Exploring the Pygmalion Effect: A Study on the Effects of Teacher Expectations on Student Academic Performance

Overview

Objectives/Goals My objective was to explore the Pygmalion effect in the setting of education: in other words, whether or not the student performance expectations of school teachers for tests and assignments have a significant positive effect on the academic performance of their students. Methods/Materials Two groups of students were administered a short academic test that contained general questions from four of the core school subjects. The differing variable between the two groups was the expectations speech given before the students began to take the test. One group was given a "low-expectations" talk from the teacher, whereas the other was given a "high-expectations" talk from the same teacher. Every student had as much time as they needed to complete the tests. The test scores were then compiled by group and calculated to find the mean, median, mode, and ranges of the data scores. Results The students in the "low-expectations" group had an overall average score of 73.3% accuracy on the tests, and the highest score achieved by individual students was 92% accuracy. The median score was 75% accuracy, and the mode score was 83%. The range of the "low-expectations" scores was 59%. The students in the "high-expectations" group, however, had a lower overall average score of 68.25% accuracy on the tests, and a high score of 83% accuracy. Both the median and mode scores were 75% accuracy, and the range was 50%. Both groups' lowest score achieved was 33% accuracy. Thus, the students given the "low-expectations" talk before taking the test scored better on average compared to the students given the "high-expectations" talk. Conclusions/Discussion By studying the results of testing students who had received either a positive or negative speech immediately before the test, one can conclude that the Pygmalion effect may not be applicable in the education of school children. In fact, the results were that the test group receiving a "low-expectations" speech performed better than those receiving a "high-expectations" speech. This could have profound implications in the field of education.

Competition history

• CSEF 2017 Cognitive Science (Junior Division Only) · Entry J0701

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