RES 5040: Teacher as Researcher (spring 09)

Research Question:
“How do I motivate my students to become actively involved in team projects?” One that gives them ownership over their learning as well as creating a community of learners in which to see one another grow.

The nature of the problem my action research is focusing on is motivating my students to be fully engaged in group settings. Having taught high school students for the past 4 years, one thing I notice repeatedly is the complacency of some students to be an active participant in group settings. I want to remove the “conquer and divide” motive so that students truly are active learners and will learn how to work effectively in groups. Group settings should create enthusiasm, trust, and support amongst team members which will lead to more efficient academic work and one that fosters higher level order thinking skills. This focus will help make my students more successful learners which in turn I hope makes them more successful lifelong learners and learners in all their classes.

Research Setting:
This research will take place in my Sports and Entertainment Marketing classroom. This is a new course that is offered by Kings Mountain High School. The school is located in a rural setting with a population of 11,000.

The class is only offered to 10th-12th grade students. Sports and Entertainment Marketing is predominantly a project based learning curriculum. The class meets in a computer lab classroom environment. There are no textbooks and most of the curriculum resources are from power point presentations and from various internet resources.

Research Participants:

This is a class of 20 students. The class makeup is noted as below:
• Gender
o 5 females
o 15 males
• Race
o 7 Blacks
o 12 Whites
o 1 Asian
• Grades
o 11 Seniors
o 6 Juniors
o 3 Sophomores

In addition to the teacher, work samples by the groups will also be measured by outside participants (Administration, Colleagues, and Business Leaders). Most group activities encompass an interface with our local sports teams, Freshmen Academy, and other various events that are intertwined with the Sports and Entertainment Marketing objectives.

I have not had time to read anyone's entry since I posted mine. The stomach virus has run through my family this weekend. Hopefully no one will throw up during the night tonight. I will post my comments as soon as possible tomorrow.
Shannon

Question: How do students adapt learning strategies when participating in virtual or internet learning environments? The study will primarily focus on adult students (preferably non-digital natives) and will most likely contain some educational theory regarding adult learning methods in general. For my purposes, the internet learning environements will include the AET Zone and its assorted components, course blogs and wikis, and the ASULearn forums.

Background: I, like many of my classmates in the Buncombe cohort, grew up with computers but without a fully-developed internet. As a consequence, we have gained the majority of our online experience post-graduation through jobs or our home computers. Stepping into the AET Zone for our first graduate classes was an entirely new experience for many, as was conducting a large amount of classwork, research, and socail interaction online. The value and effectiveness of such a system has sparked a lot of debates among myself and my classmates, and since it is also an area of personal interest as a future public librarian I have decided to conduct an action research study in this area.

Participants: My main focus, as stated above, will be on adult students. This group will include current Buncombe/other cohort students who have been in the program for more than one year as well as students whose cohorts began in Fall 2008. I would also like to contact at least 2 students who attend classes on campus and 1 or more professors. The role of the professor(s) in the study is yet to be determined. I am also contemplating contacting one of the online library staff as well, but will know more once I get through more literature.

Setting: Fittingly, most research will be conducted via the Zone due to its convenience. I plan to use the coffeehouse lounge for most interviews, but can try the glass classroom if necessary. I feel the Zone offers several advantages, the most important being a great deal of flexibility in scheduling interviews or activities. I also feel that some students, particularly those who I have not met in person, might be more forthcoming and at ease in the Zone and perhaps more willing to volunteer for the study. The Zone might also be a double-edged sword, as students who frequent it during the week for class assignements might be reluctant to give up personal time to reenter an academic setting. In addition, some of the students, particularly the newer ones, could still be uneasy with the Zone and hesistant to speak up during scheduled interviews. The Zone will also make group activities difficult, but I will try to conduct some face-to face interviews when possible and perhaps manage to bring 2-3 people together for group activity to be determined.

Methods: I plan to conduct much of my research through interviews, either face-to-face or in the Zone, but am exploring the idea of group activities both in and out of the Zone. AS my literature review progresses I expect to narrow my focus and discover other opportunities for research methods beyond interviews.

-John Harrington

In this study, I will interview and observe six teachers (two middle, two high, and two elementary school) who were all a part of an urban school district's technology mentor training program in order to determine how the interactive white boards they received through the program have changed their instructional methods.

In this qualitative study, I will observe an 8th grade video production class in a rural/suburban middle school and using interviews and analysis of journal entries determine the cause of their decrease in productivity. -Jeff Kitchen

In this study, I will observe and interview three third grade students and one third grade teacher, to study the use and effect of educational gaming in a rural school.
Elizabeth McMullan

Even though the idea for my project is basically the same, I have decided to reword my topic.

The problem that I am experiencing in working with lower achieving students is that they may achieve unsatisfactory progress, or they make some progress and then plateau. I would like to research reading interventions, and pair my research with interviews and observations of my students to design learning activities that will help them make more significant academic progress.

My research questions will sound something like this:

How do research-based interventions affect achievement in low-achieving students?

How does student input affect achievement?

I know I will need to change these somewhat, particularly my research questions as they are only preliminary.
Barbara Cloninger

In this case study, I will interview and observe six teachers (two from each grade level) from a low socioeconomic, inner city middle school in order to determine how instructional technology impacts instruction.

Jason Mammano