Assessment 1 b
- 3. ADDRESSING AN INTERESTING ASPECT My research was based around the different strategies implemented to cater for the diversity of learners and learning styles in the classroom. An interesting aspect of my research was a case of a student in a Stage 3 classroom who was working at an Early Stage 1 level as a result of extremely low attendance records.
- 4. THE CHALLENGES EXPERIENCED Having a student with low attendance and working at an extremely low level in comparison to other students was a challenge in itself. Some of the other challenges included: • Planning an almost completely different program for a student – whether they were there to complete it or not • Finding and implementing a variety of strategies to cater for her learning and to help her understand the content • Assessments – if the student was present on the day of an assessment but not for the rest of the time, it was difficult for myself as the classroom teacher and for her Generally, there were challenges in the research conducted, but these were the specific challenges. It was a challenge to conduct research with such a great opportunity for a target student when it was unknown if she would be at school on that day.
- 5. IMPLICATIONS FOR CLASSROOM PRACTICE There are a variety and huge range of implications for teachers and students for classroom practice in regards to the implementation of strategies to cater for the variety of learners, as well as those learners who do have low attendance.
- 6. IMPLICATIONS FOR CLASSROOM PRACTICE CONT. TEACHERS STUDENTS • Effective delivery of content and learning • Learning what strategies can be used in different KLAs • Knowing the students and how they learn – what strategies work and what strategies don’t • Smooth running lessons with effective learning opportunity • Learning needs and styles are catered for when strategies are implemented • Participation in a range of learning experiences
- 7. RESOLUTION FOR THE PARTICULAR CHALLENGE Although this student was only at the school for five weeks of my placement, I only saw her about six or seven times, which was unfortunate. As a resolution to my challenges, I sought out assistance from my Associate Teacher and began implementing some of the strategies she used, which was much more helpful – not only with the student with low attendance, but all students in the classroom.
- 9. IDENTIFYING THE EDUCATIONAL PROBLEM
- 10. GAPS IN THE LITERATURE REVIEW The major gaps in the literature consist of the definitions held by different scholars and their interpretations of the make-up of the physical classroom settings. The major gap in the methodologies is that they are all qualitative methods with no incentives of quantitative methods.
- 11. GAPS IN THE LITERATURE REVIEW CONT. The gaps and tensions in the research taken out in relation to self-regulation, persistence and motivation holds a significance in the age of the resources and whether they are still reliable in the 21st century, as well as previously mentioned, all of the resources being qualitative methods. The gaps in the literature can be noted to say that there was little mentioning of the effectiveness of these strategies.
- 12. DESIGNING A RESEARCH QUESTION Designing a research question was more of a process than I thought it would be. Luckily, the research question I ended up putting together was something that could be related to in all educational contexts. This meant I didn’t have to do much altering once I was actually implementing the research. Research question: What strategies can be implemented to cater for the diversity of learners in the classroom?
- 13. IDENTIFYING A RESEARCH METHOD Interpretive paradigm The information gathering that will be evident and implemented in the proposed action research will consist of a naturalistic inquiry using qualitative approaches, which are both extensive and diverse (Stringer, 2004). The methods used will include an open-ended answer survey, interviews and observation. Through the implementation of these qualitative methodologies, the participants in the study will all be able to take place in the research and make it a more reliable action research. Stringer (2004, p. 38) also made note that “one of the major strengths of qualitative research is its ability to allow researchers to tentatively state the problem, then refine and then reframe the study by continuing iterations of the look-think-act research cycle.” The action research will aim to be an unbiased and reliable information gathering process to deliver quality information.
- 14. IMPLEMENTING A RESEARCH METHOD Implementing the research methods that have been mentioned was a time- taking process. Unfortunately, my first few weeks of placement were quite unsettled, however, the research methods were carried out in time to get on top of things. Observation – from beginning of placement and throughout Semi-structured interview – 17th August, 2015 Surveys – 21st August, 2015
- 15. DESIGNING AN INTERVENTION When it came to designing an intervention, I had to think really hard about what strategies had been working really well for not only me, but the students as well. I chose to use a variety of different techniques and activities in lessons to see what students responded best to.
- 16. COLLECTING DATA
- 19. IMPLEMENTING AN INTERVENTION Through sticking with the strategies that were working best for me, I found that as the time went on students were responding much better to lesson delivery and content. I kept students in their groupings for different topics and KLAs, which was an effective strategy. By carrying out the surveys, I was able to find out what the majority of students preferred to do in their lessons in regards to learning. The evidence of implementing strategies to cater for the diversity of learners is shown in the assessment tasks and records that were carried out throughout my placement.
- 20. REFERENCE LIST Dweck, C. S., & Leggett, E. L. (1988). Goals: An Approach to Motivation and Achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 256-273. Foreman, P., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2014). Inclusion in Action. South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Australia. Miller, R. B., Behrens, J. T., & Greene, B. A. (1993). Contemporary Educational Psychology. Oklahoma: Department of Educational Physchology. Ramli, N. H., Ahmad, S., Taib, M. Z., & Masri, M. (2015). Principals' Perception on Classroom Physical Environemtn. Retrieved May 31, 2015 from Science Direct: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042814055025 Sideridis, G. D., & Kaplan, A. (2011, August 16). Achievement Goals and Persistence Across Tasks: The Roles of Failure and Success. The Journal od Experiemental Education , 429- 451. Stringer, E. (2004). Action Research in Education. Upper Saddle River: Pearson. Yang, Z., Becerik-Gerber, B., & Mino, L. (2015). A study on student perceptions of higher education classrooms: Impact of classroom attributes on student satisfaction and performance. Retrieved May 31, 2015 from Elsevier: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/building-and-environment