The College at Brockport: State University of New York Digital Commons @Brockport Education and Human Development Masters Theses Education and Human Development 4-1-2010 Motivating Students Using Positive Reinforcement Jennifer L. Diedrich The College at Brockport Follow this and additional works at: digitalcommons.brockport.edu/ehd_theses Part of the Education Commons To learn more about our programs visit: brockport.edu/ehd/ This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Education and Human Development at Digital Commons @Brockport. It has been accepted for inclusion in Education and Human Development Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @Brockport. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Recommended Citation Diedrich, Jennifer L., Motivating Students Using Positive Reinforcement (2010).Education and Human Development Masters Theses. Paper 9.Motivating Students Using Positive Reinforcement by Jennifer L. Diedrich May 2010 A thesis submitted to the Department of Education and Human Development of the State University of New York College at Brockport in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Education Motivating Students Using Positive Reinforcement by Jennifer L. Diedrich APPROVED BY: Advisor ~K.~ Date Date Motivating Students Using Positive Reinforcement Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review ............................................................... 7 Behavior Modification in the Classroom ....................................... .7 The Importance of Positive Reinforcement. ................................... 11 The Use of Positive Reinforcement .............................................. 14 Relationship between Positive Reinforcement and Student Motivation ...... .19 Positive Reinforcement and Learning .......................................... 21 Chapter 3: Applications and Evaluation ................................................ 25 Ct..~~J..~- 4. n~~11ll-s f\9 lLctpLel • J.\.e;:,uiL •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• L. Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations ....................................... 33 References ...................................................................................... 38 Appendices .................................................................................... 43 Appendix A-Statement of Informed Consent for Parents .............. .43 Appendix B-Statement of Informed Consent for Minors ................ 44 Appendix C-Reward System Data Sheet ................................... .45 i Chapter 1 Introduction Statement of the Problem The purpose of my paper was to explore behavior modification by using rewards to encourage positive, observable behavior changes in my students. Teachers have an opportunity to positively impact their students behavior, in addition to their education. I wanted to see if the idea of behavior modification was an effective method for teaching and encouraging students age-appropriate behaviors and social skills. I researched the use of rewards and positive reinforcement with regards to behavior modification by creating a classrootn behavior nlanagenlent plan called ~v1arbles for Manners. It was my intention that this reward system would positively reinforce students who used appropriate manners while interacting with others. For the purpose of this study, manners that could be objectively measured through verbal phrases such as please, thank you, excuse me, and Im sorry were assessed. Background of the Problem One aspect of teaching is educators abilities to effectively manage their students behaviors. Many teacher education programs expose 1 preservice teachers to numerous strategies for managing students behaviors because the rnost challenging aspect of teaching continues to be classroom management and discipline (Yost & Mosca, 2002). According to Witzel and Mercer (2003), The area of behavior interventions in classrooms receives more attention than many other aspects of schooling (p. 89). This is not surprising as teachers are expected to deal with discipline problems that were once a cause for suspension or expulsion from school since more and more students are being included in public school settings, in part due to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (Quinn et al., 2001). Strong classroom management skills aid in teachers abilities to successfully teach students with various needs; however, teachers struggle with managing their students behaviors. Witzel and Mercer (2003) point out that classroom management is one of the most common problems facing teachers because disruptive students take up valuable learning time. Students with disruptive, defiant, and disrespectful behaviors often make it difficult for teachers to teach and students to learn. Educators who have students with problematic behaviors in their classrooms become extremely frustrated. These individuals often come to feel that they are ineffective at 2
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