Intrinsic Motivation for Middle School Students
Research Design
Increase Intrinsic Motivation in the Middle School Social Studies Classroom
Introduction:
Motivating students to learn is a concern for every educator. Each educator learns and uses different ways to motivate students to become more invested in their education. However, a majority of educators rarely take the time to research, or even look at others research that has been conducted in order to improve their own classrooms. Often we as educators make excuses and claim that the students are just lazy and that must be why they do not get motivated to complete their home work. So, what motivates those that do complete their homework? Is it our amazing lessons, activities and fun interactive homework assignments? In a world where many teachers jump on the band wagon of whatever programs their school district is sold on that year because that is what is expected by the administration, we need to look further to find ways to motivate our students. Not just because our students fear punishment or because they are socially expected to; but because they are intrinsically motivated to because they feel connected to and invested in the material.
The goal of my research is to discover what methods of instruction motivate students to be the most successful? I also want to know what influences technology have on a middle school students motivation. Can using technology in a middle school classroom develop intrinsically motivated students that are successful in the classroom and in completing their homework assignments? Finally I would like to see how students perceive the use of technology in our school. In other words, does technologically updating your lessons and assignments create better teachers in the eyes of today’s middle school student? My main purpose in this action research study is to help myself and other teachers at Jamesville Dewitt Middle School gain a greater understanding of how to help our students develop into intrinsically motivated and
Increase Intrinsic Motivation in the Middle School Social Studies Classroom
Introduction:
Motivating students to learn is a concern for every educator. Each educator learns and uses different ways to motivate students to become more invested in their education. However, a majority of educators rarely take the time to research, or even look at others research that has been conducted in order to improve their own classrooms. Often we as educators make excuses and claim that the students are just lazy and that must be why they do not get motivated to complete their home work. So, what motivates those that do complete their homework? Is it our amazing lessons, activities and fun interactive homework assignments? In a world where many teachers jump on the band wagon of whatever programs their school district is sold on that year because that is what is expected by the administration, we need to look further to find ways to motivate our students. Not just because our students fear punishment or because they are socially expected to; but because they are intrinsically motivated to because they feel connected to and invested in the material.
The goal of my research is to discover what methods of instruction motivate students to be the most successful? I also want to know what influences technology have on a middle school students motivation. Can using technology in a middle school classroom develop intrinsically motivated students that are successful in the classroom and in completing their homework assignments? Finally I would like to see how students perceive the use of technology in our school. In other words, does technologically updating your lessons and assignments create better teachers in the eyes of today’s middle school student? My main purpose in this action research study is to help myself and other teachers at Jamesville Dewitt Middle School gain a greater understanding of how to help our students develop into intrinsically motivated and
Bibliography: Thomas, R. M. (2005). Teachers doing research: An introductory guidebook (, pp. 67-185). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc. Sagor, R Kane, M. (2008). Using cooperative learning setting to improve motivation and literacy in a 7th grade English language arts classroom. Thesis, State University of New York College at Oswego, Oswego, NY. Hardre, P James, N. (2007, December). The use of email interviewing as a qualitative method of inquiry in educational research [Electronic version]. British Educational Research Journal, 33(6), 963-976. doi:10.1080/01411920701657074 Atkinson, D Appendix A: Letter of Consent to Principal February 20, 2011 If you have any questions about the rights of a research participant, please contact Dr. Friedman, Chair of the Human Subjects Committee (312-6381) Sincerely,