Examining Achievement-Related Attributions - Research Paper Example

Lecturer: Examining Achievement Related Attributions Introduction The Australian International School (AIS) Vietnam is an international and well accredited schooling institution. The school’s mission is to provide high quality education to all students who seek education as a key to a successful future. The curriculum and assessment that is used by the school includes: kindergarten, primary, middle and senior school. Moreover, the school also has a summer school for children between the ages of 3 to 16 years old. The assessment being utilized by the school is from the International Baccalaureate (IB) Organization. As such, children in the primary school stage are evaluated using the Primary Years Programme (PYP). The children in middle school are evaluated using the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and lastly, senior year students are evaluated using the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). No school is complete without the incorporation of extracurricular activities that foster self growth as well as a social life. As such, the AIS school has a number of extracurricular activities such as: sports (swimming, tennis, basketball, netball etc); camping; technology classes and performing arts lessons. The Ewing public schools is umbrella to schools such as the Parkway Elementary school and the Ewing High school just to mention a few. The school’s curriculum is focussed on the New Jersey Content Standards. Therefore, the schooling grades included in the curriculum are: pre-schooling as well as K-12. Moreover, the extracurricular activities in the school are similar to those at AIS. As such, I am a physical education and swim teacher at AIS in middle to senior (high) school (grades 6 to 12). The concept being discussed is based on achievement related attributions for children in grades 6 up to 12. As such, two (2) students shall be interviewed and their attributions shall be recorded and evaluated with stated expectancies as well as existing theories in the subject of achievement attributions. Methodology The participants involved in the experiment were 2 children in grades 6 to 12. The resource that was used was only one question. That is: Question 1: Think about your recent school grades? What feedback did you get from you teacher about your school grades? The interview design that was used was in the form of a questionnaire that the students had to think about and respond to. The variable that was included in the interview was that of the student’s school grade. The procedure implemented was that of informing the students about what was being undertaken so that they would be more open to talking about their school grades – very few children like to talk about their school grades especially if they did not perform as expected. Moreover, this would enable the student to know that the information that they are providing is private and confidential and would it shall not be shared with their teacher and/ or parent. The session time with each child was 20 minutes. Results Question 1: Think about your recent school grades? What feedback did you get from you teacher about your school grades? The first student took longer to respond to the question. Apparently, the student was shy to talk about his grades since he had not performed as well as he wanted. The student mentioned that he was told to improve on his grades by the teacher. The action that he took based on that comment (feedback) was working hard in his school work and doing his homework at all times with little or no help from his parents and/ or guardians. The second student responded to the question in a matter of seconds. Apparently, she had passed really well in her units and was actually number one in her class. The student mentioned that she was told to keep up the good work by her teacher. The action that she took based on that comment (feedback) was maintaining the effort that she had been putting into her school work as well as her assignments. Discussion The concept being discussed is that of achievement related attributions. This refers to “attributing” or giving a reason and/ or an explanation as to why something (an event) took place. Attributions come in two (2) forms. These include: explanatory and interpersonal (internal) attributions. Explanatory attributions enable individuals to explain and understand the things and/ or events that are happening in their environment. Moreover, these attributions are inclusive of general judgements by the individual. For example, if a student was to pass their exams, they would say that it was due to the reason that they were putting a lot of effort and studied overtime. On the other hand, if a student was to fail their exams, they would mention that it was due to the fact that they were not putting enough effort in their school work as well as their assignments. As such, the individual in this case seeks to explain the event and/ or behaviour and provide a reason and/ or a judgment as to why that event happened (Boundless, N.d). Interpersonal (internal) attributions are related to the particular individual. That is, the individual seeks to provide a personal reason as to why the event happened or why the action was undertaken (Fincham and Miles, 1983). With regard to the students who were interviewed, it can be stated that the attributions they gave were explanatory. The student who passed said that it was due to their individual effort while the one who did not pass said that it was due to the reason that he did not work hard in his studies. Moreover, both students gave judgments (course of actions) that they would implement in their forth coming examinations. In addition to that, there are two (2) main models that are used to establish achievement related attributions. These include: the Co-variation Model of Attribution and the Three-Dimensional Model of Attribution. The Co-variation Model of Attribution was developed by Harold Kelley in 1967. The model (theory) proposes that a majority of individuals attribute their behaviour to existing or non-existing environmental factors (Kelley, 1967). The Three-Dimensional Model of Attribution was developed by Weiner (1992). It proposes that individuals always have responses to the consequences on their actions (motives). As such, an individual always comes up with a response as to why an event happened and they also come up with a set of solutions to be implemented so as to better or maintain the results achieved. With regard to the two (2) students who were interviewed on their grades and their teacher feedback, it can be stated that the model projected by their responses was the Three-Dimensional Model of Attribution. This is due to the reason that the students attributed as to why they failed or passed in their school work. Moreover, they also set out the actions that they would implement in their forth coming exams. For example, the student who passed said that she would maintain her current school efforts while the one who achieved minimal grades mentioned that he would put more effort to his studies so as to improve on his education outcomes. The expectations of the interview were that: the student who achieved good grades would definitely be more than happy to share it with everybody while the student who had achieved less than expected would be shy to communicate about his grades with anybody. Moreover, it was also expected that the student who had good grades would mention that they would put more effort in maintain their grades. On the other hand, it was also expected that the student who failed would share on their efforts to improve on their school work so as to achieve better results in their exams. Based on the elaborated expectations, the concepts on attributions and theories that have been discussed have fully given an insight into the topic on achievement related attribution. That is, children with good grades speak more about their grades and how they would maintain their efforts so as to continue achieving good results. On the other hand, students with minimal grades prefer to avoid the conversation about their grades but they would mention working hard next time so as to better their education outcomes. It can be concluded that the learning principle revealed from the responses was the mastery – oriented principle. This is due to the reason that both students had a positive mentality and motivation that they could still improve on their grades. Therefore, the attributions recorded were stable across different domains – that is course/ content. To help the student who failed, the teacher in this case could offer additional classes to him so as to ensure that he is up to par with other students in class. Additional tutorials could be offered to the student. Lastly, positive motivation and encouragement would be indeed handy in fostering belief in the student. Bibliography Australian International School (AIS) Vietnam. About. N.d. Web. 31 March 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.aisvietnam.com Boundless. Attribution – Social Cognition. N.d. Web. 1 April 2014. Retrieved from: https://www.boundless.com/psychology/social-psychology/social-cognition/attribution/ Fincham, F. D., and Miles, H. Attribution theory and research: Conceptual, developmental, and social dimensions. Vol. 32. Massachusetts, USA: Academic Press, 1983. Kelley, H. H. Attribution theory in social psychology. Nebraska symposium on motivation. Nebraska, USA: University of Nebraska Press, 1967. The Ewin Public Schools. Our Schools. 2014. Web. 31 March 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.ewing.k12.nj.us/site/default.aspx?PageID=1 Weiner, B. Human Motivation: metaphor, theories, and research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1992. Read More