Monday, February 28, 2011
Motivation
Respond to this scenario: You have completed a project for a teacher that has taken you almost a month to complete. It was handed in on time, and you have waited more than three weeks to receive a grade on it. You have inquired about the grade, but have not received a response. What role does feedback play in student motivation?
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I think that feedback is extremely important, in regards to student motivation. In this scenario, a lot of time was spent to complete the project, and if it were me, I would be anxious to find out how well I did. When feedback is not received in a timely manner, students do not know how well they are doing, and it may affect how they continue to go about their learning. Students need feedback so that they know if they need to work harder in the future to improve, or if they are on the right track. Also, students may think that their work is not important if teachers don't respond quickly and frequently.
ReplyDeleteFeedback is essential when trying to keep students motivated in the classroom. Providing feedback helps students to monitor their own learning and understanding. Based on a teacher's comments, the student knows whether their hard work payed off or if they need to try a little harder on the next assignment. When students do not receive feedback on an assignment, it is difficult for them to monitor their own learning. They are unable to devlop crucial self-assessment skills. In this scenario, students have not received feedback and therefore cannot evlauate their understanding on the topic.
ReplyDeleteMost student's are motivated by teacher feedback in the classroom. If a student performs well and receives positive feedback, they are motivated to continue this level of performance. If a student performs poorly and and this is reflected in the teacher feedback, the student may feel motivated to work harder on the next assignment to improve their performance. When student's don't receive any feedback, this relays the message that the assignment was not important. Why should the student work hard on the next assignment if they think the teacher does not value it's importance? This may seem like only extrinsic motivation, but by motivating students extrinsically teachers help students develop personal sources of intrinsic motivation. Teacher feedback is a crucial step to keeping students motivated to work hared in the classroom.
Feedback is a critical part of the learning process. If students complete assignments and receive no evaluation, the students won't know what they did correctly and what they need to improve. Learning is a process of growth that is only achieved through trial and error. Students need to know what they did incorrectly, so they can learn and grow from the experience and improve future task performance. If feedback is given constructively, rather than simply a grade, students will feel more confident in completing future assignments.
ReplyDeleteFeedback is cruial when trying to motivate students in the classroom. Students use teacher feedback to monitor their understanding of a learning goal. When students invest so much time in an assignment, they want to know what they did correctly and what they could imporve upon in the future. By providing valuable feedback in a timely manner, teachers are able to help students develop important self-assessment skills.
ReplyDeleteStudents can be motivated by any type of teacher feedback. If a student receives positive feedback, they are motivated to continue working hard and perform at a high level. If a student receives feedback about what they need to improve, students may be motivated to work harder and spend more time on the assignment. No matter what type of feedback, it is important that teachers provide it in a timely manner. When a teacher does not tell the students how they performed on a certain assignment, the teacher is relaying the message that they don't value the assignment and think it's important. If a teacher doesn't seem to value an assignment why should the students?
Feedback plays a very important role in student motivation. If a student works hard to complete an assignment and turns it in on time, then they appreciate having feedback in a timely matter. I always want to have feedback so I know what I need to work on to improve. If I do not receive a response in a timely matter, I will not work as hard on the next assignment. If the teacher doesn’t take time to give feedback it seems like they don’t care, so it makes the student believe their assignment is not that important.
ReplyDeleteToday during my level II experience, I saw the teacher give feedback in a very efficient and effective way that motivated her students to continue their learning. Yesterday the students completed a reading worksheet about the inner planets in the solar system. They were told to complete the worksheet individually and to treat it like a test. When the students got back into the classroom after P.E. today, the worksheet was graded and placed on their desks. The students received a score out of 5. They were able to check their understanding about the inner planets before they moved on today to learning about the outer planets. When the students knew how well they did on the first worksheet, they were motivated and engaged in their learning today while completing a worksheet about the outer planets. Eventhough it was a small in class assignment, the feedback showed the students that the teacher valued their effort and thought the assignment was important. I thought this was a great example that showed how important teacher feedback really is and how it can be used effectively to positively impact student learning.
ReplyDeleteLast week, in my field experience classroom, an assessment over fractions was taken to see if the students were grasping the concepts. During the test it was apparent that the students were beginning to get frustrated because they didn't understand the material that it was assessing. The teacher was able to use this as feedback, and she revisited the concepts that students struggled with, this week. I learned that not only should we provide feedback for our students, but we should be open to feedback from them, as well.
ReplyDeleteI would be very frustrated as a student if I spent a lot of time working on a project, and had to wait 3 weeks to get my grade, especially if the grade of this project had a big part in my overall grade. Also, if the teacher is giving feedback on the project, but you don't get it until 3 weeks later, it isn't very helpful, especially if you're still working on the same unit.
ReplyDeleteIn my Assessment class, we discussed this issue a little bit, and as a class we talked about how students will eventually lose interest if you wait too long to give them a grade on something, which isn't a good thing. Even though grades and other things shouldn't be the most important thing, the fact is that they are probably one of the best motivators for students, so it's important to give prompt, helpful feedback to students.
I like Kara's comment about when teachers don't give feedback in a timely manner, it makes it seem like they don't value the assignment. I agree. I think students would pick up on this fairly quickly, and perhaps start to question why the assignment was given in the first place if the teacher didn't think it was important. Also, students could carry these thoughts into future assignments, or else always be trying to decide what homework is "important" and what isn't, and only try on the assignments they think are important.
ReplyDeleteIn my field experience classroom, I noticed my teacher gives great feedback. When a student gets back their homework there is a grade and things are circled if they are incorrect. As she is handing them back to the students she says, “Good Job. You did a nice job on this.” And explains what they did well. Otherwise she has to students correct their mistakes so they can see what they did wrong.
ReplyDeleteI think feedback in a timely manner is very important. If I had worked hard on a project that took me a lot of time outside the classroom, I would expect to know how I did within 2 weeks. Being able to receive feedback in an appropriate time allows the student to know where they are at that point, and where they need to be after the project, and then they are able to plan ahead for the rest of the semester. Thankfully, I have not had this problem while I have been in college, but I know a few people who have and they were extremely frusterated. They said they thought that their work was not valued and their extra effort was not recognized. As a future educator and as a current student, I know how feedback can be used as motiviation and I hope to implement quick feedback while I finish my field experiences and as well as in my future classrooms.
ReplyDeleteI liked Shelby's connection to her Assessment class. I am also in that class this semester, and we are beginning to get into the topic of grading and appropriate feedback. I do agree that student's lose interest if the feedback/grading takes too long after the project has been turned in. Feedback and grades help motivate each student to the next level of their learning and studying, and it needs to be given at appropriate times in order to keep students thoughts and actions on track with regards to assessments and assignments.
ReplyDeleteFeedback plays an important role in student motivation. It takes a lot of dedication to put in a lot of time to a project. When a student doesn't receive feedback, it seems like the teacher is dismissing what they did and is uninterested in the work they put in. Not receiving feedback may cause a student to be less dedicated to their school work and not put forth as much effort.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I have noticed while doing this field experience is that it is a good idea to change the kind of feedback that you give students. Today, the students got stickers on the papers they did really well on. Sometimes it is a "good" or "excellent" written on the top of the paper. Other times it is verbal praise "Good job" or "Thanks for bringing your homework!". With students it is good to provide different forms of feedback so that it is not repetitive. The repetition causes that thing to mean less. For example, if students got stickers every day of the week, the stickers wouldn't be as exciting.
ReplyDeleteRespond to this scenario: You have completed a project for a teacher that has taken you almost a month to complete. It was handed in on time, and you have waited more than three weeks to receive a grade on it. You have inquired about the grade, but have not received a response. What role does feedback play in student motivation?
ReplyDeleteI would feel very frustrated. I would begin to think that the teacher didn’t care about me or my work. If my own teacher didn’t care about my work, why should I care about my work. This is the thought process that I think a lot students would probably go through. It the teachers don’t seemed interested in the work that they assign, the students won’t be either. Feedback is so essential for many reasons. The students can look at feedback and be encouraged for what they did right and they also can see what they need to improve on to get better. If no feedback is given at all, not only will the student think that the teacher doesn’t care, he/she won’t know how they can improve. I think it is also important for students to receive positive feedback so they are encouraged and assured that they are capable of doing the assignment, this can be a huge motivation for the students to continue to try on future assignments. This is especially helpful for students with lower self-esteem.
Something that I see my field experience teacher do in the classroom that I find very helpful in regards to feedback, is she has the students rate themselves on how well they did on something. Whether it is how well they did in a group activity or how well they were a student leader. The students hold up either a 1,3,or 5 depending on how well they think they did individually. This helps the students reflect on their own performance and they give themselves their own feedback so the students are thinking about what they did well on and what they need to work on. This is also teaching them the first steps to self evaluation so later on when they are older they will be more able to evaluate their own work.
ReplyDeleteI think that student motivation plays a huge role for student performance in the classroom. I have had several field experiences and I have seen both teachers who use a lot of praise, and those who don't. When I see teachers use a lot praise within their instruction I also see student productivity increase. During my level one field experience my mentor teacher hardly ever gave positive feedback for her students' good actions. I think it is safe to assume that these students weren't trying their best because they never got any sort of positive feedback. As a student, I generally try harder when teachers give me some kind of feedback especially on projects that took me a lot of time to complete. Feedback and praise are two huge factors for a good classroom climate, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteThinking about my current field experience observations, I have seen several times how feedback has been encouraging for the students. Recently, I have worked one on one with a student who struggles with large group activities. However, I have noticed that my mentor teacher makes the extra effort to praise this student, as well as all students, when the student does something good. Anyways, with this particular student I have worked with I have noticed that when someone is working with him he tends to try harder. As long as this student has someone giving him feedback when he reads or completes a worksheet I think he stays motivated. It's hard for him to stay on task when he isn't receiving immediate feedback for his actions as a student. This is only a minor example of how crucial teacher feedback is for student learning, but it is very evident how important it is.
ReplyDeleteI also agree to Shelby's comment about becoming very frustrated at teacher and about the project. If I spent that much quality time and work on a big project or if I studied a lot over a huge test, I would like to see my grade for it very soon. I would not be able to keep my excitement in for very long if the teacher took a long time to grade or hand it in back. Positive feedback on specific things that students do/say, I believe, also helps the students increase their self esteem about being in school and doing homework. Even if the student didn't get the correct answer or whatnot, I believe still giving positive feedback and offering other suggestions, rather than critizing their answer is wrong or dumb, will also help the students learn from mistakes.
ReplyDeleteMotivation is an interest that makes you want to do something for some reason in a certain way. Since everyone is different, different people have different ways and reasons to become motivated too. I think feedback demonstrates interests and reinforces positive feedback. Positive feedback also has a tendency to redirect misleading behaviors to get back on track to make sure their on the right track with their learning and school work. Feedback is very important to children and makes them achieve in their learning, if effective positive feedback. Students tend to lose interest and motivation if the teacher takes so long to grade projects and tests.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Shelby, if I worked on a project/ or studied hard for a test, yet didn't get recieve a grade or any feedback on it yet. Even though it took so much effort and time, students would probably start to forget about it since it's been quite awhile from the time that they handed in the project. If it was myself in that situation, I would ask the teacher when the grades will be given back or something like that nicely. I am the type of student that gets concerned about grades, my parents always taught me to do well in school and homework always came first before leisure/play time.
ReplyDeleteKara- I totally agree with your statement about how "if a teacher doesn't value an assignment, the students won't either." The purpose of assignments is to grow from your successes and failures. If an assignment isn't valued, students will complete the assignment without any intentions of improving their skills.
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