Date of Award
Summer 6-15-2016
Document Type
Education 530 Project
Degree Name
Master of Education
Department
Education
First Advisor
Tyler, Jo
Major or Concentration
Education
Abstract
Educators are asked about their management style throughout their careers. As beginning teachers, they have to decide how they will manage their classroom in a way to inspire motivation and engagement within all of their students. The following action research looks at a modified Whole Brain Teaching (WBT) techniques in a 12th grade English classroom and questions its effects upon the students throughout the research period. WBT was created in 1999 by Crafton Hills College philosophy teacher Chris Biffle and elementary school teachers Jay Vanderfin and Chris Rekstad. From there, the model expanded into classrooms around the country (Biffle 2014, p. 7). WBT techniques are designed to keep students engaged in learning and makes classrooms easier to manage by combining auditory, verbal, and visual elements of teaching instruction. The following action research uses a phase approach to data analysis in order to compare and contrast pre and post-surveys as well as pre and post-interviews. The data is supported with field notes taken throughout the two-week period of WBT instruction. The data indicates that following the implementation of WBT students were more likely to cite extrinsic motivators for how they stay motivated in class. The most increased extrinsic motivator was teacher suggesting a correlation between Whole Brain Teaching and students being more motivated by their interactions with the teacher.
Recommended Citation
Falls, Cheyenne D., ""Class, Class, Class!" A Study of the Motivational and Engagement Effects of a Modified Whole Brain Teaching Method" (2016). Student Research Submissions. 191.
https://scholar.umw.edu/student_research/191