The Effects of a Motivational "Pep Talk" on Physiology Students' Exam Performance & Self-Confidence
Josie Mazzone
Department of Physiology, University of Arizona
Introduction
Expressing belief in students and incorporating affirming actions can enhance student performance (Boaler, 2016; Cohen & Garcia, 2014). For example, a series of studies involving hundreds of high school English students had students write essays and receive feedback from their teachers. For half of the students, the teachers added the sentence, “I am giving you this feedback because I believe in you”, whereas the other half of students did not receive this sentence. This study found students who received this feedback received a higher grade in the course despite no other differences in the class. This was particularly true for students in minority groups (Cohen & Garcia, 2014).
Academic success and performance are associated with student self-esteem (Acosta-Gonzaga, 2023). Self-esteem refers to the students' perception of their self-worth. Positive feelings of self-worth can contribute to a student’s ability to complete an educational task, whereas negative feelings of self-worth can worsen academic performance (Acosta-Gonzaga, 2023). Self-esteem can be mediated by affective processes (student feelings) and student motivation (Chen et al., 2004). Therefore, having a positive emotional stimulation, such as through a short motivational ‘pep talk’, may contribute to enhanced student self-esteem, and in turn, student performance.
TAR Question
Does delivering a motivational ‘pep talk’ to undergraduate anatomy & physiology students (PSIO 202) prior to practical exam 3 result in 1) enhanced student scores and/or 2) improved student confidence and motivation?
About the Class:
PSIO 202 lab is an in-person undergraduate anatomy and physiology lab with ~25 students per section. The lab portion of the course includes lectures, small experiments, and practice sessions with anatomical models and dissections. Every 2-3 weeks students have a lab practical exam. For these, students rotate around 20-25 stations (1 min at each) and identify anatomical landmarks or answer questions about the structure or function of an anatomical site.
About the Learners:
Many of the students in this class are on the pre-med track and are majoring in physiology (or something related). This is the second of two anatomy and physiology courses and both are challenging. This is a “weed out” course, and many students decide whether or not they want to switch majors or career plans after this course has concluded.
Methods
Results
Does delivering a motivational ‘pep talk’ to undergraduate anatomy & physiology students (PSIO 202) prior to practical exam 3 result in enhanced student scores?
Students in the "pep talk" group had a mean exam score of 84.3% while students in the control group had a mean score of 81.6%. The exam scores were not statistically significant between the two groups, t = -1.5, p=0.14.
When separated by teaching assistant (TA), the "pep talk" group had significantly higher scores than the control group for TA 3 (p=0.02) and trended towards significance for TA 5 (p=0.06).
For all TAs, with the exception of TA 2, the upper quartile of Exam Scores (%) was higher for the "pep talk" group.
Does delivering a motivational ‘pep talk’ to undergraduate anatomy & physiology students (PSIO 202) prior to practical exam 3 result in improved student confidence and motivation?
Students in the "pep talk" group had a mean self-confidence rating of 4.11 while students in the control group had a self-confidence rating of 4.06. The questionnaire ratings were not statistically significant between the two groups, t=-0.54, p=0.59.
When separated by teaching assistant (TA), the "pep talk" group had significantly higher ratings of self-confidence than the control group for TA 5 (p=0.047) and trended towards significance for TA 3 (p=0.078).
What is the relationship between student confidence and exam performance?
There was a low correlation between student self-confidence ratings and exam scores for students who self-identified as female.
This relationship was not present for students who self-identified as male.
What do students who did and did not receive a "pep talk" report as factors that enhance their confidence and motivation in this course?
Overall, students in both groups listed "academic performance and achievement" and "studying techniques" as top factors that influence their confidence and motivation in this course.
The thematic categories of "instructors and classroom environment" and "support systems and resources" were listed more frequently for students who received the "pep talk" compared to those in the control group. Alternatively, control group students reported factors like "practice assignments and activities" more frequently than students in the "pep talk" group.
Student examples of factors that enhance their confidence and motivation in this course.
"My TA is very present and is always available to help explain concepts or try and summarize things to make it easier to interpret."
"[TA 3] is very supportive and provides great resources & my peers who also provide a lot of help"
"Having results that reflect the amount of work I put in, having good professors and TAs"
Discussion
Primary Findings
I learned that voicing encouragement and affirmations to students can have beneficial effects on their self-confidence and performance. Even for the TAs that did not see significant differences in exam scores or self-confidence between their control and "pep talk" sections, overall, the upper range of scores appeared to be higher for the "pep talk" group in almost every lab section. Additionally, the "pep talk" group had a greater number of students who listed their instructors and classroom environments as a factor that increased their confidence and motivation in this course. This is important because it shows that even a few sentences of encouragement can change how students perceive their instructors and classroom environment. Overall, this is a micro-change that could easily be implemented in any type of class with potentially beneficial effects.
For the TAs that had the most significant differences between their control and "pep talk" sections (TA 3 and TA 5), I followed up to see what type of "pep talk" they gave to their students. Both TAs mentioned they really emphasized in their "pep talks" that they were proud of their students and stated that the hard work their students put in was going to pay off. In addition to this, TA 3's approach was to "pump up" their students and to encourage them to believe in themselves. Alternatively, TA 5 described their approach as "heartfelt" and they also included a handwritten note on the top of their student's exams that stated, "I believe in you". This indicates that there may be multiple types of strategies that could be used to obtain positive results. Further research could be done to assess how student-instructor relationships prior to the "pep talk" change the effectiveness of the results. Additionally, it would be interesting to try different types of "pep talks" to see what phrases and attitudes most affect student performance and self-confidence outcomes.
I was surprised that most students in this course reported relatively high self-confidence, irrespective of whether they were in the control or "pep talk" group. It could be that differences in self-confidence were not observed between control and "pep talk" groups because the self-confidence ratings were already fairly good for most students. In the future, it may be beneficial to add a longer self-confidence assessment.
As an instructor, I have always thought that providing verbal affirmations to students was important, even if it is sometimes out of my comfort zone. This data indicates that this could be a small, but powerful change that I can implement in my classrooms. I am excited to test the boundaries of this strategy and to examine its effectiveness across various types of assessments. I would also like to evaluate its optimal timing within the semester. It could be that implementing this strategy earlier in the semester could enhance student motivation for reviewing and studying material outside of class. Alternatively, it may be that too much verbal affirmation can seem less genuine and be less impactful. While I don't know the answers to these questions at this point, I am excited to keep exploring this project as I move forward in my teacher career.
References
Acosta-Gonzaga, E. (2023). The Effects of Self-Esteem and Academic Engagement on University Students’ Performance. Behavioral Sciences, 13(4), 348. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13040348
Boaler, J. (2016). Mathematical mindsets: Unleashing students’ potential through creative math, inspiring messages and innovative teaching (pp. xiii, 292). Jossey-Bass/Wiley.
Chen, G., Gully, S. M., & Eden, D. (2004). General self-efficacy and self-esteem: Toward theoretical and empirical distinction between correlated self-evaluations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 25(3), 375–395. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.251
Cohen, G. L., & Garcia, J. (2014). Educational Theory, Practice, and Policy and the Wisdom of Social Psychology. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1(1), 13–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732214551559
Dweck, C. (2007, October 1). The Perils and Promises of Praise. ASCD. https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/the-perils-and-promises-of-praise
Dwyer, C., PhD, Dweck, E. T. S. C., PhD, Carlson-Jaquez, S. U. with H., MM, & University, V. C. (n.d.). Using praise to enhance student resilience and learning outcomes. Https://Www.Apa.Org. Retrieved February 8, 2024, from https://www.apa.org/education-career/k12/using-praise
When You Believe In Your Students They Do Better. (n.d.). YouCubed. Retrieved February 8, 2024, from https://www.youcubed.org/evidence/believe-students-better/
About the Author
Josie is a 3rd year PhD candidate in the Department of Physiological Sciences. Her research is investigating the cardiovascular effects of a breathing exercise called inspiratory muscle strength training. In addition to her work, Josie enjoys learning new crafts, working on jigsaw puzzles, chocolate, exercising, and most importantly, spending time with her partner, Jack, and her pets (shown below in no particular order).
Pets (and their nicknames) listed from left to right:
Charlie ("Charchoo"), Schnitzel ("Schnoozy"), Pippen ("Pippy" or "little fruit"), Auri ("Aurold" or "Fru-Fru Auri").
