Li: Projects
The Meanings of Learning, Achievement, and Motivation: A Study of Achievement Beliefs and Behaviors in Three Cultural Contexts
Project Period: May, 03-April, 06
Principal Investigator: Janine Bempechat, Ed.D., Wheelock College, Co-PIs: Jin Li, Ed.D. and Susan Holloway, University of California, Berkeley
Funding Agencies: William T. Grant Foundation ($470,000)
The purpose of this collaborative project was to understand how low-income high school students from European-, African-, Latino-, and Chinese-American backgrounds as well as their peers in England and Russia make meaning in their daily home and school life, how they interact and learn from their parents, teachers, and peers. We interviewed each of the 352 students three times. The first time they were interviewed about their daily home life including educational aspirations their parents convey to them, family-child communication, peer interactions outside school, and home monitoring for schoolwork. The second interview was on students' perceptions of key concepts such as "good student," "poor student," "good teacher," "not so good teacher," "smartness/intelligence," and "hard work." The third interview consisted of focus group discussions with 3-5 students per group about students' experiences at school. In addition, we used the experience sampling method (randomly signaling each student 7 times a day with a preprogrammed watch) to collect data on their daily activities in and outside school, their preference for activities, and their emotions. We also collected students' achievement data from school.
Currently, we focus our data analyses on variations within each ethnic group between high and low achieving students with mixed methods. We have analyzed a portion of the data and have three journal articles in press, one on Mexican American low versus high achieving students' perceptions of high achievement (the Urban Review), one on Russian high school students' family relationships and school learning (Journal of Adolescent Research), and one on Chinese American students' family social networks that support their learning (New Directions in Child and Adolescent Development). As we analyze more data, we will publish more research results.