My finished Case study! Increasing Students’ Motivation by Providing an Authentic Audience

Increasing Students’ Motivation by Providing an Authentic Audience: A Case Study

Educators are always interested in figuring out the most effective ways to motivate students to put forth their personal best efforts in school. They try many techniques to get students excited and motivated to do their best. Teachers have found approaches that work better than others. The approaches that I use in my classroom to motivate my gifted and talented student may seem like common sense, such as differentiating instruction, using technology, presenting material in an exciting way, student choice, and having an authentic task all work very well to motivate my students. However, one technique, coupled with those just mentioned seems to really motivate the students is when the students are provided with an authentic audience to present their material. Upon much research I have found that other educators are reporting the same findings. Students’ motivation and in turn quality of work is much better when they are provided with an authentic audience to present their work to.

What the Research is Showing

To begin, in a 2009 article, “Let Them Act Out”, Geoffrey Fletcher, the editorial director of T H E Journal, discusses that he knows what the matter with our education system is today. He says that problem is that students are being drilled continuously so that they do well on state examinations. Therefore, they are not given the opportunity to work on authentic tasks and then present to authentic audiences (para. 6). He also discusses that students need opportunities to have their work be viewed by others than the teacher so that they are motivated to do their best work (para.4).

Moreover, Erica Boling a professor at Rutgers University, Jill Castek a researcher with the Seeds of Science/Roots of Reading Project at the University of California, Berkley, Lisa Zawilinski a doctorial student at University of Connecticut, Karen Barton an elementary school teacher, and Theresa Nierlich an elementary teacher, discuss the importance of a real audience for student motivation in their article “Collaborative Literacy: Blogs and Internet Projects” (2008). They have found that classroom blogging increases students’ motivation because they know that others are going to read their writing besides just their teachers. In turn, the students’ writing is better quality as well (p. 504). Another project that the authors discuss that increased students’ motivation is a collaborative internet project between classes at different schools in which the students work on a project collectively using a wiki page. The teacher found that that writing for an audience of their peers motivated the students to spend more time revising then they normally would, therefore making the students’ work better overall as well (p. 506).

Another article, “Boundless Opportunity” (2009), discusses the importance of using technology and having an authentic audience to increase student motivation. The author, Dian Schaffhauser, a freelance writer, talks about students who are collaborating and sharing their writing with students all around the world in a project called “My Identity, Your Identity”. An English teacher at a secondary school in Baku whose class participates in the project stated “from my experience, if you don’t have a real partner, the students don’t feel like they’re writing for a real audience” (p. 15). Therefore, it seems that teachers around the world notice the importance of having a real audience available and using technology for students in increasing their motivation.

Furthermore, Carlin Borsheim and Kelly Merrit doctorial students at Michigan State University and Dawn Reed a high school English teacher, converse about what makes a person multiliterate. Anstey and Bull say that a multiliterate person is one who “is flexible and strategic and can understand and use literacy and literate practice with a range of texts and technologies; in socially responsible way; in a socially culturally, and linguistically diverse world; and to fully participate in life as an active and informed citizen” (as cited in Borsheim, Merrit, & Reed, 2008, p. 87). The authors of the article say that in order for a person to be multiliterate teachers must teach students how to use technology to publish their own work (p. 87). Reed gives evidence of this by discussing when she provided her tenth grade speech class a greater audience for their speeches by creating podcasts of the speeches. She reported that “made the entire research process more effective” (p. 88). Therefore, this is another essential verification proving that students’ must be given an authentic audience to do be motivated to do their best work.
Additionally, Ross Deuchar from the Department of Childhood and Primary Studies at the University of Strathclyde, discusses student motivation in his 2005 article “Fantasy or Reality? The use of Enterprise in Education as an Alternative to Simulated and Imaginary Contexts for Raising Pupil Attainment in Functional Writing.” He found that in order for writing to be truly meaningful to students, the students have to truly aware that they are writing to an audience. Also, he said that that students need to realize that their writing could cause others to do something. Moreover, he has found that when students have a real reason to write then the focus of writing shifts from just the product of the finished piece, but to the process of getting to the finished piece (p. 92). However, he discusses what Lewis and Wray “on a survey of teachers’ views and attitudes on literacy matters, revealing that over 95% agreed strongly that children need to write for a range of audience, and in a range of audience in order to become more effective writers. However, that same study also revealed that only 15% of teacher mentioned their use of non-fiction texts as a vehicle for this, while others tended to concentrate their ideas on narrative forms of writing” (as cited in Deuchar, 2005, p. 92). Therefore, teachers are aware of the benefits of having the students write to an authentic audience and for an authentic task, but many are still not doing this. Nevertheless, it is essential that students are provided with an authentic audience so that their motivation and achievement are increased.

Another article proves this point, “Practice What You Preach: A Teacher Educator is Reminded of Important Lesson” by Karen Kelley, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. She says that when students write for a real audience it is powerful because they know their writing matters. She also says that when students are writing for an audience they enjoy it more and find writing more meaningful. Kelley also encourages teachers to incorporate technology into writing to an audience. She claims that this increases student motivation even more (2008, p. 145).

Finally, in Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age the importance of providing an authentic audience and using technology to do this is discussed. Educator Anne Davis explains that for a lesson with her English Language Learners she had her students blog about idioms they were using and then turn it into a book. Then they published their book and shared it and the blog with others. She said that this greatly increased the motivation in her students (Boss & Krauss, 2007, p. 143). Moreover the authors, Boss and Kraus say that teachers should encourage students to enter their work in contests such as a writing or science contest. The students’ motivation is much greater when they do this because an authentic audience is provided for them.
Evidence from my Classroom

As the QUEST, a program for academically gifted students in Language Arts, teacher I am fortunate to be able to teach the same groups of students for numerous school years. The importance of having an authentic audience coupled with differentiating instruction, using technology, presenting material in an exciting way, student choice, and having an authentic task are evident to motivate students to do their personal best. I have employed these types of instructions and assignments in my curriculum and the benefits of doing so is evident from the students’ achievement and motivation to do well in the QUEST program.
To illustrate, in the previous year an authentic audience was provided for each of the major projects that the students completed. In the first quarter the students wrote a class book. In this book the students wrote about the country their family came from, shared a family recipe, and wrote a narrative story a memorable family experience. The students then compiled their research, recipes, and narratives into a class book that they also illustrated. They shared this book and the prepared the recipes from the book with their parents, homeroom teachers, the librarian, and school administrators at a celebration of their accomplishments. The students were extremely excited about this project and did very well on the project. Each student received a 100% on the project.
During the second quarter the students participated in a QUEST wide project called “Books in Action.” For this project the students each read a book that fit into a common theme. Then the students completed several mini projects of their choice that had a certain point value. The projects ranged from a simple timeline of the book for 10 points all the way to making a “movie” about the book for 90 points. The students had to attain at least 100 points. As a culmination to this project we held a “Books in Action Night” (very similar to a science fair) where the entire school community was invited to see their finished projects. Again, because the students were provided with choice, the assignment had differentiated tasks to meet their needs, the option to use technology, and they were provided an authentic audience, the students did extremely well on the project and were very excited and motivated to do their personal best on this project. Every student earned at least 100 points and many chose to do extra projects to receive more points.
Last but not least, the students researched an American Hero that made a difference. The students were instructed to make a PowerPoint presentation about the person they research and that the PowerPoint presentations would be uploaded to the class website for them to share with their family and friends. The students were so eager to work on their projects. They paid careful attention to every detail of the project; trying to make sure that it reflected their best work. When the students finished their project it was evident that they did their best work. They all received an A on the project. The use of technology, student choice, and having an authentic audience besides their peers and teacher really motivated the students to do their best work.

On the other hand, this year the same group of students were assigned another PowerPoint Presentation. For this partner project, the students chose a person they wanted to “explore more about”. They were given the instructions that they were to make a PowerPoint presentation about the person they researched and present their projects in a 3-4 minute presentation to the class. In addition, I made clear to the students that I would not be inviting their parents in to view the presentations and I would not be posting them to the class website for the students to share their projects with others. I did this to see what would happen if the students were not provided and an authentic audience to present their work to besides their peers and me. I hypothesized that the students would not do as well, based on my research. The students chose to research Walt Disney, John F. Kennedy, Benjamin Franklin, and George Washington. This project was actually not as challenging as the projects that they completed the previous year. However, my hypothesis was correct and most of the students did not do as well as they did on their previous projects, including their PowerPoint presentations. Moreover, the students did not seem to be very excited or motivated to work on their projects like they usually are. I am attributing to this decline in grades in motivation to the fact that the students did not have much of an authentic audience to present their projects to.

This one group of my students is not the only group that I see this trend in. The group of students that were in sixth grade last year was assigned a research paper to do on a person that they look up to. This was not a research paper that they are used to though. This research paper was going to be posted on the class wiki page. The students were so enthusiastic about this project. I could not believe how excited students could be over writing a research paper. However, I realized they were excited about writing it because they were using technology, getting to choose who they want to write about, and they knew that that they had an audience besides just their teacher reading their papers. The students spent a long time making sure their papers were their best work and their efforts paid off because they did extremely well. Again, this shows that when students have choice, use technology, and are provided with an authentic audience then their motivation to succeed is much higher.

Conclusion

Research shows that when students are provided with an authentic audience, along with differentiation of instruction, student choice, use of technology, and having an authentic task there is a definite increase in students’ motivation which makes the students achieve much more. This is also evident from what I have seen in my classroom. The students are motivated to do their personal best when they know that they will have an authentic audience viewing their work. With all of this proof why are some teachers still not providing these factors for their students so that their motivation is increased? Perhaps they think it is hard to do. However, with today’s technology providing an authentic audience is not a difficult task. Teachers must do these things to make sure they keep their students motivated to learn and achieve in their classrooms.
 
References
Boling, E, Castek, J, Zawilinski, L, Barton, K, & Nierlick, T. (2008). Collaborative literacy: blogs and internet projects. The Reading Teacher, 67(6), Retrieved from http://proxy.libraries.smu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.libraries.smu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=31195721&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site doi: 10.1598/RT.61.6.10.
Borsheim, C, Merritt, K, & Reed, D. (2008). Beyond technology for technology's safe: advancing multiliteracies in the twenty-first century. Clearing House, 82(2), Retrieved from http://proxy.libraries.smu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.libraries.smu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=35041981&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Boss, S., & Krauss, J. (2007). Reinventing projected-based learning. Washington, D.C: International Society for Technology in Education.
Deuchar, R. (2005). Fantasy or reality? the use of an enterprise in education as an alternative to simulated and imaginary contexts for raising pupil attainment in functional writing. Education Review, 57(1), Retrieved from http://proxy.libraries.smu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.libraries.smu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=16137854&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site doi: 10.1080/0013191042000274204.
Fletcher, G. (2008, April 1). Let them act out. Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/articles/2008/04/01/let-them-act-out.aspx?sc_lang=en.
Kelley, K. (2009). Practice what you preach: a teacher educator is is reminded of important lessons. Clearing House, 83(3), Retrieved from http://proxy.libraries.smu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.libraries.smu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=35608364&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Schaffhauser, D. (2009). Boundless opportunity. T H E Journal, 36(9), Retrieved from http://proxy.libraries.smu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.libraries.smu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=44706034&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site.