Research Authorship:
Ashley Rader, Dr. David Hoppey
Faculty Mentor:
Dr. David Hoppey | College of Education and Human Services | Exceptional, Deaf and Interpreter Education
Abstract:
This research project focused on how positive feedback affects student’s academic achievement. To begin, I researched different types of positive feedback, how to use it, and the outcomes of other studies focusing on the impact of using positive feedback. My study was done over the course of three months and four students who were struggling in math were selected to participate in a small group. While working with the students on math content standards I also intentionally embedded positive feedback into my lessons in several different ways. I would give feedback during instruction, for example saying, “great question” and “good job answering that”. I also gave written feedback on all assignments. I would write great job or amazing work on graded papers. Additionally, at the end of the intervention, I pulled each student aside individually and showed them their progress and discussed what they did well. To measure academic achievement, I administered both a pre and post assessment, as well as formative assessments through out the study. The success of this intervention was shown through one student who particularly struggled with motivation, behavior, and academics. He showed a great improvement in his assessment scores, on the pretest he scored a 2 out of 16 or 12.5%. On the post test he scored a 17 out of 19 or 89%. All three other students showed similar improvements.
