Boosting Motivation through Gender Groups

Introduction

The main aim of my assignment is to inquire what kind of group setting would be more effective for enhancing motivation in the pupils to learn, by “group setting” means dividing students on gender based, I wanted to see what kind of gender grouping; girls group, boys groups or boys-girls group would be more effective to stimulate motivation to learn in a secondary maths class. In a same task, same environment and same ability group, what type of gender grouping would be more efficient and produce more effective learning? In a contemporary classroom the average classroom has thirty students so it is very essential for a teacher to apply some useful tools to engage all pupils in the class and get learning objectives in less time. Moreover, to overcome behaviour management issues motivation is very important, if students are not motivated they will be off the task and once they are off the task they will tend to create behaviour problems. I also noticed that Group work is not very common Practice In a secondary maths classroom especially gender based grouping, so I take it as a pride that my research will open new path and thinking ideas for teachers and educators. My idea will further help to engage weaker students positively into maths classroom and achieve goals in a minimum time. I also organized each gender group into mixed ability group which reflected the performance of each individual in each group. My aim is to produce logical group setting and maintain a classroom for ALL; I mean the group work which stretches the learning ability of all ranges. The purpose behind gender discussion is social interaction ,as we see single gender sports teams , music clubs etc So I wanted to see categorizing students in gender will create some positive changes or not ? My research question is “What kind of gender based grouping is more effective to enhance motivation to learn maths in a Secondary classroom?”

Context

The School where I have performed my intervention is mixed gender Secondary School in North West London with a total population of 970 students. I have taught Year10, 9 and Year 7 classes. I have done my intervention on year 7 class; The Year 7 class consists of 33 students, 16 males and 17 female students. There are five with Special Education Need (SEN), twenty-two as EAL and eight are most able students in this class. In all these classes I have not observed much group work in my induction time; however variety of independent tasks and pair work is seen. During my teaching sessions, I have planned and implemented a few group based work tasks, in these classes with mixed abilities and I found it quite interesting and motivating for these classes. This is why I feel that research into investigating motivation level on gender based groups would be useful. I have master degree in Mathematics plus bachelor in education from Pakistan, Moreover I have practiced the teaching in my home country more than 5 years in an independent School where about 70% of the pupils were British Pakistani, and all these things have helped me a lot for my intervention.

Action research

According to (Kemmis.S and McTaggart,R. (1988); The Action Research Planner, Geelong Victoria : Deakin University Press.) Action Research process could be comprehended to be a form of collective and self-reflective enquiry which could be undertaken by the participants of a particular social process so as to improve existing concepts of justice and rationality regarding practices of educational or social discourses. This process also extends to the building of better understanding of the circumstances under which such practices are utilised. Action Research could be only collaborative in spite of the fact that actions of the individual members of focus groups are required to be analysed to arrive at such understanding. (Brown A. and Dowling P.(1988);Doing Research/Reading Research –A mode of interrogation for Education, London :The Falmer Press) has observed that the promise of action research to improve educational practice requires scrutiny if such a process could be predicated upon questionable assumptions. The whole process of research into educational research such as gender based grouping of students for the purposes of motivational improvement should be based on some productive inquiry rather than discussing a research which already exists( Evans L.(2002);Reflective Practice in Educational Research, London: Continuum). The gender grouping based research into the motivational improvement pertains to the precise evaluation of explicitness and systematic measurement of the intrinsic and external stimuli of motivation. This could lead to the defining of the research variables and the relationship between the variables could be understood as well. Naturally, this precision develops with the research process. The process of effective learning through the fostering of such motivation amongst mixed gender groups of students has thus been selected for the purpose of making the intended research interventions into effective collaborative learning experiences(Watkins, C., Carnell, E., & Lodge, C., (2007), Effective Learning in the Classroom, London: Paul Chapman).

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I was curious to see what kind of gender grouping will contribute to achieving the learning objectives in the secondary maths class. The learning can be defined as a “reflective activity which enables the learner to draw upon previous experience to understand and evaluate the present, so as to shape future action and formulate new knowledge” (Abbott J (1994), Learning makes sense: Re-creating education for a changing future, Letchworth: Education 2000). The question then is what kind of grouping would be most suitable for such an objective in a secondary maths classroom? This idea can be experimented for an action research. One of the major aspect of motivating pupils is reward so the reward choice is extremely significant (Boboc, M., & Nordgren, R.D., (2010) Case Studies in Elementary and Secondary Curriculum). The overall purpose is to improve effective learning and one should be aware of term effective learning. It is important to consider what effective learning means, and to ask “Effective for what?”, “Effective for when?”. In my intervention, research model was mostly quantitative and descriptive, though I am not totally ignoring the qualitative portion of my research. I will collect the data in the form of work done by each group in the form of piece of papers, models, shapes and charts. I have also recorded a follow up of my intervention in the form of home work and assessments.

The following steps are involved in my research intervention;

Why I chose my theme “Psychological Theories-Motivation”?

In my limited teaching practice I found students were less motivated in the maths, there were various reasons but due to lack of motivation they did not perform well “Rather than take the view that success in examinations and tests is sufficient motivation in itself, we would argue that in today’s schools pupils, while recognizing that they need to do well academically in order to improve their life chances, nevertheless engage with the curriculum with little enthusiasm” (Galton, M., Steward S., Hargreaves L., Page C. and Pell T. (2009): Motivating your Secondary Class, London: Sage)

Designing Groups

The main purpose of designing a group work was to strengthen learning and uplifting low ability students “Choosing a method of classroom organization that leaves the student who rarely succeeds in schoolwork quite alone may indeed be the root cause of the observed disengagement on the part of low-achieving students in seatwork settings” (Cohen, G., Elizabeth; Lotan. A, Rachel, (2014): Designing group Work: Strategies for the heterogeneous Classroom-Third Edition)

Type of intervention

Considering the requirement of National Curriculum and scheme of work of the school I have designed four major interventions in year 7 class, I intervene in arithmetic, problem solving ,drawing and data analyses topics. The main purpose of variety in tasks is to be flexible and to do any changes if required “Be prepared to change or abandon your intervention. It’s just as same with your teaching. If you find that a particular teaching method or resource is not working. You don’t continue to use it regardless of outcomes. You change it in some way in order to meet your needs” (McGrath, J., & Coles, A., (2013) Your Education Research Project Companion)

Data Collection

My research intervention is based on quantitative research method but some portion is also qualitative, Utilising both qualitative and quantitative methods in this research allowed for greater understanding of the case. My data collection is pupil’s work on A3 papers, some cardboards and exercise books .Moreover I have designed a questionnaire for pupils to take their direct feedback “This is really important. We often see interview questions that have little or no relevance to the student’s research questions” (McGrath, J., & Coles, A., (2013) Your Education Research Project Companion)

Data analyses

This is the core part of my intervention which helped me to evaluate and make some conclusion of my case study “Data analysis is often considered to be difficult but it’s really only as difficult as you make it. Essentially, data analysis involves taking what you have apart, examining it in detail, and then putting it all back together again in a more condensed and meaningful way” (John G. Sharp (2009); Success with Your Education Research Project, Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd).So I carefully analysed my data by graphs and using percentages to take the clear picture of the outcomes.

The enquiry

In developing the Key Stage 3 National Strategy ,DfES produced training and guidance materials concerning the use of group work in the teaching of numeracy and literacy (DfES, 2004c), but I found, in my observations of the overall trends in the secondary schools, group work was being done rarely (Galton M., Steward S., Hargreaves L., Page C. and Pell T. (2009): Motivating your Secondary Class, London: Sage).I am highly optimistic that my intervention strategy and implementation will stimulate motivation in class and encourage learning along with progress. I also believe that self-motivation does exist in these pupils and my purpose is to bring that motivation to the fore and prompt the students to channel this towards enhancing their progress. “People are born with the potential to develop a great range of motivational dispositions. A few such dispositions appear to be inborn as part of the human condition and can be observed in everyone” (Brophy J. (2004); Motivating Students to Learn--Second Edition). I am aware of the shape of my groups with a blend of high ability and low ability, some part of the task would be very easy for the high ability but it will keep them engaged as the part of the team (Cohen, G., Elizabeth; Lotan. A, Rachel, (2014): Designing group Work: Strategies for the heterogeneous Classroom-Third Edition).I will be giving rewards to students for motivation purpose and to keep them engaged for a longer span of time and challenging them to do tasks which they were had not done in their primary years.“Rewards are more effective for increasing the intensity or duration of effort than for improving the quality of performance. They support learning more effectively when there is a clear goal and a clear strategy to follow than when goals are more ambiguous or when students must discover or invent new strategies rather than merely activate familiar ones” (Brophy J.(2004); Motivating Students To Learn-Second Edition). I will use written and verbal instruction policy to keep the group work in right direction and to find the end results (Cohen,G.,Elizabeth; Lotan. A, Rachel: Designing group Work: Strategies for the heterogeneous Classroom-Third Edition).The major issue which arises in a group work is to manage the behaviour, class management and keep the whole class in discipline for this reason secondary teacher use less often group work, I will highly focus on discipline of the class should not be scrambled so I can get maximum output of my intervention (Cohen, L., (2010) A guide to teaching practice: revised edition Rev. 5th ed.Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon). I will focus on developing trust and respect for each other to build upon an important social aspect for an improved secondary class (Galton M. ,Steward S., Hargreaves L., Page C. and Pell T.(2009): Motivating your Secondary Class, London: Sage).

Literature

The theme of my research is psychological theories of motivation, the tool I have used for it is gender based grouping I have emerged mixed ability pupils with in a group to stimulate motivation hoping that it will go in positive direction. I took the precautionary measures to keep all students motivated and fearless by discussing with groups before the task. In this respect, the measuring of motivation through Self-determination theory (SDT), has appeared to be as one of the cornerstones on which the entire intervention based motivation enhancement planning could be based. The SDT has evolved from that of the evaluation of the extrinsic and intrinsic motivations and the intrinsic motivation outlines the usual inclination of the learners to encompass multiplicity of content and features while undertaking the learning process (Reid G.(2007), Motivating Learners in the Classroom: Ideas and Strategies, London: SAGE). However, the extrinsic motivation outlines the completely different set of considerable regarding the differential impact which such motivation could impart to the learners. Thus, the extrinsic motivation only indicates either the complete external control or the absolute form of self-regulation by the learners, including the lower ability based and the higher ability based students (Heckhausen J. and Heckhausen H. (1988); Motivation and Action, Cambridge University Press). The extrinsic sense of motivation is completely relate to competence and volition of the learners and outline the significance of the feeling of effectiveness as well as self-confident approaches to the process of learning and this could be appropriately related to the mixed gender based learning groups within the classrooms through outlining the influence of extrinsic motivation in making the learners pursue and accomplish their assigned academic skill based tasks. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation refers to the feeling of connectedness by such students with their designed learning environment. This learning environment would be a key aspect regarding the corresponding research since this could contribute in the enhancement of the motivation based academic performance of students of differential learning capabilities. Other than this, the Cognitive Evaluation Theory (CET) outlines the psychological composition of different students through explaining the effects of external influences on those of the internal motivational instincts. This theoretical construct could as well assist in any evaluative study of the learning and motivation related aspects of education since CET calls for attention to be concentrated on the measure of critical autonomy as well as cognitive competence of the students. These factors support the fostering of intrinsic motivation for differential ability based learners and thus these become vital to education processes(Galton M., Steward S., Hargreaves L., Page C. and Pell T. (2009): Motivating your Secondary Class, London: Sage). The idea behind it was that to manage my classroom and produce more effective learning. Once the motivation will trigger in the group that will give multiple advantages one of them is behaviour management. The Effects of Gender-Based Strategies and Same-Sex Grouping in a High School Social Studies Classroom had been outlined by Lindsay Fox. This study has helped me a lot to take a comparative study of similar kind of research. In the discussion session it states that it had both positive and negative impact on pupils, according to Lindsay all students appreciated the strategies by doing gender based groupings. The majority of the girls, on the other hand, did not like the skit. Most of the girls said that they did not like getting up in front of the class to speak and perform (Galton M., Steward S., Hargreaves L., Page C. and Pell T. (2009): Motivating your Secondary Class, London: Sage).

Also, most of the students expressed that they learned the most from doing the time capsule project which was hands-on and with their gender groups. In conclusion Lindsay accepted that, gender-based strategies and same-sex grouping had varied outcomes in his classroom. Some strategies he found to be very useful, like hands-on activities, which he will probably use again in my classroom even though he did not have all positive results. So taking in view the research already done I would try to encourage my participants to self question before performing a task. Lindsay research helped me to move in a right direction it should not matter like Lindsay’s research that only girl were asked to come in front of the class but it should based on cognitive engagement.

Action steps

As mentioned previously, homework, or specialised, in-class intervention, can help with the progress of all students. In particular, lower achieving students can benefit immensely as it will allow them to catch up with class on material that they did not understand, which in turn will lead to a higher involvement of contribution in class discussion. These students need differentiated work if they are expected to achieve the targets set by the school. One of the ways for this to happen is to provide specialised homework activities. As has been observed by (Brophy J. (2004); Motivating Students to Learn--Second Edition), since there is a curvilinear relationship between motivational intensity of students and their cognitive success achievement capabilities, the emphasis by the teacher has to be concentrated on the improvement of cognitive abilities of the students to engage within a learning environment. Thus, the action steps have been formulated to be reflective of the coordinative balance maintenance efforts regarding the degree of success obtained and the fostering of motivational intensity for comparatively less able students (Cohen L., Manion L., Morrison K. and Wyse D.(1977);A Guide to Teaching Practice). The action steps have been formulated on the basis of utilisation of classwork based intervention to highlight the progress potentials of the students under consideration. Before I explain my action steps let me introduce the three groups.

Group 1 (2 Boys/2 Girls): Student A(More Able), Student B(Able/EAL), Student C(Less Able), Student D(SEND)

Group 2 (2Girls/2 Boys): Student A(More Able), Student B(Able/EAL), Student C(Less Able), Student D(SEND)

After the completion of the group work, the performance of the focus groups had been transcribed from the evidence gathered from the recordings and snapshots were taken to record the findings regarding the filed notes and the transcripts as well.

Rewards and Incentives

The school has its own policy to motivate students they use merit system (Points). There are also demerits for defiance and detention policies. I used those merits and I also added incentive schemes such as distribution of sweets, writing down the name of the student of the week on the noticeboard etc. The purpose for rewards and incentives was to uplift their motivation levels and to make them ready for the task. This was significant for the learners since they had to be made cognizant of the necessity to learn as well as they had to be made comfortable with the learning criteria. Thus, investment of time was necessary regarding ensuring that the learner could be made ready for the ascribed tasks (Reid R. (2007), Motivating Learners in the Classroom: Ideas and Strategies, London: SAGE).

Intervention 1: Arithmetic Task

The first intervention was an arithmetic task, the focused groups were given two questions with long multiplications and long divisions to see the effect of single task on them since, it has been observed by (Galton M., Steward S., Hargreaves L., Page C. and Pell T. (2009): Motivating your Secondary Class, London: Sage) that mathematics often influences people in a cognitively polarising manner. The students had to create a poster presentation to explain long multiplications and long divisions and they were provided all the materials and 20 minutes of time had been allocated, each individual in each group had an instruction card, for example, each SEN had to write the title and other things with marker and a good display was required. The questions were primarily related to the topics of Powers and Roots and I had selected these and modified them further for suitability purposes for the students. The questions were collected from the school textbook, Cambridge Essentials, Mathematics, Extension 10, which was available to me. A step by step process was suggested to the students for solving the problems regarding the performing of the tasks.

Intervention 2: Problem Solving

The second intervention was problem solving, the focused groups were given five word problems on HCF and LCM; each group had same type of questions and they needed to solve those word problems within the provided time limit. Each individual had to solve at least one question. The priority was provided to the SEND pupils and then emphasis was provided on the lower able students with the most able ones being provided the least measure of emphasis. The purpose of formulation of such a focused group based teamwork management had been to motivate the students to get over their inhibitions and propensity of dearth of effort. As has been observed by (Galton M., Steward S., Hargreaves L., Page C. and Pell T. (2009): Motivating your Secondary Class, London: Sage) the primary psychological impediment which affects pupils regarding undertaking of group works could be identified as poor group work skills. The challenge in this regard had been to properly manage the dysfunctional and disruptive students so as to effectively steer them towards the intended learning experience. Furthermore, I had concentrated my efforts of motivation on a group of four particular students being comprised of 2 SEND pupils and 2 lower ability students. These pupils belonged to the year 7th Class of Mathematics. The rationale of selection of these students was comprised of two different considerations. The first one was that the size of the 5th standard class was relatively limited in comparison to all of the other classes and this permitted me to effectively scrutinize and monitor the development and progress of the learning abilities of the students under consideration. The other rationale had been the relatively higher numbers of the lesser achieving and lower ability as well as SEND students within the class which provided me with ample opportunity to apply the intervention within the educational year under consideration. Another aspect has been that the students selected did not have proper knowledge or understanding of the Mathematical calculations which had been taught during the classes at that time. I had derived the necessary assessment regarding the conditions of the students from my mentor during my early placement. I also purposefully selected the Mathematical problems which had not been familiar to the students to a suitable extent so as to formulate a more clarified understanding regarding the types of motivational strategies which could be required within the mixed gender based classroom environment based on the particular needs of SEND and lower ability students.

Intervention 3: Area and Perimeter of Triangle and Rectangle

The third intervention comprised of the problems on Area and Perimeter, the focused group had to create questions for other groups within the assigned time limit. Each participant was engaged by assigning individual tasks and they were praised on their contributed achievements. This intervention was designed on the observations of (Brophy J (2004); Motivating Students to Learn--Second Edition) that the students could be effectively motivated to achieve accomplishments for their own improvement and to learn the significance of being motivated intrinsically rather than by external stimuli such as information provided by the teacher. This could further enhance the abilities of the students to develop their own cognitive and learning skills. The focused groups were further tasked to explain the key concepts related to the determination of the Surface Area of any given Geometrical feature so as to test their previous knowledge in this context.

Intervention 4: Averages (Word problems on Mean)

Solving word problems on Mean with some relatively easy and some hard tasks were designed and provided to the focused groups. All three groups had different questions, the target was given to solve those problems and explain on the board to the whole class, continuous instructions were given during the activity and participants were engaged by motivating them through explaining to them the merits of successful achievement of such a task. The premises of such an intervention was based on the research observation of (Heckhausen J. and Heckhausen H. (1988);Motivation and Action, Cambridge University Press) that the values, both negative and positive, attached to any perception or option, could be transformed with the differential influence of changing circumstances. However, this is not applicable regarding the probabilities of risk incurrence since that entails a procedural constant which is firmly related to the overall performance demonstration of the students. This intervention task primarily comprised of the investigation of the statistical values of averages. To this effect, the focus group students were provided with the hypothesis that the average pupil at the year 7th class at the school was 130 cm in height and with brown eyes and the month of admission to the school had been that of May. This hypothesis had to be then investigated by the students by evaluating the learning material which had been covered the previous academic year and they had to utilise pie and bar charts, calculative estimations of mean, media and mode and also those of the pictograms. The emphasis had to be on the comparison of data from the previous year so as to determine the findings.

Results and Discussion

The SEND and lower ability students were subjected to weekly learning improvement sessions based on the intervention outcome. Each of the intervention submission was followed by the recording of the marks regarding the differential of activities. Feedback had been provided as well so that the underperforming students could be enabled to improve their capabilities. Another significant outcome had been the utilisation of the acquired data by the students to perform their revisions for term based assessments. The intervention based learning were utilised during the term assessment.

It could be determined from the observational data derived from the intervention based outcomes that increase of performance did occur from problem solving and average investigation project. This highlighted the receptiveness of the students when the assigned tasks could be reinforced by personal initiatives on part of the students. The crucial motivation could be observed in the factor that the students must have enjoyed the measuring of the performance of each other and the mathematical deduction of the soundness of the hypothesis through the utilisation of knowledge which they had acquired during the class learning.

Evaluations

The evaluation process provided many interesting facts along with some unclear findings. There were both positive and negative findings that were identified with regard to mixed ability groups on gender based. This study identified those girls grouping was felt to be the most suitable for enhancing motivation level whether this was more able, able, or less able. However, pupils also reflected some anxieties with regard to pressures of being placed with bottom set students and the possibility of being moved down. Linked to this, research showed that confidence and increased in motivation level can be seen in weaker students being placed with more able students, or being moved up. Being placed with more able or being moved up could have potentially reinforced motivation level for pupils that they were not good at Maths subject. However, despite the increase in motivation, the data showed it was not much challenging for more able students and their learning level could not be stretched due to being placed with low set students. The pace of work and lessons led to the main concern and anxieties which were raised in weaker students as well as able students in a mixed ability grouping , where pupils experienced anxieties regarding not being able to keep up with others or frustrations about finishing work before others and having to wait or be set extension work. In addition to this, the memory was a concern for lower ability students which is an essential part of mathematics study. I found that there were no significant changes in the motivation level among boys as the work they produced was similar to the task they did independently. In continuous intervention of 5 weeks they showed a static level of motivation. In mixed gender groups the more able were feeling some kind of pressure and they get bored when they needed to push low able students and eventually it created a an anxiety level in the lower ability in that group ,to overcome this negative aspect, I appreciated and gave merits to highly able students for helping the pupils in their group and convinced them that it was a good opportunity for them to teach someone and lift the fellow student up.

Conclusion

The following conclusions are drawn from the intervention.

Learning Journey of each Participant.

The overall learning journey was stretched through this intervention because pupils had pressure in a group to do the team work and do some decisions to bring all participants with him/her “It is important that children are presented with dilemmas that require decisions to be made and can practise prioritising the different tasks to be carried out” (Reid G. (2007), Motivating Learners in the Classroom: Ideas and Strategies, London: SAGE).The individual impact was good and each participant has shown progress in their learning. Moreover, their social skills were improved which will help them in their future learning journey.

Overall Impact of group work on the participant.

At the start it was very hard to manage the group work activity because participants were not well prepared to work as a group but as the intervention process progressed ,all participants showed enthusiasm gradually and enjoyed the activity “To help apathetic students develop and sustain more positive attitudes toward school work, teach them strategies for making work more enjoyable or satisfying and for sustaining their efforts through volitional control” (Brophy J. (2004); Motivating Students to Learn--Second Edition).All participants learnt how to work together and help each other. More able students realized that during a class work why some time teacher give ‘extra time’ to complete the task.

Benefits Drawn from mixed ability grouping.

There were significant Positive effects of mixed ability grouping the foremost is less chances of pupils to be labelled with a particular set, it was easier to maintain the pace of work and uplift motivation of pupils working at a slower pace and they all took it as process to achieve some goals “It is necessary for learners to realise that reaching goals is a process and one which they can have a great deal of control over” (Reid G. (2007), Motivating Learners in the Classroom: Ideas and Strategies, London: SAGE) , it allowed for greater flexibility allowing pupils to progress at their own rate, and pupils benefited greatly from peer support. Another advantage of mixed ability groups was that gifted or high achieving pupils could act as role models or motivators for other pupils.

Disadvantages of mixed ability Grouping.

There were also some disadvantages of mixed ability grouping seen in the intervention, first off all less able pupils were relying on more able pupils, they were not doing any efforts, secondly there was not enough material to challenge more able pupils and they also get bored after some time ,they were lacking in social skills to cooperate with each other “Along with this approach is the belief that the children in the group need to acquire certain social skills through training so that they can support each other” (Galton M. , Steward S., Hargreaves L., Page C. and Pell T. (2009): Motivating your Secondary Class, London: Sage)

Pros and Cons of Gender based Grouping.

The gender based grouping made the group a bit chatty but I took it as a positive thing because they could learn by social interaction, the gender based grouping seems apparently an “odd” seating arrangements by other teachers and the students themselves ,I had to explain them the purpose of this kind of structuring “ The success of an activity in producing thoughtful student engagement with key ideas depends not only on the activity itself but on the teacher structuring and the teacher–student discourse that occur before, during, and after the activity” (Brophy J. (2004); Motivating Students to Learn--Second Edition)

Limitations of Interventions.

The first limitation of my intervention was the time span; I had only five weeks of case study. The second limitation was the content of my intervention, I had to follow the scheme of work of autumn 2 and spring 1, the school where I was doing the research work had various competencies in term of separate home work boo separate progress book plus unit assessments which limited more my intervention “Participating in classroom activities already involves risking public failure and a great deal of competition is already built into the grading system. Therefore, it may be counterproductive to introduce additional competitive elements”. (Brophy J. (2004); Motivating Students to Learn--Second Edition)

Key Findings

The girls group went well and they showed enthusiasm and motivation as compared to the other two groups. The boys group did not showed a significant change in motivation in spite of incentives and rewards The opportunity to compete can add excitement to classroom activities, whether the competition is for prizes or merely for the satisfaction of winning” (Brophy J.(2004); Motivating Students to Learn--Second Edition)

Targets

From overall comparison of the results it could be Identified that a progressive learning environment, despite of mixed ability grouping and gender based, was created at this research work. A progressive learning environment should also include high expectations and challenges for pupils, this apposite challenge with anticipation leads to maintaining their motivation and preventing them potentially giving up on tasks. It was found that even if an individual had negative attitudes in a certain group while working on a set task, this was not necessarily related to the perceptions of his/her low level of motivation, there are various reasons to that negative attitude. This suggested that teachers can play an important role in mediating some of the negative aspects of mixed ability grouping, this was a valuable finding that all pupils can take benefit from this research, not only the focused pupils selected for my intervention. Another concern identified in this research was increase in anxiety level that was found with regard to the pressures of being placed with more able students, or anxieties about being moved down so it was very important the as a teachers to monitor and support pupils to overcome the anxiety. Targets for future are further research into similar cases, for example in ability groups on gender based, to see if the results are similar to the findings here. It was still clear that the results were uncertain as to the best way to organise groupings for pupils, so further research will allow for additional interventions into the practices and Workings of individual and comparing them with gender based grouping. Future research could also benefit from undertaking the pupils in the KS4 classes, a longitudinal study would be beneficial as it would be interesting to note whether the motivation that pupils have at this stage of their school career differ with age as they gain more experience. A longitudinal study could also look at targeting different times of the academic year, as pupils could be affected by test or homework marks, or the topics being covered in the different curriculum lessons. The gender based grouping may be applied to some cross curricular activities to see the motivational level and pupil’s performance in the particular task. It will also be examined that the key findings in gender based grouping for focused pupil differs when they work individually or perform an independent task. Further research could also have a different focus, which would allow a different perspective to be gained on ability grouping and mixed ability grouping on gender based. For example, the views of the other teachers could be investigated; the views of parents could also be gained to gather a greater understanding of the experiences that pupils face; and also a focus on the academic progress of pupils. The future research will offer a unique insight into the practices that take place with regard to ability grouping and mixed ability grouping, in relation to gender based setting and will see effects on their motivation and adds to the body of existing knowledge, highlighting the conflicting views with both positive and negative opinions towards both ability grouping and mixed ability groups. The future research aimed to not only impact the practices that took place in one particular subject but also comparing the motivation level in other core subjects. This can be achieved with the suggestions that have been outlined

above, with regard to the recommendations that were outlined from the findings. It was therefore hoped that the future targets would impact the practices that take place and eventually uplift the learning level in Secondary Classes.

References

Abbott J (1994), Learning makes sense: Re-creating education for a changing future, Letchworth: Education 2000

Brown A. and Dowling P.(1988);Doing Research/Reading Research –A mode of interrogation for Education, London :The Falmer Press

Boboc, M., & Nordgren, R.D., (2010) Case Studies in Elementary and Secondary Curriculum

Brophy J. (2004); Motivating Students to Learn--Second Edition

Cohen L., Manion L., Morrison K. and Wyse D. (1977); A Guide to Teaching Practice

Cohen, L., (2010) A guide to teaching practice: revised edition Rev. 5th ed.Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon

Cohen, G., Elizabeth; Lotan. A, Rachel, (2014): Designing group Work: Strategies for the

Galton M., Steward S., Hargreaves L., Page C. and Pell T. (2009): Motivating your Secondary Class, London: Sage

Galton M., Steward S., Hargreaves L., Page C. and Pell T. (2009): Motivating your Secondary Class, London: Sage

Reid G. (2007), Motivating Learners in the Classroom: Ideas and Strategies, London: SAGE