Prompt: From your research paper, reflect on what you have learned from your research:
How well did it answer your research question? What further research is suggested? What do results indicate about changes to the instruction and learning process? Response: What have I learned? My "knee jerk" response to this question is to say that I have learned that there is SO much that can be researched, and so many rabbit holes to go down. When I was researching, I found myself completely overwhelmed with information. I think that there are a lot of factors that can make this process stressful, but I was artificially adding stress onto myself by taking in all of the information that remotely related to my topic. I was then attempting to weave some complex web in which I was incorporating everything that I found. So much so, that my notes and writing were becoming confusing. By trying to be well researched, my claims started to seem less and less grounded in reason. I think this semester and this paper have taught me to really pick and choose what paths I am going to take, and really focus on intentional research in which I not just to spill out as many authors as a can, but rather, weave together the my evidence in such a way that helps the reader down my path of reasoning- Quality over quantity(this is still a work in progress). With regard to my results- so far the results seem like there has been a positive change in student agency. This is just a judgement based on my "first look" at the pre and post project data. I think that another round of this would be necessary for more sound results. Though I do think that the change in student agency has to do with the project based unit that I implemented I am more curious as to the "why". I personally do think that PBL has the potential to alter a students sense of agency. That being said, in the name of research and to play "devil's advocate", I am curious as to whether this initial shift had to do with the fact that PBL was new to my students or if it was truly just the result of PBL itself. I think that future PBL units would continuously help shift student agency in a positive direction, but it would be useful to find out whether the rate of change slows or even levels out over time.
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Prompt: Blog about your thinking on your qualitative vs. quantitative data analysis: Why did you choose this/these analysis methods? How will this/these methods help to answer the research question?
Response: I am going to use two main sources of data collection to assess my project. My driving question focusing on what effects Project Based Learning(PBL) has on student agency and depth of knowledge. My first instinct, naturally, was to find a way to gauge those two aspects within student both at the initiation of the PBL Unit and afterwards to find if there were any changes. This year I have been using a rather traditional style of teaching, so gauging student agency and depth of knowledge at the beginning of my research will show me where students are after a traditional lesson. I point this out because I am glad it is going to work out this way. If I were to assess students at the beginning of the year, my data would reflect their general sense of agency and depth of knowledge after a summer vacation and possibly an entire year of distance learning. Collecting data after a Quarter in my classroom, I believe, gives more targeted results. Because my students' initial assessment will occur after Quarter traditional learning in my classroom, at the end of my research, I truly be able to assess hoe traditional styles of learning and PBL learning differ with regard to student agency and depth of knowledge. To gauge student agency, I am using the NTN Student Agency rubric. Students will self assess along this rubric. What I decided to do was to try to make my life as easy as possible. I created a google form, and asked them to rate themselves from "Completely Disagree" and "Completely Agree" pertaining to thirteen different statements about agency. This is my quantitative data for agency. At the end of the form, I asked an open ended question regarding their agency so that I receive some feedback that could be used for qualitative purposes. I have already given the students their initial assessment, and though the results of the scaled assessment prompts will be useful, I have to say that the open ended responses turned out to be so much more insightful than I would have ever expected. That particular section was optional, so for so many students to feel as though they wanted to voice their opinions about their own self agency and what affects it was really cool. In terms of Depth of Knowledge, I will be using the Haas Depth of Knowledge rubric to assess changes from an initial assessment given with an assessment given at the end of the PBL unit. I have already given the initial assessment, and the results were what I had expected. I am interested to see how that may shift after a PBL Unit. Prompt: BRIEFLY - blog about what you believe you need to complete your research cycles this semester. Feel free to enjoin your cohort members for support and to make specific requests from your instructor(s).
Response: I think I has a lot of the pieces I need. What I mean by that is I have rubrics, the idea for the unit I am going to implement, and my assessments as well. I also know what my end goal is. That being said, what I really need to do is to take those pieces and my end goal and create some sort of actionable plan. I tend to be a skater-brain, so I need to sit down and organize all of the resources and give myself a clear direction(easier said than done). Prompt: You have begun to read through the literature that you have collected. Discuss your findings and preliminary thoughts on some or all of the following: Some perspectives you might share... Are there themes that have emerged that relate to your problem. Is there literature you found that will help you design your methodology or that point to the need for your study? What theories have been noted in the articles? Is there one person who stands out as an authority on your topic or a study that is “seminal”? Which ones are closest to your own evolving epistemologies about education? Remember about the tension between beliefs and truth and the influence of context.
Response: I started to have a loose form of where I wanted to go with my Essential Question ever since reading Brenda Dervin's seminal work on "Gap Bridging" last Semester. I found her claims fascinating: humans are constantly trying to bridge gaps in information. That's how we make sense of the world around us. What piqued my interest, though, was how she explained that we all have similar ways of bridging gaps(a sort of human nature of gap bridging). Though her work is dense, this was comforting for many reasons. A lot of it had to do with the fact that I just came out of my credentialing program where the emphasis was on differentiation, socioeconomic effects on students, culturally responsive teaching, etc. All things that sent me into a tailspin when it came to trying to figure out what to focus on for a Masters. If there are all these factors that play into a single student, how can I come up with some issue that has a generally universal answer?... I was confused and overwhelmed. But really, in retrospect, I was overthinking it and not truly understanding how all of those previously mentioned factors came into play. I ended up reading "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink (which I highly recommend) and my focus took another slight shift. This time, I was looking into the importance of communication, creativity, and collaboration as skills. I tossed around a few ideas to focus my research on that combined that with my interest in the theories presented by Dervin, and eventually set off in the direction of Project Based Learning. PBL is a change that I just recently made since the beginning of this semester. What I have been doing since I have solidified my focus has been trying to fully understand PBL and how it is implemented in classrooms. Most recently, I stumbled upon an ARTICLE that focused on self efficacy and PBL. This article was interesting but went on to mention how much PBL has changed due to technological innovation. Going back and looking through previously read literature regarding PBL, I am seeing that some thoughts aren't as applicable anymore, or are “out of date” even though the articles are only 8-9 years old. I generally think this is because of how effected PBL has been by technology- not only in its implementation but in its scope of applicability. Prompt: What are your present epistemologies, aka “ways of knowing” about good teaching with regard to your NTKs?
Response: I think my thoughts on this are currently unsolidified, and though they will of course change due to my continuing research, my thoughts will also probably change as my understanding of the concept of “epistemologies” is solidified and fully digested. At this moment, I understand the basic definition, and our video on a Theory of Knowledge was a really helpful tool with regard to bringing that concept to the real world. That being said, I still find myself uncomfortable when having to connect it to my current thoughts on good teaching in my NTKs. The video previously mentioned made a helpful statement which was the concept of “evidence threshold”. But it also confined ways of knowing within 5 different categories: tradition, authorities, logic, faith, and common sense. This leaves me wondering if that means that my “ways of knowing” must fall into those categories, or if it is looser than that. Currently my epistemologies surrounding my NTK involve a lot of data collection from a sample of students. This takes the form of assessments over time and surveys. Initial assessments to set my base and then formative assessments along the way. My other “ways of knowing” come in the form of research. My Essential Question, thus far, centers around project based learning. My research involves furthering my understanding on the types of project based learning as I think I will need to specify types of project based learning as it relates to what will reach students of varying learning needs. My ways of knowing that I already have would be basic data collection on students. They have had writing assignments that provide information as to their abilities in analysis and critical thinking. The next step would be to survey students on their level of motivation and what exactly does motivate them. I think this will help solidify a base to work from as I am trying to make the connection between Project based learning and deeper understanding & motivation. |
AuthorGrace Ingersoll |