Research, Research, Research ... AAAHHH!!!

Let me start by stating that in research I think many different methods can be used for the same research question, I believe despite the textbook differences, much has to do also with the researcher themselves and their abilities to stay ethical and unbiased. How a researcher views and analyzes the data is of the most value in my opinion yet there are definite situations that require specific methods. In the scenarios that follow, I have tried to use the textbook definitions to breakdown and determine which method would work appropriately and in my opinion best. I am interested in learning from what others will say about my conclusions and how you all interpreted the scenarios.

Scenario 1: Ten students are available for in-depth interviews. Participants will be selected based on their involvement with the peer mediation program. They will be observed over three weeks. Analysis will attempt to determine issues concerning peer mediation.

A qualitative research approach would be suitable here. As described this method would work best for a variety of reasons. The first being that we are using a small and purposeful sampling strategies, by choosing students that have already participated in a mediation program (McMillan and Schumacher, 2008). The purpose of the study would be more exploratory in nature as they are planning to interview the participants, observe their interactions over a short period of time and then determine if there are any concerns in the mediation program as is. The researchers will employing the strategies of direct observation and interview which will involve a in-depth look at the participants “feelings, beliefs, ideas, thoughts and actions” (McMillan and Schumacher, 2008, p.136)

Scenario 2: Two classrooms of students are selected. There are 30 students in each class; each group will have similar demographics—age, sex, race, socio-economic background, etc. Classes will be randomly divided into two groups of 15 students. Of these two groups, one randomly selected group will get training on peer mediation and the other group will not. Thus in each classroom there will be one group that is trained in peer mediation and one that is not. Analysis will occur on which groups have the fewest office referrals.

A quantitative research design would be most appropriate in this scenario. The use of a random sampling and two classrooms lends itself naturally to the quantitative design and secures the validity and credibility. The sampling is larger than just one classroom so concern of influence of one specific individual is limited but the group size is manageable for the research. However, the use of statistics secures the quantitative style (McMillan and Schumacher, 2006) as the researchers use the number of referrals or lack of to be the determining factor of whether the mediation group is effective or not.

Scenario 3: A school counselor is interested in knowing how student attitudes affect the value of peer mediation to decrease the number of office referrals that are being filed for inappropriate interactions.

Throughout this research a mixed-method design would be best. The researcher will obviously be using interviews, surveys and /or observations which are more inline with a qualitative design. Using an explanatory design, the researcher would look at the group that produced less referrals and decide what attitudes and behaviors from the mediation group participation had influence. (Mcmillan and Schumacher, 2008)

Scenario 4: Peer mediation has become widely used in many schools. The feelings of those involved in the process are little known—either from those doing the mediation or those receiving it. The ZASK-R Acceptance Preference Survey will be given as pre- and post-tests to 40 students participating in mediation. Follow-up interviews will be conducted on a bi-monthly basis.

This situation would also require a mixed-method approach. The use of the ZASK-R survey will give the quantitative data needed to support the research and provide credibility. Similarly as important in this study though are the qualitative aspects of the study, which are using interviews and a purposeful sampling. Using a comprehensive sampling of the forty students involved in the program uses a qualitative approach of purposeful sampling. Throughout this research a triangulation method would be followed as both qualitative and quantitative methods would be used concurrently (McMillan and Schumacher, 2008)

References:
McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2008). Research in education: Evidence-based inquiry (Laureate custom edition). Boston: Pearson.

I am struggling here a little bit with all the technical terms for research. I think this is why I was never draw to research in the first place. Funny thing is I sat in several seminars at a formative assessment convention this Thursday and Friday in Columbia, South Carolina and so much research was thrown at us. I was impressed that my attention was sparked up a bit more as I recognized the terms that I usually blew off before. However, I still found it amazing that these researchers were so excited by data and results and the whole process! This is just really not my thing I guess, but I am hoping I can find a new interest in research as I begin my own exploration.

As I delve into this venture I plan to use Exploratory design under the Mixed-Methods measure sby using things such as literature and past research to decide if using technology-based games will help my student learn and retain their facts.

Statement

I plan to determine if technology-based games increase skill levels and retention in remembering math facts based on achievement test scores in middle school students.

Who: middle school students
What: technology-based games
Why: increase skill levels and retention of math facts

Questions
1. What are technology-based games that support retaining mathematical facts? (Qualitative and descriptive)
AND
2. Do children that use technology-based games to learn and retain their facts have better overall performance on achievement tests than those that do not? (Quanitative and Relationship)

Can Technology-Based Games and Activities Strengthen Facts Skills?

Facts tests are a weekly event in my classroom even though I teach middle school mathematics. This surprises many of my colleagues, my students and their parents. Facts tests are usually not given after third or fourth grade, however I insist on these to build my students’ speed and accuracy. My experience throughout the years and through informal research shows children that can recall their facts quickly and accurately experience more success in class, both in class grades and standardized test scores especially in higher level courses.

My original goal was to find research to support rote memorization as an acceptable and successful method for learning mathematic facts. I planned to use brain research to help support this idea, however in this course I must incorporate technology and this required a bit of a shift on my part.

My goal will be to find research that supports technology-based games and activities to foster learning math facts to develop stronger and more confident students in mathematics. Therefore my research statement is:

I plan to determine if technology-based games increase skill levels and retention in remembering math facts based on achievement test scores.

Who: elementary and middle school students
What: technology-based games
Why: increase skill levels and retention of math facts

Reflecting on EDUC-6711I-3 Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology

As I wrap up this class I think back to my first assignment asking me to describe my theory of education and after taking this course I am confident that I am on the right track for my students. Education should be engaging and enjoyable and involve many interactive activities using various forms of resources through hands on manipulatives to web based communities. Technology is a must in today’s classroom and promotes a very inviting, fun and challenging environment that is focused on learning. After taking this course I feel secure in my theories and plans but have noticed that I take one concept to heart a bit more. The idea of Paivios’ dual coding hypothesis has made me more conscience of incorporating several ways to introduce concepts and multiple ways to have the children experience the lessons (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009).

Walden’s program has made me become more aware of many different technology tools that I can be using in my class without any financial commitment and actually providing opportunities to really interact with the machines that my school has made a financial commitment to. First tool that I have already begun to use is a Concept Map, using these maps has brought a new level of understanding to my students and in their eyes doing this on the website is fun and creative. What I found as frustrating and a formatting nightmare the students have moved through rather easily. This once again echoes the ideas of Prensky and his comments about Digital Natives (Prensky, 2001), these children have no fear and sit down and start playing and figure out the formatting issues in minutes. One concern I had when working with a map myself was that the formatting of the map would distract from the concepts of the project but fortunately the students did not encounter these issues and got right into the assignment.

Another technology tool introduced to me through this course was Voice Threads. I knew immediately that I would love this tool and I have my students working diligently right now to complete their stories and illustrations so they can get on it. I also have shared the idea with colleagues to spice up their unit on China and Confucius, so I know that this will become a regular part of my curriculum. It is rather exciting to learn about things that can be immediately introduced and worked into current plans and curriculum, rather than learning of this great new thing but it will require a lot more work. Voice Threads have probably been the highlight of this course!

Both of these tools will support student learning in my classroom by engaging the students and allowing them to construct something that they see as purposeful and useful. Students get excited and involved when they are active and working on technology and using either concept maps or voice threads are great ways to have the students share their knowledge with others while building their own knowledge and ideas.

Making goals is always a difficult part of these courses for me. I have so many things I would like to do but I never like to think of them as goals. “Goals” sound so formal and official and leads to the possibility of failure but for the sake of the course, I can commit to two more goals. At work my current goal is to work on building and promoting our Center For Differentiation and I would have to include this goal for this course. As I hope to bring interactive hands on activities to all the students in my school through this center of resources for teachers, I must think about incorporating technology. I am committed to finding and including activities and games for the center that use technology. Interactive Web quests or Voice Threads like my brownie activity or similar would be great ways to engage the students, teach concepts and use technology. Having students participate in activities on concept maps or wikis to build or support their vocabulary for mathematics would be a perfect addition to our Center For Differentiation and would help other teachers provide interactive activities and technology. Therefore, I feel confident that this would be a definite goal for me to focus on throughout this year.

A second goal which I would like to continue to develop for my students and myself are creating inquiry based lessons. Lessons that have the students making the findings and then having the teacher tie up those ideas and any loose ends. I find that I can be in front of the classroom using lecture style and although I am a believer in this method, I would like to limit the times that I just disseminate information and promote ways for the students to be the ones that discover the rules and properties of mathematics. I do this in many ways in my classroom but when it comes to the textbook material, I revert back to the lecture style teacher that our children of today have a hard time relating to. My goal would be to develop, find and use inquiry based activities for all concepts I have to teach in my courses. Needless to say that technology will play a major role in this development. Most lessons that are being created today involve technology and I plan to continue to use a variety of technological tools to help me achieve this goal.

This course was a productive one that offered me a refresher in theories and provided me with the background and research for the ideas I use in my classroom. Technology is an integral part of today’s society and it needs to be a major part of my students learning process. Through Voice Threads, Web quests, Content Maps, Wikis, BlogSpot’s and more, I am prepared to conquer this challenge and bring technology into my classroom daily!


Resources:

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program one. Understanding the Brain [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1. On the Horizon, 9(5),1-6.

Brownie Recipe

Cooperative Learning Voice Thread

What great ideas I have been reading about this week! I am a huge fan of group work and interactive lessons that promote teamwork. That is how we most likely will have to work for the rest of our lives. There are not too many professional opportunities to work totally independent of others, rather most careers include teams even networks of colleagues that people must work with. Many sales careers even require internet networking to help build their market.

This makes the need for integrating technology in school lessons even more valuable. As our business world builds its reliance on these technologies and networking sites, our students need to be building their experience on these. Although I find that constructionism lends itself to using technology and social learning opportunities, it must be used in moderation just like all the other theories and styles we have been discussing. One specific modality can not be single handedly promoted in a classroom. A positive, interactive, engaging learning environment needs to use a variety of approaches and activities including independent learning opportunities as well as social learning groups.

It was encouraging to hear Orey specifically discuss mathematics in the video (Laureate Education Inc., 2008)as he explained constructionism and cooperative learning within the classroom. Many times math is left out of the explanations and it becomes difficult to apply what is being said to math. His statement, "teach problem solving and provide support when needed" (Laureate Education Inc., 2008), really struck a nerve for me. All too often teachers worry about scores and requirements and they forget about the learning to learn aspect of teaching. Students will really listen and think when they need an answer and cooperative learning problems based activities would provide a great opportunity for this. Students become actively engaged and have interesting discussions and questions arise throughout the process.

I will be looking forward to trying to use technology to create an interactive learning opportunity that students will have to work with partners to create a project. My initial attempt of using a VoiceThread will provide students with a new and unique presentation to increase interest and promote active engagement in a mathematics lesson.

Resources:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program eight. Social Learning Theories [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.

Yes there are DUMB questions?

"Do we HAVE to think?" or "Can’t you just tell me the answer?"

These are two examples of those dumb questions that DO exist!!! Even though educators tell students “the only dumb question is the one not asked”, dumb questions DO exist, and these are two examples! Why would any teacher or person accept that type of lazy defeatist attitude? Anyone that does is definitely not operating under a constructivist theory.

Orey(2001) states that America's producing underachieving students that focus on memorizing facts and processes to get the "test" correct. We are creating a lazy group of children that do not know how to think! This is sad … and unfortunately dumb questions, comments or attitudes similar to those above are the culprit. It is too time consuming to allow the child time to think or resources to make conclusions instead teachers tell students the answers or outcomes without allowing any thought or exploration.

According to Piaget and constructionism (Orey, 2001), learning takes place when pupils are actively engaged and/or constructing. They are creating ideas and drawing conclusions and assimilating or accommodating for the information just observed. This requires thought and time to question, which is what makes the strategy of generating and testing hypotheses (Pitler, Hubbel, Kuhn,& Malenoski, 2007) so vital to a constructionist’s classroom. The students are not just provided the answer and then told how to think about it. They are given models or scenarios and must make observations and analyzations so they can draw a conclusion and/or work on a plan if necessary. An example provided in our text Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works (Pitler etal., 2007), required students to look at a financial situation where they had to decide how much money to invest and at what rate. The teacher provided the students with technology to do all the math calculations for them. This was a valuable time saver and enabled the teacher to then focus on the goal of the lesson. The computer did the time consuming work that would have required students use so much energy and effort and time that when they needed to look at the data, their systems were exhausted.

However, having that spreadsheet to make that information readily available provided the students with real time data that they could discuss, manipulate and make conclusions about. By doing this the students can play with many different situations and find the answer to the question instead of having the teacher simply state how they would do better and why.

Having technology do the intensive part of the project allows the teacher to have the time and willingness to attempt project based learning. I think of this much like the simple calculator in a mathematics class. Once it has been established the child knows the basic facts teachers can allow children to use calculators to do the computations so the student can use the brain power and energy to follow and find certain processes required. That is what technology can do in many situations particularly in many situations that have to do with collecting and displaying data.

Often times analyzing data is the standard that our students struggle with school wide yet almost every child can make any type of graph in any type of situation, they just do not know how to understand what the display is saying. The children have just routinely memorized the process of making a graph, they have become lazy and do not and can not think critically (Orey, 2001) of what that information says. Build this skill by insisting that the technology do the computations, collections and displaying so the child’s brain can be left to analyze and connect with the data. It is only through allowing these types of situations to occur that we will ensure a future of thinkers!

The television game show, Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader shows us all what these trivial facts do for us. NOTHING! A rocket scientist, (easily considered one of the most intellectual careers around) could not get past the first round on a fist grade level question. This genius was unable to spit back this trivia, and he is a genius doing remarkable things, this should prove that we do not need to know every little thing instead we need to focus on learning how to learn. My very wise brother has always told me the smartest people do not know all the answers but they know where to look to find them. That is my goal for my students, let them think about where to find the answer and ways to get there to learn the answer and eventually they might end up knowing many of the answers and without a teacher ever telling them one answer!

Good luck to all of us in trying to achieve this. It is a lot easier said than done especially when politics enters the real world of education but hopefully the few will prevail and teachers can begin to make a difference one student at a time! Perhaps even begin to create Americans that are not “underachieving memorizers” (Orey, 2001) but rather critical thinkers ready to conquer the world!

LORI POWERS

Resources:
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.