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ClassroomInquiryProject:

IncreaseStudentConversationtoPromoteAutonomyintheClassroom
RachaelRassel
TE807Spring2016
Purpose
Educationiscontinuallychanging.Inordertobestpreparestudentsfortheirfutures
classroomsneedtopromotecollaboration,criticalthinkinganddiscovery.Thepurposeofthis
classroominquiryistoinvestigatetheimpactofincorporatingstudentdiscussionsinthe
classroom.Researchshowsthatstudentslearnandrememberwhentheyparticipate(Barton,
1995,346).Asateacherstrivestoenrichstudents,creatingmoreopportunitiesforstudentsto
participateintheirownlearningcancontributetostudentunderstandingandcontentretention.
Furthermorecollaborativediscussionshelptobuildpositiverelationshipswithothersanduseful
skillsofthefuture(Richardson,2010,87).Thegoalistomeasurehoweffectivediscussionand
collaborationareinpromotingstudentsengagementandunderstandingofcontent.Byproviding
multipleopportunitiesforstudentstoparticipateintheirlearningateachercanbetterunderstand
howtobemosteffectiveintheirclassroomrecognizingqualityteachingisaboutmorethan
whatistaught.Itisabouthowitistaught(Fenstermacher,2005,189).Inadditiontohelping
increasequalityteaching,studentparticipationintheclassroomprovidesopportunitiesfor
studentstomaketheirownconnectionstocontentwhichcanboostmotivationforlearning
(Baton,1995,348).

GuidingQuestion
Howdoespeercollaborationimpactstudentengagementandunderstandingofcontentinthe
classroom?
Howbeneficialispeerconversationinalesson?
Methods
Thestudentsareenrolledina9thgradeWorldHistoryCoursewithin612building.Theschool
islocatedinaruralcommunityandhasapopulationofapproximately350students.Theclass
itselfismadeupof22studentsofvaryingability.Allstudentshaveaccesstoonetoone
technology.

DataCollectionProcedures

DataSources

DataAnalysis

Studentswillcomplete
discussionformswhichwill
documenttheirideasbefore
andafterdiscussionsto
highlightthegrowthof
understanding.Studentswill
thenusethistorankthe
effectivenessoftheir
conversationonascale15
aswellasrespondtothe
openendedquestionHow
didtheconversationimpact
yourunderstanding?

Studentdiscussionform

Thedocumentscollected
willbeanalyzedtolook
forconceptual
understandingbasedon
peercontribution.The
quantitativedatawillbe
graphedandtheopen
codingwillbeusedtofind
trendsfromtheopen
responsequestion.

DataCollection
Afterresearchingeffectivecommunicationpracticesinclassrooms,Ibegantodevelopa
lesson.Istrivedtocreatealessonthatwouldnotonlyproviderelativecontent,butalsopromote
conversationamongpeers.Theoverallgoalistoencouragestudentstotaketheirunderstanding
andtalkaboutwhattheyarelearningwithothers.
Inordertobestunderstandtheeffectivenessandrelativityoftheconversationsbetween
studentsIcollectedsurveysfollowingtheirdiscussions.Thesurveyincludedaqualitativeand
quantitativepieceandwasattachedtotheirassignmentfortheday,makingitareflectivepiece
forthemaswellasdataforresearch.Thesurveyaskedstudentstorespondtotheopenended
question,Howdidthediscussioncontributetomyunderstanding?.Inadditionstudentswe
askedtoranktheeffectiveness,onascaleof15,ofthediscussionontheirunderstandingofthe
topic.
Inpracticethelessonbeganwithstudentpresentationsonvariousexplorers.Students
werethenaskedtowritedownwhichexplorertheyfeltwasthemostvaluableandexplaintheir
answer.Thisindividualworktimewasbuiltintohelpstudentsdeveloparesponse,ensuringall
studentswerepreparedtoparticipateindiscussion.Asateachingprovidingaclearobjectiveand
preparationtimemayenhancethestudentsselfefficacyforthetaskathandbyhelping
studentsfeelconfidentintheirwork(Seifert,2004,p.147)
Studentswerethenplacedintogroupsoffourtofivetodiscusstheiropinionandcometo
aconclusionasagroup.Thistimewasbuiltinthelessontoencouragecontentconversationin
whichstudentsengageinpersuadingoneanotherbasedoninformationtheyhavelearned.The

intentionbehindhavingstudentspersuadeoneanotherwastohelpstudentsbuildontheir
opinionbutalsogivetheminsighttocontentpresentedbytheirpeersthattheymayhavemissed
earlier.Italsocreatedapurposefordiscussioninhopesoffurthermotivatingparticipation.
Duringthistimestudentbegandevelopingnewopinionsanddiscussingtheimportanceof
contentwithoneanother.Followingthediscussionstudentswereaskedtogobacktotheirseats
wheretheycompletedthedatacollectionbyrespondingtotheopenresponsequestionsand
rankingtheeffectivenessoftheirdiscussion.Datawascollectedneartheendofthehourina
quietreflectiveenvironmenttoallowstudentstogiveanhonestreflectionandprovidethemost
accuratedatapossible.

DataAnalysis
Attheconclusionofdatacollectionthere22completedsurveystoexamineandexplore.
Thefirstpieceofdatathatstoodoutwaswastheoverallrankingthestudentsgaveonhow
helpfulthediscussionwasforimprovingtheirunderstanding.Thequantitativedatacollectedfor
thefirstquestion(Figure1)waslessintimidatingtoconquerwasusedtoprovideabaselinefor
furtheranalysis.
XXXXXquoteonquantitativedataXXXXXXXX.

Thestudentresponseforhowbeneficialtheconversationwasoverwhelminglybeneficial.A
largemajorityindicatedthiswithveryhighscoresof4and5.Thisshowstheintereststudent
haveinworkingtogetherandhavingtimetotalkwithoneanother,butdoesnotnecessarily
provideevidencethatstudentsareengaginginproductiveeffectivediscussion.

Inordertolookdeeperintotheeffectivenessofclassroomcollaborationthrough
discussion,quantitativedatawasalsocollectedfromstudentsabouttheimpactthediscussion
hadontheirunderstanding.Thedataresults(Figure1.2)ontheimpactofsmallgroupdiscussion
onstudentunderstandingindicatedthatamajorityofthestudentsfoundthecollaborative
discussiontoimprovetheirunderstandinginsomewaybyrankingtheimpactbetweena3and4.
INSERTFIGURE1.2

Althoughthequantitativedatawasabletogiveaclearviewofstudentsopiniononhoweffective
theirconversationwasontheirunderstandingqualitativedatawasalsocollected.Afteranalyzing
studentsinitialreactionthequalitativedatawasexaminedtoprovidedeeperinsightintohowand
whystudentsprovidedtherankingsthattheydid.
QUALITATIVEQUOTE????
Figure2
demonstrateshowresponseswerecodedtoprovideclearandprecisedatawhichcanthenbe
usedtodrawfurtherconclusions.
INSERTFIGURE2
Therewere3studentswhodidnotrespondtothequalitativedatacollectionquestionand
manyqualitativeresponseswerenotascomplexandcompleteasIwouldhaveliked,buteven
withtheseresultsIwasabletocollectusefuldata.Allofthe19responsescollectedprovideda
positiveresponsetothequestion,Howdidthediscussioncontributetomyunderstanding?.
Theresponsescontributedwerethenbrokenintofourlargercategoriestosummarizetheimpact
ofthesmallgroupconversations:
1. Ihaveabetterunderstanding[ofcontent].
2. Informationwasbroughttomyattention.
3. Idevelopedadeeperunderstanding[ofthecontent].

4. Myunderstanding[ofthecontent]waschanged.
Thelargestresponsefromstudentswasthattheyhadabetterunderstandingoftheinformation
(Figure2.2)whichfurthersupportstheclaimthatpeerconversationsintheclassroomare
beneficialandimprovestudentunderstanding.Duringtheseconversationsstudentspractice
listening,speakingandinterpretingotherstobuildcollectiveknowledge(TeachingWorks,
2016).Throughthecodingprocessstudentsalsomentionedthattheconversationhelpedthem
developwaystosupporttheirownunderstandingaswellaschangetheirunderstanding
completely.
FIGURE2.2
Reflection

Thedataprovidedfromthestudentsurveyswasdiverseandprovidedmany
understandingsaboutstudentdiscussionandcollaboration.FromthedatacollectionprocessI
havelearnednotonlyaboutstudentmotivationanddiscussionbutalsotheimpactand
importanceforstudentreflectionandfeedback.AftercarefullystudyingthedataIhavelearned
thatstudentsinthisclassroomgenuinelyenjoyworkingtogetherandhavingdiscussion,evenifit
iscontentbased.Anarticlein
EducationDigest
suggestsYoungpeoplearelikelytobemore
motivatedandengagedinanactivitywhentheyhaveavoiceinhowitisconductedandcan
affecthowitconcludewhichcanbefoundinpeercollaborationanddiscussion(Toshalis,
2012,p.29)Themotivationthatdevelopsleadstoengagementandgreaterparticipation.
Furthermoreitcanbeconcludedfromthedatathatthemotivationthatstemsfromstudent
engagementandenjoymentstudentsbenefitandobtainadeeperunderstandingofcontentdueto

discussion.Notonlydotheydevelopadeeperunderstandingbuttheyalsoareabletorecognize
thatandshowtheirunderstandingthroughreflection.
AfterdevelopingconclusionsfromthedatacollectedintheinquiryIbelievetheresults
supportthatteachersshouldstrivetocreatemultipleopportunitiestocollaboratewithone
another.Thiscollaborationhelpsstudentstotaketheinformationtheyhavecollectedfrom
previousinstructionanduseitinadifferentformtodevelopadeeperunderstanding.Duetothe
variousrolesthattakeplaceduringsmallgroupdiscussions,thesediscussionsallowallstudents
regardlessoftheirabilitytobesuccessfulandbenefit.
Notonlyisthisdeeperunderstandingdevelopedfromsharinginformation,butitalso
helpsstudentunderstandtheirownunderstandingbyprovidinganopportunityforthemto
explainwhattheyknowtotheirpeers.Thischancetousetheirknowledgesupportsaclaiminthe
article,
HowPeopleLearn,
that

knowingisnotbeingabletorememberandrepeatinformation
butbeingabletofindanduseit(Bransfordetal,2000,p.5).Reflectingontheresultsand
inquiryprocessincludingbothquantitativeandqualitativedatapiecesledtoagreateranalysis.
Additionallyitispossiblethatsomeofthedataresultswereimpactedbythewordingofthe
question.Thelackofdepthintheopenresponsequestionmayhaveresultedfromthewording
ofthequestionaswellasthelackofinstruction.Givingmoredetailedinstructionsand
specificallyaskingforadetailedexplinationofthestudentsnewunderstandingmayleadtomore
diverseresponseformoredataexplorationandgivedeeperinsightintotheimpactofthesmall
groupcollaboration.
Overalltheresultsfromthisinquiryarebeneficialforunderstandingakeyactivityand
theimpactitcanhaveonstudentengagementintheclassroom.Thisinformationprovidesinsight

intoanengagementtechniquethatisdrivenbydata.Additionallythedatahighlightsthe
usefulnessofstudentreflectionandfeedback.Asaneducatorthisinquiryanddataallowfor
deeperinsightintoinstructionaltechniquesaswellastheneedforcontinualinvestigationof
effectiveinstructionalstrategies.

Conclusion

Theinquiryprocesswasinsightfulandbeneficialtomyteachingpractice.When
exploringeffectivetechniquesandwaystopromotestudentinterestinlearningandthe
classroomtheinquirypracticeallowstheteachertotaketimetoreflectonalessonandwhatis
happeningintheirownclassroom.Thisinquiryalsoallowedstudentstheopportunitytoshare
outtheirownviewsontheirlearningandwhatworks.Overalleventhoughthedatacollection
wassmallforsuchalargeinquirytheeffectivenessandoutcomeofwhatcanbelearnedlefta
lastingimpactandevenmorewonderingsforfutureinquiry.
Lookingdeeperintothisinquirythedatacollectedhasledtothequestionofcomparing
differentconversationtechniquestooneanothertodecidewhatformatofdiscussionworksbest
foraclassroomoratopic.Alsohowdoestheeffectivenessofconversationvaryfromonegrade
leveltoanother?Theinquiryperformedduringthisprocessfocusedonaratherunstructured
discussioninwhichstudentswerenotassignedroles.Afurtherinterestabouttheeffectivenessof
roleswithinsmallgroupworkanddiscussionhasalsodevelopedfromthisoriginalinquiry.In
realitythisinquiryprocesshasledtomanymoreinterestandquestionsabouttheeverchanging
effectivestrategiesforstudentengagementintheclassroom.

References

Barton,J.(1995).Conductingeffectiveclassroomdiscussions.
JournalofReading,38
(5),346.
Bransford,J.,Brown,A.L.&Cocking,R.R.(Eds.)(2000).
HowPeopleLearn:Brain,Mind,
ExperienceandSchoo
l(pp.327).Washington,D.C.:NationalAcademyPress.Retrieved
from
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309070368

Fenstermacher,G.D.,&Richardson,V.(2005).Onmakingdeterminationsofqualityin
teaching.
TeachersCollegeRecord,107
(1),186213.

Richardson,A.E..(2010).ExploringTextthroughStudentDiscussions:AccountableTalkinthe
MiddleSchoolClassroom.
TheEnglishJournal
,
100
(1),8388.Retrievedfrom
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20787697

Seifert,T.(2004).Understandingstudentmotivation.
EducationalResearch,46
(2),137149.
doi:10.1080/0013188042000222421

TeachingWorks.(2016).
HighLeveragePractices.
Retrievedfrom

http://www.teachingworks.org/workofteaching/highleveragepractices

Toshalis,E.,&Nakkula,M.J.(2012).Motivation,engagement,andstudentvoice.
Education
Digest,78
(1),29.

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