RES 5040: Teacher as Researcher (spring 09)

I really thought I had not collected enough data to do a good job on this assignment, but boy, as I begin to analyze the data and do the data representation, I am beginning to see what the data is really telling me. I began by interviewing students on their feelings about reading and what they like and dislike about reading. Most of them indicated they they liked reading, but not enjoy reading on their own. They also did not enjoy having to go back into the story and pull out details, and having to think critically about the story. One student admittted that he still had problems with reading comprehension.

I then allowed these students to have input in designing learning/reading activities, and the materials they will use. I have found that their motivation levels are skyrocketing which was maintained throughout the project. They went above and beyond what I expected and that was surprising to me since this group is below grade level. They are working with grade level material and most of them are doing a great job! I can not express to you how much this is a total change! Most of class is either working below grade level or struggling due to lack of motivation or learning difficulties. Not only did this small group's motivation level increase tremendously, but the entire class became interested in the activities and they became motivated.

The students in my small, project group decided to use literature circles to carry out their activities. We had previously done literature circles in class, and they had enjoyed doing them. However, they wanted to modify the activities by using playdoh to build a model of the book. They chose the book they wanted to read by decided first that they wanted to read a funny book. One of the students had already read Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the second book in the series previously with his older brother, and liked it. There are several other books in that series, so they wanted to do the first book.

Once the students started the project, their motivation became contagious to the other students who weren't in the group. The entire class wanted to participate, so I ended up having to find books for the class to participate in small group lit. circles with these books. I ended up having 4 groups of students working in Diary of a Wimpy Kid. They all enjoyed it, although the teacher next door, was very critical commenting that the Diary books weren't "good literature". I was offended by that remark.

I decided to interview my students as a focus group. I ended up meeting with a smaller group of students than I had originally planned for due to not being able to get the signed forms back. We met first thing in the morning over several days. This is the same group I had been working with since last spring. They had worked very well together and I expected no less from them this time.

The responses I received at first were exactly what I had expected. They enjoyed reading, but they knew they still struggled with comprehension. They had all enjoyed the latest literature circle they were involved in. When the students began to discuss how they wanted to set up their own reading activities, they became very interested, and actually had a lot of input. I was very surprised! They actually wanted to do another literature circle with a different book. They were interested in reading a funny book and picked out Diary of a Wimpy Kid. They decided that they wanted to create a model of the book using play doh. This has caused so much excitement in my classroom that the whole class is asking questions.

Barbara Cloninger

The methods that I used to collect my data have been unremarkable-surveys and interviews conducted over the Zone-so the process has not yielded any interesting or informative narratives. I have gotten the best data from my follow up questions, and they often led to enough interesting side stories that I didn't have to ask all my questions. The data, however, has been fascinating, so I would like to share a portion of my findings that dealt with the participants' introduction to the online learning platforms.

Students first encountering the Zone and other VLEs (virtual learning environments) had an initial period of adjustment regardless of prior experience or general computer knowledge. The difficulty of the coursework was no more or no less than normal face-to-face classes, but the students struggled with the logistics of the VLEs, including how to log on, how to navigate, and determining which assignments and/or classes used which VLE. Students adapted to this challenge by exploring the VLEs on their own, often spending extra time and putting off assignments as they got accustomed to the Zone, etc, through exploration and trial and error.

One of the more interesting findings concerns what I now refer to as "Acute Avatar Apprehension Syndrome," or AAAS. AAAS describes the initial reaction many of the participants had upon first seeing the avatars and the many video game-like qualities of the Zone. Many felt, at least initially, that these aspects of the VLEs detracted from the academic atmosphere and raised doubts about the integrity of the coursework utilizing the online platforms. My favorite quote from a student first working through the avatar selection process was "this is completely ridiculous, how could having an avatar like a video game serve us academically?" Others described the avatars as "hokey" and "fluff," but each participant overcame their initial doubts after experiencing the many applications for the VLEs.

Another really interesting finding is that, despite a definite appreciation for the community that the VLEs foster, many of the participants have expressed feelings of isolation as a result of the web-based portion of the classes. It has been one of the few obstacles associated with VLEs that did not pass with time, and the feelings were also intensified by some fo the assignments. The assignments most often mentioned were the blogs, where the lack of feedback forced students to voercome the idea that they were just posting for the sake of posting and that noone would ever read their work.

-John Harrington

My research is crawling along. I have found it to be difficult to interview students that are consistently suspended or absent. I am considering going to another classroom to use students that I had last semester especially since the attendance has been a problem. I have talked to three of my interviewees and asked several questions. They are extremely honest. They remind me of the elementary school kids that I had last year. They don’t necessarily tell you what you want to hear, but what the truth is. That means they aren’t too concerned about using a library. What I have noticed is that they are sure interested in the book we are reading in class and I over hear them discussing books they have read in other classes. They always want to get on the computer and read the current newspaper. Little do they know they are using the resources that the library would offer. After questioning another teacher it seems that the students would be more likely to use the facility than her. I was mighty taken aback from that. All my students have been very forthcoming with information. They don’t seem to mind talking with me about school stuff.

Heather Greene

I have spent these last two weeks interviewing my participants. It began somewhat slow because middle school students can be very forgetful. I had a few interviews scheduled before school that some my participants forgot about. I had to reschedule interviews for after school or during school. I was not expecting to reschedule my interviews so often and I did not take into account that they may forget their interview date and time. This has altered my original time line. After completing all 6 interviews this week I have seen a common theme, most of my participants have some stereotypical views of Latin America. Some of these stereotypical views involve food from Latin America (tacos and burritos), money (all of Latin America use pesos), and people (anyone with a dark complexion and accent are from Mexico). I also see that TV and popular chain restaurants play a role in these stereotypes. Another problem I have encountered is the response from my participants e-mail pals. They have not received a response from the Colombian students. I may not be able to use their e-mail exchanges as part of my data if they don't receive responses soon.

Although some of my participants forgot about their original interviews, they have been very cooperative and are excited to participate. They feel very important and are interested in what is coming next. After completing these interviews, I am able to invision how this study will procede and I believe I will see an impact on my participant's cultural awareness by using different types of technology.
Kristen Clark

My first round of data collection went pretty much as I expected. I used observations to pay particular attention to the interactions of the study participants in a group setting. What I noticed was their effort to draw their peers attention to them instead of to the task at hand. I am using five students, and for the most part, I noticed many simialr behaviors in each of the students. The boys seemed to be more interested in the social aspect of the group. I saw each particiapnt, in differing ways, make efforts to engage members of their groups as well as members of the other groups in conversations that were unrelated to the assignment. As a group they were unengaged and 3 of the 5 did not fully complete their part of the task, the 2 that were completed, were done to the bare minimum, no extra effort or thought was put into this activity. This is what I expected and it will serve as a baseline for me to compare the results of the following data collection. I observed all of the students in one form or another making an effort to avoid sharing their thoughts and ideas with the group, 4 of the 5 were observed playing and making jokes to divert the other students attention from the task they were to complete, and there were several instances where they asked other students to tell them what they should do. The result as a whole of the first round was that these students do not want to give their peers the opportunity to hear their original thoughts. They did not want to appear they were enjoying or even interested in the activity. We are doing this because we have to was the sentiment largely expressed by this group of students, each in thier own way.

Craig Cavender

Data Collection Day One

Probe Questions were administered to Blair. Blair is a 17 year old male identified as Traumatic Brain Injured. He is in the 10th grade and has a one-on-one aid. This is a student specific assistant to aid him and stays with him for the entire school day. For the duration of this stud, he participated in on-campus work through Vocational Rehabilitation, which is offered through our county. He has attended IEP meetings but never expressed interests or desires. Using the scale established with my study, I used a 0-3 rating scale to score Blair’s answers. He scored an 18 out of 30.

Reflection

After the first interview, I began to re-evaluate my questions. I picked 10 probe questions which were supported by research to be valid interview questions in relation to my topic. But I found that the student became bored with answering the questions. The questions are wordy and require a lot of thought to be considered by the student with disabilities. I believe that each question is valid for my end result, so I need to make some type of change. I am going to split the sessions into 2 instead of gathering data all in one session. My peer review of my research stated that I needed to revise my questions, and a very valid point considering the attention span of students with disabilities. To receive insightful and valid data from the students, which will ultimately help the students, I feel I should interview them in 2 sessions. The data collection process is actually a lot harder than I had anticipated, I am not a patient researcher. I will need to focus more on the student’s actual answers, instead of what I expect them to say.

Shannon Mosteller

The first two weeks of data collection has been very rewarding, and I can now see my project coming together. I have been conducting mainly observations the first two weeks of data collection. The third grade class that comes to the computer lab only comes two days a week. I wanted to see their reactions as they used the program for the first time, and see if they were still excited in the second week. I showed the students on my smart board how the software works before they went to their seat. They were able to get on the software program with little programs, and became engaged in the software. I saw students working on math, language arts, and science problems. They were having fun and learning with this software. The students asked me repeatedly if they were going to get on the program the next time they came to class. The students were working on their typing lessons before they started this program. They were using Mavis Beacon an excellent typing program, but it can get tedious when they are learning how to type. I wanted to use the Jumpstart 3rd grade software program between typing lessons. The main thing that I observed where the students expressions and what they said to themselves while working on Jumpstart 3rd grade. I saw students that had facial expressions that were very excited to be working on this program. I heard students muttering this is neat as I walked past their desks. I felt that this observation was very rewarding, because it supported everything that I am trying to accomplish with this research project.

Data collection is not at all what I had anticipated. When you think you have a plan everything goes he total opposite way! Which I suppose make everything more interesting and exciting at the same time. However, as a researcher it makes you constantly be on your toes to think of a solution or a different avenue to try. I can say that I am a little tired after these two weeks. But I guess I will grin and bare or should I say reflect and learn from it.

I had originally planned to have two different groups that I would compare my data to one group that was using the different reflective practices and one group that wasn't. Unfortunately, the time and crazy schedules that first week made it impossible to use two groups. I have decided to just observe one group of students and follow their progression through the reflective practices I have decided to use. That first week I had time toward the end of the week to sit down with my four students from the original group one to interview. I interviewed each one separately while the rest of the class was working on an assignment. My assistant watched the rest of the class while I was out of the room. Each student meet with me in the library on a few of the cushion chairs. I had given each student a copy of the questions prior to asking them. It was interesting how at first their reaction to the interview process was very nervous and unsure of what to say and expect. After about the second or third question most of the students had lighten up and were comfortable to talk about the different topic I had hoped to gain some insight on. Each student felt that reading is a task you must spend time on and be active, thinking readers. They had all experienced times when reading was difficult because the text to was too hard or because they were not interested in reading. I am not sure that it mattered but my students had just completed a benchmark test for our county to prepare them for their EOG testing. A lot of their responses seemed to stem from their experience just the week before, so that might skew some of their views about reading. We did discuss a few of the different strategies they use to be more active readers and help them understand the text better. Most of the strategies were things they had learned in previous years or months in school, such as writing in the margins to track their thinking and to reread passages to help understand difficult meaning. I informed them that they would be participating in a study that would determine some better ways to help them understand reading and gain a deeper meaning from the text.

This past week, I began to observe these students in their natural setting of the classroom while they are working with the text I had chosen. I decided that I was not trying to test how well students could read the text and I did not want the lack of ability to be a factor. I decided to use a text that I was reading aloud to the whole class and that they were very interested in. I have students discuss their reactions to the text as more difficult concepts arise as one of the reflective practices. They have also begun to use journals to reflect on the actions or issues in the book. I am excited to see what their journals will show me in the research process. They seem to be doing well using the different reflective practices and putting their thoughts down on paper.

So right now things are running smoothly and I hope to see some of their growth through these different practices. I am right now positive of the changes I have made in my research approach and I hope it will lend some interesting data.

Nikki Jaynes

This week has been a challenging one with data collection. My students did complete their pre-surveys and we have began working on a project that will be one of the entries to the portfolio. However, many students have been absent due to illness, as the flu is making its rounds through the school population. Since my class only has ten members, collecting data becomes tricky when even three people are absent. Also, Friday we had a Student-Faculty basketball game to raise money for Juvenile Diabetes. It is a great cause and everyone had a wonderful time, but it did take away from instructional time and time collecting data.
The students are very excited about participating in this study. This surprised me a bit since they have been videoed about fifteen times as I have been preparing my National Board portfolio, not to mention the focus groups and the rounds of reflection we have done as a class. Karen mentioned that she is "getting to be really good at all of this reflecting business." That is a great thing! Not all students are as keen as Karen, though. Andrés, with his typical dry humor, stated that if he "never reflected on his progress again, it would be too soon". Andrés is otherwise, however, very cooperative. He honestly just likes to voice his opinion, no matter what.
One unexpected turn of events is that Andrés has started to come out of his shell a bit with the rest of the class. Normally, he sits alone and tries to have a little contact with others as possible. However, since this study began and the class has done more structured reflection and goal setting, Andrés has started helping others, voluntarily sitting with the class, and generally being more of a valuable part of the class. I am not exactly sure at this time why this has occurred, but I am certainly not complaining. One reason could be that he wants others to see what he can already do with the language, since everyone is setting their goals and sharing what they are with their groups. Another possibility is Andrés feels that he has a lot to offer to share with his classmates. I will continue to observe as the study continues to try to determine the reason for Andrés' new-found social behavior.
Next week, we will continue to work on our project, one of several that will be included in our portfolios. Also, I will be conducting several one-on-one interviews with my students. Finally, my students will be continuing to set language goals and reflect on each person's progress.
Tina Mallén