Increasing Motivation and Engagement in Elementary and Middle School Students through Technology-Supported Learning Environments
Author: Godzicki, Linda
Date: 2013-05-00
Type: Dissertations/Theses
Subjects: Educational Environment,Homework,Educational Technology,Student Motivation,Action Research,Teacher Researchers,Class Activities,Learning Activities,Student Attitudes,Teaching Methods,Urban Areas,Elementary School Students,Elementary School Teachers,Elementary Schools,Middle School Students,Middle School Teachers,Middle Schools,Learner Engagement,Technology Uses in Education,Behavior Problems,Evidence,Electronic Equipment,Handheld Devices,Student Surveys,Teacher Surveys

This action research project report was conducted in order to increase motivation and engagement in elementary and middle school students through technology-supported learning environments. The study was conducted from August 27, 2012, through December 14, 2012 with 116 participating students in first-, fourth-, fifth- and eighth-grade classes. To define the problem of the lack of student motivation and engagement, behaviors that were targeted included disruptions, lack of participation, homework completion, coming to class unprepared, asking to leave the class, engagement in personal interests, asking off topic or inappropriate questions, sleeping or putting the head down in class, and showing up tardy to class. These observations led the teacher researchers to document evidence of the problem through a Student Survey, which assessed students' perceptions of technology usage in and out of the classroom. In analyzing data from the Student Survey, about one third of students felt class activities were not related to their interests nor did they incorporate technology in ways that motivated and engaged them to learn. A Teacher Survey was administered regarding their usage of technology at school and at home. The results depicted the amount of time their students used technology in classes during the day, student motivation when using technology, as well as the amount of time allotted by teachers for planning in and out of the classroom. Teacher researchers noted that students were more likely to engage in classroom activities when technology was used, however, 47% of teachers responded by asserting their students used technology for less than 80 minutes per day. Furthermore, 57% of teachers stated they spend more than one hour per day using technology for school-related purposes. In addition, there was a second Teacher Survey regarding adverse student behaviors as they relate to motivation and engagement. The teachers were asked to check the five most frequently observed adverse behaviors in class, with the highest frequency of observations being unpreparedness, 83%, followed closely by disruptiveness 80%. In order to increase student motivation and engagement, teacher researchers implemented a technology-supported learning environment. Technology-supported lesson plans which featured technology tools such as computers, laptops, iPods, iPads, interactive whiteboards, student response systems, overhead projectors, document cameras, video and audio recording devices, computer software, etc. were created and implemented during the project action plan. After analyzing the data, the most notable results concluded that students felt teachers provided activities related to their interests and students were more likely to engage in classroom activities when technology was used. Based on the results of the action research project, the teacher researchers concluded that students were more motivated and engaged in learning when using technology. The technology-supported learning environment improved student motivation and engagement by 9% after the intervention period. The following are appended: (1) Student Survey; (2) Teacher Survey--Technology; (3) Teacher Survey--Motivation and Engagement; (4) Who's Who?; (5) Vocabulary Review Lesson 2; (6) Making Inferences from Pictures; (7) Favorite Animal; (8) Create Unique Spelling Words; (9) Novel Questions Google Doc; (10) La Tour Eiffel Google Doc; (11) &quot;Sign of the Beaver&quot; Character Web; (12) La Toussaint Wiki Assignment; (13) Penguin and Bird Venn Diagram; (14) &quot;Sign of the Beaver' Survival Guide; (15) La Famille iMovie Comprehension; (16) Album de Famille Sample Project Slide; (17) Inflectional Endings; (18) Les Indices-QR Code Clues Who Stole the Eiffel Tower?; (19) Egypt Google Presentation; and (20) Vocabulary Test Google Form. (Contains 6 tables and 14 figures.)