Memo #4: Research Questions

Memo #4: Research Questions 

One of the greatest challenges of my current position is the role I play in teaching all subjects. With a background in ELA, I often find it difficult to plan, differentiate, and teach engaging lessons in other areas, especially math. I have created four options to narrow down my research based on the current challenges in my position, on where I feel that I need the most growth as a professional, and on what my students would most benefit from. 

Question #1: What is the effect of using manipulatives on students’ understanding of Algebraic concepts? 

 As I learn more and more how to teach math at the highschool level, I find myself looking for innovative ways to help struggling students grasp abstract concepts. While it’s straightforward enough to teach students the steps to how to solve the problems (e.g. the PEMDAS steps, using reciprocals when dividing fractions, etc.), it can be difficult to get students to grasp the why they are able to reach a solution. Without this understanding, their comprehension of mathematics is merely surface level, and rather than going broad and shallow with my instruction, I am working to go focused and deep. 
To get students to a deeper understanding that produces measurable results, I have begun to incorporate manipulatives into my algebra instruction. My experience with manipulatives in the classroom had been limited to my time spent working in an elementary school, but I’ve begun to see their use at the highschool level. This past quarter, I had students dedicate a class period to creating algebra tiles out of construction paper. Algebra tiles are designed to be applied to solving equations with variables and exponents, and serve as a visual for plotting out equations. My research question aims to examine the efficacy of these aids in promoting student understanding and success in solving multi-step equations. To gather data, I will examine students’ performance both with and without the manipulatives. I can do this quantitatively through formal assessments and qualitatively through informal assessments. 

Question #2: What role can technology play in student learning in the highly structured therapeutic classroom?

In my current position, technology is rarely used by students in the classroom due to a number of constraints. In the few times I have worked with students and technology, I find that they struggle with many basic functions that are essential to technology use. In my building there are currently only three usable Apple computers. These computers are in another teacher’s classroom and are often very inconvenient to use due to the disruptiveness of both classes of students. Nevertheless, there are times when these computers must be used by my students, and I’m eager to see what more frequent usage will do to student performance. 

An article by Marc Prensky I came across last semester described the differences between digital natives and digital immigrants, explaining how those born in the last 30 years were essentially born into digital literacy. Danah Boyd challenges this idea in her book, It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens. She explains the pitfalls of assuming that just because someone was born in the late 20th or early 21st century that they are, by default, digitally literate and competent. I would be interested in incorporating the ideas of Prensky and Boyd into a study of my own classroom’s proficiency with technology. I would examine students’ current levels of digital literacy, implement technology-based instruction and activities, and chart student growth in their use of technology. An obstacle to overcome would be the mild inconveniences of the physical spaces of my building that hinder the regular use of technology, but this is most certainly surmountable. 

Question #3: What is the effect of the redirection process on student behavior, classroom management, and student learning? 

The primary means for discipline at my program is the redirection process. This is a behavior management tool that is designed to curb misbehaviors by students who are primarily diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders. While the redirection process has had an effect on student behavior when coupled with an incentives program, I have found that this process is often at odds with students’ educational progress. 

In my research, I would aim to measure how students’ overall progress trends when compared to the amount of time they spend in redirection. I have had several students regularly spend long stretches of the day in redirection, and as a result, have a substantial amount of makeup work and supplementary assignments. I have found that such instances result in lowered academic performance, and would be interested in collecting both quantitative and qualitative data to further explore this trend. 

Question #4: What is the effect of using structured writer’s notebooks on student writing? 

In my second year at the program, I have started using writers’ notebooks to supplement my writing instruction in ELA. Based on a model from Kelly Gallagher’s Teaching Adolescent Writers, these notebooks are designed to engage students in all stages of the writing process and to provide them with a personalized space to complete assigned and independent writing tasks. They seem to be a valuable resource in writing instruction, but I do not yet have the data to support this. 

For this research study, I will gauge the quality of students’ written work at the beginning of the writer’s notebook usage (I average one new student per quarter, so I will have plenty of opportunities to start this research freshly), then measure their growth as they become more familiar with conventions of academic and creative writing. I will ask questions about how often these notebooks are being used for their intended purpose and how often they are being utilized as resources for writing.