Flexibility has been my ‘one word’ for this school year. Teaching remotely, and now in hybrid mode, it has been important to recognize when adjustments need to be made for the benefit of my students. The original plan called for both activities to be completed by the end of week 11/2. This was a push back as explained in the previous blog post. On that original due date, I had received the following breakdown:
I still was missing many projects and students were asking if they could still turn it in late. For those reasons, I allowed them to continue to turn in projects. As of yesterday, my participation numbers rose to:
The survey was distributed during the weekly post on 11/2 (see collection results above.) This coincided with students starting back to school on Monday, 11/2 with a hybrid model. For my district, this means that students are split into two groups, A & B, and attend school two days each week. Group A attends Monday & Tuesday, group B attends Thursday & Friday. This facetime allowed me to provide my students with better support and question clarification. It also significantly increased the number of projects students submitted. Unfortunately, Activity #1 was due prior to the end of the first quarter. For that reason, I was unable to extend its due date to allow for additional submissions. In hindsight, it would have been better to put both activities in the second quarter. Many of my Seniors were stressed and fatigued at the end of the first quarter. They showed renewed energy when they returned to the building on November 2nd.
The survey is a Likert scale format. This particular rating scale is designed to measure student attitudes towards student choice and educational technology. The four point, linear scale allows students to express how much they agree or disagree with a particular statement, for example: “The ability to choose a task from options increases my interest in the assignment.” As explained by Mcleod in his article Likert Scale Definition, Examples and Analysis, this type of survey provides quantitative data that can be analyzed relatively easily. I chose to not include a neutral option because I wanted my students to make the decision to agree or disagree. Often neutral is used as a scapegoat to avoid deciding one way or another.
The student response device I chose for collecting student feedback is Google Forms. It is free, easy to use, and integrates with Google Classroom. There are many uses for Google Forms in the classroom, twenty-five of which are listed in this article at DitchThatTextbook.com. When reviewing responses, a key feature under Summary is the bar graphs that illustrate the percent of responses for each answer option.
In this particular survey, I am able to easily determine where my students rate each statement. This data is then summarized using the median or the mode. Look for my next post when I will examine the survey results.
Sources:
Ditch That Textbook (8 Sept. 2019.). 25 Practical Ways to use Google Forms in Class. Ditch That Textbook. Retrieved from https://ditchthattextbook.com/20-practical-ways-to-use-google-forms-in-class-school/
Gallagher, Kathryn, and Morrison, Jennifer (5 Nov. 2020.). Hybrid Info For Families: Steelton-highspire Jr/Sr High School Newsletter. Shsd.k12.pa.us. Retrieved from https://www.shsd.k12.pa.us/cms/lib/PA09000078/Centricity/Domain/329/Hybrid%20NewsletterHigh%20School.pdf
Saul Mcleod (22 Oct. 2020.). Likert Scale Definition, Examples, and Analysis | Simply Psychology. Simplypsychology.org. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/likert-scale.html
Nguyen, Ha; Stehr, Eryn Michelle; Eisenreich, Heidi; and An, Tuyin (2018.). "Using Google Forms to Inform Teaching Practices," Proceedings of the Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching and Learning Conference: Vol. 2, Article 10. DOI: 10.20429/stem.2018.020110 Available at:https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/stem_proceedings/vol2/iss1/10
Flexibility is certainly the byword of the day! One of the elements of classroom-based action research like your project is how dissimilar it is from a laboratory. This has always been true. Our plans (or protocols) are reliably disrupted by schedule changes, 2 hour delays, assemblies, and school pictures. It is truly impossible to replicate pedagogical or technological practices. Covid dramatically escalated these disruptions. Staying true to a protocol in this environment is truly more art than science. You rose to this challenge admirably. It is quite valuable to learn your reflection on how your protocol might better have been organized to match your students' engagement. Hindsight is 20/20 - You definitely have actionable data here. I am look…