The Effects of “Dots for Motivation” Intervention on In-class

Math Assignments and Homework Completion

By

Kathryn Tarnowski

A Research Project

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for EDU 514

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

At the State University of New York University at Fredonia

Fredonia, New York

Fall Term, 2008

Introduction:
 The second grade classroom that I am presently observing has several students who

struggle with everyday, simple tasks that occur within schools. I have chosen one student, in

particular, to focus my attention on. As I have observed him, I have noticed that the student

struggles with staying on task and complying with adults but I have determined he needs the

most assistance with completing school work on time. I have chosen the strategy “dots for

motivation” to help the student.

The intervention “dots for motivation” is designed to encourage students to begin

working on their given assignments and complete the assignments within a given time frame. I

believe this strategy will work for him because he will get rewards for all of his hard work which

will hopefully motivate him to do better.

As I collected data and began working with the student to increase his academic

performance, I also noticed that the ability to stay on-task was difficult for him and I chose to

focus on decreasing his off-task behavior. The teacher has been struggling to get him to focus

and be less disrupting so while I was implementing my “dots for motivation” intervention for

work completion, I began to collect baseline data for a new intervention for off-task behavior. I

am essentially working with two interventions and focusing on two different target behaviors

throughout this study.

Goal to Achieve:
Can I increase the frequency with which my student completes assignments on time

during a math lesson?

I am interested in this topic because the issues within this classroom (completing school

work, staying on task, compliance) are issues that all teachers will encounter one day. I am

working with an academic skill (along with a behavioral skill later) work sample in order to
understand what interventions are useful and easy to implement within a busy classroom.

Teachers need a way to keep their students actively engaged with the lessons. Hopefully these

interventions can be the motivators the students need to stay involved and on task.

According to Atwood (2001), when a student acts out in class, “…the teacher

takes time away from the instruction to reprimand the student and in turn the disruption by the

teacher causes other students to become disengaged from tasks” (p. 10). If the teacher has

interventions prepared and ready to implement, the disruptions can decrease. I find it important

to be informed and have experience with several intervention strategies, in order to know how it

works and what aspects of the strategy need improvement. By researching and implementing

“dots for motivation,” I will better my knowledge of the intervention as well as develop ways to

introduce new learning strategies to other students within the classroom to work together

cohesively.

My student will benefit from this academic intervention because he will learn the

significance of working hard to complete tasks and the rewards/praise he receives from his

teachers after he completes his work. The student can learn to be self-productive and develop

the ability to become motivated about finishing work. By complying and completing work, the

student will hopefully realize the importance of working hard and achieving their own goals.

Method:
• Participants and settings

The student I have chosen to work with is a seven year old Puerto Rican male. He is eligible

for free and reduced lunch and he is in the lower end of the achievement level in his class. I

selected this participant as per request of the second grade general education teacher. The

teacher informed me that this student does not comply with the adults in the room, never
completes his class work or homework on time, and distracts other students in the classroom by

fidgeting and playing with the materials inside his desk.

I am working in the Dunkirk City School District at School Number Three. In the second

grade class, there are sixteen normally developing students and four students with special needs,

which make twenty total students. Eighty-five percent of the students are Hispanic American,

ten percent are Caucasian American and five percent are African-American. I come into the

classroom twice a week, for two hours, during the math and language lessons to observe the class

and work with the chosen student.

• Target Behaviors

The student has difficulty completing specified assignments on time. The goal of the

intervention is to replace the inappropriate behaviors, not completing school work, with the more

acceptable outcome of increasing class work and turning it in on time. I measured the number of

questions complete and correct on the morning math worksheets within a fifteen minute period.

As a result of the intervention “dots for motivation,” I had anticipated that the student will be

motivated enough to complete the assigned class work on time.

The dependent variable for my research will be the number of completed and correct

answers during the morning math work. The student I am observing is allowed fifteen minutes

to complete the given class assignment. During the fifteen minutes of working, I observe his

work capabilities and the things that are of most distraction to him. Most of the time, he is

fidgeting with something in his desk.

At the end of the fifteen minute period, I collect all of the students’ math worksheets, not

just my target student’s. As I look through each worksheet, I take note of all the students work,
seeing most students correctly completed all of the problems. My student was completing about

an average of about 10 questions correct within a fifteen-minute period. There are 25

addition/subtraction questions total on each math assignment. After about four sessions of

observing and collecting baseline data, I pulled the student aside and explained to him the

intervention I chose for him.

• Intervention Strategies

From observing my student and his lack of motivation for school work, I decided to

implement the strategy “dots for motivation.” “Dots for motivation” is designed to help

unmotivated students complete their work and encourage them to stay on task by giving re-

enforcing dots. If the student completes the assignment, they are rewarded with a dot. As work

completion increases, more problems may be required to earn a dot. Each sticker or dot the

student receives gets him one step closer to achieving a reward. I decided that this intervention

would work best with my situation because I could change it to meet the specific needs of my

student, yet still remain effective.

I explained to my student, after two weeks of observing his behaviors, that he was having

some trouble finishing his work. I explained that I was going to try and help motivate him to be

a good student and complete all of his work on time. I showed him his very own chart and

explained to him that he was going to be rewarded with a sticker every time he correctly

completed 15 or more problems on his morning math work. If he correctly completed all 25

questions, he would receive two stickers.

In this agreement, I also included that he had to complete his nightly homework from the

day before to receive the sticker. The two criteria for receiving a sticker for the morning was

completing the nightly homework and turning it in, along with completing 15 or more morning
math work questions correctly. This intervention and class work “check” happens within the

first 30 minutes of the student being in school. By starting off the day on a positive note, I

anticipate that the student will have a successful day in school.

I taped the chart I created on the side of his desk where he can proudly display his

stickers. There are five boxes in a row, five rows total. Each time he fills a row with stickers, he

receives a small prize of his choosing. When he completes an entire chart, he receives a bigger

prize. As of right now, he has one row and two squares filled.

This intervention was being implemented twice a week, only on the days when I was

there to observe his work ethic. I just recently informed the general education teacher that she

may check over my target student’s in-class assignments for accuracy and completeness and

hand out stickers. I gave her the option to implement the strategy as she deems fit. The teacher

knows the student the best and the level of work he is capable of doing.

• Study Procedures

A typical day is no intervention is as follows. The students are let into the building around

8:15 a.m. and sent directly to their classrooms. Students change and unpack their bags, putting

their homework folders into the homework bin by the window. By 8:30 a.m., students should be

unpacked and sitting quietly at their desks completing their morning math work. The students

have until 8:45 a.m. to work on their assignment. Within the fifteen minutes that the students

have to complete the assignment, my target student is usually walking around, playing with

something in his desk or doodling on his assignment. He typically finishes 10 questions out of

the 25 total. After the announcements are read and the students are all in order, the day can

begin. Mathematics is the first subject of the day, starting at 8:50. At that time, morning work is

placed into a crate near the window sill to be checked later on that day.
 When the intervention is implemented, the morning schedule changes just slightly. My

target student comes into the classroom and shows me his completed homework assignments in

his homework folder before he puts it in the bin by the window. After he is unpacked, he sits

down at his desk and begins his assignment. He usually begins going through his desk or

doodling but I casually walk by and give him one reminder to begin his work so he can receive a

sticker. After that one reminder, he gets right to work.

When morning math is complete, I collect the students’ papers and graph my data. I have

just recently decided to circle the questions that he gets wrong and then return his paper back to

him so that he can correct his mistakes. If he corrects his mistakes, he can receive a sticker on

his worksheet, but not on his intervention chart. Even though he doesn’t receive a sticker on his

chart, I think it is important for him to realize his mistakes and be able to correct them.

On the days that I am there, he seems to have little trouble finishing his task. The general

education teacher notices it too. We both believe his work ethic comes from knowing that

someone cares about him and is working hard to help him succeed. His home life and

background is not typical of a seven year old boy so any outside encouragement that he receives

helps him all the more.

• Additional Intervention

After every class period, the general education teacher and I discuss how the student

doing and different ideas that we can help to motivate him. After about a month of observation,

baseline measurements and implementing my intervention, I checked in with the general

education teacher to see how his academic performance and behavior is on the days that I am not

in class observing him. She had explained to me that he was doing very well with completing

his homework and finishing his morning work correct and on time. However, she was now
concerned about his attention level and how distracted he can get. She asked that I attempt to

help him stay on task and somehow work the “dots for motivation” strategy towards staying on

task.

I decided I would continue to check morning work completion and homework but begin

to observe my student on his ability to stay on task. Not only will I be continuing to graph my

original data from the first intervention, I have started my baseline for the teachers’ second

request of staying on task.

I started my baseline by observing my target student during math lessons and counting

the number of times he is off-task during a one hour lesson. I walk around during the math

lesson, helping other students, but about every five minutes, I look up and watch my particular

student, checking to see if he is off task. Along with that data, I wrote out a chart of what he

should be doing versus what he is doing to display his array of off-task behaviors. Most of the

time, he is playing with objects inside his desk, moving his chair from side to side or doodling on

his paper, when he should be focusing and participating in the lesson. I have collected three

weeks of data for my baseline.

I have chosen to implement the intervention, “Catch them being good.” This intervention

is exactly what the title is, catch the student being good and performing well, instead of focusing

on all of their negative attributes. Although I haven’t implemented the intervention yet, the next

time I visit the classroom, I plan to pull my student aside and explain to him the new intervention

and I will talk about how sometimes he has trouble paying attention and staying quiet in class. I

will explain to him that I am here to help and I hope that what I have planned for him will assist

him with his needs.

 First, I want to have him create his own chart by drawing pictures of all the things he

likes to do. After the pictures are drawn, we will discuss why these things are fun and important

to him. I plan to explain that along with those things, school is an important part of his life. We

can talk about school and things he enjoys about school and things he doesn’t enjoy. After that,

we will work together to come up with goals and good behaviors for him to work towards in

class such as raising his hand if he wants to speak or only drawing pictures when it is time for

art. I hope that having a chart that describes him and has specific goals written just for him, it

will make him feel special and motivated. The chart that we make together will be put on the

side of his desk.

I will explain to him that every time the teacher or I “catch” him being good (quietly

doing work, helping a classmate, raising his hand) we will put a sticker on his chart. Each time

he does his, the teacher and I will quietly give positive feedback to encourage him (I do not plan

on telling him this part of the intervention). Just like the stickers on his “dots for motivation”

chart, he will earn a small prize every time a row is completed.

With this intervention, he doesn’t know when the teacher or I will be watching so he

must always be prepared. It will keep him on his toes and hopefully keep him working hard

throughout all of the lessons. I also created a ‘reminder chart’ (shown later) that will be placed

on the front of his desk that visually shows him how he should act while he is in the classroom.

This chart has pictures to remind him of what he is expected to do along with the directions. If

he follows these directions, I have a better chance of “catching him being good” and he can then

achieve a sticker. Hopefully by looking at this chart, it can serve as a self-monitoring device for

him.
Results:

 As you can see from the graph, he had an average of 9-10 questions answered during a

fifteen minute period during the baseline. I collected two weeks’ worth of data,

observing him twice a week. After I explained the intervention to him, his work ethic

increased. He started to correctly complete more problems within the fifteen minute

period. The last few times I observed him, he completed all 25 questions. However, I

only graph how many questions he correctly completed within the time frame. He has

seven squares on his chart filled. From the data on the graph, he should have nine

squares filled because he completed 15 or more problems. There were two days that he
 did not have his nightly homework completed so he could not receive a sticker for that

day.

 Looking at the graph, you can see that the student is off-task an average of 9 out of 12

times within a one hour period (5 minute increments). I collected this data over a three

week observation period. Every five minutes, I observed my target student and looked to

see what he was doing. If he was off-task (doodling, playing with materials in his desk,

moving his chair), I put a checkmark down on my chart. At the end of one hour, I

counted how many checkmarks I had and that number became my data point for the day.

From this data, his off-task behavior is a major problem.

Discussion:

As a result of this A-B data base case study, my pupils’ academic performance during

morning math work increased. His change in academic performance improved moderately. By

looking at the data on his chart, from week one to week seven, he increased the number of

problems he correctly completed by ten. Many times, he could have completed more problems

correctly but he rushed through his work and didn’t take the time to finish the worksheet. If he

were to take his time, concentrate and put effort into his work, he could have much better results

than what is shown on the graph.

I believe by having an intervention that shows off his hard work (stickers on the chart) to

the class, he began to feel proud of himself. His pride worked in favor of him to complete his

work because he wanted to achieve more stickers. Seeing that chart can be a motivator in itself,

helping him to realize that he can accomplish his work if he sets goals. I also believe that my

presence in the classroom and assisting him in the mornings, I served as a motivator for him. He

knew that I was there to help him and he wanted to perform well in front of me.

I think if I were to do this type of intervention again, “dots for motivation,” I would adapt

it so that all of his in-class school work could count towards his intervention goals. I was only

collecting data from the math lesson throughout the intervention. I would have liked to have

seen the student’s in-class work throughout the whole day. Since I was not able to be in school

all day every day, I had to work with the time I had. If I ever use this intervention in a future

classroom, I could most certainly adapt it to meet all subjects and criteria.

As for the “catch them being good” intervention, I hope that I am able to achieve my goal

of decreasing his off-task behavior, hopefully allowing him to increase his attentiveness and
effort towards school. I have not implemented the intervention yet but I anticipate that the

results will be great.

Research tells us that “…student motivation is influenced in part by classroom incentives,

but also by such factors as intrinsic interest, parents’ interest in achievement, and students’

perceptions of their abilities and changes of success.” 1 I realize that by giving my student

incentives, it cannot be the only thing that is going to change his learning/work habits. There

needs to be an overall change in the way learning is presented to him. However, by giving my

student little incentives to work towards, he can start to feel proud of his achievements and

hopefully begin to have a positive attitude towards school.

1 Slavin, R. E. (1984). Students Motivating Students to Excel: Cooperative Incentives, Cooperative

Tasks, and Student Achievement (Vol. 85). Chicago: The Elementary School Journal.
Additional Chart of his behaviors
DATE What he should be doing
11/14 • Participating in the math
lesson
• Following teachers’ modeling
of math lesson, tracing
rhombuses
• Reviewing vocabulary with
class
11/18 • Coloring a Thanksgiving day
picture for a poster contest
• Listening to a story that I was
reading aloud
• Cutting out math flashcards
12/2 • Working with the geo-boards
in math, making rectangles
• Clapping out the spelling of
each spelling word
12/8 • Completing Christmas math
worksheet
• Independently working on
spelling workbook page
What he is doing
• Rolling his pencil across his
desk, letting it drop to the
ground
• Doodling on his paper
• Continuing to doodle on his
paper, shows me he is drawing
monkeys
• Moving out of his seat and
getting tissues, chewing on his
pencil, walking around
• Pulling his shirt up, putting
both arms inside his shirt
• Walking around, talking to
neighbors, breaking crayons
and pencils
• Wrestling with another student,
rolling around on the ground
• Cutting pencil parts in his desk
• Snapping rubber bands,
walking around looking at other
students’ geo-boards
• Flipping through his spelling
workbook, doodling on the
pages
• Shading in the numbers
• Rocking in his chair
• Crinkling the pages back,
scribbling out the letters
• Yelling across the room to get
my attention so that I could
 help him with his work

Reminder Chart created to help with on-task behavior:

Listen to all directions

Look at Mrs. Ringler while she is talking

Raise your hand before you talk

Do your work quietly
Keep hands and feet to yourself Be prepared every day!
References

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reinforcement to improve academic completion and accuracy for mildly disabled

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http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4009/is_200304/ai_n9210174

Kelly, M. (2003). The Art and Craft of Motivating Students. Web. Giving Students Control.

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http://712educators.about.com/cs/motivation/a/motivation.htm

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