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ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT
Action Research Project
Biology Intervention Program
E. Juliana Carter
Michigan State University
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Abstract
This action research looks at the influence of incorporating small group reviews and
graphic organizers to reduce the time students struggling in biology take to complete an
after-school intervention program. This study draws upon the interference theory, prior
research on a similar Response to Intervention (RtI) program and the effectiveness of
classroom strategies such as graphic organizers. This proposed course of action aimed to
help prevent students from taking excessively long in the intervention program and fall
behind in biology and consequently other subjects. This research also highlights the
significance of small group work and peer collaboration among high school students in
helping them achieve content proficiency and experience success. This action research
relied on the use of test scores, student surveys and journal observations as the main
sources of data. Limitations to this research included the small group size, lack of control
over what and how the content material is presented, and the short period of time in
which the research was conducted. This paper also presents recommendations for other
future research.
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Biology Intervention Program
Godwin Heights High School in Wyoming, Michigan developed an intervention
program with the intention of improving the academic performance of struggling high
school students. Students who fail to score a 70% or better in their core subject’s unit
tests will be automatically placed in the intervention program. The pilot program began
with the ninth grade class last year, this year the intervention program expanded in order
to also incorporate the tenth grade class. This intervention takes place during the last hour
of the day, and the students are given two weeks to complete their assignments and retake the test for the unit. In addition, if a student is assigned to three interventions or
more, s/he has to stay an additional hour every day until the interventions are completed.
One issue that we encountered last year is that many students who are in intervention for
one subject, are likely to also be placed in interventions for other subjects at around the
same time.
This research is centered on improving biology test scores by reducing the amount
of time students take to complete intervention through the implementation of productive
small group review lessons. For the purpose of this study, students will be guided on
identifying and organizing the main ideas of a unit during these review sessions. This
instructional scaffolding process can be done through the use of graphic organizers and
small group work with the guidance of the instructor and as well as peer collaboration.
The strategy I developed for my action research project is as follows: Will providing
graphic organizers and small group work to 9th grade biology students who are placed in
intervention reduce the amount of time they take complete each unit, and what impact
would this have on test scores.
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Theoretical Framework
In some cases, students who are placed in multiple interventions may end up
working on the material to pass a test for a unit that was covered months ago, especially
if they take the full two weeks to complete the other ones. Consequently, students may
become overwhelmed and/or confused with the content that is being covered during the
regular class time. The closer students are able to review the content material from the
time it was first presented in the classroom to the intervention, the more likely they are to
remember it during their test. The interference theory states that as you add new
information, a conflict develops between the old and new information causing you to
forget it or confuse it (Tomlinson, 2012). Modeling study strategies and actively
engaging 9th grade biology students in the learning process will help them learn the
material and move faster through intervention.
Literature Review
I have sorted the articles I found on using the MSU Library website based on
previous research of Response to Intervention programs, the Interference Theory and the
strategies I want to use in my test reviews during intervention. The first article I chose
highlights the positive results of a Response to Intervention program (RTI) implemented
to assist struggling students in secondary schools. The second article is a general
overview to the Interference Theory; which, I want to use as evidence to illustrate the
importance of students reviewing content material as close to the time is was presented
during class as possible. The remaining articles are centered on specific instructional
strategies that help students organize, compare, contrast and synthesize important content
ideas.
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RtI: Response to Intervention
Godwin Heights High School is comprised of an ethnically diverse student
population, the majority of which is Hispanic and African-American, and receives free or
reduced lunch. Historically, minority students in low-income schools are at a greater risk
of overrepresentation in special education programs. Pam L. Epler-Brooks further
illustrates this concern of special education misplacement in her definition of RtI: “The
premise of this initiative is to attempt a wide variety of instructional strategies, such as
classroom instruction, pull-out services, and tutoring, prior to recommending that the
student be tested for special education services (Epler-Brooks, 2011, p. 24). RtI programs
can help prevent misidentification of exceptional students because they offer additional
instructional support that can help students master the content and experience success.
Response to Intervention (RtI) programs, like the one taking place at Godwin
Heights, created with the purpose of identifying students who are at risk of falling behind,
makes available additional time and resources to improve their academic performance.
This remarkable contribution to increased student achievement provided by an
intervention program has been experienced by many other secondary schools around the
nation. Two Ohio secondary schools that currently use somewhat similar RtI models
were studied and data was collected from interviews, classroom observations and student
assessment scores showing it effectiveness in improving academic performance.
Furthermore, this study also showed how Response to Intervention programs should be
developed to satisfy the specific needs of the school and include both professional
development and administrative support (Epler-Brooks, 2011).
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The interference theory
The interference theory illustrates how learning new material creates a conflict
between the old and the new information causing you to confuse it or forget it. In
learning to forget: An interference theory of cue-independent forgetting, Tracy
Tomlinson describes the classic interference theory of forgetting: “Classic interference
theories posit the inability to retrieve a target memory is caused by other memories
competing for access with the target memory” (Tomlinson, 2009, p. 4). This theory
suggests that students are likely to experience difficulty or become confused when trying
to retrieve previously learned information if new information is presented
simultaneously. I am confident that it would be most beneficial to the students if they go
over the unit’s content material and re-take their tests as close to the time the information
was first presented in class as possible.
Graphic Organizers to Increase Student Achievement
In conjunction with reviewing the content material, I realize the importance of
modeling different instructional strategies that can help students comprehend the material
and make connections among key concepts. Concept diagrams; for instance, are visual
tools that allow students to summarize difficult concepts. This design organizes the main
ideas of the concept, provides evidence that support it, and identify attributes and/or
examples. The Comparison-and-Contrast Matrix is another type of graphic organizer that
allows students to distinguish and organize the differences and similarities found on a
text (Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2011). Graphic organizers as described by Carol Watson
are effective instructional strategies that expand student content knowledge, promote
meaningful learning and help identify and correct misconceptions (Watson, 2005).
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Modeling different instructional strategies is intended to be part of the beginning of the
intervention process. Students should be able to eventually recreate these strategies on
their own and across all other subject areas (Fergus, 2006).
Research regarding the use of graphic organizers provides evidence of its
effectiveness in improving comprehension. Daniel Robinson explains the clear advantage
of using graphic organizers to learn material: “Graphic Organizers appear in a form that
requires minimal computation or untangling by the learner to discover relations among
concepts or the text's structure” (Robinson, 1995). Students deepen their knowledge of
the material by learning to effectively construct and utilize graphic organizers. This was
demonstrated by Robinson’s research study in which the students who used graphic
organizers to learn concepts outperformed the students who did not. Students attributed
their success to the graphic organizers’ reader friendly structure and the display or
hierarchical and contrastive relations among concepts.
Group Collaboration
Given the fact that students are required to complete a packet prior to being
allowed to take their test during intervention, small group collaboration can not only
speed up the process but also improve content understanding. A study conducted by
Robyn Gillies concluded that students who work together in structured small-groups
benefit from long-term academic and social skills (Gillies, 2003). Students are likely to
enjoy and view small group work as productive in science resulting in increased student
achievement. The use of small group in science accompanied by teacher support can help
students develop positive views about it, and increase its overall effectiveness (WoodsMcConney, Wosnitza & Donetta, 2011).
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Class Discussion
After students complete their packets and construct the graphic organizers
summarizing the unit’s key concepts, they will then be asked to actively participate in an
a question-answer session to further prepare them for the test. Research has shown the
positive impact of class discussion “Discussions force students to search for their own
answers, give students practice in expressing their own ideas, increase their appreciation
for complexity and diversity, and develop their listening, cognitive, and critical skills
(Hollander, 2002). Constructive class discussions can potentially improve critical
thinking, increase understanding, answer questions and clarify misunderstandings. All of
these characteristics can definitely improve test scores and get students out of
intervention.
Summary
The intervention model being used at Godwin Heights High School appears to be
very promising as compared to other similar secondary schools Response to Intervention
programs (RtI). My researched supported the vision behind providing struggling
secondary students with additional time and resources to reach proficiency. Furthermore,
continuous support through early intervention may keep students from being erroneously
placed in special education.
Based on my literature findings, students benefit from testing on a timely manner
as it prevents conflict between old and new information. Content mastery in intervention
can be achieved in a shorter amount of time through effective instructional strategies.
Graphic organizers; for instance, encourage students to synthesize and evaluate
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information. Students also benefit from the visual organization of complex scientific
concepts that are difficult to understand.
Small group work and class discussion stimulates learning and encourages
students to demonstrate understanding. This cooperative way of learning promotes
critical thinking and allows students to demonstrate what they know. The entire
intervention process offers students the tools to master the content they struggle with and
experience academic success. The results of the program from last year along with the
research I performed for the purposes of this project give me confidence about its
effectiveness.
I have little control over what and how content material is covered in class and
what questions are asked on the tests. After my research, I am unable to determine the
impact this absence of control will have during the intervention process. Also, the
research shows the importance of providing further support to students who are truly
struggling with the content, but says little about students who are placed in intervention
due to a lack of motivation.
Research Design
Godwin Heights High School is comprised of mostly Hispanic and African
American students with a small Caucasian percentage. The student population I see
during intervention is representative of the school’s demographics. During the day, I
assist in five different biology classes, and I lead the seventh hour intervention for all of
these courses and two others. One of my courses consists moistly of special Ed students
and many of them are not placed in intervention. All of the biology courses are offered to
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the close to 160 ninth grade students with a very few exceptions (very few biology
students are Sophomores, Juniors of Seniors).
The numbers of students in intervention vary depending on the unit. I generally
see seven or eight students at the time for a particular unit, and as some finish with the
intervention process, others are just coming in. Regardless of when the students enter the
biology intervention, the process and material used is the same. For unit two, the unit I
used to collect my data, we had a total of 35 students for five of the seven biology
courses. Not all of the 35 students; however, came to the intervention at once since some
were already working on interventions for other subjects.
I chose to conduct a research that incorporates both, a qualitative and a
quantitative approach. An observational case study design for my qualitative data along
with a descriptive design for my quantitative data was used during the development of the
action research. My qualitative data collection technique consisted of short answer
surveys given at the end of intervention as well as a journal, and my quantitative data
collection techniques consisted of the students’ pre and post assessments. Qualitative data
gave me the opportunity to gain understanding about how students feel about the
intervention process and ideas of improvement. It also allowed me to reflect on my own
observations of the process. Quantitative data allowed me to measure student progress.
All of the different data collection methods increased the reliability of my action research
project. During this research, all of the students’ identities were protected using
pseudonyms.
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Data Collection Methods
The group selected for this research was composed of six 9-grade students who
came in to intervention to work on a unit on biochemistry. These students came from
different class periods, but were assigned to biology intervention at the same time and
had no other schedule conflicts. While doing the research other students were also in the
classroom working on a different unit or came in at a later time to also work on the
biochemistry unit. The biology teacher, also present in the classroom during intervention,
mostly assisted the students who were not part of this research.
The data collected for this study included the scores from the first test students
took during class and did not pass with a 70% of better and the post-test for the same
unit. Both tests were developed to incorporate the same content material but contained
different questions and/or different answer options. A short-answer survey was given to
all of the students participating in the research. In this surveys students were asked
opinion-based questions regarding the intervention process. A daily journal was the last
data collection technique utilized during this research. In this journal, classroom
observations as well as impressions of the process were recorded.
The limitations of my study included the limited size of the group of students
chosen for the research. The very small group size made it more difficult to generalize
about the rest of the students placed in intervention. Another limitation was the data
collected in the journal. Given that the focus of the research was centered on the efficacy
of group reviews and graphic organizers, not enough observational data was collected in
the journal to significantly substantiate the findings of the research.
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Findings
The first day of intervention students were reminded of classroom procedures and
were given a packet to be completed before they were allowed to retake their tests. The
practice work packet was collected at the end of intervention each day and return to the
students in the beginning of the next day to ensure students would not lose it and have to
start all over again. The intervention packet included practice sheets containing the
content material for the unit as well as blank sheets that were later used to take notes and
build the graphic organizers. The reminder of the class period was spent taking notes that
summarized the main ideas of the unit. The following day, students were shown how to
construct a graphic organizer on the smart board. A section of the content material
(carbohydrates, one of the four building molecules of life) from the unit was utilized for
this modeling activity. Next, students were divided into two groups of three and were
asked to construct a graphic organizer that included each of the other three building
molecules of life; lipids, proteins and nucleic acids.
During the third day, all of the six students worked together to construct a graphic
organizer that summarized the main ideas of the entire biochemistry unit. Students
followed by working in pairs to complete the practice sheets from the intervention packet.
During the fourth day students finished their packets, as required by the intervention
program, and two out of the six students felt ready to test. Student A and student B both
took the retake and both passed with a score of 86%. The remainder of students decided
to further prepare for their test by making flash cards of the information that they
considered to be the most difficult. During day five the four remaining students retook
their tests. All four students passed their test with the grades shown in the table below.
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Student A
63
Test Score After
Intervention (%)
86
Student B
51
86
Student C
49
77
Student D
40
74
Student E
63
81
Student F
61
94
Initial Test Score (%)
During the time students were working in small groups or individually making
graphic organizers or flash cards, I walked around guiding the process and/or answering
questions. This time was also used to make observations and take notes in my journal.
Some of the comments collected consisted of observations such as the one made during
the first day “I perceive that most of the students did not seemed very excited to be in
intervention; however, they actively participated in answering questions based on what
they already knew from class during the note-taking session”. I noticed there was a lack
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of behavior issues, which I attributed to the small group size. I also noted to make sure to
encourage students every day in order to increase their confidence about learning the
content and passing their test in a timely manner.
During the rest of the week I used a note pad, which I used while interacting with
the students to write down any notes that could give me a sense of the efficiency of the
research approach I had chosen. Some of the observations that were made described how
students were less familiar with graphic organizers than what I had anticipated. I also
observed that students seemed to really enjoy working in small groups, but tended to
become distracted with side conversations that did not pertain to the subject. Students
were more prone to answer questions in the small group scenario, and each group had one
student who seemed to take the lead and was more comfortable answering questions. It
was an advantage to have a small group of students who were not absent during this
intervention; they all seemed eager to finish their packets so that they could retest;
however, they did not test until they felt prepared to do so.
My last data collection technique was the use of student surveys. The exit survey
given to students included semi-structured as well as open-ended questions. The types of
questions allowed the students to share their perspective about their experience while in
intervention as well as their opinion about the group review sessions and the use of
graphic organizers. The following data collected from the surveys is organized by
question and matched to a specific student.
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Student
A
“Yes
because
they
helped
me study
and I got
out fast”
Student
B
“Yes
because
they
made it
were it
was
easier to
understand it
than just
saying
something I
wouldn’t
get”
Student
C
“Yes it
did, it is
better to
have
interactive
learning
than just
doing it
yourself”
Student
D
“Yes they
do
because I
can feel
like I can
ask more
questions”
Student
E
“Yes
because
she
helped us
review
the
problems
we didn’t
understand”
Student
F
“Yes, she
helped
me a lot.
Because
of her I
passed
my test”
Do you think
that graphic
organizers
(concept maps)
helped you
prepare for the
test? Why or
why not?
“Yes
because
they had
all of the
information we
needed”
“Yes it is
way
easier to
study”
“Yes it
helped
me think
way
faster”
“Yes they
are better
because
the
information is
organized”
“Yes
because
it shows
the most
important
information that
you need
to know”
“Yes, the
concept
maps are
easy to
read so
you
understand
better”
Do you think
that
completing the
packet helped
you prepare
for your test?
Why or why
not?
What aspects
of the biology
intervention
did you like?
“Yes
because
it let me
study”
“Yes
because
it had
similar
questions
from the
test”
“Yes
because
it was
like a big
review
packet”
“Yes, it
helped
for what
you got
wrong
the first
time”
“Yes it
did
because I
understand it
better”
“Yes
because
when I
write I
remember
better”
“Just the
idea of
letting
students
have that
extra
hour at
the end of
the day to
try and
pass what
“Having
another
chance to
retake
and the
help and
time to
do my
test”
“Reviews
and
retake
notes”
“It helps
us pass
are tests
and get a
better
grade”
“When
they
helped
me
understa
nd
better”
“That we
got help
and we
got to
study
with the
teacher
before
taking the
test”
Do you think
that the group
reviews lead by
the teacher/
intervention
specialist
during
intervention
helped you
prepare for the
test? Why or
why not?
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What aspects
of the biology
intervention
did you dislike
What is your
overall opinion
of the
intervention
process?
they
failed”
“Its after
school”
“It really
helps to
pass your
class”
“We had
to study”
“We
can’t go
home
right way
because
we have
to stay in
intervene
-tion”
“Being in “I
there for didn’t”
a long
time”
“It’s
boring
but at the
end we
are
happy
because
we got a
better
grade”
“It can
“It helps
help you you when
catch up” you
really
need it”
“It was
good and
got me
ready for
the test,
boring
but
helpful”
“Good
but the
only
problem
is it’s
after
school
and it
ends at
3:10”
“It helps
you a lot
understand the
subject
better”
Discussion
The evidence suggests that incorporating small group work as well as graphic
organizes to the traditional intervention process can have a meaningful impact in student
achievement. 100% of the students passed their test in half of the time suggested to
complete intervention for any of the core subjects for which intervention was developed.
All of the six students passed their tests with a 74% or better within a week of starting
intervention. Furthermore, the answers from the surveys indicate that 100% of the
students were satisfied with the overall intervention process. All six students stated that
they found the graphic organizers to be helpful in learning the material. 100% of them
also attributed their success to the practice work packet and the small group reviews.
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My observations, while limited, substantiated the value in providing additional
support to struggling students. This instruction, which was tailored to support smaller a
group of students, proved to be a considerably more effective approach than the
intervention alone. Although, students were not enthusiastic about the idea of having to
stay after school for an additional hour to complete intervention to begin with, they
quickly realized that this process is in place to help them become successful in all of the
core subjects required by the state of Michigan to pass in order to graduate.
The biology teacher chooses the practice work contained in the intervention
packet, and it is based on the content material and activities selected by and covered by
the teacher in the classroom. My science background; however, allowed me to provide
sufficient content material support to all of the students during the small group reviews
and the construction of the graphic organizers. And because I am present during regular
class time I was well aware of what specific content the students were expected to learn.
The lack of input during the planning and instruction aspects of the regular class time was
compensated by the extraordinary collaborative efforts between the biology teacher and I.
This action research approach is somewhat unrealistic, as I often have to work
with other students that are working on interventions for different units at the same time.
For the purposes of this action research project, I was able to focus on this small group of
students during the whole week while the biology teacher assisted other students in the
classroom. Nevertheless, there could be around thirty students placed in intervention at
any given time; thus making it difficult to focus on a small group of students. In addition,
students are often working on a different unit and/or portion of their packets, which
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becomes challenging when trying to tailor instruction that would fit everyone in the
classroom.
It is important to take into consideration that students often skip intervention; this
makes it difficult to have a smooth transition from day to day and sets back the purpose
of completing the intervention in a shorter period of time. Additionally, The information
collected in the journal did not provide sufficient insight, videotaping would be a more
effective method in collecting accurate data. It would be important to also incorporate
other subjects in any future research. Measuring several students’ progress for a longer
period of time across different subjects when students are placed in more than one
intervention would provide additional evidence of the importance of completing these in
a timely manner.
Students that do not experience success often, receive a boost of confidence from
a program such as this one. This additional instructional support ensures that students do
not fall further and further behind and that they stay in track to graduate, this is especially
significant in low-income or at-risk schools around the nation. The action research
project has significantly influenced the way I do things in the classroom. I have become
more aware of the importance of reflecting on my practice and what I can/should do to
improve it.
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References
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