Enhancing Academic Motivation through Constructive Feedback: A Quasi-Experimental Study at the Elementary Level

Academic motivation is a very important aspect in the engagement and persistence of the students, especially at the elementary level where the basic learning behaviors are acquired. The study analyzed the impact of positive feedback on academic motivation in elementary school students through a quasi-experimental pretest posttest control group study design. The participants were 120 elementary students at a school of the public sector, who were separated into the experimental group (n = 60) and the control group (n = 60). The experimental group was given constructive feedback of structured constructive feedback, whereas the control group was given the routine classroom feedback after a six-week period of intervention. A modified Academic Motivation Scale was used in the measurement of academic motivation. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, paired-samples t-tests, and the analysis of the effect size were used to analyze data. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference between the posttest academic motivation scores of the experimental group and the control group in favor of the former. Besides, the group of students who received constructive feedback also demonstrated a strong increase in motivation between pretest and posttest, and significantly greater motivational gains compared to the control group. The very big effect size shows that the constructive feedback is not only educationally, but also statistically, important. Based on the Self-Determination Theory and the Cognitive Evaluation Theory, the research concludes that positive feedback increases the feeling of competence and autonomy in students, consequently leading them to be intrinsically motivated to learn. The paper suggests that the constructive feedback practices set as infused into elementary classroom activities would foster the long-term motivation and interest of students.