Evaluating Research
Posted onJune 28, 2009
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My recent posts have included a research plan I designed and may be interested in some day implementing. While I am not sure that I will be actively researching any time in the near future, I can be sure that it will be necessary for me to analyze and evaluate educational research and decide on the impact, if any, it will have on my practices. As a more cognizant consumer of educational research I can offer the following as advice for others looking for high quality research. 1. Look for who is conducting, publishing, and funding the research. If there is any indication of conflicts of interest or a sense of unprofessionalism, it is cause to question the research. 2. Be sure that the description indicates not just what was done but why it is important and why it was done the way it was. 3. The research should also clearly describe the conclusions and implications, and not confuse correlation with cause. 4. Be ware of the term scientific research, or overarching claims about what research shows. 5. The research should refer to other literature relevant to the topic, and should provide a variety of sources both in support and in opposition to the hypothesis.
Information summarized from CEP822 and Brian Carpenter’s podcast.
Research Plan
Posted onJune 22, 2009
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Research Question:
What is the effect of student creation of digital stories on their understanding of history concepts in an elementary setting?
Sample:
The sample studied will include two fourth grade classes (I will refer to them as Class A and Class B), 50 total students. The students are 9 and 10 years old. They are a racially and academically diverse group, and there are 25 male students and 25 female students. The classes are located in Okemos, Michigan, a suburban and relatively affluent community. More details will follow, but each group will be taught social studies by the same teacher for two consecutive units.
This sample is useful for this study for several reasons. First is the possibility for the same teacher to instruct both classes so there is not a question about difference in instruction in the results. Also, the diversity found in the classrooms both in ethnicity and academic ability creates an interesting cross section. Although generally the community has high socio economic status, there is also a range of family income levels. The age level is appropriate both for the use of the technology, and when considering using narrative for teaching social studies.
Study Design
For the first unit, The Revolutionary War, Class A will participate in digital stories, and Class B will not. For the second unit, The Civil War, Class B will participate in digital stories and Class A will not. (The unit with the digital stories for each unit will be labeled with an asterisk from this point on.) These units are not consecutive but were chosen because of the similarities in the nature of the content.
Each unit will be taught in a similar fashion with lecture, readings, videos, etc. and a focus on narrative. The difference will be that for one unit each class will be asked to create a digital story based on the content of the unit. Each student will create his or her own story focused on one aspect of the unit. The two classes will be compared against each other for the two separate unit to discern the effects that creating a digital story has on the students’ understanding of the social studies content. This will allow for both classes to experience creating digital stories and give two separate opportunities to observe and analyze differences.
Data Sources
The data for this research study will come from four separate sources, two assessments, and two interviews. The interviews will take place before and after each class’ digital story unit, and the results of each set of interviews will be compared. (Class A: One pre and one post interview for Unit 1. Class B: One pre and one post interview for Unit 2). The assessments will take place at the end of each of the two units for each class. Class A: Test for Unit 1*, Test for Unit 2. Class B: Test for Unit 1. Test for Unit
2*).
Pre-Interview
Before each class begins the unit with digital stories, they will be interviewed to gauge their understanding of the content and their feelings about the previous unit. This pre-interview will include a variety of questions to see where students are before the unit begins.
There will be content specific questions:
What do you know about the Civil War?
Why was the Civil War Important to American History?
What important historical figures can you name from the Civil War?
Also, there will be questions about attitude.
How do you feel about Social Studies?
What is easy about social studies?
What is difficult about social studies?
Assessment
Each class will take a test at the end of each unit. These tests will be the typical tests given at the end of each social studies unit. The tests include multiple choice, matching, and essay questions. The multiple choice and matching questions will cover vocabulary words and other details of the units. The essay questions will be considered more for the purpose of the study and will necessitate more substantial answers.
Essay questions will include:
Describe some of the factors that led to the Civil War?
Describe some of the factors that led to the Revolutionary War?
Post-Interview
After each group has participated and been tested, they will each be re-interviewed. This interview will allow me to see how their understandings and attitudes have changed over the course of the unit. An interview allows for a conversation and students to express more easily (in narrative if needed) what they are thinking, and will generate more complete answers than a survey. The questions will be the same as those listed for the pre-interview, with a few additional questions.
Describe your experience with the test, was it harder or easier than usual? Why?
What is the most important thing you have learned from this unit?
What did you learn from creating a digital story?
Procedure
Class A
Interview students individually before the unit begins.
Begin Unit 1*: The Revolutionary War
Teach Unit
Students work on digital story assignment
Give Assessment for Unit 1*
Interview students after unit individually.
Teach Unit 2: The Civil War
Give Unit 2 Assessment
Class B
Teach Unit 1: The Revolutionary Way
Give Unit 1 Assessment
Interview students before the unit begins
Begin Unit 2*: The Civil War
Teach Unit
Students work on digital story assignment.
Give Students Unit 2 Assessment.
Interview students after unit
This procedure allows for both classes to learn one unit with using the digital stories. It also allows for a variety of information to be collected.
Data Analysis
In order to gauge the effect of the digital stories on student understanding of history content, the following four data comparisons will be made:
1. Class A, Unit 1* Test to Class A, Unit 2 Test
2. Class B, Unit 1 Test to Class B, Unit 2* Text
3. Class A, Unit 1* Pre and Post Interviews
4. Class B, Unit 2* Pre and Post Interviews
Interviews
Notes from interviews will be compared to see how students understanding of content and attitudes changed. Specifically, I will look for students feelings towards social studies and what is difficult and easy, and see if the use of digital narrative changed student opinions.
Post-Assessment
As mentioned above, students will take the standard exam given at the end of each unit, which includes multiple choice, matching, and essay questions. I am interested in the grades on the multiple choice and essay questions and will compare those scores for each group. More careful attention will be paid to student’s answers to the essay questions, which give students a chance to express what they have learned. Using essay rubrics I will evaluate students answers for the details they include and the connections they make between content.
Literature Review
Posted onJune 7, 2009
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In order to answer the question of the effects of digital stories on student’s understanding of history, several related questions must also be considered. First, is using narrative an effective way for students to conceptualize new content? The premise of the proposed research is that allowing students to create their own narrative (through digital storytelling) will give them deeper understandings of history content. My question goes further in suggesting not just that narrative is helpful in learning social studies content, but more specifically that using narrative combined with the multimedia possibilities of digital storytelling will bring about a deeper understanding of content. That requires looking first at how digital stories fit into the classroom generally, and how they impact learning. This literature review will look at what has been published regarding narrative and learning, and how digital stories fit into that framework. It will analyze both the practical aspects of implementing a relatively complex technology project, as well as the learning outcomes that come from such a project.
Narrative
History concepts are often difficult for students, seen as a series of facts and dates. If students can see history as a story of people and places of the past, it will help them relate and understand history more fully. Jerome Bruner has investigated the impact of narrative on understanding in his article entitled “The Narrative Construction of Reality”. This is a philosophical article looking at cultures and the ways humans understand reality, that has implications for education but was not written from an education standpoint. His other writings further probe the idea. He says “We organize our experience and our memory of human happenings mainly in the form of narrative-stories, excuses, myths, reasons for doing and not doing, and so on.” (1991). Because using narrative structures is a natural process to help us understand the world, it makes sense that using narrative to help students understand content in school could greatly benefit students.
In Alleman and Brophy’s (2007) text, Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students, they confirm the importance of narrative in the social studies classroom. This textbook is meant to help teachers provide social studies instruction in more memorable and meaningful ways. They suggest using narrative structures as one way to do that. “The narrative format is a powerful vehicle for teachers to use in helping students bridge from the familiar to the less familiar. Information about the past is more easily understood by children when it is “represented as stories about people…” It is important for students to learn history through teacher provided narrative, and also to learn to take facts and figures of the past and form their own narratives.
Digital Stories in the Classroom
Creating digital stories requires a lot of time, and can be a complex process. While some might argue that the time and technology it takes to complete the process are not worth the educational value, many educators have found the process both possible and rewarding. Albaugh and Kadjer (2005) have used digital storytelling in various forms and educational settings and suggest that even though teachers may not have access to all of the desirable equipment, and have limited time (especially with computers), it is still possible and beneficial with careful planning. Their article “Constructing Digital Stories” describes the nuts and bolts of using this technology. They suggest planning the projects around 7 essential steps.
1. Write an Initial Script
2. Plan an Accompanying Storyboard
3. Discuss and Revise the Script
4. Sequence the Images in the Video Editor
5. Add the Narrative Track
6. Add Special Effects and Transitions
7. Add a Musical Soundtrack if Time Permits.
My limited experience with similar projects indicates that they have left out an essential 8th step, and that planning and allowing time for publishing is also crucially important.
Digital Stories and Learning Outcomes
Educators are beginning to look more closely at the ways digital stories can impact student learning. Kadjer and Bull (2004) discuss using digital stories in the language arts classroom and focusing on the storytelling aspect. They have found success in teaching students elements of narrative through digital storytelling, including point of view. They also suggest that it is a powerful way to engage struggling readers and writers but fail to substantiate that claim. Stories in social students should still be compelling and there are real opportunities for curricular integration when using digital stories.
Belmonte and Verdugo (2007) conducted a quasi-experiment research study with a pre-post test design in Spain. They looked at the effect of using teacher created digital stories to teach English to Spanish students. They found that generally students who were exposed to the technology had higher comprehension scores. This illustrates that digital stories are finding their place in the classroom with positive results.
Contrary Research
Allowing students the time it takes to form a deep and connected understanding of history content would be contested by some educational researchers. For example, E.D. Hirsh would suggest that the time it takes and the focus on not just content, but deep understanding, creativity, and critical thinking skills is not the best use of classroom time and resources. His article “Not so Grand a Strategy” (2003) and other works suggest students benefit from a core set of content knowledge that should be the same for every student in the country. He sees time spent on creativity and higher order thinking skills is time wasted, that should be spent on providing students with a set of facts (rather than a connected network of ideas, and not using narrative structures). While content is important in an important piece of this research proposal, other benefits for students are considered including their ability to synthesize content and create something new.
While there is little research done specifically on the effects of digital stories and student achievement or understanding, many studies have investigated the effects of technology generally on student achievement, with mixed results. John Schacter (1999) looked at results of five major studies to summarize the current research, and there are few definitive conclusions. Some positive results included improved attitudes, slightly higher test scores, and improved problem solving. There were also negative or inconclusive reports, such as no change (or decreases) in test scores, and too much variation among students and situations to draw conclusions. While these studies do not give conclusive evidence that students learning is improved by the use of classroom technologies, the variation in teacher professional development, software and hardware used, and methods of measurement make this research hard to apply to all educational settings.
Each of the above listed resources will contribute in meaningful ways to understanding the effects of digital stories on student understandings of history content. When considering how to implement the process in the most effective and efficient way, Kadjer and Albaugh’s article will be helpful. Additionally, Bruner and Brophy and Alleman’s consideration of narrative and its impacts on understanding help support the hypothesis that using narrative will help students understand history content more deeply. The research on digital stories in other content areas (reading comprehension and language arts) supports the use of the technology more
Annotated Bibliography – Resources for my Research Proposal
Posted onJune 3, 2009
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Albaugh, S., Bull, G., & Kajder, S. (2005) Constructing digital stories, Learning and
Leading with Technology, 32 (5), 40-42.
This is a brief article summarizing the process of actually creating a digital story in a classroom setting. The authors suggest that even though teachers may not have access to all of the desirable equipment, and have limited time (especially with computers), it is still possible and beneficial with careful planning. They provide seven steps: “1. Write an Initial Script 2. Plan an Accompanying Storyboard 3. Discuss and Revise the Script 4. Sequence the Images in the Video Editor 5. Add the Narrative Track 6. Add Special Effects and Transitions 7. Add a Musical Soundtrack if Time Permits.” It includes a more limited definition of digital stories, leaving out video clips entirely, and I would suggest an eighth step that is critically left out, publishing.
Belmonte, I. A., & Verdugo, D. R. (2007) Using digital stories to improve listening
comprehension with Spanish young learners of English, Language Learning & Technology, 11 (1).
This article explores the impact of digital stories on 6 year old English language learners in Spain. They conducted a quasi-experiment research study with a pre-post test design and found that generally students who were exposed to the technology had higher comprehension scores. They suggest that the use of narrative help students contextualize new language “making it meaningful and memorable.”
Bull, G., & Kadjer, S. (2004) Digital stories in the language arts classroom.
Learning and Leading with Technology, 32 (4).
This article gives a closer look at the story part of a digital story. It suggests “Seven Elements of Effective Digital Stories.” 1. Point of view 2. A dramatic question 3. Emotional content 4. Economy 5. Pacing 6. The gift of your voice 7. An accompanying soundtrack. This article focuses on digital stories in the context of learning reading, writing, and other language arts content.
Bruner, J. (1991) The narrative construction of reality, Critical Inquiry, 18 (1), 1-21.
Bruner says that people understand and construct reality through narrative, and that it is a part of a “cultural toolkit”. “We organize our experience and our memory of human happenings mainly in the form of narrative-stories, excuses, myths, reasons for doing and not doing, and so on.” He describes 10 features of narrative which reveal what narrative is and why is it s natural process for understanding reality.
Levin, H. (2003) Making history come alive: students interview holocaust survivors on
camera and publish their stories on the web, Learning and Leading with Technology, 31 (3), 22-27.
The author describes his work with 10-12th graders at The Urban School in San Francisco. The students enrolled in an elective history course called “Telling Their Stories: Oral History of the Holocaust.” Levin provided the technology support while another teacher was responsible for the social studiers curriculum. The students prepared, interviewed, video taped, transcribed, edited, and published their work. The authors plan to expand the project to include other oral histories. The power of the work is that students are learning both technology and history while creating an authentic product that others can use to deepen their understanding of the holocaust
Alleman, J., & Brophy, J. (2007) How can I structure classroom discourse to help
students develop social studies understanding? In Powerful Social Studies for
Elementary Students (171-187). Thomson.
keller_822_anotbibkeller_822_anotbib
In this text about teaching social studies to elementary students includes a chapter hot to structure classroom discourse. One suggested strategy is the use of narrative structures. Citing Bruner (19900, Egan (1988, 1990), Downey and Levstick (1991), the authors relate their research more specifically to the teaching of social studies. “The narrative format is a powerful vehicle for teachers to use in helping students bridge from the familiar to the less familiar. Information about the past is more easily understood by children when it is “represented as stores about people…”
