Class Reflection (7/29) EDU 6982

Thursday, July 29                        Chapter Five                        Educational Research

Vocabulary

1. Systematic sampling: (text pg. 114) every nth member of the population is selected.

In conducting research on parental involvement in education, the researchers used systematic sampling beginning with the 240^th person on a random list, followed by 740^th, 1240^th and so on.

2. Stratified sampling: (text pg. 114) subjects are selected from strata or groups of the population.

The researchers used stratified sampling in order to accurately represent gender in teaching by dividing up teachers into males and females before randomly selecting subjects for their study.

3. Cluster sampling: (text pg. 117) random selection of naturally occurring groups or units and then individuals from the chosen groups for a study.

By choosing subjects from school districts in the state of Washington, the researchers used the method known as cluster sampling.

4. Nonprobability sample: (text pg. 117) the probability of including population elements is known.

In using his Into to Psych class as research subjects, Professor Blindside used a nonprobability sample.

5. Snowball sampling (pg. 121) researcher begins with a few participants and then asks them to nominate or recommend others who are known to have the profile, attributes, or characteristics desired.

Professor Johnny Rockets used snowball sampling in his study on teenagers and their perception of parental involvement by asking his first four subjects to recommend friends with the same point of view.

Reflection

As we moved into our potential sample for the group projects in Educational Inquiry, the work began to be a little more challenging. Our group worked well together and agreed on our research question and hypothesis. We even discussed our potential sample with ideas in mind. Yet after reading Chapter Five of Educational Research and discussing how to go about determining the sample, things proved to be more challenging.

In order to really see if students in middle school benefit academically from physical fitness, my group felt it was necessary to find students who were not active already. If we simply randomly selected middle school students, we might run into some serious extraneous variables in that many students are involved in organized sports. By eliminating these students from our population, we felt it would be more obvious the impact of a fitness program on academic achievement. In that sense, our study is an intervention. We are intervening in students’ lives to improve their academic achievement through fitness. Yet choosing our sample that would be random enough still remained a difficulty.

After reviewing the options in chapter five, we decided that cluster sampling would be the most effective manner to get the randomness we desire. Since we aren’t interested in income, urban vs. rural, gender or race as a variable, we could really look at schools in each state and choose at random. So that is what we decided to do. We decided upon three schools per state to include in our sample. From there, we will provide a questionnaire to figure out which students do not participate in physical activities and then begin our intervention. In that sense, we are moving beyond the cluster sampling to critical case sampling. These students are

Class Reflection (7/28) EDU 6982

Wednesday, July 28                        Chapter Two                        Educational Research

Vocabulary

1. Continuous variable: (text pg. 39) infinite values within a range.

Both self-concept and height are continuous variables because theoretically they can go on forever on a spectrum.

2. Categorical variable: (text pg. 39) groups defined by specific characteristics.

The researchers at Florida State University used a dichotomous categorical variable of gender in setting up their study.

3. Inductive hypothesis: (text p. 45) formed from a researcher’s observations of behavior.

By reflecting on the perceived relationship between students getting more sleep and their scores on tests, the teacher formed an inductive hypothesis that more sleep meant better scores.

4. Deductive hypothesis: (text p. 45) derived from theory, and thus testing them contributes to a better understanding of the theory or its application.

Based upon the research that states that students with parental involvement do better in school, the researcher formed a deductive hypothesis based on their relationship.

Reflection

In developing the research problem and hypothesis for my group’s project in Educational Inquiry class, I found the issue of what to test to be the most interesting and also perplexing. As a group we decided to make our research question the following: Do middle school students who participate in a fitness program experience enhanced academic achievement more than those who do not participate in a fitness program? This question came after a healthy debate about whether to include nutrition as a variable as well. This made the question more complex and somewhat hard to manage as we balanced two independent variables, thus we stuck with simply the fitness program.

The next question to ponder was how to account for the extraneous variable of organized sports that students may participate in who are not enrolled in the fitness program. Since this was viewed as a major nuisance to our study, we decided that we would only include middle school students who did not participate in any organized sports. This could include activities like karate or yoga also. We don’t necessarily need kids who are obese, but we do want to see the impact that fitness or exercise will have on academic achievement. If students are already involved in exercise, it could skew our data. This conversation really helped us define our population for our sampling.

Lastly, we started the conversation regarding how to measure fitness and academic achievement. While we are still unsure of our test for academic achievement, we did make a decision regarding fitness. After debating the merits of checking for fitness level, we decided that we really simply wanted the students to participate since our study is about fitness impacting achievement. We are not measuring a certain level of fitness, simply fitness. Yet how do you ensure that all students are “participating”? Upon reflection and debate, we decided that monitoring heart rates during the program would ensure participation. All in all, our group is off to a great start on our project.

Class Reflection (7/27) EDU 6982

Tuesday, July 27                        Chapter Two                        Educational Research

Vocabulary

1. Conceptual definition: (text pg. 36) uses other words and concepts to describe the variable.

The conceptual definition of attitude can be found in the dictionary as “a predisposition to respond favorably or unfavorably toward a person, object, or event”.

2. Operational definition: (text pg. 36-37) defines a concept by how it is measured or manipulated.

When using intelligence as a variable in an educational study, SAT scores provide the operational definition for the measurement.

3. Extraneous variable: (text pg. 38) affects the dependent variable but is either unknown or not controlled by the researcher.

When conducting a research study on exercise in schools, the researchers could not control the extraneous variable of student motivation that varied from school to school.

4. Confounding variable: (text pg. 38) varies systematically with the independent variable.

When conducting a research study on the success of a phonics program, researchers faced a confounding variable in that one teacher proved to be much more engaging than the other.

Reflection

While I understood the basic differences between quantitative research and qualitative research before entering the Educational Inquiry class, the reading and class period today cemented some ideas in my mind and brought up new thoughts as well. A positivist approach falls in line with quantitative research as the researcher has a clear hypothesis and predicted outcome of what will occur through the research. A post-modernist approach falls in line with qualitative research, as the researcher is open to any and all possible outcomes from the work completed. It seems to me that most researchers fall in line somewhere in the middle. Or at least I hope they do.

I see real pitfalls or danger in believing too strongly in either positivism or post-modernism. If a researcher truly believes only one outcome will come out of the research, they may ignore or even manipulate factors along the way to ensure that result is reached. At the same time, a post-modernist may ignore important trends or signs if they are too open to any scenario. More importantly, they might lose sight of what caused the results if they take the “laissez-faire” approach completely. Thus I find the mixed-method research model to be the most interesting and I would imagine most effective. This requires a researcher to use both quantitative and qualitative methods. It gives a result involving hard facts, but also asks questions that may lead to more research or begin answering the “why” concerning the results.

Class Reflection (7/26) EDU 6982

Monday, July 26                        Chapter One                        Educational Research

Vocabulary

1. Positivism: (text pg. 4) theory that theology and metaphysics are earlier imperfect modes of knowledge and that positive knowledge is based on natural phenomena and their properties and relations as verified by the empirical sciences.

Professor James Donaldson used the positivist approach to his educational research study by gathering quantitative data on number of hours spent studying for history exams and the academic success).

2. Generalizability: (text pg. 10) use of results in other situations with other individuals.

Due to the generalizability of the study on teachers using small groups during instruction, school districts (both elementary and secondary) used the results to make changes in recommended practices.

3. Action research: (text pg. 16) investigates specific classroom problems.

John Rolfe, a high school science teacher, used action research to find out whether the lab work students performed in his classroom helped them understand the material more clearly.

4. Evaluation research: (text pg. 16) judgments for decision making.

The Bellevue School district used evaluation research to determine whether they should implement their ELL program in all middle schools.

Reflection

The first class in Educational Inquiry provided an introduction to the course, as well as an introduction to educational research. In the commencement of this course, we brainstormed questions that we may be interested in researching regarding education today. I found this to be the most interesting and engaging part of the class as I got to hear my classmates give great ideas regarding ELL classrooms, free and reduced lunch and its impact on academic success, the influence of extracurriculars, parental involvement and the list goes on and on. One of the ideas I have interest in involves the impact of exercise or athletics on academic success. As it turns out, I am now in that group for the project and get to head down that path.

My interest in that subject comes from a couple of different areas in my life. First, I find that I am much more alert, mentally engaged and motivated when I exercise. I don’t know the science behind or why that necessarily occurs, but I know it is true. I also spoke to a couple other friends who feel the same way. Secondly, as a high school basketball coach I see the effect that athletics can have on self-esteem, love of school, and organization. I wonder if this is the case for most students? Thus my biggest learning is my biggest question. Essentially it is the question posed on page 11 of the text: What is the relationship between physical conditioning and academic achievement?

Attention Students: Does it Matter What I Call It? (EDU 6526)

When I began my teaching career I was literally thrown into the fire. With a teacher stepping away in October of the school year, they needed a history teacher and they found me. Only……I wasn’t a history teacher nor really a teacher yet. I worked at the school, understood teenagers and taught one senior Economics course. It proved to be enough at the time and through hard work I became a respected, full time teacher at Seattle Prep. Yet despite my confidence and ability as a teacher, I simply didn’t come strapped with all the knowledge a certified teacher did. So it comes with this limitation that I really enjoyed this week’s work with advanced organizers in Survey of Instructional Stratgies.

In many ways I used advanced organizers at different times in my classes. I never called them that, thought of them as that or really fully understood what I was doing. Yet I found ways to take the seemingly unrelated to students and connect it to new material. I bridged the gap between the lives they live and the history I want them to know. This is what advanced organizers can do. My only critique of them comes from the semi-hypocrisy of David Ausubel and the authors of the Models of Teaching text. The text states: “Ausubel’s definition of advance organizers does not include strict operational guidelines for constructing them” (Dell’Olio, 394). At the same time Ausubel seems to give a lot of criteria, as does the PowerPoint lecture, of what advanced organizers ARE NOT.  While I understand we want to classify what these exactly are, it seems somewhat trivial to even worry about what they are or are not. The goal of an educator – in my opinion – is to challenge students to think critically and to be engaged in the material. I want to make these students better people for themselves and for the world around them when they leave my class. If I do that through a personal story, advanced organizer or joke, it doesn’t really matter to me. I don’t want to spend time worrying about the labels and whether I actually am using an advanced organizer. I want my students to love learning and advanced organizers can help me. Yet I won’t spend time worrying whether I matched the criteria correctly. I will only worry if I got those kids engaged in the lesson.

Concepts in the Classroom (EDU6526)

What needs improvement? More higher level questions for class discussion. Or….provide opportunities for critical

Bloom's Taxonomy

thinking. These comments stood out to me in my classroom observations over the past few years as a Collegio (integrated History and Engligh) teacher at Seattle Prep. While I flourished in many ways and students enjoyed my style, the challenge continued to be finding ways to push those students to grapple with higher level thinking. How do I move beyond content and into concepts? This question riddled many teachers and in fact, still provides struggles for many with years of experience. Hence this “radical” approach to thinking was the central focus of last week’s module in the Survey of Instructional Strategies course.

Professor Tracy Williams highlighted in the lecture PowerPoint how the idea of teaching concepts or themes can benefit students regardless of curriculum. She stated: “while content may change from unit to unit and from year to year in a curriculum, the themes remain as conceptual points of reference. The themes have the power of ideas, and ideas are the mortar which holds together the curricular building blocks” (Williams). This is Collegio at Seattle Prep – or at least after we revised the curriculum this summer. In my junior Collegio with the focus on American History, we take essential questions and a theme for each unit and it builds upon the previous unit. In many ways, we stick with the question of what it means to be an American and who gets included in the definition? As we move from the Revolutionary Era to the Civil War we start to see very clearly that the North and South view the definition differently and that African-Americans are not included. Then the students get to wrestle with the theme of power (politically, militarily, economically and socially) and how that influences the definition. The units are not about names and dates; they are about ideas and concepts.

A Water Class or Concept Class?

This continues with my senior course called Ecology, Economics, and Ethics: The Global Water Crisis as we teach students to become advocates of change. The course features the issues surrounding water, but it isn’t really about that. We could teach the course on hunger, disease, religion, forgiveness or any other multitude of topics. The theme is how do seniors in high school learn to combat the system and become agents of change? How do they advocate for the disadvantaged? We simply use the content to teach those skills. This is concept learning at its best and it makes me very proud to be a part of it.

Innovating Beyond EALRs (EDU 6526)

This week’s readings and discussion on the inductive model of teaching and innovation in relation to Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs) in the state of Washington seems to have polarized the class in many ways. Many teachers in our group seem to yearn for the chance or freedom to use inductive learning as created and developed by Hilda Taba (Dell’Olio), they feel stifled by curriculum documents, school districts, and above all EALRs. Others seem to think that the EALRs simply provide a guide that we can follow in order to teach the students. In fact, we can use inductive teaching techniques and ideas like those of Charlotte Mason’s to reach our students and ultimately reach those EALRs.

I struggle with the balance between these two viewpoints that seem to be emerging in our discussion group. As a teacher at a private school that attempts to stretch students beyond the “normal” limits in the classroom, I am given the autonomy to use innovative teaching models like those introduced by Taba. I spend a lot of time in my classroom emphasizing critical thinking, thus inductive teaching works very well for me. As Dell’Olio and Delk state in Models of Teaching, “During Inductive Model lessons, teachers can assess the quality of students’ critical thinking and then use this information to design additional lessons to further specific skills” (Dell’Olio, 170). Yet as a private school teacher, I get the sense from this group that I am lucky. I don’t get the same kind of scripted curriculum and pressure to conform to it that some other teachers seem to face. In this same idea, the EALRs cannot be our ultimate guiding force in the classroom. We must teach learning and critical thinking and then we will reach the EALRs. Charlotte Mason states: “Teachers deprecate their office when they do the work of learning for the child by preparing lessons that have been diluted, predigested, and are void of thought… meals of sawdust.  The work of the teacher is secured in preparing lessons with ‘prophetic power of appeal and inspiration.’  The communion develops from mind to mind, and the teacher acts as guide, philosopher, and companion.” (Mason). In order to be these companions we cannot focus on that end goal of EALRs – we must use innovative teaching techniques as describes in this week’s reading in order to to inspire and prepare. It is essential.

References

Dell’Olio J.M.. & Donk. T. (2007). Models of Teaching: Connecting Student Learning with Standards. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Effective Teaching: Not One Philosophy or Instructional Strategy (EDU6526)

As we wrap up the first week in Survey of Instructional Strategies, the class readings and discussion provided a great overview of what it means to be a good teacher. Although it may not have been originally designed in this manner, I interpret this information to be all the various sources that lead to good teaching. So what does this mean? I believe that there isn’t one instructional strategy provided by Marzano that should be used much more than any other. The key to good teaching is using the variety of strategies effectively to engage students in material and push them to think critically, especially at the high school level. In the same way, a teacher should pick and choose aspects of the various philosophies of education as outlined in Jeanine M. Dell’Olio and Tony Donk’s book Models of Teaching. To stick exclusively to one type of philosophy does not make an effective teacher who makes a positive impact.

In reflecting on my three years of experience as a Social Studies teacher at Seattle Prep, I can see my own philosophy embedded in almost every philosophy outlined in the Models of Teaching text. There are times I find myself sticking to the academic rationalism approach (Dell’Olio, 29) and ensuring students understand content, especially with my freshmen taking Western Civilization. However, I rarely stand at the front and lecture. I tend to look to the maieutic method while providing questions and cues as Marzano states in his text Classroom Instruction that Works. As both texts state, higher level questions provide students with the opportunity to analyze information and come to their own conclusions on significance (Marzano, 112, Dell’Olio, 30). This is vitally important in a history classroom. I refuse to allow my students to be passive learners. I constantly ask them “so what”? Why does it matter that Sparta treated women better than Athens when comparing city states in Greek civilization? Why does it matter that the North won the Battle of Gettysburg?

At other times I look toward the cognitive processing model of teaching students how to learn or how to think (Dell’Olio, 31). In many ways, this is essential to a Jesuit education. We strive to graduate students who embody the profile of a graduate at graduation which means they are intellectually competent, open to growth, loving, spiritually alive, and committed to justice. For students to reach this profile, they must learn how learn not just content. This is essential. At the same time, I believe I must develop positive, healthy relationships with students in my classes. This fits right in with the self-actualization philosophy in which I take into account the affective domain or feelings and beliefs of my students before I ever reach content or skill development (Dell’Olio, 37). And the list goes on and on. To be the most effective teacher possible, I cannot limit myself to one philosophy or one instructional strategy. I must utilize them all at the right moments so that my students are positively impacted as much as possible. I do this by listening, being attentive, asking questions of students and other teachers and being open to growth myself. It isn’t a static process; it is ever dynamic and I love every minute of it.

References

Dell’Olio J.M.. & Donk. T. (2007). Models of Teaching: Connecting Student Learning with Standards. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

Marzano, R.J., Pickering, D.J., & Pollock, J.E. (2001). Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Introduction (EDU 6524)

My name is Brian Elsner and I am taking this course as part of the Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) portion of the Alternative Routes to Certification program at Seattle Pacific University. I am 31 years old and happily married to my wife Dana for almost two years now. On May 2 we welcomed our first child, Lincoln, into the world and it has been a fantastic ride so far!

My son Lincoln and I

I will be entering my fourth year teaching at Seattle Prep. I teach in the Social Studies department and serve a number of different roles on campus. We have a class called Collegio for freshmen, sophomores, and juniors that is an integrated English and History course. I teach both freshmen and juniors. Additionally, I helped design the curriculum for a senior course that is now one year old called Senior Seminar. My particular seminar is Ecology, Economics and Ethics and focuses on the global water crisis, while serving as a capstone to the four year experience at Seattle Prep. It focuses on the ideals of a Jesuit education and how students can become agents of change in the world. As I helped in the formation of this course, I used backward design to develop this curriculum. While this proved to be rewarding, working with three other teachers proved to be very challenging (especially the one who said he didn’t believe in backward design). I am looking forward to seeing how it compares to this class as well.

 

Additionally I am the Associate Head Coach of our boys varsity basketball team, serve as National History Day coordinator, freshmen class moderator, tech committee member and on a diversity committee as well. This keeps me very busy at Seattle Prep! I completed the ARC certificate portion this school year and look forward to completing my Masters this summer.