Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

6-2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Educational Psychology

Advisor

Marian Fish

Subject Categories

Educational Psychology | Special Education Administration | Special Education and Teaching

Keywords

Group Contingency, High School, Homework, Special Education

Abstract

Homework is a frequently utilized teaching strategy in elementary and secondary classrooms. The completion of homework has been shown to have a strong positive effect on students' academic achievement across content and ability levels. Moreover, research suggests a stronger positive relationship between homework and achievement at the upper grade levels. Numerous interventions, both at home and at school, have been employed to increase students' level of homework completion and/or accuracy. The present investigation employed a single-subject reversal design to examine the effectiveness of an interdependent group contingency, with randomized components, on the homework completion, homework accuracy, and the academic achievement of a special education class of high school students. Results demonstrated that the intervention improved homework completion performance of these students, but with inconsistent gains in accuracy. However, academic improvements were made for the majority of students when the intervention was employed and there was a significant effect of the treatment from the baseline to the intervention phases. The teacher found the intervention to be acceptable for use in the classroom and valuable in changing homework behavior. Lastly, data from a student satisfaction survey found that students liked the intervention itself and felt it helped them to complete their homework.

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