The effectiveness of instruction based on activity theory in the academic performance of student's with learned helplessness

The purpose of the present study is to determine the effectiveness of instruction based on activity theory in the academic performance of student's with learned helplessness. The population of this study were all female students with learned helplessness attribution style, who were studying in Mashhadin 2010-2011 academic year. The sample consisted of 40 students of fourth and fifth grade of elementary school female students, who were identified as learned helplessness by children's attribution-style questionnaire (CASQ). The experimental and controlled groups were selected randomly. Then, a teacher-made test of academic performance with 30 multiple-choice questions of math and elementary science was used as a pre-test for both experimental and control groups. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference between these two groups. Experimental group was affected by dependent variables for 10 sessions, each session 45 minutes . Computer-based games were regarded as the activity. Then post test was administered for both groups. Covariance analyses and ttest were used to analyze the research results. The results showed that at 0.05 Ievel there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups. In other words, academic performance of students was affected by instruction based on activity theory.