"I'm just not a math person." "The test was
easy." "I guessed."...
Beliefs play a key role in student academic
achievement. They influence the internal standards learners use to create
goals, exert effort, and persist in the face of difficulty. Students who believe
a task is manageable have a belief that they have the ability or the necessary tools to successfully act to complete the task. Acting to complete a task is more
commonly known as motivation. On the other hand, students who believe they
don't have the ability to achieve the task will avoid the task because they
believe it is not in their ability to complete it.
Helping struggling students achieve begins with helping them recognize how the beliefs they hold may negatively influence their progress toward achievement.
This training begins with uncovering/examining the beliefs that drive
struggling students. Inventory instruments such as the Adolescent
Self-regulation Inventory(ASRI) or a teacher made surveys (below) are useful tools in uncovering the belief systems students use to direct their energy toward
achievement.
Created using Formsite.comIn my work with students, I use the information gained from the survey above to help students identify areas of weakness and strengths; to evaluate past experiences; and to plan the 'action steps' toward Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely goals. Ultimately, the outcome will be academic achievement, but students must first find motivation to achieve.
In one-to-one sessions
my work with students revolves around modeling for them specific
self-regulatory strategies: planning, goal setting, reflecting on feedback and
evaluating outcomes. This work is slow in the beginning, but it does yield
success when students begin to experience success toward their goals. One
way to train students in a classroom of 30 is to use an index card tracking system. At
the beginning of a unit, quarter, semester, or year...ask students to reflect on past
performances in your subject: what worked, what didn't work, and what they
could do differently this unit, quarter, semester, year. Then, ask them
to write a goal (for the unit, quarter, semester, year) on an index card along with 3 action steps that will help
them achieve their goal, and 1 to 3 things that could stop them. Collect the cards and use them each time you hand back a graded
work. At these times, as students to fill out the back of the card. This is a feedback process to train student to monitor and evaluate their
progress toward the goal.
This process of belief
retraining toward academic achievement has been researched and shown to
effectively predict positive achievement outcomes. (Zimmerman 2000, Hofer 2007,
Alexander 2011, Muis 2112)
front of index card
back of index card
