ii. work habit yearly

B A C K G R O U N D

We decided to ask students from a rural Junior High in Southern Alberta to think critically about their study habits and effort during the yearly system, and gathered data about homework.

We were curious to see since classes sizes were shorter, if teachers assigned more homework to compensate for the less work time allotted. We were also curious to do a comparison of student engagement, focus, determination as these are essential components to the success or failure of any school system.

Below are some student responses.

In your own words, how would you describe your work ethic? (ie: how are your study habits, discipline, etc)

Study hard when needed

Pay attention in class but do not study

study only when there is a test

do assigned homework, but nothing extra

Common themes from students were that for the most part they did what as required, but nothing beyond that - with the exception of a few students. We see this represented in the chart below. The homework students get assigned and the homework students complete directly correlate.

Responses indicate students set goals for their grades and stop studying when they believe they can achieve these goals.

Lastly, feedback from students suggest students pay attention and work hard in class, so they do not have to do any extra homework outside of school.

set and reach goals

work hard

pay attention in class

don't study because students feel prepared enough from class

considerations: motivators

In the book Tools for Teaching, Davis (5) states that “...student attention during lectures tends to wane after approximately 10–15 minutes.”

McKeachie (13), in Teaching Tips (8th Ed.), has maintained that “Attention typically increases from the beginning of the lecture to 10 minutes into the lecture and decreases after that point."

A study by Stuart and Rutherford:

"Every 5 min during a lecture, a buzzer would go off and the students would record their own perceived attention level on a 1 to 9 scale. The results showed that attention rose rapidly during the first 10–20 min and then slowly and steadily declined until the end of the 50-min lecture. [...] Interestingly, although the attention level at the beginning of a lecture was not different between second- and fifth-year medical students, the attention level observed at the end of the lecture was significantly greater for fifth-year students compared with second-year students. [...] A review of the data shows that the entire difference between second- and fifth-year students was all due to the fact that one class for fifth-year students was taught by an experienced lecturer who did not present to second-year students. Thus, differences in attention appeared to be related to individual lecturers’ teaching styles and not related to the student’s individual abilities to remain attentive." (Bradbury, 2016)

< Evidence