The effects of preschoolers' goal setting, decision making, and self-recording on academic achievement

Abstract

This study investigated to see if preschool children could determine their own achievable goal and use self-recording of the step by step instruction to achieve the goal. In addition, children presented their goals to their peers. To investigate the effect of self-recording of step by step instruction, two individual case studies were completed in experiment one. A multiple baseline across participants was used in experiment two to measure three separate children's achievement during baseline and intervention of self-recording and step by step instruction. It was found that over 50% of the children could state their own achievable goal. It was also found that children's academic performance increased when self-recording their own progress. iii Acknowledgement I would like to show my gratitude to my advisor and committee chairperson, Dr. Barbara Warash, whose encouragement, support, and guidance I attribute the level of my Masters degree. Along with my committee chairperson, I would like to thank fellow committee members Dr. Dan Hursh and Dr. Amy Root for their guidance and assistance during the construction of my thesis. Also, I would like to thank Melissa Workman for her continued support in carrying out the research of this study. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends who have given me the confidence and encouragement to succeed in both school and life. v Figure 8…………………………………………………………….……52 Discussion………………………………………………………………….……54