AHE 501

Abridged Research Plan, Parts 1 & 2

Glenda Landon

Abridged Research Plan, Part 1

OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH
Setting Skagit Valley College
Participants Students enrolled in Learning Community Courses at
Skagit Valley College
Purpose To determine the attitudes of English as Second Language
(ESL) students about community college learning communities.
The Skagit Valley College Education Committee is considering
developing learning communities for Academic English as a Second
Language (AESL). AESL classes are designed to help students whose
first language is not English and plan to further their post-secondary
education, become proficient in reading, writing and speaking English.
Currently, there are no learning communities that include AESL. The
committee is interested in gaining insight into how students of various
ethnic groups perceive learning communities classes to provide
support for or opposition to the idea of AESL learning communities.
Research questions - What are students attitudes toward learning
communities? Do students believe learning communities enhance their
college education experience?
Revised research questions How do students of various ethnic
groups, where English is their second language, perceive learning
communities at Skagit Valley College?
Initial assumptions or hypotheses My assumptions are that more
ESL students will have favorable attitudes about learning communities
and that learning communities have enhanced their college
experience. If my hypothesis is correct, the research will support the
implementation of new learning communities that will include AESL.

AHE 501
Abridged Research Plan, Parts 1 & 2
Glenda Landon

Abridged Research Plan, Part 2

OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH DESIGN
The design for my project will be quantitative with the data being
collected from the results of a survey completed by a defined
population.
Data-collection procedures
Data will be gathered by an online survey completed by selected
learning community classes during a regular class time. Samples of
the questions and format for collecting answers will be:
Gender:

1 = Female

2 = Male

3 = Other

Age Group: 1 = (15-19) 2 = (20-30)

3 = (40-50)

English is my first language: 1 = Yes

2 = No

4 = (60-70)

English is not my first language, my first language is:

_____________________________
Race:
1 = White
5 = African American
2 = Asian
6 = American Indian
3 = Pacific Islander
7 = Alaskan Native
4 = Latino/a
For the following questions, select on a scale of 1 to 4 the answer that
best applies.
1 = Very
2 = Somewhat
3 = Somewhat
4 = Very
Negative
Negative
Positive
Positive
1 = No effect
2 = Minimal
3 = Moderate
4 = Strong
effect
effect
effect
1 = Never
2 = Sometimes
3 = Often
4 = Constantly
1 = Not
2 = Somewhat
3 = Mostly
4 = Extremely
Satisified
Satisfied
Satisfied
Satisfied
How many learning communities have you taken besides this one you
are in now?
1
2
3 or more
Do you have any additional comments or information to share?
Data-analysis procedures The data analysis will be based on
numerical and statistical analyses.

AHE 501
Abridged Research Plan, Parts 1 & 2
Glenda Landon

Required materials and resources The instrument will be an

online survey completed on computer stations made available in the
classroom.
Abridged Research Plan, Rationale
The study I am proposing is to determine the attitudes of English as
Second Language (ESL) students at Skagit Valley College about
community college learning communities. Determining attitudes could
be researched in more than one way. It all depends on what the
research question is. For example, in Gotos (1997) study on behavioral
accommodation and resistance among Chinese American students he
used the ethnographic method to investigate the influence of peers on
Chinese American high school students pursuit of academic success.
Personal interviews and observations were then analyzed revealing
deep complexities for their behavior. This was appropriate for the
research question of Gotos study, but for the purpose of my research
question this in-depth and lengthy method of study is not needed. I
chose instead to design a quantitative study with the data being
collected by a survey because it is the simplest and most accurate way
to find the answer to my research question.
It is a possibility that additional questions may added to this survey
that are not directly related to attitudes about learning communities.
These may be questions about satisfaction with advising or campus
atmosphere toward English as Second Language students, students of
color and embracing cultural differences. According to Fraenkel and
Wallen (1997) in their book on designing and evaluating research in
education, adding other questions to the survey on matters of interest
gives researchers an opportunity to perform additional correlational
research. It would be judicious to make the most of the opportunity to
garner as much useful information as possible from this population of
students. This information could be useful for gaining deeper
understanding and provide better service.
My plan is to use a cross-sectional survey, which will allow for a quick
response. The results can then be provided to the education committee
to use in their decision-making process regarding creating learning
community classes for ESL students. According to Gay, Mills and
Airasian (2012), the cross-sectional survey is a better choice than a
longitudinal survey because of the length of time it takes to perform
longitudinal surveys.

AHE 501
Abridged Research Plan, Parts 1 & 2
Glenda Landon

Choosing to use mostly structured items (closed-ended) allows for

quick assessment of the data collected. The bulk of the data collected
will be translated into statistical data that can be easily interpreted.
There may be one unstructured item (open-ended) for the participants
to add any additional comments or information. The use of
unstructured responses as a larger portion of the survey would not
necessarily helpful to the overall purpose and speed of the research.
(Gay et al., 2012)
The results of the survey will be tabulated and entered into a
spreadsheet. The data will be recorded so that each participants
response will be entered on one line horizontally. The variables will be
entered vertically in labeled columns, i.e., gender, age group. A key
code will be provided to identify variables and coding values. The type
of measure of central tendency I would use would be the arithmetic
mean. For this research finding the mean of the data will be a more
descriptive indicator of the attitudes of the sampled population. To find
the mean for a given response the formula is:
= x
x n
The textbook gave a very clear description of the mean formula on
page 323. The formula for the mean, X with the bar over it where
individual scores are placed and then added together. The formula for
the mean X without the bar above it represents an individuals score,
and is the summation symbol. Thus, x asks you to add all the
Xs. The number of data points (students who participated) is presented
by the letter n. To calculate the mean, sum the Xs and divide by the
number of students. (Gay et al., 2012)
Part of my rationale when analyzing the survey data will be to give
consideration to guiding principles included in Goto, Marshall & Gaules
(n.d.) research on faculty learning communities. They saw the
importance of including Kenneth Pikes (1967) recommendations that
when you are assessing a learning community you must consider that
the nature of the learning community influences outcomes; participant
characteristics influence outcomes; effects of learning communities on
learners are indirect; and effects of learning community may very
among institutional types. (Goto et al., n.d.) They further included
Pikes (1967) use of the term etic, which indicates that the
researcher will embrace a neutral and empirically objective
perspective.

AHE 501
Abridged Research Plan, Parts 1 & 2
Glenda Landon
The identities of the participants will be kept anonymous from the
researchers. Gay et al., 2012, address the importance of protecting
research participants and also knowing the difference between
assuring participants anonymity versus confidentiality. For this
research no names will be collected on the surveys. Records for
individual classes will be coded so that class identities can be kept
anonymous for particular reporting of data. Notification of this will be
done at the beginning and end of the survey to ensure students
comfort with participation.

References
Fraenkel, J. R., & Wallen, N. E. (1993). How to design and evaluate
research in education (Ch 17, p. 399). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Gay, L.R., Mills, G.E. & Airasian, P. (2012). Educational Research
Competencies for Analysis and Applications (Eds.) (pp. 21, 184187, 323). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Goto, S.T. (1997). Nerds, Normal People, and Homeboys:
Accommodation and Resistance among Chinese American
Students. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 28(1):70-84.
Goto, S.T., Marshall, P. & Gaule, S. (n.d.). Assessment of Faculty
Learning Communities: Considering Social Dimensions of
Participant Choice.
Pike, K.L. (1967). Language in relation to a unified theory of structure
of human behavior (2nd Ed.). The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton
Press.