Congratulations to Frances Havard who on Monday, May 20, 2024, successfully defended her dissertation proposal. The title of Frances dissertation is A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER’S PERCEPTION: THE ROLE OF EXECUTIVE FUNCTION IN UNDERSTANDING WHAT MOTIVATES LEARNERS
Understanding how to motivate learners is part of every educator’s challenge and how one structures a learning environment can increase a student’s intrinsic motivation. This qualitative study, interpretive inquiry, explores how knowledge of executive function impacts a teacher's perception of what motivates learners. The study will interview at least 15 middle school educators across the United States. The theoretical underpinnings of this research were informed by Richard Ryan and Edward Deci’s Self Determination Theory (2009), which emphasizes the importance of cultivating internal drive through autonomy, competence, and relational networking, and Russell Barkley’s extended phenotype of executive function (2012) which makes observable executive function development. The combination of these two is used to explore the integration of EF-grounded practices to motivate learners and enhance student autonomy, competence, and relational networking. This research integrates theories of motivation and pedagogy to understand how teachers with knowledge of executive function support the goal-driven behavior of learners. Through semi-structured, participant interviews, this study draws themes around how the perceptions of middle school teachers on student motivation impact the implementation of support tools grounded in executive function.
Dissertation Committee Co-CHAIRs:
Dr. Victoria Fantozzi
Dr. Susan Iverson
Dissertation Committee Member:
Dr. Courtney Kelly
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