Action Research: Are Matching Games Effective at Improving Learner Motivation and Engagement in Literacy Lessons?
Action Research: Are matching games effective at improving learner motivation and engagement in literacy lessons?
Issue:
I have found my students exhibit a lack of motivation when starting a new topic; which appears to lead to disengagement from the litera¬cy session and behavioural problems during the lesson. The students are (E3) literacy students who find it hard to motivate themselves when learning a new topic. I am worried that my lessons starters may be too “passive” to motivate my current learners.
Intervention
I have decided to use an “active” matching cards resource, relating to the new topics, in order to try and increase my students’ motivation levels, and subsequently, their engagement with the topic. I have observed their individual levels of motivation and engagement against predefined criteria, and recorded their progress as a class while using the resource. My intention was to increase student motivation and engagement with literacy.
Literature Review The purpose of this research project is to find out whether matching games can improve student behaviour, motivation and engagement within literacy lessons. In order to do this I will be defining what a matching game is, what motivation and engagement are and how to realistically measure them. I also wish to explore whether the constructivists’ concept of active/experiential learning is a valuable tool for teaching and learning in my context, and the effect that these theories have had on the use of student centred games within the classroom. For my literature review I will be investigating constructivist theories, the use of games in education and student motivation & engagement. The constructivist theory of knowledge provides the bedrock for active learning’s student centred approach to teaching, games are relevant to the resource I will be using, and researching student motivation is crucial to understanding how these games will affect the students. Jean Piaget’s “The Language and
Issue:
I have found my students exhibit a lack of motivation when starting a new topic; which appears to lead to disengagement from the litera¬cy session and behavioural problems during the lesson. The students are (E3) literacy students who find it hard to motivate themselves when learning a new topic. I am worried that my lessons starters may be too “passive” to motivate my current learners.
Intervention
I have decided to use an “active” matching cards resource, relating to the new topics, in order to try and increase my students’ motivation levels, and subsequently, their engagement with the topic. I have observed their individual levels of motivation and engagement against predefined criteria, and recorded their progress as a class while using the resource. My intention was to increase student motivation and engagement with literacy.
Literature Review The purpose of this research project is to find out whether matching games can improve student behaviour, motivation and engagement within literacy lessons. In order to do this I will be defining what a matching game is, what motivation and engagement are and how to realistically measure them. I also wish to explore whether the constructivists’ concept of active/experiential learning is a valuable tool for teaching and learning in my context, and the effect that these theories have had on the use of student centred games within the classroom. For my literature review I will be investigating constructivist theories, the use of games in education and student motivation & engagement. The constructivist theory of knowledge provides the bedrock for active learning’s student centred approach to teaching, games are relevant to the resource I will be using, and researching student motivation is crucial to understanding how these games will affect the students. Jean Piaget’s “The Language and