Methods Myactionresearchrevolvedaroundusingstudentfeedbacktoassistinthedesignofclassroom structuresthatfacilitatethedevelopmentofsustainablesuccessinamathorscienceclass.Ibelievethat acrucialareaofdevelopmentforstudents,onethatcontributesgreatlytosustainedsuccess,is becomingawareofrequiredsupportsandwork/studyhabitsthatareconducivetotheirpersonal success.Tohelpstudentsachievethis,IknewIcouldnotsimplytellthemwhattheyneed.Theywould havetorealizetheirneedsontheirown,andIdeterminedthatIcouldhelpthemintwoways.Onewas toprovidestudentstheflexibilityintheirworktoexploreandfindwhatcontributestotheirsuccess.The otherwastohavestructurestofacilitatethelearningofsupports,workandstudyhabitsinalessguided, moreflexibleworkenvironment.Thequestionsthatremainedformewerehowtodecidethelevelof flexibilitythatwasappropriate,andhoweffectivestructuresappeared.IalsoquestionedhowIcould manageashifttowardslessguidancewhilemaintainingstudentengagementandrigor. Tobegin,IfocusedonthemainlearninggoalsIhadineachsubject,anddesignedstructuresaimedat helpingstudentstoachievethesegoalsanddevelopawarenessfortheirneeds.

Withouthavingmetmy newclass,Ihadlittlereferencetodesigntheinitialstructureswiththeirneedsinmind,andreliedon successfulstrategiesfrompreviousexperience.Evenstill,thestructuresbecamenewlyrevisedwhen adaptedtoconsiderthepurposeofmyactionresearch.Belowisachartdetailingthelearninggoalsand structuresthatIdesignedtofacilitatestudentworkwithregardtotwosubjectsIteach,Mathand Chemistry. MathLearningGoalsandStructures LearningGoal1Acquisitionoffundamentalconceptstogainthetoolsnecessaryforcomplexproblem solving. Structures Preparationofbasicskillworksheetsthatservetointroduceandreinforcefundamental concepts. Providearecordofdefinitions,examplesandpracticeproblemsforstudentstorefertoas theyproceedthroughthecurriculum. Freeworktimeinclassisscheduledintoeachweek,givingstudentstheflexibilitytouse resourcesastheyseefittoassistincompletingthework.

LearningGoal2Developmentofcomplexproblemsolvingability. Structures Createworkstationswheregroupsofstudentsrotateforsettimeframes. Writechallengingproblemsonthefrontwhiteboardaswarmupexercises.

LearningGoal3Developmentofpreparationskillsforformalsummativeassessments. Structures Prepareformalsummativeassessmentsforsectionsofcoveredbasicskills. Introduceandmodelpreparationstrategies. Freeworktimeinclassforstudentstoprepareandgatherresources. Reflectionsonmethodsofpreparationpostassessment.

*Note:StructureforclassroutineistointroducenewconceptsonTuesday,providingstudentswitha basicskillsheet.ThepracticeproblemsonthebasicskillsheetarecoveredonThursday,andthen studentsusetheremainingtimeintableworkstationstacklingmorecomplexproblems.Thefollowing weektakesasimilarapproach,andculminatesinaformalsummativeassessmentonFriday.Each subsequentunitrepeatsthesameroutinetwoconceptsovertwoweeks,endingwithaformal summativeassessmentcoveringthetwonewlyintroducedconcepts.Thegoalistokeeptheroutine constant,allowingstudentstohoneinonthevaryingstudyandworkhabitsthatareconducivetotheir success. ScienceLearningGoalsandStructures LearningGoal1Acquisitionoffundamentalskillsthatserveastoolsforinvestigatingconceptsand analyzingdata. Structures Provideworksheetsthatintroduceandreinforceanalyticalorcomputationalskills. Createonlinedocumentsavailableforreferenceanddownload. Maintainaclasssetofnotesforstudentswhomisstimeorhavetroubletakingtheirown notes.

LearningGoal2Gainlaboratoryexperienceandinvestigationalcapability. Structures Modelinvestigationalstrategies. Providemultipleopportunitiesforstudentstoexperiment. Havestudentsanalyzelaboratoryexperienceswithopenendedreflectiveprompts.

Inadditiontothestructureslistedaboveforscienceclass,therearereflectivequestionsthatstudents willusetosupportthedevelopmentoftheirunderstandingofprocessesassociatedwithscienceinquiry. Thesequestionsaredesignedtodrawinformationfromstudentstocreateapersonalizedlanguagefor howtheyinterpretinquiryprocesses.Inaddition,theyarenotrigid,andchangedthroughoutthe researchtoaccommodatethecontextoftheworkthatwedid.

InquiryProcess Observation

DrivingQuestions Whatinformationisavailable? Whatpatternsorcuriositiesemergefromtheobservations? Howmightthepatternsorcuriositiesbeframed? Whatisarelevantquestion? Howmightthequestionbetested? Whatwillbedonetocollectinformation? Whychoosethiscourseofaction? Howisthedatacollected? Howisthedataorganized? Howisthedataanalyzed? Whyanalyzeitinthatmanner? Whatdoestheanalysisindicateorsuggest? Howwillthefindingsbereportedon? Howarethefindingsgoingtobeshared? Whatinformationisavailable? Whatcouldimprovethequalityofthework? Whatareremainingornextquestions?

Question

Investigation

DataCollection

Results

Communication

Reflection

Thepurposeofthesereflectiveinquiryquestionswastoprovideproceduresandguidelinestoanswer thedrivingquestions.Theyweredesignedtopersonalizetheworktotheclass,andthusbeevolving. Throughouttheclassroomactivitiesthatwereperformed,regardlessofhowguidedtheworkwas,Itook opportunitiestousethesequestionswiththeclasstodeterminewhatshouldbeconsideredmoving forward.Thepurposewastoestablishanunderstandingofandreinforcewhattheprocessesofinquiry entail.Forexample,whenweexploredwhatmadeagoodobservation,wepreparedaclassgenerated listofactionsandhabitsofmindtoconsiderwhenmakingobservations.Thislistwasavailableto students,whocouldlateradoptitastheirowntofirmlyestablishandreinforcethestructuresweagreed upon.Ineffect,thestudentswereactiveparticipantsintheconstructionofthestructuresand personalizedthembytransformingpointsofconsiderationastheywouldapplytoindividualwork. Engagingtheclassinthismannerservedtobuildaframeworkofhabitsandproceduresforstudentsto assistmoreselfguidedwork.Theabilityofthestudentstoperform,asthelocusofcontroltransitioned frommyselftothem,providedmewithareferencetoassesstheeffectivenessofthedesigned structures.

DataCollection Throughouttheresearchprocess,Iwasdeterminedtofindstructuresthatimprovestudent performance.Inbothclasses,theabilitiesstudentsdemonstratedanddocumentedallowedmetoassess theeffectivenessofthestructuredesign.Theworkthatthestudentsproducedandthefeedback gatheredfromtheirperspectivesoftheworkprovidedartifactsandmaterialformetodiscussthe effectivenessofthestructures,anddeterminewhichaspectsofthem,ifany,contributedtoproducing qualitystudentwork. Icollectedtwotypesofdata.Thefirsttypeconsistedofdatafromregularroutinesforallofthework thatwedid.Foreachactivityweperformed,Iusedmethodstoassessthemesovertimeforbothstudent learningandtheimpactofthestructures.Thesemethodsinvolvedanalysesofworklogs,journals,and studentreflections. Theseconddatasourcewasmorespecifictoasituationthatarosethatwasuniquetoclassroom occurrences.Theseinstancespresentanopportunitytogainvaluablefeedbackthroughdiscussions, observations,andrandomfeedback. Worklogsandjournals Theseservedasamediumforgatheringdataprimarilyforthescienceclass.Foreachexperimentor inquiryactivity,studentsmaintainedaworklogtocaptureexperiencesandinformationastheworkwas beingconducted.Thiswasdocumentedinthefrontsectionofthejournal.Studentsusedthis documentationforthebacksectionoftheirjournals,wheretheyreflectedontheworkfortheday, describingwhattheydid,whatwentwell,whatcouldhavebeendonebetter,andanyadditional commentstheyfeltwereappropriate.Analyzingtheseworklogsandreflectionsgavemeawindowinto theprocessesofstudentworkandtheirhabitsofmind. Theyalsohelpedustoestablishacommonlanguageintheclassthatbecamespecifictotheworkthat wedid.Forexample,onestudentcoinedthetermmushing,whichwasusedtodefinealinebetween constructiveorharshcriticismandbecameinstantlyadoptedbytheclass.Ifastudentbecame intimidatingoroverpoweringintheircriticism,thenitwassaidthattheyweremushingother students,orcreatingasilencingaffect.Asimplewordcontributedtoapositivecultureintheclassby helpingtofacilitatediscussionandcollaboration. Studentselfassessmentsandreflections Thesetwomechanismsservedasthemostsignificantdatacollectionmethodsinmyresearch.Both weredonewiththesamepurposetoprovidemeinsightaboutwhatwashappeningintheclassfroma studentperspective.Iinitiallybeganusingselfassessmentstohavestudentsdiscusstheirexperiences intheclassorduringactivitiesaccordingtopromptsthatIprovided,whichIthenusedthattoinformmy nextsteps.Later,afterrealizingthebenefitofincludingstudentsinthedesigningofclassstructures,I encouragedthemtoreflectontheirworkpreferencesandcritiquehowwelltheclasssupportedthemas learners.Thetransitionfromselfassessmentstoreflectionswasaresultofmerequiringthestudentsto

becomeactiveinthedecisionsmadeabouttheirlearning.Selfassessmentsseemedtoberestrictedto theirperspectivesofthemselves,whilethereflectionsallowedthemtoextendtheirperspectivesinto thoughtsabouthowtoadjustthelearningenvironmentintheclassroom.Reflectionsseemedmore liberatingandempowering. Classdiscussions Asignificantpartofmyresearchwasaimedatcommunicatingandcollaboratingwithstudents.At varioustimesIsoughtouttheirfeedbackwhenIfeltasthoughaclassroomeventorexperiencewas significantandwantedtodiscussitfurthertogettheirperspectiveonit.Iincludedaspectsofthese discussionsinmyfindings,whichdependedontheinformationdiscussedandthesignificanceithasin thescopeoftheresearch. ClassRecordings AlthoughIhadamplewrittenfeedbackandartifacts,thereisawealthofdatathatIgainedfrommerely observingmyclassduringvariousactivities.Imadeattemptstodothisfrommyperspectiveasateacher, butattimesalsohadaccesstostudentrecordings,whichweredonetodocumentdemonstrationsand supplementnotetaking.Bothmyobservationsandtherecordingstogethergavemeaclearviewof classoperationsandtheworkthatwasdone.