data sample

Let's see, I'm supposed to share what I was trying to do and then share some data to see if I'm analyzing it correctly; here goes.
The focus of my t.i.p. was to see if the concept of authentic learning actually carries any merit: specifically, if publishing work for an audience offers a greater learning experience than simply handing in an assignment to the teacher who is usually the only person who ever reads the work. All of this is based on the concept that authentic experiences are intrinsically motivating because students can make the connection between the work they are doing and the real world, unlike traditional school assignments. If this is true, the assumption is that the final product will be better when the students want to do the work rather than doing the work because the teacher told them to. However, before looking at how intrinsic motivation effects the quality of work, I decided I had better confirm that authentic learning, in this case, publishing for an audience, would actually increase intrinsic motivation.
Within my qualitative data, I found that prior to beginning their wiki assignments, which the students were told was not being graded (and therefore did not have an extrinsic motivator), 60% of students said they enjoyed writing assignments. Because I asked them if they enjoyed writing assignments rather than just writing, I've assumed that there original answers are based on the effects of extrinsic motivations (grades, teacher & parent approval, etc). After working on their wiki projects however, this number rose to 68%. I therefore concluded that using wikis, which provided the students with an authentic learning experience was more enjoyable and therefore more motivating than traditional writing assignments and activities. In addition, many of the studies on motivation I read about concluded that the absence of extrinsic motivational factors would increase the likelihood of intrinsic motivation. Therefore, I believe that the 8% increase is a result of two things; writing for audience and writing because they where encouraged to instead of being told they must.