Mimi Bong, an associate professor in educational psychology, wants to find out which coping strategies work best for middle school students when their road to academic success becomes cratered with potholes.
"Students in this age group display a range of coping strategies--some productive and some not--when they encounter academic setbacks such as poor grades," Bong said. "It's important to understand and reach middle schoolers because if they develop a lack of motivation, it's difficult to change by the time they reach high school."
Bong plans to survey seventh graders at two middle schools in Columbia, with an ultimate goal of involving more than 400 students from several middle schools. Students generally use three basic "motivational beliefs" in school: some maintain a sense of confidence that they can achieve a particular grade in a course--perhaps an A, perhaps a C--and that confidence keeps them going even when they make a poor mark on a test.
Others are motivated by a desire to master the course material, particularly if they enjoy it. Students sometimes are performance goal oriented, eager to achieve the higher GPA or test scores to prove to their teachers and friends that they are smarter.
A combination of these beliefs probably is best, Bong said, and her research is aimed at determining the optimal mix.
"Middle school places more demands on students than grade school, and some students begin to think they can't improve themselves. They stop putting more effort into their studies at a certain point," Bong said.
"Those attitudes push them into choosing less challenging goals. Other students respond to the challenge of a poor test grade by asking more questions and developing more conscientious study habits."
While self motivation to improve is an important piece of the puzzle for students, it's equally important for teachers to encourage it, Bong said.
"If teachers emphasize to their students that mistakes are a part of the learning process, the students will adopt that attitude and will be better equipped to bounce back after a poor test score," Bong said.
