Date of Award
9-1-1989
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Advisor
Dr. Joan Horn
Keywords
affective education, earth science, eighth grade, goal setting, irrational beliefs, Junior High School, middle school education, positive relationships, science course improvement project, science education, self-esteem, self-talk, student discussions, student performance, standardized assessments
Abstract
Low performance in a basic eighth-grade earth science class was addressed by a one-class-period per week self-esteem unit presented by the writer and daily positive self-concept reinforcement methods implemented by the regular classroom teacher. Students were presented concepts of self-esteem such as "self-talk,” “irrational beliefs,” “setting and attaining goals,” and “positive relationships” and participated in discussions concerning their feelings about themselves, school, families, and others. There was a standardized measure of self-esteem pretest and posttest, and student performance was measured via comparison of their earth science grade average between the first and the tenth week. Students improved in both grade point average and in the measure of self-esteem. Appendices include background information on the students and the school, sample assignments, and a display of the results.