Date of Award

1996

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Mary Lou Kelley

Abstract

Participation in homework has important academic benefits for students. In addition, parents and teachers expect that completion of homework assignments will help students develop independent study skills. Unfortunately, homework problems are common and a significant number of middle school and high school students fail to complete many homework assignments. Goal setting is a procedure that has been applied to homework and targets academic productivity directly. In this study, the efficacy of a self-managed goal setting procedure for improving the homework performance of middle and high school students was evaluated. A combination multiple baseline and alternating treatments design was utilized to compare the effects of student-managed goal setting with and without contingent rewards. Although neither intervention was clearly superior to the other, significant improvements in students' on-task rates and/or academic response rates were seen during both conditions. Also, both interventions were rated favorably by students and parents. However, neither intervention produced stable improvements in students' homework accuracy.

ISBN

9780591133585

Pages

125

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.6256

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