1. EXPLORING CONNECTIONS BETWEEN ASSESSMENT, MOTIVATION, AND METACOGNITION
Matthew A. Ludwig, NSF Doctoral Fellow
Heather L. Petcovic, Assistant Professor
Herb Fynewever, Associate Professor*
This work is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No The Michigan Space Grant Consortium, and Western Michigan University. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

2. Introduction So What? Assessment, Motivation, and Metacognition
AfL Operationally?
A Research Project
Conclusions

3. So What? 0) Students are always … uhh… ?metacognificating?
Assessment  Student Motivation  Metacognition  Learning
AfL  Motivation  Learning
Be patient grasshoppa!
Find a Giant
0) The key question is can we induce positive metacognition in our students
An extensive review and synthesis of the literature on achievement motivation and assessment learning yields two generalizations
Theoretical and empirical connections
A special type of assessment (AfL) has shown dramatic and positive impacts on both motivation and learning in
laboratory settings
However, experiments in real classrooms present a significant gap in the resch literature.
Changing student motivation, particularly with students who have learned to thrive in existing classroom structures takes time.
BE PATIENT!
Finally, my experiences here at GSA and beyond indicate a significant interest in the field of practical student motivation.
However, it also seems that many are developing proprietary instruments to measure student motivation in their classrooms.

4. So What? 0) Students are always … uhh… ?metacognificating?
Assessment  Student Motivation  Metacognition  Learning
AfL  Motivation  Learning
Be patient grasshoppa!
Find a Giant

5. Assessment for Learning and Self-Regulated Learning
Your students are metacognating!
You can help to induce adaptive metacognition as opposed to maladaptive metacognition.
Setting the stage may induce performance vs Mastery orientation
(from Butler & Winne 1995 used with permission from SAGE publications)

6. Assessment for Learning and Self-Regulated Learning
Start
Your students are metacognating!
You can held to induce adaptive metacognition as opposed to maladaptive metacognition.
Task Presentation results ing perceived cues that moderate Student motivation orientation
Setting the stage may induce performance vs Mastery orientation
(from Butler & Winne 1995 used with permission from SAGE publications)

7. Assessment for Learning and Self-Regulated Learning
Once a student receives an task they immediately disassemble it into familiar cues.
Some of the more powerful cues are related to evaluation (i.e. how can I get an acceptable grade)
(from Butler & Winne 1995 used with permission from SAGE publications)

8. Assessment for Learning and Self-Regulated Learning
These cues are a significant moderator for how the student will eventual behave to accomplish (or not) the task.
(from Butler & Winne 1995 used with permission from SAGE publications)

9. Assessment for Learning and Self-Regulated Learning
Metacognition is an ever present process embedded in the task
(from Butler & Winne 1995 used with permission from SAGE publications)

10. Assessment for Learning and Self-Regulated Learning
External Feedback is both the beginning and the end.
IT provides the basis for:
future task cues Or
Second attempts at the existing task.
(from Butler & Winne 1995 used with permission from SAGE publications)

11. Assessment for Learning and Self-Regulated Learning
And the process starts again.
(from Butler & Winne 1995 used with permission from SAGE publications)

12. What is Assessment for Learning?
Three tenets of AfL
Three players of AfL
(Black and Wiliam, 2009)

13. Can student motivation be improved via assessment reform?
A Research Study
Purpose: To explore the connections between assessment and engagement in pre-service elementary education students and their instructor.
Given my background in geophysics…
Driving Question:
Can student motivation be improved via assessment reform?

14. Methodology
Research Subjects (n=~75/semester)
The students and the instructor in an intro-level earth systems science course for pre-service elementary teachers at a regional, mid-western, public, research university
Design
Non-equivalent pretest posttest design
Instrumentation
Student Surveys (SCEQ, KS)
Semi-structured Interviews (students and instructor)
Classroom Observations (MATO, VFO)
Method details
Image used with permission from artist Sara Beise & Time for Kids

15. Knowledge Survey Results
What students should know
Section dividers
a.m.
 Students 
p.m.
eve.
KS Items (1 – 148) 
I have no clue
This is familiar
I know the answer
Oops!
(Nuhfer, 1996)
(Wirth & Perkins, 2006)

16. Knowledge Survey Results
What students should know
Section dividers
a.m.
 Students 
p.m.
eve.
KS Items (1 – 148) 
I have no clue
GREEN IS GOOD!
This is familiar
I know the answer
Oops!

17. Knowledge Survey Results
Day 1

18. Knowledge Survey Results
Day 1
Half-way through Unit 1

19. Knowledge Survey Results
Day 1
Half-way through Unit 1
Pre-exam #1
Three different sections have unique issues

20. Knowledge Survey Results
Day 1
Half-way through Unit 1
Pre-exam #1
✓End of Semester✓

21. Student Classroom Engagement Questionnaire
23 Likert-type items
1 = not at all characteristic of me  5 = very characteristic of me
Maladaptive behaviors/beliefes  Adaptive behaviors/beliefs
4 sub-scales (from exploratory factor analysis)
Performance (3 items, α=0.8421)
Emotional (5 items, α=0.8781)
Participation/Interaction (6 items, α=0.8174)
Skills (9 items, α=0.9168)
Handelsman’s Alpha values were between 0.76 and 0.82
(Handelsman et al, 2005)

22. Example SCEQ subscale Items
Skills engagement subscale
9. ____ Taking good notes in class
23. ____ Listening carefully in class
Emotional engagement subscale
7. _____ Thinking about the course between class meetings
21. ____ Finding ways to make the course material relevant to my life
Participation/Interaction engagement subscale
2. _____ Participating actively in small group discussions
3. _____ Asking questions when I don’t understand the instructor
Performance engagement subscale
15. _____ Getting a good grade
16. _____ Doing well on the tests
Skills represents student engagement through practicing skills
Emotional represents student engagement through emotional involvement with the class material
Participation/Interaction involved classroom participation and interactions with the instructor and other students
Performance represents student engagement through levels of performance in the class.

23. SCEQ Results First, the Good News n=147 Describe the plots
Y-participation interaction
X-emotion
Color- Emotion skills
Size - performance
No significant changes within semesters or across semesters was noted.

24. SCEQ Results The Other news Pre Post Skills Emotional P & I Perf.
Sadly, no significant pre-post was found
Motivation appears more state-like that trait-like in the short term
Skills
Emotional
P & I
Perf.

25. SCEQ Results Describe the plots Y-participation interaction X-emotion
Color- Emotion skills
Size – performance

26. SCEQ Results Control Groups Treatment Group Spring 08 (n=20)
Fall 08 (n=63)
Spring 09 (n=56)
PRE
POST
Describe the plots
Y-participation interaction
X-emotion
Color- Emotion skills
Size - performance
No significant changes within semesters or across semesters was noted.
Control Groups
Treatment Group

27. Conclusions Generally Students’ value KS’s
The instructor was responsive to (and surprised by) gaps in the KS’s
Students report moderately high engagement
Over the short term Student Engagement appears to be more trait-like than state-like
Future Work
Expand the timeframe
Explore other correlations (achievement…)
Compare with other surveys (SMQ, MSLQ, PALS, etc…?)
Explore connections between SCEQ and Overt Engagement
Perhaps there would be a more significant change if the post-survey was completed after the first exam.

28. So What? 0) Students are always … uhh… ?metacognificating?
Assessment  Student Motivation  Metacognition  Learning
AfL  Motivation  Learning
Be patient grasshoppa!
Find a Giant