As a last-minute teaching assignment, Deborah South took on a study skills class

As a last-minute teaching assignment, Deborah South took on a study skills class of 20 low-achieving and seemingly unmotivated eighth graders. Later she described a problem she encountered and her attempt to understand it through action research (South, 2007): My task was to somehow take these students and miraculously make them motivated, achieving students. I was trained in a study skills program before the term started and thought that I was prepared… Within a week, I sensed we were in trouble. My 20 students often showed up with no supplies. Their behavior was atrocious. They called each other names, threw various items around the room, and walked around the classroom when they felt like it… Given the situation, I decided to do some reading about how other teachers motivate unmotivated students and to formulate some ideas about the variables that contribute to a student’s success in school. Variables I investigated included adult approved, peer influence, and success in such subjects as math, science, language arts, and social studies, as well as self-esteem and students’ views of their academic abilities. I collected most of the data through surveys, interviews, and report card / attendance records in an effort to answer the following questions: (1) How does attendance affect student performance? (2) How are students influenced by their friends in completing schoolwork? (3) How do adults (parents, teachers) affect the success of students? (4) What levels of self-esteem do these students have? As a result of this investigation, I learned many things. For example, for this group of student’s attendance does not appear to be a factor – with the exception of one student, their school attendance was regular. Not surprisingly, peer groups did affect student performance. Seventy-three percent of my students reported that their friends never encouraged doing homework or putting any effort into homework. Another surprising result was the lack of impact of a teacher’s approval on student achievement. Ninety-four percent of my students indicated that they never or seldom do their homework to receive teacher approval. Alternatively, 57 percent indicated that they often or always do their homework so that their families will be proud of them. One of the most interesting findings of this study was the realization that most of my students misbehave out of frustration at their own lack of abilities. They are not being obnoxious to gain attention but to divert attention from the fact that they do not know how to complete the assigned work. When I looked at report cards and compared grades over three quarters, I noticed a trend. Between the first and second quarter, student performance had increased. That is, most students were doing better than they had during the first quarter. Between the second and third quarters, however, grades dropped dramatically. I tried to determine why that drop would occur, and the only common experience shared by these 20 students was the fact that they had been moved into my class at the beginning of the third quarter. When I presented my project to the action research class during our end-of-term “celebration,” I was convinced that the “cause” of the students’ unmotivated behavior was my teaching… This conclusion, however, was not readily accepted by my critical friends and colleagues…who urged me to consider other interpretations of the data. (pp. 1-2)
Please answer the following question about the case study:
Describe one potential strength and limitation for each method Deborah used.