Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2008 Families, motivation, and reading: pre-adolescent students and their reading motivation and family reading habits Jill L. Janes Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at:https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of theFamily, Life Course, and Society Commons,Other Education Commons, and the Reading and Language Commons Recommended Citation Janes, Jill L., "Families, motivation, and reading: pre-adolescent students and their reading motivation and family reading habits" (2008).Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 15428. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/15428 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please [email protected]. Families, motivation, and reading: Pre-adolescent students and their reading motivation and family reading habits by Jill L. Janes A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Education Program of Study Committee: Denise Schmidt, Major Professor Donna Niday Lori Norton-Meier Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2008 Copyright © Jill L. Janes, 2008. All rights reserved. 1454596 1454596 2008 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES v LIST OF TABLES vi ABSTRACT ix CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 Statement of the Problem 4 Purpose and Objectives 4 Research Questions 5 Need for the Study 5 Implications and Educational Significance 6 Definition of Terms 6 CHAPTER II. LITERATURE REVIEW 8 Motivation as a Concept 8 Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation 8 Factors of Motivation in Reading 9 Effects of Reading Motivation 13 Family Involvement in Education 17 Family Involvement Regarding Reading 26 Summary of Research 28 CHAPTER III. METHODS 30 Subjects 30 Research Design and Procedure 33 Instrumentation 36 Data Collection 45 Data Analysis 47 CHAPTER IV. FINDINGS 51 Subjects 51 Student Reported Reading Motivation 52 Student Control Group 52 Student Experimental Group 55 Student Control and Experimental Groups 57 Student Reported Family Reading Habits and Preferences 60 Student Control Group 60 Student Experimental Group 64 Student Control and Experimental Groups 68 Family Reported Family Reading Habits and Preferences 70 Family Control Group 71 iii Family Experimental Group 74 Family Control and Experimental Groups 81 Reactions to Family Involvement Homework 81 Student Reactions to Family Involvement Homework 82 Family Reactions to Family Involvement Homework 84 Summary 86 CHAPTER V. SUMMARY, DISCUSSION, & RECOMMENDATIONS 88 Summary 88 Discussion of the Results 92 Recommendations 98 Conclusion 101 APPENDIX A. CONTROL GROUP LETTER OF INVITATION 102 APPENDIX B. EXPERIMENTAL GROUP LETTER OF INVITATION 104 APPENDIX C. FAMILY PRETEST 106 APPENDIX D. STUDENT PRETEST 108 APPENDIX E. CONTROL GROUP FAMILY POSTTEST 111 APPENDIX F. EXPERIMENTAL GROUP FAMILY POSTTEST 113 APPENDIX G. CONTROL GROUP STUDENT POSTTEST 116 APPENDIX H. EXPERIMENTAL GROUP STUDENT POSTTEST 120 APPENDIX I. CONTROL GROUP SAMPLE HOMEWORK 124 APPENDIX J. HOMEWORK CALENDAR 126 APPENDIX K. HOMEWORK SCORING RUBRIC 130 APPENDIX L. EXPERIMENTAL GROUP SAMPLE HOMEWORK 131 APPENDIX M. HOMEWORK RETURN RECORD 133 APPENDIX N. FAMILY PRETEST COVER LETTER 134 APPENDIX O. CONTROL GROUP ASSENT FORM 135 APPENDIX P. EXPERIMENTAL GROUP ASSENT FORM 136 iv APPENDIX Q. CONTROL GROUP POSTTEST COVER LETTER 137 APPENDIX R. EXPERIMENTAL GROUP POSTTEST COVER LETTER 138 APPENDIX S. STUDENT CONTROL GROUP MOTIVATION DATA 139 APPENDIX T. STUDENT EXPERIMENTAL GROUP MOTIVATION DATA 140 APPENDIX U. ALL STUDENTS’ POSTTEST MOTIVATION DATA 141 APPENDIX V. STUDENT CONTROL GROUP FAMILY SURVEY DATA 142 APPENDIX W. STUDENT EXPERIMENTAL GROUP FAMILY SURVEY DATA 144 APPENDIX X. ALL STUDENTS’ POSTTEST FAMILY SURVEY DATA 146 APPENDIX Y. FAMILY CONTROL GROUP FAMILY SURVEY DATA 148 APPENDIX Z. FAMILY EXPERIMENTAL GROUP FAMILY SURVEY DATA 150 APPENDIX AA. ALL FAMILIES’ POSTTEST FAMILY SURVEY DATA 152 APPENDIX BB. ALL STUDENTS’ HOMEWORK REACTIONS DATA 154 APPENDIX CC. FAMILY & STUDENT HOMEWORK REACTIONS DATA 155 REFERENCES 157 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 163 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Wang and Guthrie (2004) Two-Factor Motivational Measurement Model 12 Figure 2. Wang and Guthrie (2004) Motivational Structural Model of Text Comprehension 15 Figure 3. Eccles and Harold (1993) Model of Influences on Parent Involvement and Child Outcomes. 19 Figure 4. Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1995) Causal and Specific Model of Parental Involvement 21 Figure 5. Student control group posttest response for How often do you and your family read together? 69 Figure 6. Student experimental group posttest response for How often do you and your family read together? 69 Figure 7. Family control group posttest response for How often do you and your family read together? 80 Figure 8. Family experimental group posttest response for How often do you and your family read together? 80 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Researcher-Created Questionnaire Origins 38 Table 2. Eigenvalues for the Factor of Motivation 40 Table 3. Questionnaire Descriptions 44 Table 4. Motivation Data Analysis 47 Table 5. Family Reading Habits Data Analysis 49 Table 6. Student Control Group Motivation Data 139 Table 7. T-test of student control group pretest and posttest mean responses for I enjoy reading books about people in different countries. 54 Table 8. Student Experimental Group Motivation Data 140 Table 9. T-test of student experimental group pretest and posttest mean responses for I enjoy reading books about people in different countries. 56 Table 10. T-test of student experimental group pretest and posttest mean responses for I like hard, challenging books. 56 Table 11. T-test of student experimental group pretest and posttest mean responses for I enjoy a long, involved story or fiction book. 56 Table 12. All Students’ Posttest Motivation Data 141 Table 13. T-test of student control group and student experimental group posttest mean responses for I like to read because I always feel happy when I read things that are of interest to me. 59 Table 14. T-test of student control group and student experimental group posttest mean responses for If I am reading about an interesting topic, I “sometimes” lose track of time. 59 vii Table 15. T-test of student control group and student experimental group posttest mean responses for I usually learn difficult things by reading. 60 Table 16. T-test of student control group and student experimental group posttest mean responses for I enjoy a long, involved story or fiction book. 60 Table 17. Student Control Group Family Survey Data 142 Table 18. T-test of student control group pretest and posttest mean responses for When we read together, someone in my family asks me if they can read with me. 63 Table 19. T-test of student control group pretest and posttest mean responses for How often do you and your family read together? 63 Table 20. Student Experimental Group Family Survey Data 144 Table 21. T-test of student experimental group pretest and posttest mean responses for When we read together, my family and I talk about our predictions. 67 Table 22. All Students’ Posttest Family Survey Data 146 Table 23. Family Control Group Family Survey Data 148 Table 24. Family Experimental Group Family Survey Data 150 Table 25. T-test of family experimental group pretest and posttest mean responses for When we read together, my child and I talk about connections that we can make to the text. 78 Table 26. T-test of family experimental group pretest and posttest mean responses for How often do you and your child read sports materials? 78 Table 27. T-test of family experimental group pretest and posttest mean responses for How often do you and your child read nature materials? 79 viii Table 28. All Families’ Posttest Family Survey Data 152 Table 29. All Students’ Homework Reactions Data 154 Table 30. Family & Student Homework Reactions Data 155