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What are Students Really Thinking?

What are Students Really Thinking?. Linda Alexander (Communication Studies) and Agyeman Boateng (Office of Research & Planning). Overview. Faculty often incorporate different teaching strategies (interventions) in the classroom.

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What are Students Really Thinking?

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  1. What are Students Really Thinking? Linda Alexander (Communication Studies)andAgyeman Boateng (Office of Research & Planning)

  2. Overview Faculty often incorporate different teaching strategies (interventions) in the classroom. • Would you like to get an idea of the effectiveness of these strategies? • How might you do that? • For example, would a survey of your students inform your teaching practices? • Are there other methods you might find useful? • Ways to formulate and follow through on an informal inquiry plan will be discussed.

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  4. Key Questions • Who Can Do Research? • What Is Research? • Where Can Research Be Conducted? • When Can Research Be Conducted? • Why Do Research In The Classroom? • How Can Faculty Do Research?

  5. The Basics • Research Question: What do you want to know? • Research Methodology: What's the best way to find out what you want to know?

  6. Who Can Do Research? • Instructors • Students • Other Interested Parties

  7. What Is Research? • Careful study that is done to find and report new knowledge about something • The activity of getting information about a subject • (merriam-webster.com)

  8. Where Can Research Be Conducted? • In a classroom setting • In an online environment • In one section vs. across sections

  9. When Can Research Be Conducted? • Different times during a semester • (Time 1, Time 2, etc.) • One time • Ongoing process

  10. Why Do Research In The Classroom? • For Instructors: can implement more effective teaching strategies • For Students: can benefit from improved instruction

  11. How Can Faculty Do Research? • Methodology: • Qualitative • Quantitative

  12. Research: A Qualitative Approach: (Informal) Content Analysis Critical Incident Questionnaires (CIQ) as a Classroom Evaluation Tool • At what point in class this week were you most engaged as a learner? • At what moment in class this week were you most distanced as a learner? • What action that anyone in the room took this week did you find most affirming or helpful? • What action that anyone in the room took this week did you find most puzzling or confusing? • What surprised you most about the class this week?

  13. Procedure and Analysis • Students' responses to questions anonymous • CIQs turned in at the end of class as students leave the classroom • After the end of class, instructor reads responses and looks for themes to emerge • Results reported back to the students in the next meeting as a point of departure for class discussion.

  14. Immediate Benefits • Instructor learns what the students are actually thinking • Students see that the instructor values their feedback • (Discussion as a Way of Teaching, Brookfield and Presskill, 2005)

  15. Research: A Quantitative Approach: The Survey Method • Research Question: What do you want to know? • What kinds of survey questions should you ask? • How should you ask these questions?

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  20. Research in the classroom: Constraints • Although West does not have a formal IRB review process at this time, as is the practice at many community colleges, research involving students should be reviewed by the Office of Research and Planning • Aspects of research to include: • hypothesis to be tested, • the questions that would be asked, • numbers of students involved, • data collection protocol, • type of analysis planned, • what will be done with the data, and • how confidentiality will be maintained. • Contact Office of Research and Planning • Rebecca Tillberg • tillberw@wlac.edu

  21. Starting the Research Process: Decisions, Decisions! • What is your research objective? (Why do you want to conduct research?) • Determine a clearly focused research question based on your objective • Decide whether a qualitative or quantitative approach is best. • DON'T LOSE SIGHT OF YOUR RESEARCH OBJECTIVE!

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