Personal Action Research Plan Part 2

Part E Ways I Will Collect Data to Gain Insights into My Wondering

            There are four ways I plan to collect data in order to learn ways that I can effectively assess my students’ Science Notebooks.  I plan to survey my students, interview other educators, choose a focus group, and keep field notes.  I believe these strategies will give me the most insight into my wondering and hopefully help me find ways to use the Science Notebook with my students as an effective assessment tool.

I will create a survey to find out what my students think about using the science notebook as a tool for assessment. I will create a simple survey that asks my students questions about their science journals, the assessments, and feedback they are given. This will give me insight as to what my students think and feel about them. I believe this is the most important way to collect data for my project because it involves my students and allows them to have a voice. 

According to Dana & Yendol-Hoppey, “Teacher talk is important” (2009, p. 84). To accomplish this, I will interview other science teachers to find out how they effectively assess their students’ science journals. I think this is very important and will be a practical data collection strategy because other teachers may have great ideas about using the science journals for assessment. There is no need to recreate the wheel if other teachers already have figured out ways that work well.

I will choose a certain group of students as a focus group for my action research.  This will allow me to really look deeply at using the notebooks to assess their science performance.  I will choose no more than five students of varying ability levels to make sure that the science notebook is an effective assessment for all of my students.  It would be overwhelming to try to keep data on the whole class so I believe that it is practical to choose a focus group.  This will be an effective way to gather the data I need.

I will also use field notes to keep a record of “what is occurring without commenting as to why the action might be occurring” (Dana & Yendol-Hoppey, 2009, p. 74).  This will be a helpful way to analyze what is actually happening without letting my opinion get in the way.  I will make notes about the Science Journals that my students are using as assessments and record the data.  I believe this will be more effective than a reflective journal because it will give me a log of what is actually happening and give me the opportunity to replay it in my mind. Then I can think about what worked well and what did not work well and why.

Part F How I Will Analyze My Data

            As Dana and Yendol-Hoppey suggest, “Using multiple sources of data can enhance your inquiry as you gain different perspectives from different strategies” (2009, p. 112).  I used the process of triangulation to design my plan for data collection.  I will look closely at all of my different data sources in order to gain insight into my wondering. 

            The quality of my data sources will be dependent on many different factors.  I plan to survey all of my students to find out what they think about using the Science Notebooks for assessment.  The data that I collect from the surveys will vary depending on the literacy level of the students, and the amount of honesty and thought they put into it.  When I interview teachers who use the Science Notebooks to assess their students it will be important for me to ask them questions to find out how often they have their students use the Science Notebooks and ask to see examples of assessed student work from them.  The focus group that I choose will make a big difference in the data that I collect.  I will need to carefully choose students of varying abilities to make sure that different types of learners are represented in the data I collect.  I will analyze the field notes that I record and compare them to my focus groups Science Notebook entries.          

As I start to look at my data closely and begin to analyze it I know I will find discrepancies.  I know that I will learn different things from my students when they complete their surveys, than what I will learn from interviewing other teachers who currently use Science Notebooks to effectively assess their students.  Although both of these data sources are very important, more than likely I collect very different types of data from each group. 

Part G My Plan for Writing My Action Research

            I plan to write about what I learned from my research after I have finished collecting and analyzing my data.  I anticipate this happening by December of 2011.  It is my hope to have a solid answer to my inquiry question and feel confident and comfortable using my students’ Science Notebooks to effectively assess their learning at this date.  After I have formally written up my action research I plan to share my story with others so that they can learn from my experience.

Part H My Plan for Sharing My Action Research with Colleagues

I plan to share my research story with the staff members at my school, the other science lead teachers in my school district, and with anyone who will take the time to read my science education blog.  I will have the opportunity to share my findings during my weekly team meetings with my grade level, during staff meetings with the whole school, and at my science lead teacher meetings.  I think it is most important for me to share my findings with the other science lead teachers in my school district because they too are very passionate about teaching science.  Many of these teachers may already be using Science Notebooks and have found effective ways to assess them regularly.  Talking with others about my action research will allow me to reflect on my project and learn from others.  I feel very comfortable talking with and sharing my research story with my colleagues at school, however as Jack Hughes said, sharing with others can be “intimidating” (Laureate Education, Inc, 2010).  I am willing to risk sharing my findings with others because this will give me the opportunity to get feedback from other teachers and “utilize their expertise” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2010).  I think that my research story will impact others by allowing them to see the possibilities of using the Science Notebook in their classrooms as an effective tool to assess their students.

Part I Tentative Timeline for Implementing My Action Research Plan

I plan to start working on my action research plan when I go back to school this fall.  I am currently on maternity leave and will be returning to work in the middle of September.  I will use my first few weeks back at school to make sure my students understand how to use the Science Journal.  I will follow the calendar below to implement my action research plan. 

Month	Goals
October 2011	Survey my students and review responses – look for “patterns and trends” (Dana & Yendol-Hoppey, 2009, p. 97) Choose a focus group – no more than five students Interview science teachers that already use Science Notebooks Start keeping field notes while students are using Science Notebooks
November 2011	Continue keeping field notes Analyze my data
December 2011	Write up my action research Share my findings with my colleagues at grade level meetings, staff meetings, and science lead teacher meetings