Hello blog. I am not sure that I've made much progress. I am still thinking about "belongingness" as Dr. McCoy called it... being known and being challenged in the classroom. This will, in my experience, result in motivation to learn. I want to nail it down with something concrete. When we had pizza yesterday, some of the grad students talked about their topics. One stuck out to me.. "what's in a name?" She tracked the number of times a teacher addressed students by name. Simple, yet profound. This made me realize that I need to hone in on something specific. I am still not entirely sold on this topic, but let's just say I run with it. I think the data must come from students themselves. The individual can truly assess how hard he or she works. If we're going the survey route, it's tough to think of questions.
"Think back to a class in which you worked hard.
1. My teacher took an active interest in my achievement.
Strongly agree.....agree.....etc.
2. I felt comfortable to ask questions
Strongly agree... blah blah blah
3. I would describe my teacher as
a friend.....warm....caring....serious.....mean.... frigid
Is it doable to correlate the relationship between the teacher-student relationship and student motivation?
It's more comfortable to imagine an interview situation... for example,
"Has there been a time in high school when you've enjoyed learning and been motivated to work hard? Can you describe that experience? How about a time when you slacked off? Describe the relationship with your teacher."
I am still passionate about this, but I'm unsure. I think there are so many factors. A lot of me just thinks it depends on the student's personality. I am certainly no expert, but aren't females wired to be more relational? Does this matter?
Still chewing on things!
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5 comments:
yonks...i really love your topic!! It would be so interesting to study because classroom discussions are so vital for learning and so it would be interesting to see how the teacher could encourage students who normally wouldn't participate to be more involved. I like the student survey idea in terms of method. It may also be interesting to research methods that teachers use to encourage class participation and survey teachers as well to see if/what strategies they use also. Looks good man!
Kristy, I am glad to hear that you are still chewing!!
This is a viable topic. It just needs some focus, as you know. There are several facets of the teacher student relationship that impact student motivation. There are also the variables of how the teacher structures the class to make students comfortable or not. You might try looking at studies of motivation and teaching methods to see if there is anything of interest there.
kristy, have you thought about looking at teaching style and classroom culture? If communication and classroom management interests you, search David F. Brown and Michael Popkin. -John
Yonks, you are amazing. I love the diction in your potential survey questions...hilarious. Come to think of it, though, I have had some teachers that would have fallen on the "frigid" side of things. I also really like your possible topic in general--I think the idea of "belonging" is very important for student motivation, so, great start! :)
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