Internet Research for TechQuest Project

Introduction
In my previous post, I listed the URL's for five websites I used to help me write the description for my TechQuest project. In this blog post, I have annotated each site in reference to how it has helped guide my quest, and I have followed these annotations with a summary of how I performed my search for these sites and what I learned about the process of searching for Internet resources.

Research and Resources

• "Focus on Effectiveness: Integrating Technology into Research-Based Strategies"
by Dr. Robert J. Marzano
http://www.netc.org/focus
This website outlines Dr. Marzano's 12 research-based instructional strategies for improving student achievement. I am implementing two of his strategies in my TechQuest: "Homework and Practice" and "Cooperative Grouping". Two of Marzano's thoughts on practice: "Practice means students are engaged in applying new learning, often repeatedly. The goal of practice is for students to get as close to mastery as possible." A key thought from Marzano about cooperative grouping: "Organizing students in heterogeneous cooperative learning groups at least once a week has a significant effect on learning."

• “Putting the Pieces Together: Integrating Technology with Marzano’s Instructional Strategies”
by Sherri Miller
http://gets.gc.k12.va.us/VSTE/2008
This site provides examples of how technology can be integrated into each of Dr. Robert J. Marzano's effective instructional strategies. I focus on two of Dr. Marzano's strategies in my TechQuest:
1. Increasing Value in Homework and Practice
This site suggests using "ExamView" to create online practice quizzes
and tests. I looked into accessing "ExamView" to incorporate with my
students; however, it is not free. There are many free quiz-making sites
so I plan to use the idea of providing online quizzes with immediate
feedback as a strategy in helping my students study more effectively.
2. Incorporating Cooperative Learning Effectively
This site suggests many ways for students to engage collaboratively while
using technology. The site does not specifically recommend using wikis,
however, it does mention several ideas that follow the same principle of
what I am proposing to do in my TechQuest.

• “Teaching and Learning Online with Wikis”
by Naomi Augar, Ruth Raitman, and Wanlei Zhou
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.133.1456&rep=rep1&type=pdf
This article begins with defining what a wiki is and gives examples of different kinds of wikis available. The article then moves into describing a problem Deakin University had in regards to students collaborating in online classes and how a wiki proved to be a successful solution in increasing collaboration among peers. This article supports using wikis for collaboration in educational settings. The article offers a balanced perspective of integrating wikis into the classroom by citing two problems along with its support for their use in learning:
1. "Inappropriate posting of content" and
2. "Unintentional deletions"

• "Using Learning Technology to Support Student Study Skills"
by Jen Harvey and Helen Watt
http://www.icbl.hw.ac.uk/ltdi/implementing-it/support.htm
This article discusses reasons why it is important for students to learn how to study effectively in the context of what is required of students who enter college. The authors point out that students need a large array of study skills to be successful in college, and the student needs to know when to employ which skills. "Ultimately, their [the students'] success or failure within university courses can be determined by their ability to adopt the most appropriate strategy within a particular learning situation. This might, for example involve working within a group to prepare an oral presentation on a given subject or studying for a multiple choice question test." The article also points out that because study skills are not a specific discipline, it is not designated as any one grade level or teacher's responsibility to teach these skills. This can lead to students not being prepared for the expected tasks in college. Along with providing support for study skills to be taught to students, the article also suggests several programs and technologies to help aid students in college who are deficient in these skills. Ultimately, this article supports my claim that my educational concern is valid.

• “Wiki as a Teaching Tool”
by Joseph T. Chao and Kevin R. Parker
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.105.8172&rep=rep1&type=pdf
This site focuses on the use of wikis in the classroom. It outlines instructional approaches such as cooperative learning and collaboration and the constructivist approach to learning. A list of uses for wikis in the classroom is also given such as "group authoring" and adding documentation for a research project. In support of using wikis for collaboration the authors state, "Wikis can be used to facilitate computer-supported collaborative learning, i.e., the development
of collaboration by means of technology to augment education and research."

Reflection on Searching for Internet Resources
The first step I took to locate Internet resources for my TechQuest was to use the links provided to me by my fellow colleagues in this course from feedback on my draft of my project description. I copied and pasted these three links into my web browser and read the content. All the links suggested to me were applicable and became a part of my supportive research. Two of these links were related to effective instructional strategies and one of the links was about the study skills students need to be successful in college. Knowing the information I had, I knew I needed to find information about how people are using wikis to support collaboration in the classroom. I then went to my favorite search engine, Google, and typed in "using wikis for student collaboration". I was able to find the remaining two articles I cited above in this search. I was selective, however, and my two articles were in the form of pdf files. I didn't know this at the time, but Valenza recommends typing in "pdf" in your search options to get more scholarly articles.

When performing Internet research, I automatically go to Google without even thinking of other options because it is so convenient. I have a Google search window as a part of my toolbar on my Internet browser and I am so used to using it to answer quick questions, that I don't even think of going to the MSU research publications. However, even though I think I found credible sources in my Google search, I am going to try and remind myself to use a different means of securing quality information the next time I need to perform research. I don't want to be stuck in the same pool of facts that everyone else is drawing from, and settle for "good enough" as a part of the "information underclass" when I have the opportunity to access more (Valenza)!

From my research, I learned that my solution to my educational concern is grounded in sound research by Dr. Marzano and that others have found wikis to be a powerful tool to promote collaboration among students. I have also learned that there is a lot more information available on the topics included in my TechQuest than I have time or space to annotate here. My research is proof that Web 2.0 technologies are changing the way we learn and share our learning experience with others.

TechQuest Project Description - Final Draft

TechQuest: Project Description – Final Draft

What is the compelling problem of practice or opportunity for gain I want to address in your project?

As a middle school science teacher, one of my primary focuses is to prepare students for high school. I do this by teaching content that will support their learning of more complex science, as well as soft skills such as staying organized and learning how to study effectively. In looking at my 7th and 8th grade class lists from last year, I calculated 40% of my 7th grade students, and 46% of my 8th grade students, struggled with either organization of their personal materials for class, such as binders and homework submission, or studying effectively for quizzes and tests. This data is based upon my observations of their belongings they brought to class throughout the year; recollections of times we had one-on-one discussions about missing homework, or homework that took them a long time to locate due to their unorganized binder; quiz and overall science grades each quarter; and frequent conversations I had with the students over the course of the year about “not knowing what was assigned”.

Adding these percentages together indicates that 86% of the total number of students I taught last year struggled to demonstrate their understanding due to un-mastered soft skills of organization and study techniques. Conversely, when I analyzed quiz scores of those students who consistently earned 90% or above, I noticed that these students were also very organized with their class materials; completed and turn in all homework; and reported via self-assessment surveys that they studied "very hard" to prepare for the quizzes. Due to this data, I believe students do not learn as much, or at least cannot demonstrate their knowledge to the highest potential, if they have not mastered these two vital soft skills of organization and ability to study effectively.

I desperately want my students to realize they are capable of better grades, if they could just learn to stay organized and/or acquire better study habits. I think all my students want to do well, but even with the instruction I provide, they don’t seem to achieve to their fullest potential. I believe there are at least two key factors that contribute to this dilemma. First, it takes effort to stay organized and to study. Not all students have parents who have trained them to put forth the effort even when tasks are difficult or time-consuming. Second, my students are growing up in a culture where entertainment is top priority for them and is easy to access in multiple ways. It requires a significant amount of self-motivation, or parental direction, for students to step away from their adventurous virtual world and "study their notes" or "review their study guide", which involves a static piece of paper, and a pencil.

Although I see a joint weakness in lack of organization and poor study skills impacting student achievement on tests, the problem of practice I will address in my TechQuest is the struggle I face with teaching and encouraging students to study effectively; given their cultural competition with entertainment.

How do I plan to address this educational issue with technology?

I will battle technology with technology. Middle school students love to work with technology. Most of their entertainment involves technology. I can’t say that I blame them for wanting to play video games or chat on Facebook rather than review their study guide. I plan to make studying more engaging and appealing to my students by incorporating collaboration and technology into the way they study. I will also provide opportunities for them to take online practice tests where they will receive immediate feedback on what they have mastered prior to taking the real test in class.

The way I will make studying collaborative is I will form study groups near the beginning of the year for the students in each of my classes. The study groups will have no more than four people in them and no less than three. I will have mixed ability groups in light of research stating, “Low-ability students perform worse when grouped in homogeneous ability groups” (Kulik & Kulik, 1991, 1997; Lou et al, 1996). These study groups will remain in place for the entire year as to build community and cohesiveness with the group. These groups will spend time in class together reviewing on tasks that will allow the group to support and learn from one another, such as reviewing each other’s homework before we discuss it in class and orally quizzing each other from class notes after a lesson. Out of class, these students will collaborate via wiki on a digital version of the study guide provided in class. I normally require students complete all questions on the study guide individually and turn it in the day of the test to “prove” they studied. I would change this requirement to allow the work to be done online via the wiki with their study group members. For accountability purposes, I will require each student identify themselves in every post they make. I will also encourage students to help others in their group to reply to their group member’s posts in such a way that they encourage them to provide complete and thoughtful responses. In class following group collaboration time, we can access each study group’s study guide to see how different groups are interpreting and answering the questions and bring clarity on a whole-group level to what students need to know and understand for the test.
Note: When establishing groups, I will first find out which students do not have Internet access at home and try to group those students together so they can perhaps find time to use school technology to collaborate like the rest of the students, or modify the assignment so they can work collaboratively during class or lunch and turn in a hard copy of their explanations. This modification still utilizes the aspect of collaboration, and has the potential to preserve the technology aspect of this study strategy.

I will investigate how the combination of support, integrating technology with the study process, and opportunity for immediate feedback impacts my students’ motivation to study and n turn, improves test scores.

Research and Resources

• Article by J. Harvey & H. Watt - "Using learning technology to support student study skills"-- http://www.icbl.hw.ac.uk/ltdi/implementing-it/support.htm
• Article by Sherri Miller – “Putting the Pieces Together: Integrating Technology with Marzano’s Instructional Strategies” -- http://gets.gc.k12.va.us/VSTE/2008
• Marzano’s 12 Instructional Strategies -- http://www.netc.org/focus
• Cautions/Problems with using wikis for student collaboration “Teaching and Learning Online with Wikis” -- http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.133.1456&rep=rep1&type=pdf
• Possibilities of using wikis to promote student learning - “Wiki as a Teaching Tool” -- http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.105.8172&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Implementation

Prior to the start of school, in preparation for launching my students into this collaborative, technologically-based learning project, I will learn more about the service, “Wiki Spaces”, so I can better teach my students how to navigate wikis and post information. I will also need to contact my administration to find their perspective on using wikis for student collaboration, and find out if our school network will allow students to access Wiki Spaces pages. If they don’t, I will contact our technology support person and see if my company will approve Wiki Space sites for students. What I will do during the school year is outlined above, however, it includes thoughtfully forming collaborative study groups (September), teaching students what a wiki is and how to navigate one(September), teach my students aspects of digital citizenship (September/October), allow time for practice and questions about posting items to their wiki (October), teaching students how to access digital copies of the study guide to post and dissect on their wiki (October), and obtain student wiki addresses for monitoring and assessment purposes (October). Once the initial set up is in place, the rest of the implementation will happen as study guides become available and test dates are decided.

How does my project address the four common places of education?

This is a brief summary, as many details are provided in the descriptions above.

Teaching – As the teacher, I will need to have technological knowledge of how to use, set up, and monitor wikis. I will need to employ effective teaching strategies for time spent in the computer lab and to foster social skills for working in collaborative groups. I will also need to have knowledge of the science content in each particular unit of study for which the study guides will be covering.

Learning – The students are 7th and 8th grade science students of all ability levels. Most students are very versed in technology, so they will probably come to class with a good set of skills to help them manage their group wikis.

Subject Matter – 7th and 8th grade science units of study such as: cells, heredity, chemistry, forces and motion, and weather and water.

Setting – The setting is a K-8 charter school on the outskirts of Lansing, Michigan.

1st draft of Project Description for my TechQuest Paper

The purpose of this blog post is to answer the following question:

What is the compelling problem of practice or opportunity for gain that you want to address in your project?

I am a 3rd year middle school science teacher. One of my primary focuses is to prepare students for high school. I do this by teaching content that will support their learning of more complex science, as well as soft skills such as staying organized and learning how to study effectively. I would imagine that at least 50% of my students struggle in one or both of these areas. Consequently, I believe students do not learn as much, or at least cannot demonstrate their knowledge to the highest potential, if they have not mastered these two vital skills. When I analyze quiz scores, those students who earn 90% or above are the same students who have very organized binders, complete and turn in all homework, and report that they studied "very hard".

It takes effort to stay organized and to study. My students grow up in a culture where entertainment is top priority for them and is very easy to access in multiple ways. Students have computers to play "live" video games and visit social networking sites. They have cell phones. They call and text one another frequently. They watch videos and interact with video games. It takes a lot of self-discipline to step away from their virtual world and "study their notes" or "review their study guide".

The problem of practice I will address in my TechQuest is the struggle I face with teaching and encouraging students to study effectively, given their cultural competition with entertainment. I will investigate ways I can make studying engaging for my students by using technology to make it collaborative and interesting for them.

Items I'd like feedback on:

Is my case compelling enough? Would connecting my case to class articles strengthen this?

Would it be helpful if I stated my problem of practice nearer to the beginning, rather than ending with it?

Is my problem of practice "just right" using the Goldilocks anaylogy?

Do I need to elaborate on any particular part or overall?

Thank you for your thoughtful feedback!