Project Evaluation

I have not yet had a chance to implement my TechQuest, so this post will be from the perspective of what I assume will happen. Please be reminded, for my TechQuest I will be creating small study groups who will use a wiki to collaborate on study guides for science tests throughout the year.

I will evaluate the success of my TechQuest from data obtained from several sources:

1. Student feedback from online surveys. Please recall as a part of my implementation process I will have students take online surveys about their participation, and that of their group members, 3-4 times a quarter. On these surveys, I will also have a question or two related to how helpful they perceive the study groups and wiki collaboration to be. If the students believe the study groups are useful to them, they are more likely to be engaged and studying, and this would be an indication of success. I will also be open to student's ideas for adjusting my TechQuest plan, as needed, if they for some reason should feel like any part of it is "busy work" or unhelpful to them.

2. Science test scores. Although in my 7th grade classes I will not have any prior "hard data" to compare their science test scores using wiki collaboration to test scores from using traditional study methods, I can look at overall test scores in each class to see if most students are achieving an A or a B on their tests. If students are passing tests with scores like this, this will be an indicator that my TechQuest is successful. Of course, I don't have any way of knowing for sure that it is my TechQuest that is helping students achieve these scores, but I can assume it is playing a portion of the role.

Something I always have the students do when they finish taking a science test is complete a "self-assesment" of how they think they did. They check boxes in two columns of a page to indicate the things they did that helped them prepare well for the test, and things they either did, or didn't do that may have detract from their score. This information can help me, and students analyze what they are doing well (perhaps in their study groups), or what they may need to work on. These self-assessments combined with test scores can be a good indicator of how the wiki and collaboration groups may be supporting student learning and how successful the program is.

3. Group work observations. The final indicator of the success of my TechQuest will be the observations I make as groups work together either in the classroom or in the computer lab. As I am circulating and listening to conversations, I will get a sense for how each group is functioning and how they are using their time to build community and collaborate on whatever project is at hand.

In thinking about the current components of my TechQuest project, there is nothing I would change. However, I do need to have a plan in place for consequences should a student sabotage another's work, or simply copy the work of others and then post it as their own.

I know unexpected things always come up when you actually implement something, but without knowing my new students yet and all the variables they will bring to the atmosphere of the project, I find it extremely difficult to predict major structural changes I will need to make. What I really like about my implementation is that it is progressive in nature. We will begin by forming groups and then working in the classroom to build a sense of community within the groups.

I suppose one dimension I could add to the formation of groups is the assignment of group roles so each member has a specific part to play. I know this can be helpful in balancing the work load, which is one of my goals, and it can create a sense of interdependence among the group members. I did not include this in my original TechQuest design, as I do not want to groups to feel like they are bound to rigid roles, but yet, as the groups develop, I want students to assume natural "roles" in accomplishing the task of supporting one another. At this point, I am still more comfortable with students finding comfort in a role they naturally gravitate toward. I think this will work because I have an accountability system in place with the peer evaluations of participation and the group points students can earn toward an end-of-the-quarter incentive for demonstrating good group work.

Things I like and will keep the same are:

• Heterogeneous, assigned groups
• Team building activities and hands-on experiments/group work prior to work on the wiki
• In-class time given to develop sense of community
• Direct instruction given to all about how to post on a wiki and proper digital citizenship protocol
• Private and digital self - and peer-evaluations
• Point incentive for good group work

Some good lessons I have learned actually came through the research I conducted for my part of my groups SIG proposal. Our topic was using wikis as a collaboration tool to motivate students to learn. I was in charge of finding resources to help teachers plan for implementing wikis into their classroom. Since I have never implemented a wiki in my classroom for any purpose, I found it helpful to learn from teachers who have already tried and learned some things along the way! Here are the most helpful tips I've learned that I will incorporate into my implementation:

• Be very specific and show students how to interact with the wiki in a step-by-step manner.
• Do not assume that just because students are "digital natives" that they know how to effectively use the Web 2.0 tool.
• Give students time to practice their "wiki skills" in an environment where they can ask questions.

To see more ideas for successful wiki implementation visit our SIG planning page at: http://sites.google.com/site/20techies/planning-preparation