Methodology

Participants

            The target population of this study will be students in grades 4-5 in a public elementary school (100 students in each grade equally 200 students total in the study).  The sample to be used will be one class from each grade level (20 students in each class for a total sample of 40 students).  The sample classes would be selected randomly. 

            The demographics of the students in the study will be ages 10-12.  Ethnicity is 91% Caucasian, 3% Latino, 2% Asian, 2% African American, and 3% as Other. Of the 200 students, gender will be 140 Female and 160 Male. 

Research Questions

How will students’ participation in a classroom business effect motivation?

How does the integration of altruistic projects effect motivation?

How does the type of learning model (business vs. traditional) effect motivation?

What business skills will students gain?

How will participation in an altruistic learning project affect students emotionally?

How does collaborating with the community affect the learning project?

What insight will the families of participating students provide?

Instruments

The measurement to be used is the Children’s Academic Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (CAMIAI ). According to the Mental Measurements Yearbook the purpose of the test is: “'To measure academic intrinsic motivation ... defined as enjoyment of school learning characterized by an orientation toward mastery, curiosity, persistence, and the learning of challenging, difficult, and novel tasks” (Gottfried, A. 2006).  The test was developed by Dr. Adele E. Gottfried in 1986. It is to be used with grades 4-8.  It can be given whole group and requires one hour to administer. 24 Likert scaled items are used to answer 44 questions.  The test attempts to measure student’s intrinsic motivation for four academic subject areas: Math, Science, Social Studies and Math; however it also measures “the child’s overall orientation towards learning” which is of most interest to this study.  Understanding the student’s overall scaled interest in the non-classroom business model and then in the post classroom business model is of interest. Internal consistency for the test is .83 to .93.  Reliability confidents in retests ranged from .66 to .76.  There was a shared variance of .15.

Procedures

            Students are inventoried with the instrument (CAMIAI) (pre-test) at the beginning of the school year when there is no classroom business (treatment) in place in the Art Room.  The student’s are then introduced to their jobs to create and maintain the classroom business (treatment) of selling student created Glass Art.  After one academic year of working in the classroom business, the same students are inventoried again using the CAMIAI test (post test).  The pre and post program CAMIAI scores are analyzed for change.  Informal qualitative input will also be gathered by parents and students throughout the program (in the forms of interviews and focus groups) to acquire additional information for the researchers.

Basic Research Designs

            The research is an Experimental Design.  It uses a quantitative measurement (CAMIAI) to identify if a new program / treatment (classroom business) effects student motivation.  Pre and Post Test design is employed.  Random sample and assignment is used.

Works Cited

Gottfried, Adele E. (2006). Children’s Academic Intrinsic Motivation Inventory

(CAIMI). In N. Salkind (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics.

(pp. 138-139).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.