As stated in my Week 1 post, the work I have done thus far in my innovation planning has provided me with a good starting point as far as information. In particular, referring to the idea of vital behaviors introduced in the 5304 course has helped me in the process of narrowing down potential topics for my action research. When introducing my innovation plan to colleagues, the vital behaviors are those behaviors that must occur in order for significant change to occur. They are the actions that will help create successful implementation. Thinking back on this prompted me to think about behaviors that need to occur with my students in order for them to have learning success using the blended learning model. After thinking of several vital behaviors, I was finally able to come up with the following research question:
What effect does acquiring knowledge-based content at home via computer-based presentations rather than in-person lectures have on 3rd grade Title 1 students’ levels of engagement and motivation to learn academic concepts?
I chose this research question because student engagement and motivation is a vital behavior that needs to take place in order for successful learning to occur. Therefore, by conducting this study, I will be able to determine the possible effectiveness of my innovation plan. I can determine whether the at-home lecture aspect of flipped learning increases or decreases student engagement and why as well as which at-home lecture activities have the highest (and lowest) engagement from students and why. I also chose this particular research question because it is specific and measurable.
Due to the nature of my research questions, I think utilizing a mixed-method research design will be the most effective. Quantitative data can be collected for student level of engagement by tracking the countable behaviors like student log-in activity on websites and posting a Google Forms created attendance sheet in Google Classroom for students as a check-in point prior to beginning each activity. I am currently using the latter to track student engagement in activities for a summer enrichment program I am currently doing and it seems to be working out well so far. Collecting qualitative data is necessary for addressing the “why” questions I have. To understand why student engagement may have increased or decreased with the at-home component or for a particular at-home activity, I cannot count or calculate. However, I can use a qualitative method such as interviewing students to determine the reasons for their levels of engagement. As a result, I can gain understanding of why I received the numbers I did during the quantitative data research. This provides a better overall understanding of the research data collected.
These quantitative and qualitative methods for collecting data are just some of the strategies I initially believe will be beneficial to my action research. However, I am still in the process of researching more options.
Reference
Mertler, C. A. (2020). Action research: Improving schools and empowering educators (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
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