Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
DigitalCommons@UConn
Northeastern Educational Research Association
NERA Conference Proceedings 2012 (NERA) Annual Conference
10-19-2012
Ellina Chernobilsky
Caldwell College, echernobilsky@caldwell.edu
Recommended Citation
Granito, Mark and Chernobilsky, Ellina, "The Effect of Technology on a Student's Motivation and Knowledge Retention" (2012).
NERA Conference Proceedings 2012. Paper 17.
http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/nera_2012/17
This Conference Proceeding is brought to you for free and open access by the Northeastern Educational Research Association (NERA)
Annual Conference at DigitalCommons@UConn. It has been accepted for inclusion in NERA Conference Proceedings 2012 by an
authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UConn. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@uconn.edu.
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention 1
TheEffectofTechnologyonaStudent's
MotivationandKnowledgeRetention
MarkD.Granito
EllinaChernobilsky
Abstract
Thepurposeofthisstudywastoexaminetheimpactthattechnologyhasonastudent'smotivationto
learnnewinformationandretainsaidinformation.Theprocedureinvolvedthecompletionoftwo
projectsoverthecourseofanineweekstudy.Onegroupwastocreatetraditionalstorybookprojects.
Asecondgroupwastocompletecomputerbasedprojects.Athirdgroupwasgiventhechoiceof
whichprojecttocomplete.Aprepostretentiontest,Likertscalesurveys,andpostprojectinterviews
wereusedtocollectthedata.Theresultsofthisstudysupporttheideathatwhengiventhechoiceof
project,studentsretainknowledgenomatterwhichprojectischosen,traditionalorcomputerbased.
Introduction
Inaneverchangingtechnologicalworld,computersseemtobeattheforefrontofeducation.
Atthesametime,theexactimpactofusingtechnologyforinstructionisstillunknown.Somequestions
teachingcommunitiesgrapplewitharetechnology'sroleinstudent'sdesiretolearnandhowtechnology
affectstheretentionoftheinformation.Morespecifically,itwouldbeusefultoknowwhetherstudents
respondinamorepositivemannertoparticipatinginasocialstudiesclasswhenusing
st
web2.0toolsversuswhenusingpaperbasedmethods.Foraneducatorinthe21 century,itis
importanttogainadeeperunderstandingoftheimpactoftechnologyoneducation.Thegeneral
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention2
questionthatguidedthisstudywasTowhatextentdoestechnologyhelpstudentmotivationand
th
retentionofinformationina7 gradeSocialStudiesclassroom?Tothisend,forthisinvestigation,
theresearchersoutlinedthreemajorgoals.First,thepurposeofthisstudyistouncoverstudents'
motivationforlearningwhenengagingwithtechnologyduringtheinstructionaltime.Thesecond
goalistomeasuretheretentionofinformationafterusingtwodifferentmethodsofteaching.The
finalgoalofthisstudyistoanalyzeasmallerspecialneedsgroupandhowtheirmotivationand
retentionareaffectedbytechnologybasedprojects.
LiteratureReview
Motivationisafundamentalconcernamongteachers(LinnenbrinkandPintrich,2003).
Motivatingstudentsisacontinualproblemthroughouteducationandalthoughtherearenoclearcut
solutions,thereareseveralstrategiestohelpteacherswiththedilemma(LinnenbrinkandPintrich).
Motivationisgenerallydefinedasaninternalconditionthatinitiatesbehavior(Motivation,2009).
Motivationgetshumansgoing.Motivationarousesinterests.Motivationcreatesthewanttoachievea
goal.Teachersarealwayslookingtoseewhatmotivatestheirstudents.Motivationisthekeyto
academicsuccessaswellaspromotinglifelonglearning(Sanacore,2008).Thereluctancetolearn
mustbeturnedintothewanttolearn.
Therearereluctantlearnersineveryclassroom.Reluctantlearnersaretheindividualsthatdo
notfinishtheirassignmentsand,sometimes,avoidtasks.Reluctantlearnersarecontentwithjust
gettingby.Onecommonthreadamongreluctantlearnersistheirperceptionofthemselves,knownas
selfefficacy(Sanacore,2008).Iftheirselfefficacyislow,thentheirmotivationtoperformwillbe
low.Whenstudentsareconstantlyberatedwithnegativecomments,theirselfesteemandselfefficacy
becomediminished.Student'sreluctancetolearnisalsoaffectedbytheassignmentsteacherscreate.If
anassignmentistooeasyortoodifficult,reluctantlearnersareunmotivatedtosucceed.Studentsare
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention3
motivatedwhentheyfeelexcitedaboutataskorfeelthatwhattheyaredoingisworthwhile
(LinnenbrinkandPintrich,2003).Teachersmustadjusttheirteachingtomatchthemotivationsoftheir
students.
Inatraditionalclassroom,teachersneedtoencouragestudents'intrinsicmotivation(Sanacore,
2008).Intrinsicmotivationstemsfromfactorssuchasinterestorcuriosity(WoolfolkHoyandHoy,
2009).Extrinsicmotivationfocusesonrewardsorincentives.Inordertomotivate,teachersmust
encourageandchallengetheirstudents(Sanacore,2008).Studentspresentedwithtooeasyortoo
difficultmaterialwilleventuallybecomeboredandunmotivated.Inatraditionalclassroom,teachers
mustdifferentiateactivitiesinordertoplacesomepowerintothehandsofthestudents(Sanacore).
Thisfreedomcanpositivelyaffectthemotivationforastudentwhoisunwillingtoparticipate.Great
motivatorsintraditionalclassroomshouldencouragestudentstolovelearningandhelpstudents
maintainhighselfefficacybeliefs(LinnenbrinkandPintrich,2003).Thisoftenprovestobethemost
difficulttaskforsometeachers.Tomotivatestudents,teachersmustrelyonwhatinterestsstudents
andwhattheyalreadyknowandwithwhichtheyaresuccessful.
Creatingactivitiesthatstudentsenjoyandrespondtoisachallengingtaskforteachersofall
subjects.Introducingtechnologyinfusedlessonsmayprovetobeabeneficialmotivatorforevery
gradelevel.Digitalnativesrespondwelltotechnologyinfusedactivitiesbecauseoftheirfamiliarity
withtechnology(Prensky,2001).Technologyandteachermotivationhavepositiveeffectsonstudent
motivation(Atkinson,2000).Becausestudentsrespondpositivelytotechnologyandaremotivatedby
technology,teachersshouldmakeconsciouseffortstocreateactivitiesthatencompasssomeformof
technologicaltool.Motivatedstudentswillbemorelikelytoperformattheirhighestlevelsbecauseof
theopportunitiesthattheirteachershavemadeavailable.
Retention
Insteadofmemorizingfactsforatest,teacherswanttheirstudentstoretaintheinformation
longerthanaweek.Teachersfinditdifficulttoteachmoreandmorecurriculum(Wolfe,2001).Just
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention4
coveringtheexpansecurriculumdoesnotbuildstrongconnectionsinstudent'smemory(Wolfe).
Becauseofthepressuresofstandardizedtests,teachersmustfinddifferentwaystoteachtherequired
curriculumandhelpstudentsretainthenecessaryinformation.
Inmanytraditionalclassrooms,teachersengageintraditionalstylesofteaching.Somegive
lectureswherestudentsareexpectedtotakecopiousnotes,whileothersassignvocabularywhere
studentsareexpectedtomemorizedefinitionsandspellingsofimportantwords.Thesetwostylesof
teachingfallunderthecategoryofroterehearsal(Wolfe,2001).Therepeatedrehearsingofinformation
mayhelpastudentstudyforavocabularytest,butdoesnothelpastudentretaininformation(Wolfe).
Instead,studentsshouldusethestrategyknownaselaborativerehearsal(Nuthall,2000).Oncea
studentelaboratesoninformation,theyaremorelikelytoretaintheinformationoveralongerperiodof
time(Nuthall).Asstudentscollectnewinformationthatisunfamiliarandrelatethatmaterialto
informationtheyalreadyknow,thentheywillbeabletoretainthisnewinformationmoreeasily.
Studentsneedtoseemeaninginordertoremember.
Becausetodayschildrenhavegrownupwithadifferentdigitallandscapethantheirteachers
(Jukes,2008),they,mostlikely,areinspiredandmotivatedbydifferenttechnology.Todaysdigitalnatives
speakadifferentlanguagethantheirteachersdo(Prensky,2001).Forthesereasons,studentsof
st
the21 centurymayretainmoreinformationifitcomestothemthroughadigitalmedium.Inamore
digitalworld,onlineteachingtoolsarebetterforastudentsmemory(Miller,2009).Notonlyonline
tools,butdigitaltoolsingeneralarebetterforastudentsmemory.SMARTboards,digitalclickers,
andcomputersallspurinterestinachildandaremorelikelytomotivateastudenttoperformathisor
herhighestlevel(Miller).Onlinetoolsthatpromotecontentcreationamongstudents,suchasvideos,
audiopodcasts,andwebpages,aremoreeffectivestrategiesthantraditionalmethods(Miller).
LearningwithTechnology
Theeffectivenessoflearningwithtechnologyhasbeentackledfrombothsides.Thereis
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention5
evidencethattheuseoftechnologyincreasesachievementandselfefficacy(Liu,Hsieh,Cho,and
Schallert,2006),butsomestudiesindicatethattheuseoftechnologyincertainareasisnotbeneficial
tostudents(CramerandSmith,2002).Stillyet,somestudiesshownolinkbetweentechnologyand
achievement,butapositiverelationshipbetweentechnologyuseanddiscipline(Garthwait,2007).
Technologyuseinschoolshashadmixedresults.Technologyintegrationmusthavea
purposeinorderforittobebeneficialforproducingpositiveresults(CramerandSmith,2002).
Web2.0.VoiceThreadisapopularwebsitethatallowsuserstocreate,share,andlearnfrom
eachother.VoiceThreadisawebbaseddigitalstorytellingtoolthatallowsuserstocreatedigital
slideshowswithcaptivatingimages.ThesocialaspectofVoiceThreadallowsalluserstolearnand
growwitheachother.Usingdigitaltoolsallowsstudentstousetechnologywhileachievingthe
sameobjectivesofthosestudentsusingtraditionalmethodsoflearning.
DigitalStorytelling.Storytellinghasbeenaneducationalmethodforcenturies.Aschildren
becomepersonallyinvolvedwiththestory,theyaremorelikelytolearnfromit.Digitalstorytelling
helpschildrenactivelyparticipateinthelearninginsteadofpassivelywatching(Ohler,2005).
Childrengainmanyskillsthroughstorytelling.Thetellingofstoriesorallyhelpsstudentsdeveloptheir
listeningskills,planningskills,andallowsstudentstocreateacademiccontentintheirownlanguage
(Ohler,2008).Criticalthinkingskillswilldevelopasthelistenerisguidedthroughthestory.Listening
toandcreatingstoriesprovidesachildwiththeframeworktotelltheirownstoriesabouttheirown
lives(Ohler).
Withtheadventoftechnology,storytellinghastakenonadigitalmedium.Storytellinghasgone
fromspokenwordstotextandnowtomediawiththearrivalofthedigitalage(Gils,2005).Digital
storytellingoffersnewwaystoeducatepeople(Ohler,2008).Duringthecreationprocess,studentscan
personalizetheircreationwithrelevantpicturesthatalignwiththestory.Notonlyarestudentsaffordedthe
opportunitytousetechnology,buttheyalsohavethepotentialfordeeperlearning(Ohler).Digital
storytellingallowsstudentstheopportunitytobecomemorecreativewiththeirstories(Robin,2008
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention 6
Method
Participants
Theparticipantsinvolvedinthisactionresearchstudyconsistedof102seventhgradestudents
enrolledinaWorldHistorycourseinfivesocialstudiesclasses.Allparticipantswerebetweentheages
of12and13yearsold.Therewere50boysand52girlsinvolvedwiththisactionresearch.Therewere
5ethnicitiesinvolvedwiththisactionresearchstudy:86Caucasian,2Black,5Asian,2Indian,and7
LatinAmerican.Sixoftheparticipantshadindividualizededucationplans(IEP)andwereclassified
withspecialeducationneeds.Threeoftheparticipantshelda504educationplan.
Thestudentsinthestudyweresplitintothreegroups:experimentgroupA,experimentgroupB
andacontrolgroup.ExperimentgroupAconsistedofthosestudentsinthetwoclassesthathadhistory
duringtheperiods4and5.ExperimentgroupBwasagroupofstudentsinanInClassSupport(ICS)
classthathadanadditionalspecialeducationteacher.Thecontrolgroupofstudentswerethestudents
inthetworemainingclassesthatmetduringtheperiods1and3.
Participantswerebrokenupintothreedifferentgroupsduringthisprojectinordertotest
theoriginalresearchquestion.GroupBwaschosenastheexperimentgroupbecauseoftheneedto
differentiateassignmentsforthevarietyofdifferentlearnersintheclass.
ThestudytookplaceinasuburbanmiddleschoolinNewJersey.Theteacherinallfive
classeswhatthefirstauthorofthisstudy.
TheUnitofStudy
Allparticipantsincludedinthestudywereenrolledintheregularseventhgradesocialstudies
course.TheseventhgradesocialstudiescurriculumcoveredEarlyMan,EarlyCivilizations,Ancient
Egypt,AncientIndia,AncientChina,AncientGreece,andAncientRome.Thestudywasconducted
atthetimewhenthestudentsstudiedAncientChina.
Materials
Thequantitativemethodsthatwereusedincludedaseriesoftests.Studentstookonepretestat
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention7
thebeginningoftheunitofstudy.Thistestconsistedof35multiplechoicequestions.Thepurposeof
thispretestwastoseewhatthestudentpreviouslyknewaboutAncientChina.Attheendoftheunit,
studentstookaposttest.Thistestwasidenticaltothepretest.Thepurposeofthistestwastomeasure
theextenttowhichstudentslearnedthecontentofstudyimmediatelyaftertheteaching.Finally,a
retentiontestwasgiventwoweeksafterthestudywasover.Again,thistestwasidenticaltothepre
andposttest,exceptfortheorderofthequestions.Thisquantitativemeasurewasgiventostudentsin
ordertoseehowmuchinformationthestudentsinbothgroupsrememberedaftertheAncientChina
Unitwaswellover.Thethreetestsallowedtheresearchertoseewhetherornotthestudentslearned
andthenretainedtheinformation.
Onequalitativemethodofdatacollectionincludedadailyjournal.Aftereachclass,the
researcherwrotedownwhatoccurredinclassthatday.Theresearcherlookedfordiscontent,
motivation,excitement,engagement,andfocus.Thismethodofcollectingdatawaschosenbecause
itallowedtheresearchertoexaminenotonlywhatthestudentsdid,butalsohowtheyfeltaboutthe
process.
Anotherqualitativeinstrumentofdatacollectionincludedasurveycompletedattheendofthe
9weekstudy.Eachofthethreegroupsofstudentswasgivena12questionsurvey.Theuseofthe
groupsurveyprovedbeneficialinassessingtheoverallemotionsofthe9weekstudy.Thesesurveys
wereimportanttothisparticularactionresearchprojectbecauseofthedifferentgroupsinvolved.
Becausethetriangulationofdatawasextremelyimportant,afourthqualitativeinstrumentof
measurewasincludedinthisstudy.Theresearcherconductedtenminuteinterviewsofparticipants.
encouragementfromtheresearcher.
Procedure
Duringthecourseofthisresearch,thethreegroupsofstudentswereinvolvedwithtwoprojects.
ExperimentgroupAcompletedthesetwoprojectsinacomputerlab.ExperimentgroupBstudentshad
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention8a
choiceofwhethertousetechnologywhileworkingontheprojectornot.Finally,thecontrolgroupdid
alltheirworkintheclassroomwithouttheuseoftechnology,nevervisitingthecomputerlabduring
thisresearch.
Onthefirstdayofthestudy,allstudentsinthestudytookthepretesttoassesstheirprevious
knowledgeofAncientChina.Afterfourteendaysofinstruction,studentsenteredintoaprojectweek.Over
thecourseoffiveschooldays,studentscreatedastorybook.TheexperimentgroupAcreatedadigitalstory
utilizingVoiceThreadinthecomputerlab,theparticipantsintheexperimentgroupBhadtheoption
whethertousethetechnologyornot,andthecontrolgroupcreatedapaperbasedstorybook.
DuringthefirsttwoweeksofFebruary,studentsreenteredtheclassroomfortenmoredaysof
instruction.Aftertenmoredaysofinstruction,studentsenteredintoasecondprojectweek.Again,the
experimentgroupAcreatedadigitalstoryutilizingVoiceThreadinthecomputerlab,theparticipants
intheexperimentgroupBhadtheoptionwhethertousethetechnologyornot,andthecontrolgroup
createdapaperbasedstorybook.
DuringthethirdweekofFebruary,studentstookthesurveysthatmirroredtheconditionin
eachgroup,i.e.studentsintheexperimentgroupsAandBweredirectedtoanonlinesurveyinwhich
theiranswerswereemaileddirectlytotheresearcher,andthecontrolgroupparticipantsweregiventhe
Likertsurveyonpaper.
ThefinalweekofFebruarywasdedicatedtoanymakeupsurveysand/orinterviewsthat
neededtobeconductedbecauseofabsenteeism.Afterallsurveysandinterviewswerecompleted,
twoweeksafterthecompletionoftheunit,theparticipantstookaretentiontest.
Results
Theaveragescoreonthepretestwas19.08outof35possiblepoints.Theaveragepost
testscoreforallparticipantswas27.15.Theaveragescoreontheretentiontestforallparticipants
was28.07.Table1summarizestheresultsbyeachgrouponallthreetests.
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention9
Theresultsofthepretestwerelowforallthegroups.Theaveragemeanscoreforthepretest
forallthreegroupswas19.08withastandarddeviationof3.48,indicatingquitearangeofresponses
onthepretest.
Theaveragemeanscore(themeanscoreforthethreegroups)fortheposttestwas27.15with
astandarddeviationof3.95.Thestandarddeviationof3.95,whichissimilartothepretest(3.48)
indicatesthatthespreadofresponsesremainedequalonthetwotests.Twofactorsmayexplainlower
thanexpectedposttestscores.First,certainstudentsmaynothavepreparedforthetest.Second,
studentabsencesthroughoutthestudymayalsoexplainthelowerthanexpectedposttestscores.
Table1
MeanandStandardDeviationsforthethreetestgroupsonPre,Post,andRetentionTests
Themeanscorefortheretentiontestforallthreegroupswas28.07withastandarddeviation
of4.79.Seventyeightpercentoftheparticipantsachievedretentiontestscoresequaltoorhigherthan
theirrespectiveposttestscores.Atthesametime,thestandarddeviation,whichincreasedonthe
retentiontest,indicatesthatattheretentiontest,thereweremorescoresdeviatingfromthemeanin
eitherdirectionthantherewereateitherpreorposttest.
Table1showsaretentiontestscoreof26.64fortheexperimentgroup.Whencomparing
experimentgroupA'smeanscoreontheretentiontest(Table1)withthemeanscoreoftheretention
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention10test
fromtheparticipantsthatchosethecomputerbasedprojectfromexperimentgroupB(Table2),yougeta
differenceof3.03points.Onecanexplainthisdifferenceifonetakesintoaccountthattheparticipantsin
experimentgroupAwereallforcedtoworkonthecomputer,whiletheparticipantsinexperimentgroupB
hadtheirchoiceofproject.Toseewhethertherewasasignificancedifferencebetweenthegroups,the
ANOVAanalyseswerecarriedout.TheANOVAshowsasignificantdifferencebetweenthegroupsatthe
retentiontestF(2,99)=3.316,p<0.040.Posthoccomparisonsindicatedthatthedifferenceisbetween
experimentgroupAandexperimentgroupB,Dunnettt=2.543,p<.051.
Table2demonstratesabreakdownofexperimentgroupB.Theparticipantsthatcompletedthe
computerbasedprojectinexperimentgroupBhadthehighestoverallretentiontestscore,29.67(SD
=4.18).TheparticipantsthatcompletedthepaperbasedprojectinexperimentgroupBhadamean
retentiontestscoreof28.33(SD=5.09).OftheseventeenparticipantsinexperimentgroupB,only
twoswitchedprojectshalfwaythroughtheresearch.Thesetwoparticipantsscoredameanretention
testscoreof29.50withastandarddeviationof6.36.SinceexperimentgroupBhadtheirchoiceof
project,theseparticipantschosethetypeofprojectthatbestsuitstheireducationalneeds.
Table2
Means(andStandardDeviations)onPre,Post,andRetentionTestofthreesubgroups
withinExperimentGroupB
Test
Inaddition,experimentgroupBhadsixparticipantswithIEPs.Bythesecondproject,these
studentsallcompletedthecomputerbasedproject.Sincethesestudentsweremoreawareoftheir
educationaldisabilities,theyweremorelikelytochoosetheeducationalmethodsthatmatchedtheir
learningstyle.Byusingcomputerbasedmethods,thesesixparticipantswithIEPssucceededon
theirpostandretentiontestsbecauseofhowtheyvisualizedtheinformationonthecomputer
screen.
Table3showstheresultsfromtheLikertscalesurveygiventoexperimentgroupA.The
resultsoftheLikertscalesurveyforthisgroupindicatethatparticipantsfromthisexperimentgroup,
onaverage,agreedthattechnologyhelpedthemremembertheAncientChinaUnitandmotivated
themtolearn.
Table3
MeansandStandardDeviationsofLikertscalesurveyquestionsgiventoexperimentgroupA.
Standard
Question Mean Deviation
Table4showstheresultsfromtheLikertscalesurveygiventoexperimentgroupB.Sincethere
aretwodistinctivelydifferentgroupsansweringthissurvey,itwasimportanttoincludetwo
differentmeansandstandarddeviations;onefortheparticipantswhocompletedthecomputerbased
projectsandonefortheparticipantswhocompletedthepaperbasedprojects.
Table4
MeanandStandardDeviationvaluesofLikertscalesurveygiventoexperimentgroupA.
Computer Paper
WhenaskediftheywouldremembertheAncientChinaUnitbecausetheyusedtechnology,the
participantswhochosethecomputerbasedprojectstronglyagreed(Mean=4.27,SD=0.83),while
participantsthatchosethepaperbasedprojectdisagreedasindicatedbyalowmeanof2.21(SD=1.12).
Itwasevidentthatthoseparticipantswhoworkedonthecomputerbasedprojectpreferredusing
technologyoverpaperbasedmethods,whilethosewhoinitiallychosetraditionalpaperbasedproject
clearlydidsobecauseoftheirdislikeofordiscomfortinthecomputeruseinlearning
Table5showsthemeanandstandarddeviationvaluesfromtheLikertscalesurveygivento
thecontrolgroup.
Table5
MeanandStandardDeviationvaluesofLikertscalesurveygiventocontrolgroup
Standard
Question Mean Deviation
ParticipantsinterviewedfromexperimentgroupAthoughttheircomputerprojectwasfunandeasy
aswell.WhenaskedwhyhelikedtheVoiceThread,oneparticipantresponded,itwasfuntohavethe
headseton.Thesameparticipantclaimedthathiseyesaredrawntoelectronics.Atthesame
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention14
time,notalltheparticipantsinterviewedfromexperimentgroupAlikedtheVoiceThread.One
intervieweefeltthepressuresofthetimeframeoftheprojects.Thissameparticipantfeltthatthe
VoiceThreadprojectdidnothelpherlearnaboutAncientChinaandthatwasalsoevidencedinthelow
scoreofherretentiontest.However,eventhoughshewasnegativeabouttheVoiceThreadprojectand
offerednosuggestionsforimprovingtheproject,shestillfeltitwasbetterthancompletingthepaper
basedproject.
IntervieweesfromexperimentgroupBwerestrategicallypicked.Theresearcherwantedto
chooseaparticipantthatcompletedthepaperbasedproject,aparticipantthatcompletedthecomputer
basedproject,andaparticipantthatswitchedprojects.OftheparticipantsfromexperimentgroupB,
onlytwoswitchedfrompapertocomputerswhencompletingtheirsecondproject.Thesetwo
happenedtobetwinbrotherswiththeIEPs.Whileinterviewingthesetwinsseparately,theresearcher
heardverydifferentopinions.Oneoftheparticipantslikedtheprojects,whiletheotherdidnot.One
participantswitchedhisprojecttotheVoiceThreadbecausehewantedtolearnwithtechnology,while
theotherthoughtitwaseasiertocomplete.OneparticipantwasmotivatedtogetstraightA's,whilethe
otherjustwantedtogetitdonequickly.Theretentiontestscoresforthesetwoparticipantsalso
differed.TheparticipantthatwasmotivatedbystraightA'sscoreda34onhisretentiontest,whilethe
otherscoreda25.Sinceeachparticipantinthisexperimentgrouphadthechoice,realmotivations
wereclearlyevident.
Wheninterviewed,participantsfromthecontrolgrouphadonecommonfeelingtowardsthepaper
basedproject:itwasfunandeasy.WhenaskedhowthisprojecthelpedthemlearnaboutAncientChina,
oneintervieweeresponded,writingsentenceshelpedmemakeconnectionswiththepictures.Most
participantsinthecontrolgroupagreedthatcompletingtheprojectwasbetterthanbookwork.
AnalysisofData
Ifthechoiceofprojectweregiventoallparticipants,itislikelythattheresultswouldbe
different.Whengiventhechoice,participantswillchoosetheprojectthatbestsuitstheireducational
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention15
needs.TherewereparticipantsinexperimentgroupAthatwouldhavechosentoworkonthepaper
basedassignments,whiletherewereparticipantsinthecontrolgroupthatwouldhavechosentowork
onthecomputerbasedassignments.Eventhoughstudentsmayseemmoreinterestedandmotivated
withcomputers,thisdoesnotnecessarilymeantheylearnbestwithcomputers.
TheparticipantsinexperimentgroupAhadlowerlevelsoflearningandretention,but
enjoyedlearningwithtechnology
Whentakingacloserlookatindividualscoresonthequantitativetests,theresearchernoticed
anotherphenomenonwiththeresults.Afterexaminingtheresults,therewasanoticeablegrouping
ofparticipantsineachofthethreegroupstherewerestudentswhodidnotretaininformation,students
whoretainedsomeinformation,andthosewholearnedandretainedalotofinformation.Figure1
displaysindividualresultsofpretest,posttest,andretentiontestscorestakenfromselectparticipants
fromexperimentgroupA.Participants1and2showlowerretentiontestscoresthanposttestscores.
Whensurveyed,Participant1claimedthatusingtechnologyhelpedremembertheAncientChina
Unit.Participant2wasanextremecasewhere,althoughahighpretestandposttestscore,the
retentiontestscoreislow.
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention16
Wheninterviewed,Participant2stronglydisagreedthatusingtechnologywouldhelpremember
theAncientChinaunit.Participants3and5showedsomesignsoflearninggiventheirpretest
scores.Eventhoughtheseparticipant'sretentiontestsscoresincreasedfromtheirposttestscores,
theywerenotfullyconvincedthattheyenjoyedusingtechnologytolearn.
Figure2displaystheresultsofpretest,posttest,andretentiontestfromallparticipantsin
experimentgroupB.Thisgroupdisplayedoverallgreaternumbersontheirposttestandretentiontest
scores.TheFigureindicatesthattheparticipants10,13,and17hadretentiontestscoresslightly
lowerthantheirposttestscores.Ontheirsurveys,bothparticipants10and13claimedthattheuseof
technologywouldnothelpthemremembertheAncientChinaunit.Whengiventheopportunity,
Participant13switchedfromthepaperbasedprojecttothecomputerbased.Allthreeoftheseselect
participantsclaimedthatthecompletionofapaperbasedprojectwouldnotmotivateorhelpthem
remembertheinformation.Thesethreeparticipantsalsohappentobeclassifiedasspecialeducation.
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention17
Eventhoughtheyhadtheopportunitytochoosetheirownproject,thesestudentscontinuallystruggled
withthecontentbeingtaught.
Participants2,3,and15showedsignsoflearningalittlegiventheslightincreaseintheirpost
testscoresandsubsequentslightlyhigherscoresontheirretentiontest.
Participants1,4,and6showedsignsoflearningalotgiventheirlowerpretestscoresand
relativelyhigherposttestscores.Theseparticipantswerealsoabletoretainthisinformationand
scored30oraboveontheirretentiontests.
OnenoteworthycaseisParticipant8.Althoughthelowpretestscoreandevenlowerposttest
score,Participant8scoredaslightlyhigherretentiontestscore,whichshowssignsoflearning.Even
thoughtestscoreswerelow,thisparticipantwasstillcapableoflearning.Eventhoughthis
participant'sscoreswerelow,therewasnoswitchfrompaperbasedtocomputerbasedproject.This
studentstuckwiththestorybookbecausesheknewshedidnotwanttotryherluckonthecomputer.
Figure3exhibitstheresultsofselectsixparticipantsfromthecontrolgroup.Unlikethepatternthat
canbeseeninFigures1and2,thisfigureindicatesthatallparticipantsperformedbetteratposttestthan
theydidatthepretest.ExaminingtheFigurefurther,onecanseethatParticipants1and2had
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention18
retentiontestscoresthatwereconsiderablylowerthantheirposttestscores.EventhoughParticipant2
scored30ontheposttest,informationwasnotretained.Whenreviewingthesurveyresultsforthese
participants,theresearcherdiscoveredthatparticipants1and2scoredrelativelylowonaquestionthat
askedifthetraditionalprojectwasamotivatorforlearning.
Participants3and5scoredhigherontheirposttestthanpretestandyetevenhigherontheir
retentiontests.Thisshowsinformationwaslearnedandretainedaftertwoweeks.Theseparticipants
bothstronglyagreedthatthepaperbasedprojectwasastrongmotivatortolearn.Also,both
participantsagreedthattraditionalmethodswillhelpthemremembertheAncientChinaunit.
Althoughparticipant3stronglydisagreedabouttheeaseoftheproject,thisparticipantstillretained
informationafterthecompletionofthestudy.
Finally,Participants4and6,whosepretestscoreswererelativelylow,butretentiontest
scoreswereequaltoorgreaterthantheirposttestscores,bothstronglyagreedwhenaskedifthe
paperbasedprojectwouldhelpthemremembertheAncientChinaunit.Eventhoughthispaperbased
projectdidnotnecessarilymotivateParticipants4and6tolearn,theystillscoredhighontheposttest
andsustainedthatscoreontheretentiontest.
Discussion
Itwasdiscoveredinthisresearch,thatstudentswhochosetocompleteprojectsusingavailable
technologyscoredsignificantlybetterthanstudentswhowereforcedtouseavailabletechnology.
Muchtotheresearcher'ssurprise,whengiventhechoicebetweencompletingapaperbasedprojector
completingacomputerbasedproject,theclasswasvirtuallysplitdownthemiddle.Previous
assumptionswouldhaveledthisresearchertobelievethatmoreseventhgradestudentswouldhave
chosentoworkonthecomputerovertraditionalmethodsoflearning.
Thisresearchfoundamixofstudentsthatwouldnothavechosentoworkonthecomputerifgiven
thechoice.Whatwentwrongforthesedigitalnativesintheirpreviousschooling?Didtheyhaveateacher
thatdidnotknowhowtousetechnology?Didtheyhaveateacherthatpoisonedtheirminds
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention19
withhatredtowardstechnology?Dotheyhavetherightequipmentathomeandaretheyallowedtouse
ittogaintheproficiencytheyneedtolearnthetechnologylanguage?Thesestudentswereobviously
uncomfortableinfrontofacomputerbecausecomputersdidn'tlikethemorcomputersweretoo
difficulttounderstand.Butthentherewasanothergroupofstudentsthatwouldhavechosentowork
onthecomputerifgiventhechoice.Whywerethesestudentsacceptingoftechnology?Didtheyhavea
previousteacherthatencouragedthemtousethecomputerorwasenthusiasticwhenteachingwith
technology?Didtheyhaveaparentthattaughtthemtousethecomputeratanearlierage?These
studentspreferredthecomputerandsucceededincreatingmeaningfulVoiceThreads.Theseareallthe
questionsthatthefutureresearchstudiesmusttakeintoconsiderationandtrytoexplore.
ImplicationsforTeaching
Theresultsofthisstudybroughtmixedfeelings.Althoughtheresultsfromtheprepost
retentiontestsindicateagreaterposttestscoreforthecontrolgroupandexperimentgroupBthan
experimentgroupA,itseemedasthoughparticipatingintheVoiceThreadprojectwasmoredesired
thanparticipatinginthepaperbasedstorybookproject.Motivationforlearningwashigherwithin
experimentgroupAandgroupB,buttestscoresweregreaterinthecontrolgroup.Eventhoughthere
isadesirefortechnologyuse,thisresearchpointstogreaterachievementandknowledgeretention
withouttheuseofcomputers.Previousyearsofschoolingmaypointtothereasonsbehindthis
phenomenon.
Researchshouldbetakenonparticipantsthatchoosetheirstyleofproject.Participantswill
chooseaprojectthatbestsuitstheireducationalneeds.Ifsupposeddigitalnativesdonotchoose
technology,thenresearchmustdelveintotheirpreviousschooling.Perhaps,alongitudinalstudyof
schoolprojectscompletedovermanyyearscouldpointtosomeinsightastowhyaparticularstudent
isuncomfortablearoundtechnology.
Duringthisresearchproject,Ibecamemoreawareofhowstudentsmaywanttolearnas
st
opposedtohowtheylearnbest.Manystudentsinthe21 centurygravitatetowardstechnologybecause
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention20
theythinkitisfunandeasy.Sometimes,justbecauseaprojectisfunandeasydoesnotmeanthat
studentwilllearninformation.
Conclusion
Theresearcherconcludesthattechnologyhasthepotentialtobeapowerfuleducationaltoolfor
thosethathaveinterestinit.Forstudentswithnointerestinusingtechnology,theywillstillbenefit
educationallyfromtraditionalmethods.Thisresearchalludestothefactthatassigningacomputer
basedprojecthaphazardlytoagroupofstudentswillnotnecessarilygeneratehightestscores.There
needstobeinterestandmotivationwithusingtechnologyinthefirstplaceforstudentstosucceed.As
withanyinstructionaltopic,technologyneedstobetaughtandembracedatanearlyage.Ifstudents
aretaughttohatetechnologyatanearlyage,thentheirdisdainfortechnologymayfollowtheminto
theirlateryears.
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention 21
References
Atkinson,E.S.(2000).Aninvestigationintotherelationshipbetweenteachermotivationand
pupilmotivation.EducationalPsychology,20(1).4557.
Cramer,S.andSmith,A.(2002).Technology'simpactonstudentwritingatthemiddleschoollevel.
JournalofInstructionalPsychology,29(1).314.
Garthwait,A.(2007).Middleschoolhypermediacomposition:Aqualitativecasestudy.Journal
ofEducationalMultimediaandHypermedia,16(4),357375.
Gils,F.V.(2005,June).Potentialapplicationsofdigitalstorytellingineducation.Paperpresentedat
http://wwwhome.cs.utwente.nl/~theune/VS/Frank_van_Gils.pdf
3rdTwenteStudentConferenceonITattheUniversityofTwente.RetrievedSeptember23,
2009,from
Jukes,I.(2008).Understandingdigitalkids(Dks):Teachingandlearninginthenewdigital
landscape.RetrievedNovember19,2009,fromhttp://www.hmleague.org/Digital%20Kids.pdf
Linnebrink,E.A.,andPintrich,P.R.(2003).Theroleofselfefficacybeliefsinstudentengagement
andlearningintheclassroom.Reading&WritingQuarterly,19.
DOI:10.1080/10573560390143076
Liu, M., Hsieh, P., Cho, Y., and Schallert, D. (2006). Middle school students' selfefficacy,
attitude,andachievementinacomputerenhancedproblembasedlearningenvironment.
JournalofInteractiveLearningResearch,17(3).225242.
Miller,M.(2009).WhattheScienceofCognitionTellsUsAboutInstructionalTechnology.
Change,41(2),1617.RetrievedNovember28,2009,fromResearchLibrary.
DOI:1667020291
Motivation.(2009).InWikipedia,TheFreeEncyclopedia.RetrievedDecember13,2009,
fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Motivation&oldid=331478062
Nuthall,G.(2000).Theroleofmemoryintheacquisitionandretentionofknowledgeinscienceand
socialstudiesunits.CognitionandInstruction,18(1).RetrievedDecember13,2009,from
TechnologyanditsEffectonMotivationandRetention 22
ERICdatabase.
Ohler,J.(2005).Theworldofdigitalstorytelling.Educationalleadership,63(4),RetrievedDecember
13,2009,fromhttp://imoberg.com/files/World_of_Digital_Storytelling_The_Ohler_J._.pdf
Ohler,J.(2008).Digitalstorytellingintheclassroom:Newmediapathwaystoliteracy,learning
andcreativity.CA:CorwinPress,Inc.RetrievedNovember19,2009,from
http://books.google.com/book
Prensky,M.(2001,October).Digitalnatives,digitalimmigrants.OntheHorizon,9(5),
RetrievedNovember19,2009,from
http://www.hfmboces.org/HFMDistrictServices/TechYES/PrenskyDigitalNatives.pdf
Robin,B.(2008).Digitalstorytelling:Apowerfultechnologytoolforthe21stcenturyclassroom.
TheoryIntoPractice,47(3),220228.
Sanacore,J.(2008,September1).TurningReluctantLearnersintoInspiredLearners.Clearing
House:AJournalofEducationalStrategies,IssuesandIdeas,82(1),4044.
Wolfe,P.(2001).Brainmatters:Translatingresearchintoclassroompractice.Alexandria,VA:
AssociationforSupervisionandCurriculumDevelopment.RetrievedNovember28,2009,from
http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/101004/chapters/LongTerm_Memory@_
The_Brain's_Storage_System.aspx
WoolfolkHoy,A.,&Hoy,W.K.(2009).Instructionalleadership:Aresearchbasedguideto
learninginschools.(3rded.)Boston:Pearson.