The problems of motivation and academic achievement among high school students have long been a recurrent concern of the educational community. The primary purpose of this research was to investigate the use of indirect suggestions contained in metaphors and the use of direct suggestions, to determine what effect each may have on the academic achievement of high school students in mathematics. / Sixty-three high school sophomores were randomly assigned to three groups, two experimental and one placebo. The first experimental group received the treatment of indirect suggestions embedded within metaphors. The second experimental group received the direct suggestion treatment. The placebo group received a pep talk. / In this study, the pretest consisted of the subjects' mid-year average in geometry. The posttest was the geometry final examination. The analysis of covariance was used to analyze the data collected. / The subjects' regular classroom geometry teacher delivered each of the experimental treatments and the placebo experience. Each of these was written verbatim, and the teacher read the appropriate text to the assigned group. / Indirect suggestion may encourage the subjects to search her/his memory for learnings already achieved and to use these in a motivational manner in the present. Direct suggestion may facilitate change if the subject knows exactly what change is desired and has the necessary resources available so as to produce that change. / The results of this statistical analysis overall indicate that a treatment approach using a combination of relaxation and suggestion did not contribute to enhanced performance on a geometry examination F(3,59) = 2.54, p $<$.08 due to the fact that statistical significance was not achieved. / It would seem to hold true from the anecdotal observations that the techniques with indirect suggestions in metaphors and the techniques used in direct suggestions, but not in the pep talk, had some positive effect on the geometry test outcome. These results seem promising and need to be further investigated. Implications for further research in the area of indirect suggestions embedded in metaphors and direct suggestions were discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-10, Section: A, page: 2584. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1987.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_76169 |
| Contributors | MOSER, JOHN AUGUST., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 89 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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