Final Critical Friends Forum [WLO: 3][CLO: 3, 5]
This will be the fourth and final Critical Friends discussion forum in the course and it is a forum. Some of you in the course may want to share the final section of your Action Research Proposal with your Critical Friends for feedback, while others may need the additional time to work on pulling together and refining your Final Action Research Proposal. In this final Critical Friends Forum, you can share your Data Collection, Instruments, and Procedures draft, or you may share your entire proposal to seek feedback, suggested revisions, and insights and perspectives from peers and/or your instructor. Since this is your last opportunity to work with your Critical Friends, you may want to share your appreciation with those who were particularly helpful or kind to you in the development of your action research or you may want to congratulate those who made strong efforts and made great progress on their proposal throughout the course. This is a great opportunity to nurture professional relationships with your peers and to grow your professional learning network.
One of the qualities of great leaders and professionals is to be open to and objective about feedback – this is something you will likely need to do in your own professional role, so getting used to seeking and considering feedback objectively is a critical skill for all professionals in any field. Remember when giving and receiving feedback, it is important to be objective and not take feedback personally. All feedback should be geared toward helping each other construct a quality action research proposal, support success, and encourage critical thinking about action research. Once you have thought critically about feedback you have received, if you disagree with it, that is fine. You can continue to respectfully engage in discussion and build understanding by asking questions and sharing insights and perspectives.
READ INSTRUCTIONSfollow directions
Running head: Data Collections 1
Data Collections 9
Data collection, instruments, and procedures
Annette Williams
ECE660: Action Research and Inquiry in Education
Instructor Dr. Krummick
February 10, 2020
Data collection- Qualitative
One of the qualitative instruments that would be used is the interview. Five teachers would be invited to take the interview. The interview questions would be developed based on the level of motivation towards science learning. The teachers would, however, be asked whether they find it difficult to motivate students and whether can increase the motivation level of students towards science learning. They would also be asked to give the attributes of motivated students, suggest several ways in which the motivation level of students towards science learning could be improved and whether or not making a connection between science learning and real-world issues would make students more interested in science learning.
The teachers to be interviewed should have taught first graders in the science subject. This is because the first-graders teachers have interacted with the students before, and they could be knowing the strategies that are most effective in ensuring that students are motivated to learn science. The interviews would be useful in collecting the views of teachers about student motivation in science learning. “Interviews are useful to explore experiences, views, opinions, or beliefs on specific matters” (Gerstner, 2017, p.12). The intervention suggested is to connect science learning to real-world issues to increase the level of motivation among students. It would, therefore, be good to ask teachers about its effectiveness when used as a teaching strategy in science teaching. Comment by Juliet Krummick: This is a great section. However, it needs more support. “fully supported with research, literature, and the textbook.”
Data collection- Quantitative
The quantitative instrument to be used is the survey. The Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) would be used to determine the most effective way of motivating students in science learning. Some of the dimensions of the survey would include uncertainty and personal relevance. “Uncertainty dimension aims to assess student perception about the tentative nature of science and their experience in the uncertainty of scientific knowledge” (Cetin-Dindar, 2016, p.243). The effectiveness of connecting science learning to real-world issues would be evaluated. Some of the items in the constructivist learning environment survey would include: “Williams would enjoy watching educational videos during science learning”, ‘In this science class, she learn about the world outside school”, “Williams motivation level in learning science would be increased if there were more science laboratory experiments”, “Williams would be more motivated to learn science if there were more activities”.
A five-point scale would be used to give responses to the items in the survey. The elementary school students would be required to give their thoughts genuinely. “The responses were in five-point scale: Rarely, Seldom, Sometimes, Often, and Almost Always; and they were scored from one to five respectively.” The responses given in the survey would determine the effectiveness of strategies that teachers use to connect science learning to real-world issues. Students would be given instructions before they take the survey. This is because they would need to know that it was just a survey and not a test, and they were allowed to give different answers. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Same thing here. “fully supported with research, literature, and the textbook.”
Constructivist learning environment survey: Comment by Juliet Krummick: Your instrument should be in the appendix section. I added a heading following the reference page. Here I would quickly describe what your instrument includes and say to see appendix A for the example tool.
Item |
Almost never |
Seldom |
Sometimes |
Often |
Almost always |
In this science class, learning about the world outside school |
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Their motivation for science learning is increased when they conduct science experiments. |
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They often enjoy it when we are learning science activities. |
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Enjoying watching educational videos on science. |
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The motivation for science learning would increase if there was a connection with real-world issues |
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The teaching strategy affects their attitude towards science learning |
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Data collection considerations:
To establish credibility, techniques such as prolonged engagement, persistent observation, and member checks. Before the survey is given out to the respondents, adequate time would be spent with them. This would help determine whether or not they could be having any other reasons for not being motivated in science learning. Spending time with the students would also determine whether they could be having health issues that could prevent them from taking the survey. It would also be good to ensure that they get used to the person who would give out the survey. When adequate time is spent, a researcher builds trust with the respondents. He/she is also able to learn about the culture of both students and teachers. Comment by Juliet Krummick: This sentence would be clearer if you flip it.
Adequate time would be spent with respondents before the survey is given. Comment by Juliet Krummick: ? This is random information. Everyone should be able to take the survey unless absent. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Won’t the teacher be handing out the survey? Comment by Juliet Krummick: Are you going to spend time with the respondents? If so, you need a reference here to support this idea.
Persistent observation would also be used to establish credibility. Persistent observation would be useful to provide depth. “… the purpose of persistent observation is to identify those characteristics and elements in the situation that are most relevant to the problem or issue being pursued and focusing on them in detail” (Lincoln & Guba, 1985, p.304). Another strategy used to establish credibility was member checking. To member check, the interpretations and data would be taken to the participants. Only the teachers would member check due to their vast knowledge and experience in the field. The teachers would first be asked to give consent to participate in the member check. Thereafter, they would be given the analysis and all data findings to member check. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Would be… you haven’t completed the study yet. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Here you should be discussing how the tools, listed above, will cover all of these different elements. How will interview and surveys provide credibility to your study?
External audits would be used to establish dependability. An external researcher would be asked to research study. She would evaluate the accuracy of the findings and interpretations of the data. Triangulation would also be used to establish confirmability of which two evaluators would be asked to review both quantitative and qualitative data. Comment by Juliet Krummick: This is another new thing. Unless it is listed above and explained, it should not be used.
Data collection procedures:
Students who will participate in the study will be given consent forms to be signed by their parents three weeks before the study begins. Selecting twenty first graders to take part in the study. The consent form will describe the study’s purpose and benefits to the students and the school. The identity of students will only be known by the researcher for confidentiality purposes. The research document will not include the names of students. The student responses to the research will also be destroyed after they are analyzed. Comment by Juliet Krummick: This is a sentence fragment. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Are you referring to the interview or the survey? If so, state that.
During the first week, students will be trained on how to answer the survey. Before giving out the survey to the students, the researcher will explain its purpose. The researcher will, however, implement the intervention first and check whether it has a positive effect on the motivation level of students later. The first week will also involve the identification of relevant topics, activities, and questions that enable students to connect science learning and real-world issues. The timeline of topics to be covered will be developed in the first week. The learning objectives and outcomes will also be identified in the first week. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Semi-colon
Students will conduct science lab experiments during the second week. They will also go for a field trip to the museum on the last day of the week. Teachers will present videos to their students to demonstrate various concepts. They will also prepare a rubric to assess the efforts of students in the third week, students will be given the survey to answer. The researcher will have two weeks to administer the survey and provide results. Students will be required to give responses to the effectiveness of different strategies used to connect science learning with real-world issues. Students will be given forty minutes to complete the survey. After students complete the survey, the teachers will collect it and thank them for participating. Comment by Juliet Krummick: The extra space is not needed. There will be plenty of writing on the final.
Comment by Juliet Krummick: I added a page break so that your reference page will always be on the next clean page.
REFERENCES Comment by Juliet Krummick: Be sure to use our textbook.
Cetin-Dindar, A. (2016). Student Motivation in Constructivist Learning Environment. Eurasia Comment by Juliet Krummick: This is in APA formatting.
Journal of
Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 12(2).
Gerstner, G. M. (2017). Motivation: The Value of Developing Intrinsic Motivation in Elementary School Students in Grades Four Through Six (Doctoral dissertation, Concordia University Irvine).
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Qualitative research guidelines project. Retrieved from. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Where is this from?
Appendix A
Please place your survey here.