The Research Design; Developing an Action Plan for Your Inquirey

“The Research Design – Developing an Action Plan for Your Inquiry”: Chapter 5 Falk & Blumenreich

I decided to use “Figure 5-3. Student Response Form” found on page 82 to structure my reflection on chapter 5 from Falk & Blumenreich’s The Power of Questions; A Guide to Teacher and Student Research.

From this session/class [chapter – “The Research Design …”] I take away:

• ·         The subquestions are key to the whole project so everything should be designed to answer these questions, including the selection of the study group, the types of data, the setting, the timeline, and the method of analysis.
• ·         The research plan may change and transform though the course of the project.

I really liked:

·         On page 60, Falk & Blumenreich wrote “Just as the ideas and interactions of your students influence and alter your curriculum plans in the classroom, the data you collect during the course of your inquiry should inform and shape how you proceed.”  I think the most surprising and challenging thing about teaching is how much planning goes into lessons and then how different the lesson can turn out to be as the interaction with the class, or the interests and curiosity of the students, or the comprehension of the students requires more time, detours, and alterations to the lesson.    Teaching requires much fluidity and flexibility which can be challenging, exciting, or frustrating.  It makes sense that classroom research projects are subjected to the same requirements of constant adaptation.

·         On page 81, I read that “Individual inquiries offer opportunities to experience the power of doing work that is intrinsically motivating.” Whether as a teacher researcher or a student researcher, I think it is a powerful experience to pursue the course of one’s own questions and interests.  I was never the beneficiary of this kind of learner-centered approach, but I have tried to use materials and subject matter that appeal to the individual students that I tutor and to use relevant, and multicultural images, stories, and materials for classes I have subbed for.  I will need more experience and mentoring to better facilitate extending individual inquiry opportunities to my students in the future. 

I am confused about:

·         How shall I analyze the data? Perhaps this is confusing for me because I can not yet envision all the forms of data I will be using.  I anticipate using qualitative data such as interviews and surveys for students and teachers.  I may use quantitative data such as CASAS scores to choose my research participants, though not for the actual research questions.  I will wait and see how the preliminary steps go and expect that the analysis portion will become clearer as the project proceeds.

Questions I have that still need to be answered:

·         What will the timeline be?  The semester is short, and this Classroom Research class has only two solid months left.  What can be accomplished in 8 weeks?  Is there really time to try different strategies to overcome a language learning plateau in such a short time.  I think that if I proceed with this topic, the most I can glean is about the past experiences of students and teachers.

·         Besides interviews and surveys, what other forms of data should I use that would be appropriate for my questions about strategies to overcome language learning plateaus?

Ideas about what to do next:

·         Begin the literature review

·         Write survey and interview questions

·         Identify students to include

·         Identify teachers to include

·         Write a consent form