Encouraging students to persist

1. Encouraging students to persist • Ames (1992) and Dweck (2000) categorized students’ approaches in terms of whether they hold either mastery goals or performance goals. MSL 6412 2011

2. Students with mastery goals: • Learning and trying hard for its own sake • Such students • tend to have a resilient response to failure; • remain focused on mastering skills and knowledge even when challenged; • do not see failure as an indictment on themselves; and • believe that effort leads to success. MSL 6412 2011

3. Students with performance goals: • Wanting to do well to please others • Such students • seek success but mainly on tasks with which they are familiar; • avoid or give up quickly on challenging tasks; • derive their perception of ability from their capacity to attract recognition; and • feel threats to self worth when effort does not lead to recognition. MSL 6412 2011

4. Some results from my research • Student persistence • A largish survey • Some interventions MSL 6412 2011

5. 7.3.1 Student persistence MSL 6412 2011

6. 52 year 8 students from various secondary schools in and around Bendigo • Students completing a questionnaire and undertaking up to six hierarchical tasks in a one-on-one interview • After completion of each task students were taken through a protocol of questions relating to that task • There were 3 English tasks and six maths tasks. MSL 6412 2011

7. About the Mathematical Tasks • There were six maths tasks. • All tasks related to the Measurement strand of the CSF. • The tasks were hierarchical. • Each interview ceased after completion of protocol for an incorrect answer, concluding questions and vignette.

8. Mathematics Example:What is the area of this shape? MSL 6412 2011

9. The fourth area task …

10. The fifth area task …

11. Nearly all students were willing to: • persevere in some circumstances • struggle with problems • overcome difficulties that they were experiencing MSL 6412 2011

12. frequently expressed a desire to be challenged in their school work. • often expressed the view that if they tried hard in class they would be criticised or even ostracised by their peers. • felt that the absence of a challenge was one of the reasons for their lack of satisfaction at school. • often sought external validation for their efforts. MSL 6412 2011

13. In a survey MSL 6412 2011

14. Factors influencing learning MSL 6412 2011

15. Student ranking of influencing factors • I want my parents to be proud of my achievement at school • I want to understand the meaning of the things I am learning. • I want to see the connection between what I am learning now and my future. • I want to get the school work finished quickly. • I want my teachers to think I am doing well. • I want my friends to think that I am smart MSL 6412 2011

16. Influences on effort MSL 6412 2011

17. … other students MSL 6412 2011

18. Some patterns among students • Self (and parent) motivated (n=88) • This group has the lowest scores on class influences, they are least performance orientated, strong parental influences, below mean on peer and teacher influence, strong capability, below mean interest • Positively motivated but needing affirmation by significant others (n=78) • This group is most influenced by parents and teachers, they have both the strongest performance and mastery orientations, they are only slightly influenced by peers,. • Strongly peer influenced (n=98) • Strongest class peer influence, strong performance orientation, below mean on classroom climate, parental influence and mastery orientation, just about mean on teacher influence • Don’t care much (n=59) • Lowest by a long way on parent and class influence, lowest on mastery and performance orientation and teacher influence, most positive classroom climate. MSL 6412 2011

19. An intervention MSL 6412 2011

20. Purpose of this intervention • The hypothesis is that if a student becomes more aware of his/her individual responses in comparison with the group responses overall, and if they consider possible implication of their responses, this might allow more active decisions on the connections between their current effort, their learning and future opportunities. MSL 6412 2011

21. The procedure • Survey completed in class • Presentation of results as class graphs • Clarify interpretation • Class discussion with key elements recorded • Transcription of tapes • Selection of extracts MSL 6412 2011

22. In my maths class, there are some student who don’t try hard because they are afraid of what other students might think of them MSL 6412 2011

23. One of the groups connected effort and ability: • “Because if you try hard in maths, people think you’re a nerd and then you get teased. Because if you’re smart usually no one likes you, as in they don’t not like you but they just call you names because you’re smart, and when you’re not smart they just…” MSL 6412 2011

24. “Wil Smith used to carry his books in a pizza box” • Cool. • Awesome. • They’ll smell like pizza. MSL 6412 2011

25. Some comments offered starting points for some subsequent intervention • “It’s good to be smart because then you know stuff, and if you’re dumb just so your friends like you then it’s really bad. Obviously they’re not your friends if they make you be dumb to be their friend.” MSL 6412 2011

26. Another one • “…if you’re playing (sport) and you mess up or something and you have a kick and it falls short or it goes out of bounds on the full where it shouldn’t, if you have someone on your team that says, ‘You’ll get the next one,’ you’re more confident to keep playing, but if someone is like, ‘What are you doing?’ …” MSL 6412 2011

27. 7.4 What are some relevant teacher actions? MSL 6412 2011

28. How could teachers help? • Yeah, because you need to feel safe and not like they’re going to yell at you if you ask them a question …. If they’re nicer to you then you want to please them because you have respect for them, but if they’re mean to you, you think ‘oh well, they’re mean to me so I’m just going to be bad with them’. • And the ones that try, that might encourage the ones that are self-conscious about being nerds to try much more…so they might get stuff. MSL 6412 2011

29. How teachers could help • There’s different people that have different individual needs, so the teacher could go to one person, spend a bit of time with them and then go person to person, and even though when another person needs help they should still go and help but then go back to the person that they were helping before. • I reckon the teachers try their hardest for us and…, but I think they’re doing pretty well and it’s probably not as easy as we think it is for them, but we’d probably enjoy the lesson a lot more if there were more fun and games and more rewards for our hard efforts. But there’s need for strict teachers as well. MSL 6412 2011

30. Dweck suggested that teachers (and parents) could actively model desirable traits by: • emphasising learning, challenge, effort, and choice of strategies; • delighting in things that are hard; • indicating how achieving through effort feels good; • searching for new strategies; and • reporting on learning from failure. MSL 6412 2011

31. What does it mean to affirm? • Affirm what we value • What did you say last week were your aspirations for your students? • How would you affirm students when they demonstrated those values? MSL 6412 2011

32. It is good that:… • when you are stuck you try something different • you explain what you did clearly • you keep trying even when it is hard • you try to work things out for yourself • you try to help others • you learn from your mistakes • you plan out what you are trying to do • … MSL 6412 2011

33. Strategies for meeting individual learning needs • diagnosing students’ unique needs, interests and goals • helping students to define their personal goals and relate them to learning goals • relating general learning goals to students in these interests and goals • structuring learning goals and activities to foster individual students success • using modeling to instruct students in the value and benefits of specific accomplishments MSL 6412 2011

34. A challenging example

35. Year 8 Investigate the concept of irrational numbers, including π Solve problems involving the use of percentages, including percentage increases and decreases, with and without digital technologies Solve a range of problems involving rates and ratios, with and without digital technologies MSL 6412 2011

36. Which card is better value? Please explain your thinking. (From Anne Roche and Doug Clarke) MSL 6412 2011

37. What % of what can you work out in your head? MSL 6412 2011

38. Add 1 3 5 7 8 4 2 9 1 6 MSL 6412 2011

39. Say 10% of 30 50 70 80 40 20 90 10 60 MSL 6412 2011

40. Say 50% of 30 50 70 80 40 20 90 10 60 MSL 6412 2011

41. Say 10% of 320 450 870 820 440 230 910 100 690 MSL 6412 2011

42. Say 20% of • 80 40 100 20 70 80 90 MSL 6412 2011

43.  % of  = 200 • What might be the numbers in the boxes? MSL 6412 2011

44. After 2 games, your favourite team as a percentage of 120%. What might have been the scores in each of the games? MSL 6412 2011

45. You bought something. You were given a discount of 10%. What did you buy, what did it cost and what was the amount of the discount? MSL 6412 2011

46. When you bought something you received a discount worth $300. What did you buy, what did it cost and what was the % discount? MSL 6412 2011

47. What is a % increase? • The population of my suburb has increased by 5%. What did it used to be, and what might it be now? MSL 6412 2011

48. In December the amount on one of Adelaide’s dams increases by 5%. In January it then decreases by 5%. Is it more, the same or less than what it was on 1 Dec? MSL 6412 2011

49. What would persistence look like and what is its role? • The price of a suitcase in a shop is increased by 5%. The price is then reduced by 5%, after which the price is $200. • What was it to start with? MSL 6412 2011