PYGMALION EFFECT: TEACHERS’ EXPECTATIONS AND HOW THEY IMPACT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Glen GochalProfessor O’Connor-PetrusoSeminar in Applied Theory and Research 2CBSE 7202TSpring 2013

Pygmalion in the Modern World

Table of Contents Research Design

Threats to Internal Validity

Threats to External Validity

Proposed Data

Survey Results

Proposed Data Analysis and Correlations

Student, Teacher, Background Survey

References

Research Design

• The type of research design used in this Action Research Project will be Pre-experimental, specifically a One-Shot Case Study design. Two 2nd grade classes will be chosen from the four available 2nd grade classes. The two classes will not be further divided in any fashion. The teachers and student will be administered a survey at the same time in order to eliminate any cross contamination of answers. The survey will be used to detect the existence and depth of the Pygmalion Effect on both students and teachers. The symbolic design for this research is XO.

Threats to Internal Validity

• History: I do not see any historical events to cause an internal validity threat. This action research project will be conducted over the course of the second half of the school year. There should not be any movement of the population, but bad weather or natural disaster are possible events that cannot be foreseen.

• Maturation: There is a possibility that in a short period of time participants in the study could mature and have a change of mind about their feelings towards their teachers but am not expecting any material impact from such a small number change.

• Testing/Pre-test Sensitization: Survey will only be conducted once, therefore no threats seen.• Instrumentation: There will be no instrumentation changes affecting the internal validity of the

main conclusion.• Mortality: Serious doubt that any of the students will be leaving school in the period of time this

test will take. The period of this project will only be the last half of the school year.• Statistical Regression: There will only be one survey and the will not illicit a numerical score as

the responses will be based on the student’s feelings, and therefore extremes will not exist. Statistical regression also occurs on retesting and extremes in scoring revert towards the mean score, since there is no retesting of the population this threat doesn’t exist in my study.

• Differential Selection of Subjects: Since there is just one group there can’t be differentia amongst groups.

• Selection-Maturation Interaction: Since this study is one group and not multiple groups there are no selection or matching problems. The only question might be whether the group is representational of the schools population.

• Training Validity – Does workshop coordinator’s training performance meet criteria for workshop program?

• Transfer Validity – Does workshop coordinator’s job performance meet criteria?

Threats to External Validity• Ecological Validity: The definition of ecological validity is the extent to which the conditions simulated in the

laboratory reflects real life conditions. Certainly Pygmalion has been shown to be in effect in the classroom before, but the question is whether it exists in these particular classrooms.

• Generalizable Conditions: It is highly likely that this study could be reproduced in any school setting and manifestation of the Pygmalion Effect, if it exists, could be eliminated through workshops on the topic.

• Pretest-Treatment: There will be no pre-testing so no external threats exist.• Selection-Treatment Interaction: Selection will be 2 entire 2nd grade classes; there will be no randomness or

volunteering for the groups.• Specificity of Variables: Multiple Treatment: Students will not receive more than one treatment eliminating this

external threat.• Treatment Diffusion: There will be no differential treatment groups so no external threat exists.• Experimenter Effects: The only interaction the experimenter will have with the groups will be passing out of the

surveys. • Reactive Arrangements/Participants Effects: A number of factors concerning how the study was conducted,

attitudes of subjects etc.• Hawthorne Effect: In essence, the Hawthorne Effect can be summarized as "Individual behaviors may be altered

because they know they are being studied."• Compensatory Rivalry Effect: Here, the comparison group knows what the program group is getting and

develops a competitive attitude with them• Placebo Effect: A nonexistence in my study• Novelty Effect: A treatment may work because it is novel and the subjects respond to the uniqueness, rather

than the actual treatment.• Under the heading of Reactive Arrangements/Participants Effects there are no foreseeable external threats to validity.• Intraorganizational Validity: – Will workshop be effective on new group of teachers?• Interorganizational Validity: – Can workshop program be used successfully at other schools?

Proposed Data

• Student Survey:Self-Attitude Rating Scale

A) Frequencies

B) Attitudes

Family Demographic Survey

• Teacher Survey:Self-Attitude Rating Scale - Attitudes.

Proposed Data Analysis and Correlations: Student Surveys

• For the purpose of this analysis, the following abbreviations are used

on charts and graphs:

• For the purpose of this analysis, questions asked were as generating

a positive feeling for the student or a negative feeling for the student.

Negative questions are indicated by the letter N and positive

questions are indicated by the letter P.

Proposed Data Analysis and Correlations: Student Surveys

I usually feel my teacher thinks I am very smart.

I usually feel my teacher thinks I am not smart.

I think my 2nd grade teacher likes me.

I think my 2nd grade teacher does not likes me.

I feel my teacher thinks I am a badly behaved child.

I feel my teacher thinks I am a well behaved child.

My 1st grade teacher liked me.

My 1st grade teacher did not like me.

I got bad conduct marks in 1st grade.

I got good conduct marks in 1st grade.

I never get into trouble for my behavior In class.

When something goes wrong in class,my classmates blame me.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

STRONGLY AGREEAGREENEITHER AGREE NOR DISAGREEDISAGREESTRONGLY DISAGREE

Proposed Data Analysis and Correlations: Student Surveys

N N N N N N P P P P P P0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

STRONGLY DISAGREESTRONGLY AGREE

Question Types

Num

ber o

f Stu

dent

s

Proposed Data Analysis and Correlations: Student Surveys

STRONGLY

DISAGREE

DISAGREE

NEITHER

AGREE NOR DISA

GREEAGREE

STRONGLY

AGREE0

10

20

30

Student Survey Positive vs. Nega-tive-Mean Responses

Negative Question MeansPositive Question Means

Response

Num

ber o

f Stu

dent

s

0 or never

1-2 times

3 times

4 times

5 times

05

101520253035

Frequency Survey Positive vs. Negative-Mean Responses

Negative Question MeansPositive Question Means

Frequency

Num

ber o

f Stu

dent

s

Above surveys reflect the mean answers for both surveys. Note the similar answer pattern regardless of how the questions are asked.

Survey Results

Student Survey--AttitudesSample Questions

1- Strongly

Dis a gree

2-

Disagree

3- Neither

Agree nor

Disagree 4- Agree

5-

Strongly

Agree

1

I usually feel my teacher thinks I am

not smart.

2

I think my 2nd grade teacher likes

me.

3

I feel my teacher thinks I am a well

behaved child.

4

I never get into trouble for my

behavior in class.

Student Survey--FrequencySample Questions

0 or never 1-2 times 3 times 4 times 5 times

1

In class, I get blamed for something I did not do

2

My teacher tells me I do a good job on my work.

3

I get a gold star even if I wasn't that well-behaved in class.

4 My homework gets a 4 out of 4.

Teacher Survey Sample Questions

1-Strongly Disagree

2- Disagree

3- Neither Agree nor Disagree

4-Agree

5-Strongly

Agree

1

I value the non-academic feedback I get from other teachers on their previous students.

2

I think passing along my own opinion to other teachers is important to pupil development.

3

I feel asking a previous instructor for non-academic information on a student is simply doing my due diligence.

4

Non-academic information passed along from previous instructors is more valuable in evaluating students than academic information.

Background SurveySample Questions

• 1. Gender 1) Male 2) Female

• 2. Does your school have a program or class for the gifted or talented?1) No 2) Yes

 • 3. Where were you born?

1) USA 2) South/Central America3) Europe or Canada 4) Asia5) Africa 

References

•O’Connor-Petruso, S. (2010). Descriptive Statistics Threats to Validity

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