Brynn Beren

The action research project analyzed how timely feedback and self-reflection can increase students’ engagement

and motivation for future learning. Research with upper elementary students supports the assumption that students benefit from receiving regular feedback (Philippakos & MacArthur, 2016; Sackstein, 2017). Feedback from both teachers and peers can help students learn from mistakes and understand new concepts (Sackstein, 2017). Self-assessment is a feedback strategy that can have long-term positive effects on students’ motivation for future learning (Van Loon & Roebers, 2017). When coupled with explicit instruction of metacognitive strategies, self-assessment can have an even greater effect on learning and students’ motivation (Grünke, Sperling & Burke, 2017; Sisquiarco, Rojas, & Abad, 2018).  

 

In my fourth grade classroom, I do not give students daily opportunities to self-reflect on their learning in all 

subjects, in part due to time constraints. Teachers in my district report that they do not feel like they have sufficient instructional time (TELL Colorado Survey, 2015) and do not have time for lesson closure and feedback (Crested Butte Elementary Staff, 2018). Through my research, I wanted to study effective methods for facilitating self-reflection and learn how these practice lead to higher motivation and engagement for learners. I aimed to offer my colleagues recommendations for feedback and self-reflection practices, and provide evidence of why it is important to spend instructional time on these practices.

 

Research Questions     

The primary research question is How does self-reflection affect student engagement and motivation for future

learning? Specific questions to be addressed include:

1. How does the timing of self-evaluation and feedback on a student’s self-evaluation affect the accuracy of the self-evaluation?

2. How does time spent on self-reflection help students set personal goals for future learning?

3. How effective is it to take time away from instruction in order to practice self-reflection?

4. What teaching practices will allow teachers to achieve the level 5 practice of Quality Standard III: Element B where “students monitor and revise their learning goals based on feedback”? (Colorado State Model Performance Management System, 2019)

 

Research Methodology

 

To address the research questions, I began with a literature review to discover what methods published

researchers were using to explore effective feedback, self-reflection, student engagement, and motivation. The literature review exposed limitations in studies that I hoped to address in my own research. The literature review revealed useful recommendations that helped me develop the student survey, follow up survey, and interview questions with colleagues. Once these tools were built, I decided to explore my research question by collecting qualitative data from students during mathematics instruction and through interviews with colleagues. To address one of the limitations in the study by Fyfe and Rittle-Johnson (2017), I wanted to examine how feedback with time for revision may affect students’ learning and motivation.

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Study Location and Participants

All research took place at Crested Butte Elementary School in Crested Butte, Colorado and all subjects are students

or employees of Crested Butte Community School in the Gunnison Watershed School District. The 25 students recruited for the study are my current 4th grade students. I also asked four colleagues to participate in this study. I obtained assent of all minor participants, signed consent from all parents/guardians, and signed consent for all adult participants. Students were invited to participate in the study through a class meeting and parent email. Colleagues were invited in person. All participation was voluntary with no incentives or rewards. Of the 25 students recruited, 19 students agreed to participate. All four colleagues agreed to participate in the study interview. One of the 19 student participants had an extended absence planned during the unit 5 assessment and associated student surveys. This student was excluded from this action research due to absences, which made a total of 18 student participants with complete data sets.

 

Data Collection

I collected five different types of physical data. I collected four observations of student engagement during

independent math practice in the classroom using Anita Archer’s (n.d.) “Continuous Observation of On-Task Behavior”. (Appendix A) I collected self-evaluation data using the Everyday Mathematics self-assessment rubrics from the unit 4 and unit 5 assessments (McGraw-Hill, 2018). I varied when students completed this self-evaluation either at the beginning (as the curriculum authors designed) or end of the unit assessment. (Appendix B) I collected proficiency data to evaluate the accuracy of the self-evaluation by scoring the assessments using the Everyday Mathematics answer key (McGraw-Hill, 2018).

 

I used two versions of pencil and paper surveys to measure students’ motivation for future learning. The short

response survey asked students to set learning goals based on their self-evaluation, performance on the unit assessment, and any feedback they received from their peers or teachers. I used a second variation of the pencil and paper survey, a follow up survey, which asked student how they were feeling about their academic performance based on the learning goals they set for themselves. (Appendix C) Finally, I collected data from four colleagues using interview questions (with notes taken in pencil during the interview) that focused on strategies for effective feedback, facilitation of student self-reflection, and the effects of feedback and self-reflection on student motivation. (Appendix D)  

 

Research Findings

 

To analyze classroom engagement, I determined the percentage of intervals in which on-task behavior occurred

during four independent work time observations. To maximize participant confidentiality, I coded all data from the mathematics assessments and student surveys with randomly assigned student numbers. Next, I assessed student mathematical abilities based on the number of questions correct on the unit assessments. I matched which questions were associated with each skill and then compared my scoring of students’ skills with students’ self-assessments of the same mathematical skills. I created tables to easily compare the type of feedback received (self-correction or teacher feedback) with the accuracy of students’ self-assessment. (Appendix E) I repeated this procedure with the unit 5 data and then created another table to look for a correlation between when the students completed the self-assessment and the accuracy of the self-assessment. (Appendix F)

 

I studied students’ motivation for future learning based on responses to the survey and the follow up survey. I

noted if students had achieved their learning goal or, if not, what type of support they requested. I created a table to notice if there was any correlation between the accuracy of student’s self-assessments and their achievement of their learning goal. I also looked to see if there was any correlation between the type of feedback students received and their achievement of learning goals. (Appendix G) I reviewed students’ self-assessment of metacognitive strategies on the initial surveys and follow up surveys. I created a table to notice if there was any correlation between the type of feedback students received and students’ assessment of metacognitive strategies. (Appendix H) Finally, I color coded interview notes from the four interviews with colleagues, looking for any common themes. I noticed trends with effective feedback and common ways that teachers facilitate student self-reflection. I noted teacher observations about how student motivation is affected by feedback and self-reflection.

 

Data Presentation and Interpretations     

Classroom observations of on-task behavior showed an overall increase in student engagement from the

beginning to the end of the study (Figure 1).