What are the most important things to remember in conducting interviews?
For my research project, I will be sending home a survey to parents about their experience using Seesaw in their child's education. The only problem I foresee is asking questions that aren't biased or trying to get them to answer a certain way. I am no statistical genius, so I am sure my questions will be written in ways that may skew an answer-- but I will be aware of this as much as possible. I will also give my students a survey about how much they liked Seesaw or not. Right now, the main issue I have is that there are just a few 4 consistent kids who use Seesaw to upload the work. My goal is to target at least 6 kids and increase their use. Hopefully, when I give the students their survey they will have enough experience using Seesaw to give good answers. Researching more about interviews and survey's as part of research helped guide my thoughts. The following suggestions were the most common ideas across many blogs and articles about leading a quality interview.
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Thanks to Virgil's comment I realize I never did outright explain Seesaw and how I will be using it. Here is an informative video about Seesaw: I found it helpful reading other people's blogs to see how they plan to collect data. Mariah mentioned her worry was if she will even get enough data, and I can relate. I have already started the documenting part, however is it quality data? Will it prove anything in the end? These are questions that keep coming up as I get further into this research project.
How will data collection ‘look’ for me? The action research project I am focusing on is student engagement using a digital portfolio. The question I am trying to answer is, “Does student engagement/motivation increase when implementing a digital portfolio?” I have been using the program called Seesaw that is very student friendly and allows my 2nd graders to document their best work. My data will be collected by doing observations. I will sort it into three columns: I will take photo evidence and do written observations of their work. This will reflect their level of engagement and motivation to create quality work. What challenges am I anticipating? I have been implementing Seesaw in my classroom since the beginning of the year and I have about 5 or 6 students who love to use it. There are 11 other kids who haven’t found it to be very useful. These are the students I am really going to focus on and try to increase their motivation in class. This is a challenge in itself because of various factors such as, time constraints, inability to complete assignments, or lack of interest. Another challenge with my data collection will be getting a wide variety of students and accurately documenting their progress. My goal is to get my lowest students interested in documenting their work, not just my above grade level kids. This data will be subjective and very qualitative. The quantitative data I can include would be how many times student X uses Seesaw in one week. This week, reading other people’s blogs didn’t quite make a huge impact on my research or questions that I had. We are all researching different topics, so I felt like their information was not very relevant for me. However, I was reminded by Josie that using videos (and then I thought of Podcasts) was a good starting point and could have some great resources out there.
Erika is researching parent communication using apps, so some articles she posted were ones that I could actually find some beneficial information from, such as, http://digitalpromise.org/2014/09/17/using-technology-for-effective-parent-teacher-communication/ And http://www.nea.org/tools/63615.htm I am glad this week’s post, though tedious, was sooner rather than later. One of the hardest parts of a research project is the references and citing credible sources. Doing the work beforehand will make the actual written project much easier. The following resources will help inform my research on digital portfolios in the elementary classroom. A lot of my research will come directly from my classroom and the qualitative observations that I compile. Fortunately, many others have researched this same topic so these resources will serve as comparisons and credible sources. Many sources will help define and explain the process behind a digital portfolio.
Holland, B. 2015. Digital Portfolios: the art of reflection. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/digital-portfolios-art-of-reflection-beth-holland Curate. Reflect. Publish. Progress and performance portfolios How to teach reflection? “He focuses on explaining larger concepts during lessons and then scaffolds the questions that he provides to his students and guides their thinking until they gain independence.”
“The explanation, or reflection, discusses how the particular work illustrates mastery of specific curriculum requirements or learning goals.” “The ability to use hyperlinks to connect sections of portfolio content is one advantage of using electronic portfolios instead of paper portfolios. "A paper portfolio is static," Barrett points out” Answering the questions, “What is a portfolio?” A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student's efforts, progress, and achievements in one or more areas. The collection must include student participation in selecting content, the criteria for selection, the criteria for judging merit, and evidence of student self-reflection. FROM Renwick, M. 2015. Digital Student Portfolios: A Whole School Approach to Connected Learning and Continuous Assessment (p. 123). BOOK Also in Renwick, “By capturing student learning progress and performance in the moment, using digital tools, we can bring learning to life.” (p.123) Extras: https://web.archive.org/web/20060902050812/http://edweb.sdsu.edu:80/courses/edtec596r/students/Abrenica/Abrenica.html Arter, J. (1990). Using portfolios in instruction and assessment: State of the art summary. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. Bergman, T. (1999). Feasible electronic portfolios: Global networking for the self-directed learner in the digital age. [On-line]. Available: http://www.mehs.educ.state.ak.us/portfolios/why_digital_portfolios.html [2000, March 16]. http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/The-Perfect-Assessment-System.aspx http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/Authentic-Learning-in-the-Digital-Age.aspx http://www.ascd.org/Publications/Books/Overview/Five-Myths-About-Classroom-Technology.aspx What will you have to know and do to begin your research? My research is on student-led digital portfolios and the impact on student engagement. I am not starting from scratch with this research as I have already begun the initial steps. I decided the app that I would use: Seesaw. Then, I gave the initial mini-lessons on how to use Seesaw and what is considered quality work. Now, my students are in the stage of uploading their best work to Seesaw and the data collection has begun. Things that I need to know as I continue my research are has this study been done? What do others out there experience? How do I want to collect and compile my data? Will most of it be qualitative or quantitative? Doing a brief search on the internet I found many blogs about it and articles titled, “5 Reasons to Use Digital Portfolios in Your Classroom,” but not many research papers. One book I came across called, Digital Portfolios in the Classroom gave helpful information with this infographic: It also explains the three types of portfolios being performance (best work), progress (growth over time), and process (student reflections and experiences). This is an essential component to my research. I need to ask myself which one (or can I do multiple) am I targeting with the portfolios? This question will help guide my research and data.
One of the questions I had for this week was should I focus more heavily on qualitative or quantitative data? My initial reaction was a balance of both. However, after reading more into “Digital Portfolios in the Classroom” I can see why qualitative makes more sense. The whole purpose of the digital portfolio is to compile qualitative examples of work. It seems almost contradictory to get quantitative data from a system that is going against this type of data. The last question I had for my research was how do I compile my data? One article suggested field notes as my means of recording. Thought I am not in the field, I can take the same idea of recording the date, person, and my observations of their progress (or lack of) using a digital portfolio (Johnson, 2010). References: Johnson, B. D., Dunlap, E., & Benoit, E. (2010). Structured Qualitative Research: Organizing “Mountains of Words” for Data Analysis, both Qualitative and Quantitative. Substance Use & Misuse, 45(5), 648–670. http://doi.org/10.3109/10826081003594757 Renwick, M. 2017. Digital Portfolio in the Classroom. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=mZE0DwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Digital+portfolios+in+the+elementary+classroom&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjFyOjfjbrWAhVS32MKHXwiClMQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=Digital%20portfolios%20in%20the%20elementary%20classroom&f=false WEEK 2 REFLECTIONI will admit that the thought of an action research project this year seems like a daunting task. After this week, however, I realize that I am doing qualitative research in my room all the time. It is a part of my teaching practice and helps me educate better, and helps my students progress.
Reading about other people’s action research ideas on Twitter definitely helped me envision a meaningful research project. Two ideas I have are: collect data about student engagement increasing with the use of a digital portfolio. Or, see which produces better results-- paper or computer tests? Looking from a qualitative standpoint, the first one would offer better results. After reading blog’s from Gerald and Erika, their definitions of qualitative research helped me understand what I am looking for with this type of data. For some reason, I can’t comment on Josie’s blog, but I liked her infographic to explain the differences. I also liked her last statement that, “other reports and tests that we deal with as educators, it is good to have something that is not number driven. We can be more personal with qualitative research, which can have a great effect on our students in the classroom.” To that I would say, I often get too caught up in the number data that I need to remind myself that the observational, or more subjective data, is just as meaningful and important. Qualitative research, by definition, means strategically compiling the structure, order, and broad patterns found among a group of participants or phenomena (Shuttleworth, 2008). Qualitative research plays an important role in research when a yes or no does not answer the hypothesis (B2Bwhiteboard, 2012). As educators, we know that any idea, problem, or issue cannot be explained through a simple yes or no. Being able to look beyond just numerical, measurable data allows more room to observe and generalize. It is flexible in the sense that you can gather valuable information from a small sample group, unlike quantitative data (Shuttleworth, 2008). My research on “qualitative research” resulted in learning that there are different methodologies within the qualitative category. These are: (Cooper, 2007) And to reach all types of learners, here is a goofy short video explanation of qualitative research: B2Bwhiteboard. “Qualitative Research.” YouTube, YouTube, 13 Feb. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipHiz6dzKFg. Cooper, S., & Endacott, R. (2007). Generic qualitative research: a design for qualitative research in emergency care? Emergency Medicine Journal : EMJ, 24(12), 816–819. http://doi.org/10.1136/emj.2007.050641 Martyn Shuttleworth (Sep 14, 2008). Qualitative Research Design. Retrieved Sep 14, 2017 from Explorable.com: https://explorable.com/qualitative-research-design My personal opinion is that a quality teacher will do classroom research daily. This can be in the form of formative or summative assessments, observations, surveys, or data collection. In my career, I do this daily when trying to figure out strategic groups, progress monitor, or solve a social issue.
This week’s question confuses me, because I think it should be “how can technology integration improve classroom research in my classroom?” The way it is worded right now leaves me a little confused, but I will try my best to find an explanation. By definition, classroom research is, “systematic, yet less formal, research conducted by practitioners to inform their action (Fasse, 2000).” Conducting classroom research may require a teacher to use more technology than before because you can collect data and quickly compile results with various programs. Teachers can use technology to give assessments, as a student portfolio, communication, and many other ways. Fasse, B., & Kolodner, J.L. (2000). Evaluating Classroom Practices Using Qualitative Research Methods: Defining and Refining the Process. In B. Fishman & S. O'Connor-Divelbiss (Eds.), Fourth International Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 193-198). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. |
Author2nd Grade teacher at Keet Gooshi Heen in Sitka, Alaska Archives
December 2017
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