Date of Award/Publication

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MS in Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education

Abstract

After a reoccurring problem in the researcher's seventh grade math classroom, she chose to further investigate what motivates middle school math students to complete daily homework assignments. The researcher chose to experiment with four factors that the literature found to be the most influential; targeted homework assignments, parent involvement, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. The researcher found that homework assignments could be manipulated to increase rates of completion, and that parental involvement would also improve homework completion rates. However, extrinsic motivation over long periods of time does not improve a student's motivation to complete daily assignments. While conducting the research, it was also found that organization plays a key role in homework completion at this developmental level.

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