My study centered setting learning goals using technology around math, and both quantitative and qualitative data were collected throughout the course of the 4 week study. Quantitative data consisted of pre and post means of the Math Inventory (MI) . The secondary source of data consisted of a class average percent on effort. This quantitative data was collected pre and post treatment. Finally, the study was culminated with a student reflection that was analyzed qualitatively.
Why did you choose the analysis methods that you chose? How did this method help you answer your research question? I chose to use qualitative data in order to get a measurement. I wanted something that showed me where the students stood at the beginning of the research and then I wanted a measure of where they stood at the end. The MI is a math assessment aligned with Common Core State Standards that serves the function of universal screening, initial placement, and progress monitoring. The pre MI showed that only two students scored proficient with scores of 785 and 825. Four students scored basic, with scores ranging from 555 to 680, and the remaining 26 students scored below basic ranging in scores from 20 to 540. After the treatment, and students having the opportunity to set and monitor self created learning goals around math, the post MI revealed four proficient students with scores ranging from 715 to 875, and four basic students with scores ranging from 570 to 680. The rest of the students remained at below basic, but even though they didn’t go up to a higher strand, they were able to raise their score. Seven students grew over 200 points. The secondary source of data collected was a percent average that was analyzed quantitatively for effort. Two weeks before the treatment, I collected in-class and homework assignments Each paper assignment was given a point score. Students received one point for every assignment completed or nearly completed, and two points for every assignment thoroughly completed that showed thinking strategies through evidence of their work. Collecting this data was evidence of their hard work and a possible factor aiding student achievement. This quantitative data proved that kids that wrote learning goals and completed homework assignment correctly and thoroughly were the students with the most growth on the MI. The third source of data collected consisted of a student exit reflection . This qualitative data was examined to find the efficacy of the study and the treatment. The questionnaire consisted of two open-ended questions and four Likert-type scale questions with a total of 20 points possible. Twenty-eight students took the exit reflection and four students were absent. Of the 28 students, 54% agreed or strongly agreed Google Calendar assisted them in setting their learning goals. 32% had no opinion, and 12% stated they did not find Google Calendar to be useful. When asked the question of how successful they were at accomplishing their goals, 57% stated they met half to all their goals. In comparison, 36% only met one or two goals, and 7% of students did not meet any of their learning goals. With the collection of this data, I was able to get a feel of how the students felt after the study. I looked for patterns or common language among the responses. A question asking students what they found useful about using Google Calendar to set their goals brought common responses of: “ Google Calendar reminded me of what I had to do…,” I could keep track and learn…,” “I could see my goals when I needed…,” “It pushed me…,” “ I could see my goals and not forget…,” “It kept things in order…,” “It saved my work and helped me learn better…,” Overall, 43% of the students found Google Calendar useful for setting their learning goals, while 57% combined the students that had no opinion or stated they did not find the treatment useful. By collecting two kinds of data, I was able to answer my research questions and was able to back up the results with numbers and student comments.
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One question that constantly popped into my head while doing my research inquiry was "Are my students too young to create their own goals?" At my school site, we recently started setting school wide goals, classroom goals, and even student goals with reading comprehension levels. However, all of these goals set at my school site are usually admin or teacher set, never student set.
After reading the journal article titled The Effect of Goal-Line Presentation and Selection on First -Grader Subtraction Fluency (2014) I came to a clearer understanding. The study examines 50 first graders from a low socioeconomic elementary school in the south western United States. The purpose of the study was to compare and evaluate the effect of goal lines and researcher versus self-selected goals on first grade subtraction fluency. Every morning the entire school participated in school wide 2 minute math subtraction probes. Strategically, 50 first graders were broken into 3 different groups for this study. One group had a folder with researcher selected goals written at the top right hand corner. This goal was created using the median of the last 3 probes. If a student reached the goal, a sticker was placed on their folder. The second group was given researcher selected goals also, but this group had a goal line graph that they could color in with blue and see if they had surpassed their goal assigned to them. The third group had the liberty of creating their own self-selected goals. They would draw the red line as to where their goal was set. Every student completed their daily math subtraction probes as usual every week, and data was collected for the study for 6 weeks. If I was to make a hypothesis on this research study, I would have expected the group to have the self-selected goals to be the most successful. The results of this revealed the opposite. The group with the highest achievement effect was the one with researcher selected goals with goal lines. Students that met their target goals were able to increase their subtraction digit fluency. The attainment goal percentages were as follows: Researcher selected goals was 54%, researcher selected goals with goal-lines was 59%, and self-selected goals group only attained 40% of their goals. In addition, this last group had 6 students not receive a prize at all, meaning during the 6 weeks, they never met their goal. This makes me think, that first grade students might be too young to set their own goals and would have a greater achievement effect if guided by their teachers. Achievement goal orientations are closely associated with student attitudes and learning. Through Ahmet Akin's research article titled Achievement Goal Orientatios and Math Attitudes (2012) I learned that researches have proposed two achievement goal orientations, and with these orientations students convey different behaviors. Learning goal oriented students are interested in learning new skills, they want to improve their understandings, and want to be competent. Learning goal oriented students have more motivational advantages. On the other hand, performance goal orientation students are more concerned with social comparisons, they typically want to do better than others, they worry about proving their ability and would rather receive desirable judgments and avoid negative ones. This orientation leads students into harmful and maladaptive ways including increased anxiety. This article made me think about my students, and in particular one of them. What are the things I am modeling as a learner in class? Am I instilling in them, that mistakes and goals not met are ok? That it's better to learn for oneself than for proving we are better than others? The habits they learn in my class will go with my students throughout their learning years. On May 21, 1965, President John F. Kennedy announced an ambitious goal. His goal was to put a person safely on the moon before the end of the decade. Kennedy's goal sparked excitement all over the world, and on July 20, 1969 that goal became a reality when Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. One entire nation moved forward and it all happened with one person believing and setting a goal. Goal setting is a process of establishing an outcome, and having this outcome or goal serve as the aim of one's actions.
If you think of this, goals, and goal setting sounds as a very simple habit. A no brainer, something we constantly do in our everyday life without doing much thinking. When in reality goals can be that force strong enough to put a man on the moon. As I continue reading articles around my driving question: What are the effects of goal setting on student achievement, I am learning that goal setting is a learned habit of mind that is composed of various properties. A vary important property that happens from goal setting is Motivation. According to Mitchell (1982) he defines motivation as " those psychological processes that cause the arousal, direction, and persistence of voluntary actions that are goal directed" (p81) From this motivation one acquires, another property which is Achievement. Hundreds of studies show that goal setting increases student achievement. One study in particular (Morisano, Hirsh, Peterson, Pihi, and Shore (2010) resulted in significant improvements in academic performance by 30% increase. Goals alone can't produce motivation and student achievement, students need to provide investment and commitment in their goals first. (Klinger, 1977). When I read about the behavior of commitment, I questioned myself if 10 year olds have that in them, are they responsible enough to have that commitment to themselves? As I continued reading I learned that it is possible to acquire this habit with the help of the teachers through a very important process called...Feedback. Feedback from educators provides opportunities for students to self-evaluate and do reflections. (Shunk, 1990). I am so excited to begin my plan and even more excited to discover the effects of goal setting on student achievement when my study is complete. If a goal was the seed planted to send a man to the moon, what enlightenments might it bring to my classroom and my students?
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