Afrodita Fuentes
SED 600
04/11/07
Action Research Presentations - Review #3
(Instructions from syllabus: Examination of information in reference to my own research and how
will my research be influenced by this information in presentations?)
The individuals who presented their action research in our class seemed to have chosen a topic
that was relevant and useful to them. One of the topics was to see the effect of web-based homework
on examination performance and study habits of secondary school AP Physics students. The other
topic was student metacognitive learning through the use of objectives lists. My topic will be
something like increasing student motivation and performance through collaborative work and
reciprocal teaching.
Both presenters provided well-defined questions that allowed for data collection. The webbased questions were, “will web-based homework improve student examination performance over
paper-based homework? And will students prefer and devote more time to web-based homework than
to paper-based homework?” The strategies and vehicles used to collect data in this action research
were not very clear, but allowed for the display of many tables with different types of information.
These graphs showed student preference of web-based homework over paper-based homework and
student interest of seeking help from the teacher as well as test performance. The question for the
metacognitive learning presentation was, “with time and practice, does the use of objectives lists
increase a student’s ability to accurately predict his/her test scores?” Again tables and graphs were
used to represent the findings of how students predicted their test scores while using the objectives
lists. I wish I had seen more documents used in data collection to get an idea of something that I
would use in my own action research.
My possible question for action research is, how do collaborative group work affect student
motivation to learn and be able demonstrate what they learn? My goal is to motivate students to learn
science and be able to express what they learn through oral and written language. For students to feel
comfortable and capable, I need to create a warm student-centered classroom supported y a repertoire
of rich strategies and activities that make learning accessible for the variety of learners I find in my
classroom.
The literature review about the sub-topics were clearly stated in both presentations. One of
them included the sub-topics accompanied by references, which was easy to follow. This definitely
broadened and solidified my ideas of my literature review. Based on what I wish to see and
accomplish in my classroom I have chosen to review the following topics: the constructivist model,
collaborative group work, metacognitive learning, and Socratic seminars.
The methodology used to carry out the action research and data collection was not clear. I will
probably conduct my action research in two or three of my biology classes (about 70-100 students). I
am wondering how to go about collecting data for my action research. I will select and update a
couple of rubrics I have created for student presentations. I am still not sure how to measure student
motivation. I need to make sure that the documents I use allow for easy and useful data that can be
represented in tables and graphs.
The findings in both action research presentations were clearly presented. The web-based
homework showed no significant improvement in student achievement, but students preferred it.
Students spent more time during homework and asking for assistance when involved in the web-based
homework. The findings in metacognitive learning concluded that the objective lists help students
develop their metacognition; “they really learned how to learn.”
The presenters made this action research seem very short and manageable, but the information
in the book about Action Research makes it seem more complex. A couple of my concerns are coming
up with the right questions that lead to measurable data, using appropriate activities and strategies to
accomplish my goal, and creating documents that will lead to the collection of appropriate data to
display.