The Effects Of Positive And Negative Feedback On Male And Female Students ' Intrinsic Motivation

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5. Vallerand, R.J., Reid, G. (1988). On the relative effects of positive and negative verbal feedback on males’ and females’ intrinsic motivation.
Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 20 (3), 239-250.
The goal of this study was to analyze the effects of both positive and negative feedback on male and female students’ intrinsic motivation. Research was conduced with a random sample consisting of 30 male and 30 female undergraduate students. All students were studying physical education in the Montreal, Canada area. Students involved in the study reported to a laboratory. They were asked to balance on a stabilometer 20 times for 20 seconds each. Some students received positive comments from the instructor and some students received negative comments. The subjects then complete a questionnaire at the end of the trials. The students were questioned with The Mayo (1976) Task Reaction Questionnaire (TRQ). This research study found that male and female students who received positive feedback reported higher levels of intrinsic motivation.
This study addresses the need for additional research. This study did not present the same findings as other studies conducted during the same time. This brings the reliability of this study into question. There are uncertainties regarding the effect of positive feedback on female students. Additional research reported in this article found that positive feedback could have a negative effect on female students’ intrinsic motivation (Deci, 1977, p. 241). This study and the past research it addressed helped me consider how I will verbalize feedback as positive and constructive in a way that does not make it over powering or controlling. This article also included a definition of intrinsic moti...

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...research this study addressed the problem of students basing their success on comparisons with their peers. This study tells me that I need to address this problem within my research. In 2006, Schweinle, Meyer, and Turner addressed this problem as well by including only six students as they researched student motivation, so that students were less likely to compare answers and more likely to provide genuine thoughts without peer influence. This tells me that my evaluation should not be based on social comparisons to students in the classroom, but focused specifically on the task and students individual growth. I also need to make sure that students are not sharing scores or feedback with each other. Peer comparison could be considered an outside variable that effects student motivation. To ensure ecological validity I need to address the variable of peer comparison.

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