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Exploring the Complexity of Children’s Motivation during Reading Practice

Putman, Heather
http://orcid.org/0009-0007-9208-4692
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1684772312039585

Abstract Details

2023, MA, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Psychology.
Online programs are on the rise to support reading proficiency, for good reasons. From an early age, many children struggle to hit reading benchmarks and minimum goal proficiency levels. It is even more challenging to catch up once a student has fallen behind due to the increasing difficulty of reading requirements as students move up grades. To address this issue, technology has become a promising supportive tool to help struggling readers practice and build up the critical reading mechanisms important for reading skill growth. Educational reading technology programs have generally been found to have positive effects, especially when integrated with professional development for teachers. While positive findings are encouraging, students have been found to benefit unequally from reading technology. Based on previous findings in the motivation literature, student beliefs potentially reflect different aspects of motivation that might impact the way students connect with reading content provided by reading technology. The current paper specifically focuses on MindPlay Virtual Reading Coach (MVRC), a software designed to increase students’ reading fluency. Previous research looking at MVRC has shown that, while effective in improving reading fluency overall, individual differences are pervasive, especially among students from low-income neighborhoods. To investigate these individual differences, an available dataset with information from 1,212 children in grades 5-10 was analyzed with the goal of examining potential relations between student survey responses, practice time in MVRC, and reading fluency scores. Many students were behind expected reading proficiency levels, and older students were found to practice less than younger students. MVRC practice time was found to positively relate with improvements in reading fluency. When looking at student beliefs, it was found that students only reported feeling half of the time that MVRC was helping them read new words and read faster. Student beliefs as measured through the survey did not clearly explain differences in MVRC effectiveness. Further discussion of results with the consideration of the different school levels is presented, and implications for MVRC and the field of research on learning motivation are discussed.
Heidi Kloos, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Benjamin Kelcey, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Chung-Yiu Peter Chiu, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
46 p.
Psychology
motivation; reading; technology; learning; education

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Putman, H. (2023). Exploring the Complexity of Children’s Motivation during Reading Practice [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1684772312039585

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Putman, Heather. Exploring the Complexity of Children’s Motivation during Reading Practice. 2023. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1684772312039585.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Putman, Heather. "Exploring the Complexity of Children’s Motivation during Reading Practice." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2023. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1684772312039585

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1684772312039585
139
© 2023, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12