Dissertation
GENDER, TEACHER PRAISE AND CRITICISM, AND STUDENT MOTIVATION IN ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2013
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/4954
Abstract
The gender achievement gap, where males demonstrate lower performance, is not fully understood. Therefore, using a social psychological perspective, I investigated how amount, types, interpretation, and source of praise and criticism impact achievement motivation of male students in contrast to female students in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The research questions, sample, and data collection modes were varied. I investigated eight questions under five research categories: (A) motivation and impact of praise and criticism, (B) amount of praise and criticism, (C) types of praise and criticism, (D) interpretation of praise as criticism, and (E) source of praise and criticism. The sample consisted of Third Form secondary school students (ages 13 to 17 years). The data collection comprised classroom observations of 4 deliberately selected classes, a student questionnaire given to a total of 9 classes (4 from the initial selection and 5 randomly selected), 48 random interviews of students as well as end of term grades and teacher comments for Mathematics and English, from the 4 initial classes
The findings generally support the following conclusions: (1) regardless of student gender, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation levels are similar, and students have the same level of praise preference, (2) Praise and criticism do affect students' motivation, (3) teachers use the same types of praise but different types of criticism for male and female students, (4) male students are more likely than female students to negatively interpret teacher praise, (5) teachers are more critical of male students than female students, (6) sincere praise from same sex teachers is more likely to positively motivate students, and (7) same sex teachers are also more likely to demotivate students. However, contrary to expectations, teachers give equal amounts of praise regardless of student gender, and increased motivation does not necessarily translate to better performance. Social psychological explanations of gender stereotypes, continuity, and scarcity provide important contributions to the general literature on praise, criticism, and motivation; these explanations may help to explain the gender achievement gap. The conclusion of my research is the creation of a guide for teachers complete with research findings and suggestions.
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Details
- Title
- GENDER, TEACHER PRAISE AND CRITICISM, AND STUDENT MOTIVATION IN ST. VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
- Creators
- Indeira Persaud
- Contributors
- Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson (Advisor)Christine Horne (Committee Member)Jennifer Schwartz (Committee Member)Clayton Mosher (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Sociology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 184
- Identifiers
- 99900581448201842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation