1 / 22

What are Students Really Thinking?

What are Students Really Thinking?. Linda Alexander (Communication Studies) and Agyeman Boateng (Office of Research & Planning). Overview. Faculty often incorporate different teaching strategies (interventions) in the classroom.

marlow
Download Presentation

What are Students Really Thinking?

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. What are Students Really Thinking? Linda Alexander (Communication Studies)andAgyeman Boateng (Office of Research & Planning)

  2. Overview Faculty often incorporate different teaching strategies (interventions) in the classroom. • Would you like to get an idea of the effectiveness of these strategies? • How might you do that? • For example, would a survey of your students inform your teaching practices? • Are there other methods you might find useful? • Ways to formulate and follow through on an informal inquiry plan will be discussed.

  3. http://www.diabetescare.net/cms/sectionmanager/assets/Who_What_When_Where_Why_How.jpghttp://www.diabetescare.net/cms/sectionmanager/assets/Who_What_When_Where_Why_How.jpg

  4. Key Questions • Who Can Do Research? • What Is Research? • Where Can Research Be Conducted? • When Can Research Be Conducted? • Why Do Research In The Classroom? • How Can Faculty Do Research?

  5. The Basics • Research Question: What do you want to know? • Research Methodology: What's the best way to find out what you want to know?

  6. Who Can Do Research? • Instructors • Students • Other Interested Parties

  7. What Is Research? • Careful study that is done to find and report new knowledge about something • The activity of getting information about a subject • (merriam-webster.com)

  8. Where Can Research Be Conducted? • In a classroom setting • In an online environment • In one section vs. across sections

  9. When Can Research Be Conducted? • Different times during a semester • (Time 1, Time 2, etc.) • One time • Ongoing process

  10. Why Do Research In The Classroom? • For Instructors: can implement more effective teaching strategies • For Students: can benefit from improved instruction

  11. How Can Faculty Do Research? • Methodology: • Qualitative • Quantitative

  12. Research: A Qualitative Approach: (Informal) Content Analysis Critical Incident Questionnaires (CIQ) as a Classroom Evaluation Tool • At what point in class this week were you most engaged as a learner? • At what moment in class this week were you most distanced as a learner? • What action that anyone in the room took this week did you find most affirming or helpful? • What action that anyone in the room took this week did you find most puzzling or confusing? • What surprised you most about the class this week?

  13. Procedure and Analysis • Students' responses to questions anonymous • CIQs turned in at the end of class as students leave the classroom • After the end of class, instructor reads responses and looks for themes to emerge • Results reported back to the students in the next meeting as a point of departure for class discussion.

  14. Immediate Benefits • Instructor learns what the students are actually thinking • Students see that the instructor values their feedback • (Discussion as a Way of Teaching, Brookfield and Presskill, 2005)

  15. Research: A Quantitative Approach: The Survey Method • Research Question: What do you want to know? • What kinds of survey questions should you ask? • How should you ask these questions?

  16. (the survey method continued)DIG Survey

  17. (the survey method continued)DIG Survey

  18. (the survey method continued)DIG Survey

  19. (the survey method continued)DIG Survey

  20. Research in the classroom: Constraints • Although West does not have a formal IRB review process at this time, as is the practice at many community colleges, research involving students should be reviewed by the Office of Research and Planning • Aspects of research to include: • hypothesis to be tested, • the questions that would be asked, • numbers of students involved, • data collection protocol, • type of analysis planned, • what will be done with the data, and • how confidentiality will be maintained. • Contact Office of Research and Planning • Rebecca Tillberg • tillberw@wlac.edu

  21. Starting the Research Process: Decisions, Decisions! • What is your research objective? (Why do you want to conduct research?) • Determine a clearly focused research question based on your objective • Decide whether a qualitative or quantitative approach is best. • DON'T LOSE SIGHT OF YOUR RESEARCH OBJECTIVE!

  22. http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-how-can-help-you-sign-image23717254http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-how-can-help-you-sign-image23717254

More Related