Standing in the Gap: Research that Informs Strategies for Motivating and Retaining Rural High School Students

The Rural Educator is published by the National Rural Education Association and is available at http://epubs.library.msstate.edu/index.php/ruraleducator/index.Rural schools face the challenges of motivating and retaining students, often in the face of severe resource constraints. This paper synthesizes fifteen years of the author's rural research on secondary students' school-related motivation, distilling it into strategic principles for rural teachers and administrators. Effective motivational knowledge and strategies supported by both theory and research can help school staff fill the gap between potential and actual student achievement. Multi-level strategies for motivating individuals and groups include elements of classroom instructional practice, interpersonal relationships, and the broader school motivational climate including policy. By motivating students effectively, teachers and administrators can bridge the gap between what students do achieve and what they could achieve.Ye

Nurturing the Rural Teacher Experience: Lessons from the United States

Keynote paper, in Proceedings of the International Symposium on Rural Education (ISFIRE), Armidale, Australia, January 2009. This paper excerpted from the full conference proceedings available at http://simerr.une.edu.au/ISFIRE/pages/conferencedetails_conferenceproceedings.php.Rural places and schools are diverse, presenting challenges for teaching and for understanding the needs of rural teachers. The recent NCES Report on Status of Education in Rural America indicates "no measurable differences" in rural and non-rural education. However, the voices of rural teachers tell us a different story. How can we understand the needs of rural teachers? How do we nurture them, so they can give their best to teaching rural children and youth? Some answers include: accepting and supporting them and their families, supporting their efforts at all levels of school and community, educating rural community members beyond schools, reaching out and reaching in with professional development opportunities, and creating and supporting professional communities of practice. This paper views the needs of rural teachers from both broad and close-up views, considers issues of recruiting and retaining high quality teachers, and includes the perspectives of teachers from across the US

Checked Your Bias Lately? Reasons and Strategies for Rural Teachers to Self-Assess for Grading Bias

The Rural Educator is published by the National Rural Education Association and is available at http://epubs.library.msstate.edu/index.php/ruraleducator/index.Multiple factors influence teachers' grading and scoring of students' class work, homework, projects and tests. Put simply, bias in grading is giving different grades on student work of essentially equal quality, based on factors irrelevant to the scope and criteria for that work. Grading is to a degree subjective, but it need not be biased. Intentional bias is a common criticism of teachers and has been the topic of numerous studies and reports. However, less attention has been given to unintentional sources of grading bias. For teachers in any school, bias can creep into grading despite a teacher's best efforts to be fair and impartial. Teachers in rural schools may face more challenges to preventing and reducing grading bias. This paper identifies some of the issues relevant to teachers' unintentional grading biases and discusses both conventional and innovative ways to reduce it.Ye

SUCCESS for Teaching Assistant Professional Development

The Journal of Applied Instructional Design is available at http://www.jaidpub.org.This paper reflectively applies the Motivating Opportunity Model (SUCCESS Model) to a successful redesign of a university teaching-assistant professional development program. It illustrates how the principles of motivation for perceptions, engagement and learning drawn from motivational theories inform the work of design. Both the SUCCESS Model and the redesign of the TA development have been previously detailed in separate scholarly publications. The goal of this integration is to illustrate application of the SUCCESS model in a demonstrably effective instructional redesign. This paper introduces the project and the motivational model briefly, then reflectively details how the SUCCESS components are implemented in the TA design project.Ye

Dynamics of Instructional and Perceptual Factors in Instructional Design Competence Development

The Journal of Learning Design is available at https://www.jld.edu.au/index.This nine-month study used mixed methods data and a qualitative analysis to examine the skill and perceptual development of 17 graduate design students. Individual differences, perceptions and preferences that apparently promoted rapid and productive development included: design efficacy, mastery goals, preference for cognitive challenge and tolerance for risk-taking. Novice learners benefited from content and context familiarity, but as they developed competence, they gained from choosing less familiar tasks and content. Features of the learning environment identified as contributing to novice designers’ knowledge and skill development were: authentic projects, detailed assignment specifications, multiple types and levels of feedback, and clear alignment with professional performance standards. These findings inform the strategic design of instructional opportunities for novice designers and similarly complex applied professional fields.Ye

SUCCESS in Engineering Education: Applying an ID Motivational Framework to Promote Engagement and Innovation

The Journal of Applied Instructional Design is available at http://www.jaidpub.org.The purpose of this study was to identify motivational gaps and design to optimize for motivational needs in a current university course in mechanical engineering. The course instructor and instructional designer collaboratively used the SUCCESS framework (Hardré, 2009) to assess the existing motivational components of the course, examine gaps in the course relative to its goals, and then propose motivating strategies to address those gaps. This paper presents the model and course description, process and products of the analysis, and strategic redesign of the course to optimize motivation for engagement and innovation. This project demonstrates the iterative process of exposing both implicit and explicit motivational elements of instruction and identifying opportunities to improve them. For this process it utilizes coursework in an applied profession that requires open-ended problem-solving and solution design. It illustrates the utility of the SUCCESS framework, as well as an implementation process, for identifying and addressing motivational gaps in instruction, based on key competencies and performance goals.Ye

Tools of the Trade: The Role of Perceptions and Context in Designing and Developing Instructional Learning Aids

The Journal of Applied Instructional Design is available at http://www.jaidpub.org.Design principles, theories and artifacts from instruction in many fields have been analyzed from various perspectives. Instructional learning aids (ILAs) such as workbooks and job aids are components of instructional packages that are often utilized, but not often considered in terms of their role in learners’ experience of instruction. We used a mixed methods approach to examine the effects of two types of ILAs for the design skill development of 11 graduate students over two sequential semesters. As designers, we depend on general principles, and may draw on principles from various frameworks to address particular design demands. But how do the unique aspects of content, context and learners’ perceptions influence the use and effectiveness of those tools we create? In this nine-month study we examined learners’ perceived utility and actual utilization of two distinct types of instructional aids designed for the sequenced instructional design courses. Learners’ utilization of these tools varied depending on the tools’ specific design elements, features of the contexts, and the match of intended use with learners’ perceptions—demonstrating that perception (not intent) drives use. These findings inform strategic reasoning and practice in the design of ILAs for both the academic and practitioner.Ye

Defining the Graduate College Experience: What it “Should” versus “Does” Include

Gaps between expectations and actual educational experience may influence motivation, learning and performance. The graduate college experience (GCE) is shrouded in myth and legend that may create unrealistic expectations, while its reality includes elements of politics, economics and organizational psychology. This study examined 1,629 present and former graduate students’ perceptions of what their graduate school experiences should and did include. The sample was analyzed as a whole and also divided and tested for subgroup differences by: degree types (masters and doctorate); at four different points along their degree paths (entrance, midpoint, exit, alumni); and by disciplinary subgroups (hard sciences, social sciences, arts, interdisciplinary). Statistically significant differences were found between subgroups on perceptions of what the GCE “should” and “does” include separately. Further, within-groups comparison of what the graduate college experience “should” and “does” include showed significant differences for the whole group and all subgroups. In addition, the differences between graduate students’ expected and actual experience (should - does) negatively predicted overall satisfaction with their graduate experience. These contrasts of students’ actual and expected graduate experiences present potential to explain some of graduate students’ dissatisfaction and non-completion, and offer information to support program improvement and retention of graduate students.Ye

Rural Teachers' Best Motivating Strategies: A Blending of Teachers' and Students' Perspectives

The Rural Educator is published by the National Rural Education Association.This paper extracts and elaborates rural secondary teachers' most effective reported motivating strategies. From the data generated by two years of mixed method research in rural secondary schools, these strategies emerged as among the most successful. Selection of best practices was based on a synthesis of what both teachers and students reported as making the greatest positive impact on their school-related motivation. Strategies are illustrated by multiple detailed examples from teacher interviews.Ye

Student Characteristics and Motivation in Rural High Schools

This research tested a path model for how rural high school students' self-perceptions and environmental perceptions influence their course-related interest, school engagement and ultimately, post-graduation intentions. Participants were 414 students in all four grades, in 10 rural, public high schools. Correlation and path analyses (in LISREL 8.58) were utilized to identify significant paths and test model fit. All paths in the final model were statistically significant and demonstrated good fit. Among environmental factors, teacher support predicted student interest in subject matter. Of personal characteristics, learning goals and perceived competence most strongly predicted interest and achievement, and content-related perceptions of instrumentality and value strongly predicted class effort as well as future intentions to finish high school and go on to postsecondary education. Overall, these rural students exhibited positive motivational profiles for learning, apart from achievement. However, the MANOVA analysis demonstrated significantly lower motivational profile for math than for all other subjects.This study was funded by grants from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, in partnership with the GearUp Program, and from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities.Ye