The purposes of this research were to develop a classroom-based academic counseling program for academic development of elementary school students and to examine the effectiveness of the program on academic motivation and academic skills of the studen...
The purposes of this research were to develop a classroom-based academic counseling program for academic development of elementary school students and to examine the effectiveness of the program on academic motivation and academic skills of the students. The research questions raised in this study are as follows;
1. What factors should be included in the academic counseling program to help elementary school students’ academic development?
2. Does the academic counseling program have an effect on the students’ academic development(academic motivation and academic skills)?
After analyzing previous research studies on improving academic motivation and academic skills, a pattern has emerged showing fourteen important factors that relate to academic motivation and skills.
The subordinate factors that come together to create the motivation to learn are as follows: setting short and long term goals, building self confidence, increasing concentration, understanding the reason for studying, searching for a future job, developing positive emotions, and coping with learning difficulties. The subordinate factors that improve learning skills are as follows: self management, time management, successful test taking, good note taking, information processing, and class participation skills.
Based on the purpose of the program in this study and the survey results about students’ needs and teachers’ needs, twelve of the fourteen factors pertaining to constructing an academic counseling program were chosen as follows; setting both long and short term goals, boosting self confidence, improving concentration, understanding reasons for studying, investigating careers, positive emotions, time management skills, self management skills, note taking, reading, information processing and test taking. The preliminary program was organized based on the twelve factors. The program consisted of a total of twelve sessions, three sessions a week, and 40 minutes for each session. It was modified and improved based on the results of consultations about the program from experienced teachers and professors on the topic.
The preliminary research began on November 16th, 2009 and ended on December 16th, 2009. Thirty-one sixth grade students took part in this four week experiment comprised of three sessions a week with 40 minutes for each session. It was evaluated qualitatively based upon experienced teachers’ observations, surveys of students’ satisfaction in regards to the program and students’ written evaluation reports. The final program was developed and adapted based upon students’ evaluations.
The final program was conducted with 30 fifth grade students in Yongin city, Gyeonggi province from November 1st, 2010 through November 26th, 2010. To examine the effectiveness of the program, the measures for academic motivation and academic skills were adminstered to the students of the experimental group and control group right before the experiment for the pre-test, right after the experiment for the post-test, and 6 weeks after the experiment for the delay-test. The data collected were analyzed according to the Repeated Measurement Statistical Models using 12.0 SPSS/WIN program and the entire program participants’ and the program leader's evaluation reports were analyzed qualitatively to make up for the limited reliability caused by a quantitative analysis.
The results of this study were as follows: (a) The academic motivation test scores of the experimental group, especially the subordinate factor labeled "self efficacy", were significantly higher than those of the control group. (b) The same results were found in the "self management skill", a subordinate factor of academic skills. The students' evaluation reports made it clear that the academic counseling program motivated the students to study and the student’s academic skills also improved throughout the program. These results indicate that the academic counseling program made significant positive effects on the academic development, both the academic skills and motivation of the elementary school students.