire about the differences between praising athletes and students.

Free writing exit slip

The topic I decided to focus on was related to motivational factors, more specifically, the effects of praising on students behaviour/motivation in the mathematics classroom.  My personal motive behind this comes from a coaching background.  It is almost second nature for me to often praise students/athletes because of the beleif that it will boost confidence.  Clearly confidence is of great importance in the student/athlete life so I have always wanted to find a way to boost this.  Praising was in my mind, an effective method for this. However, after doing some research, I have discovered that this may not be the case.  Students can become dependant on praising and only be motivated purely when they know they will receive praise.  Because it is so habitual to me, it will be hard to break this habit of praising students but I am already becoming more aware of when I do so.  Mathematics tends to have a negative stereotype towards it and students are often unmotivated in the discipline.  As an educator I wish to find more effective methods of motivation, praising is one I will begin to study.
I am from Richmond BC, graduated from hugh boyd secondary school as an honoroll student.  Then proceeded to get my bachelors of science with a mathematics major at UBC.

Inquiry Proposal

What is your question and how did it arise?

Student Motivation : More specifically, what are the effects of praising students in terms of motivation?

I was first intrigued by the effects of praising upon reading a couple of articles during first term. 

"Pedagogical Sensitivity and Teachers Practical Knowing-in-Action by Max van Manen &

Five reasons to stop saying "good job!" by Alfie Kohn."

It was interesting to me because praising is something I do quite often when I coach and it is a habit I originally intended on incorporating into my teaching as well.  My reasoning being that praise acts as a motivator, positive feedback, and a boost in confidence.  However, after reading these two articles I am not so sure of the benefits anymore, specifically long term benefits.  I am interested to see further research on praising and motivation in general.

Why is your question significant(to you and/or to others)

I think as teachers we often resort to praising as a method for motivation but we may actually be hindering our students long term success by doing so.  In addition, I think we unconsciously praise students without carefully considering what kind of an effect it will have on our students.  Something as simple as saying "great job" when a student answers a question correctly and have powerful outcomes.  By inquiring into praising we can better understand when its appropriate, how to do it properly, and most importantly, whether it truly motivates students or not.

What do you expect to find out

I expect to find other, more beneficial methods for motivation rather than praising.  I also expect to find a lot a research indicating that praising doesn't necessarily fulfill our desired intentions.  Furthermore, with praising being so habitual for myself, I expect to become more aware of when and why I am doing so.

What resources will you draw on?

"Pedagogical Sensitivity and Teachers Practical Knowing-in-Action by Max van Manen &

Five reasons to stop saying "good job!" by Alfie Kohn."

I will also find other journal articles and hopefully interview some students and teachers. 

Group(Gary, Roz, Cindy, Travis)
From the group comments there was a common theme of how to support and relate to the all different types of students learning(ESL, girls, parent background, non-academic language) and the best way to address diversity.

Classroom management and building relationships with the students without crossing the friend versus teacher barrier

Questions for inquiry project

1.  The use of academic versus non academic language in the classroom?
2.  Technology inquiry - cell-phone usage?
3.  How to support and relate to ESL students dealing with word problems in mathematics?
4.  Addressing all diverse students?