Chapter4Smoothsailing

Thenextthreesectionsofmathoversixweeksplayedoutwithoutmanystructuralchanges.Webegan withthestructuresthatwehadalreadyestablishedandaddedtoourrepertoireasstudentsmade recommendationsorsuggestions.Iwouldintroduceorreviewtopicsinthebeginningoftheperiodand thenstudentswouldhavefreetimetoworkastheysawfit.Igavethembasicskillproblemsetsas before,andalsohadanoptionalchallengingsetforthosewhowanted.Inaddition,Ipreparedanarea whereIwouldworkmorecloselywiththosewhowantedmyhelp. Thestudentswereworkingwellinthissystem,andIwasfeelinglikeImadesignificantprogressinthe directionofengagingandsupportingallstudents.Thestructurecontributedtoanewculture.Students knewwhattoexpect,andwhatwasexpectedfromthem,whentheycametoclass.Havingchoiceasto howtowork,thestudentsestablishedroutinesandhabitsthatIhadntanticipatedorexpected.I frequentlyobservedthemmovingfreelywithintheclasstousetheresourcesthatwereavailable.Some studentsevenformedsmallgroups,andsendonemembertogethelpandbringitbacktothegroup.I wasalsosurprisedbytheamountofstudentsthatoftencametomeforhelpwhentheyneededit.Many ofwhichdidnotdosopreviously,anditsuggestedthatIbecamemoreofaresourcethananinstructor. SotheremainderoftheAR,thestructureswentfairlyunchanged.Thekeyelementtothesuccessofthe structureinmathwasthatitwasguidedenoughtoprovideexpectations(thequizzes)andopenenough toallowthestudentstoexplorestrategiesthathelpthemgrowasindividuallearners. InitiallyIwonderedhowthingsmightadaptbecausethisnewsystemrequiredforstudentstomake effortstoinitiateanychanges.However,soonthesuggestionscamerollingin,andIfeltconfidentthat wewereontherighttrack.Thenewpurposeintheclassseemedtobeforstudenttobetterunderstand theiruniqueneedsasmathstudents.Studentsbegantoidentifywhatworkedbestforthem,andshared theirthoughtswhenIrequestedfeedback. ImadeanoteofanyadjustmentssothatIcouldreflectontheirimpactandkeeparecordforfuture classes.Belowaresomeofthekeysupportsdevelopedoverafewweeks: Duringthefirsttwoweeksection,therewasarequestforadditionalpracticeproblems.Fairenough. Done!Imadesupplementarysheetsavailableandfoundthatoverhalfoftheclasstookoneforreview. Inthesecondtwoweeksection,astudentsuggestedallowingthemtomakecheatsheetsforthequiz.I initiallyhadanegativereactiontothissuggestion,butcouldntquitegraspwhy.Determinedtonot refuseasuggestionunlessIhadaclearreason,Iagreed,andactuallycametoseeitasareallygoodidea. Inmakingarequirementforthesizeonehandwrittensideofatypical3x5indexcardthestudents hadtoweightheinformationandconsiderwhatdeservedaspotonthesheet.Itkindofservedasa sneakywaytohavestudentsselfassesstheirunderstanding. Also,duringthesecondsection,agroupofstudentscommentedonhowtheyweremakinguseofan outlineandworkedtocreateapracticetestforthemselves.Thisseemedlikeagoodidea,andduringthe

thirdsectionwebuiltanoutlineontheboardasaclassandIdevelopedapracticetestthatanyone coulduse. Somethingtonoteabouttheseaddedsupportswasthattheyworkedintowhatweweredoing seamlessly.Itjustbecamepartofwhatwedid.Ifthestudentswantedadditionalmaterialsorassistance, theygotit.Ibecamemoreinterested,however,ingettingaclearerpictureofwhatstudentswere experiencing,andhadthemcompleteasurveyafterourthirdquizusingthisnewclassstructure. Havingafairlywellestablishedsystem,Ifeltconfidenttryingtogathersomequantitativedatain additiontothequalitativeIdbeenseeking.Analyzingstudentquoteshadbeenincrediblyinformative andhelpful,butIwasitchingforsomegraphstolookatbecauseIwantedtomakevisualcomparisons betweenstructuresandstudentpreferences. Iaskedtheeverystudenttorateeachofthesupportslistedbelowbyhowhelpfultheyareforlearning materialinpreparationforaquiz.Eachwasevaluatedaccordingtothefollowingscale.Ichosefive ratingsbecauseIfeltitwouldbeusefulinestablishingamidlinewhenquantifyingthedata. nothelpfulatallalittlehelpfulsomewhathelpfulfairlyhelpfulveryhelpful 0 1 2 3 4 Personalnotesnotesstudentstakeatanytime,includingdirectinstructions,discussions,andfree worktime Basicskillsetsdirectapplicationproblemsdesignedtointroduceandreinforcetheacquisitionofnew concepts,includingtheinitiallectureandfreeworktime Supplementalsetsadditionalproblemsetsdesignedtoprovideextrapracticeforthebuildingand reinforcementofcontentunderstanding,rangingindifficultyfromdirectapplicationtochallenging Contentoutlineongoingconstructionanddisplayofoutlinedetailingthekeypointsandconcepts coveredinthemathunit Practicetest/reviewtimetheteacherdesigningapracticetestfromtheoutlineallowingstudentsto reviewwithfreeworktime Peersupportcollaboratingandworkingwithotherstosharestrategiesandbetterunderstand concepts Quizcheatsheetcreatingacheatsheetbeforeasummativeassessmenttodevelopaconcretesenseof importantandrelevantinformation Thedatahadalignedwithmyobservations.Inall,onlythreestudentsdidnotrateatleastonesupport asveryhelpful,andnostudentrespondedwithanothelpfulatallratingforanystructure, suggestingthateachstrategylistedhadatleastsomesupportivemerit.Ofthethreestudentsjust mentioned,onesaidthatshepreferredmakingflashcards.Anotherpreferredabroadapproachand

labeledeachasfairlyhelpful.Theremainingstudenthadtakengeometryatherpreviousschoolandfelt shemadelittleuseofthesupportsbecauseshealreadyhadafirmgraspofthematerial. Ifirstwantedtogetanoverallimpressionof howtheclassstructurewasworking,soI averagedeachstudentsresponsesforthe variousstrategiesandcompiledtheresultsin thegraphtotheright.Idecidedthatby obtainingtheirmeanresponsesforthe helpfulnessofthevarioussupportsand strategies,Icouldderiveanabsolute measurementfortheirlevelofsupport.The impressionwasverypositive.Althoughmost Fig.15 distributionofstudentsupport studentsdidntfindeverysupporttobe helpful,therewasnodoubtthatthenewclassstructurewaseffectiveinsupportingstudentlearning. Outof50surveyedstudents,49hadindicatedthat,onaverage,theyfeltfairlywellsupportedin class.The1studentthatfellbelowthislevelwasthegirlpreviouslymentionedwhowastakinggeometry forthesecondtime.Whencompilingallresponses,therewasntonestudentthataveragedunderthe somewhathelpfulrating.Thesewereencouragingresults. Thegraphgavemeaquicksnapshotthatsuggestedournewsystemwasworking,butdidntprovide muchinsighttotheeffectivenessofeachindividualsupport.Idecidedtoshiftmyfocusfromthelevelof supportthatstudentswereexperiencingtotheirassessmentofthestrengthforeachsupporttheyhad accessto.Thepreviousgraphillustratedanaverageresponseforallsupports,whilethefollowing displaystheaverageresponsesforeachsupportindividually. Iwonderedwhatwouldbethe mostorleasthelpfulwhen compilingthedata.Thiscame outtobestudentspersonal notesandthebasicskillsets, buttherangebetweenthese levelswasrelativelysmall.All otherssupportsfell somewhereinbetween.Again Iwaspleasedwiththeresults, whichindicatedthatwhatwe thesupportswehadwere useful.Ifnothingelse,the processofassessingclass Fig.16helpfulnessofsupports structurewithstudentsand buildingasystemofsupportsworkstoestablishmultipleeffectiveaccesspointsforallstudents.Thereis littleroomforinterpretationwhenthestudentsthemselvesarejudgingeachsupportshelpfulness.

IsupposeIshouldntbesurprisedthatthestudentsvaluedsomanyelementsofourapproachto learning.Theirsuggestionsandcontributionswereintegraltotheconstructionoftheclassroom structureandthestrategiesthatweremadeavailable.Ididwonder,however,aboutpreviousfailuresI experiencedwhenprovidingthesesupportstostudents.Ofcourse,someelementsofwhatwewere doingweredirectresultsfromstudentfeedback,yetIveprovidedmanyofthesesupportstostudentsin myclassinpreviousyears,andIdontbelievetheyareunusualeducationalpractices.Ididnthave accesstoanysurveydatafromprioryears,butthesupports,somehow,seemedmoreeffectivethanI recalled.Isuspectedthatinadditiontosomeofthesupportslistedabovebeingderivedoutofstudent voice,ittoohadtodowithhowthosesupportswerebeingimplementedintheclass.Thelargest differencefromwhatIhaddonepreviouslywastheabsenceofdictatingworkhabitsandinsteadan expectationthatstudentswouldstrivetobecomebettermathstudentsbyattemptingvariousstrategies inanefforttohonetheirpersonalapproach.Ifthisledtothesupportstudentswereexperiencing,then thiswasakeyfindingformyresearch.Supportsareimportant,butstudentsalsoneedthefreedomto designtheirownworkhabits.Indoingso,theydevelopaperspectivefortheusefulnessofvarying approaches,andperhapsgreaterownershipoftheirworkbyhavingastakeinthesuccessoftheir contributions. IwantedtolookatagraphtoseeifIcouldcapturemysuspicionthatstudentswereactivelychoosing whatworksforthem.Whenanalyzingthepreviousgraph,Ihadaninterestingthoughtwhennoticingthe average.Overall,eachstrategywaswellreceived,buttherewasroomforlowratings.Itispossiblethat therewerelargediscrepanciesforeachresponse,andIconsideredthatasignificantdisparityforeach supportwouldstrengthenmyearlierassertionofstudentsdevelopinganawarenessofthemselvesas learners.Thegraphbelowshowsthedistributionofresponsesforeachindividualsupport.

ReflectionSurveyResults
70% percentageoftheclass 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

alittlehelpful

somewhathelpful

fairlyhelpful

veryhelpful

Fig.17distributionofstudentresponsesforeachsupport

Thisdefinitelygavemeadditionalinsight.Inmyearliergraph,Ionlyhadgotanoverallimpression,but thiswasmuchmoreunpacked.Iexpectedthattheresponseswouldbeweightedtowardsmorehelpful thanless,yetIcouldclearlyseetherelativestrengthofeachanddevelopmorespecificpromptsfor furtherdiscussionswithstudents. ThisiswhatIcouldinferfromthegraph: Over90%oftheclassfoundthebasicskillsetstobefairlyhelpfulorveryhelpful,makingit themostvaluableresourceforstudents. Thequizcheatsheetandpracticetest/reviewwerethenextmostvaluableresources,with approximately85%oftheclassfindingthemeitherfairlyhelpfulorveryhelpful.Havinga discussionaboutthemcouldshedsomelightonwhytheywererankedsohighly. Thisnexttierincludescontentoutlineandpeersupport,followedbysupplementalsets andlastlypersonalnotes.Itsinterestingthatbothsupplementalsetsandpersonalnotes weretheonlytworesourceswhoseresponsedistributionresemblesthatofabellcurve. Moststudentsfoundthesetwoneitherveryhelpfulnoroflittleuse.Iwouldaskthem particularlyaboutthesetwosupportstoseeifIcoulddeterminewhytheycameoutthe waytheydid.

Ibeganourdiscussionbylookingatthedatatogetherwiththeclass.Iaskedthatstudentsconsiderthe question,Whydoyouthinkthebasicskillsetsandcheatsheetwereratedsohighly?,astheyviewed thegraph.Theyconcludedthatthosetwoweremostsupportiveinreachingthegoalsweagreedto, contentacquisitionandimprovedsummativeassessmentperformance.Theybasicskillsetswere consideredtobeveryeffectiveforlearningthecontent,andcreatingacheatsheetwasthestrongest methodforpreparingtotakeasummativeassessment. Ithenmovedontothenextquestion,Whydoyouthinkthedistributionforsupplementalsetsand personalnotesaredifferentfromtheotherlistedsupports?Istartedoffwithwhatstruckme,including thebellcurveshapeandtheabundanceofmiddleratings.Wefoundthatthesupplementalsetsand personalnotesbothsufferedthesameissue,whichhelpedexplainthesimilarresults.Therewasa consensusthatbothcouldbeuseful,butthestudentswereleastfamiliarorconfidentusingthemwhen comparedtoothermethodsforlearningthematerial.Takingnoteswasgenerallyviewedasagoodidea, butstudentsquestionedthevalueoftheirnotes.Thiscausedmetowonderwhyweneverspenttime developingnotetakingability,andprovokedadeeperdiscussionaboutthepurposeofnotetakingand thecharacteristicsofqualitynotes.Onmyend,IagreedtocuestudentswhenIfelttheywouldbenefit fromhavingsomethingintheirnotes,andalsomodelnotetakingpracticeswhentheopportunityand situationarises. Aswithpersonalnotes,studentsbyandlargethoughtthatworkingonsupplementalproblemsetswould begoodpractice,buttheyprioritizedthebasicskillproblemsets,makingsuretofullyunderstandthe fundamentalsbeforemovingontootheroptions.Thistypicallyallowedforlittletimetoexploremorein depthproblems.Iunderstandthatcompletingthebasicskillsbeforemovingontomoreindepth

problemswasarationalsequence,soIhadtoreconsiderthetimeIwasgivingtostudentstowork. Keepingtheassessmentsona2weekscheduleconstrainedmyoptionsforprovidingmoretimeforthe supplementalsets,soaddressingthisissuerequiredabitmorecreativity.IconsideredthreeactionsI couldtake.Icouldincludesomesupplemental,ormorechallenging,problemsinadditiontothewarm upexercises.Icouldtrytopromotequickeracquisitionofthebasicskills.Icouldmakemoredeliberate attemptstobetterconnectachallengeproblemstospecificbasicskillproblems,almostasanextension toalreadycompletedwork. Istilldidnotgrasphowtheseactionswouldappearinpractice,andturnedtothestudentsforsome feedback.Wecouldntdeviseawayofacquiringthebasicskillsmorequickly.Studentsworkedata particularpace.Wedid,however,findawaytoaddresstheissueofattemptingmoresupplemental problems.TogetherwedecidedthatIwouldpostachallengeproblemortwoonmyblogsothat studentscouldaccessthematatimeoftheirchoosing,andalsoleavecommentstohelpsupport problemsolvingforothers.Forthenextmathday,wewouldquicklyreviewtheworkthatposted,and walkthroughsomeoftheanswerstogether.Ithoughtthiswasagreatideabecauseitcreatedgreater accessandpromotedpeercollaboration. Wrappingupmyresearchformathclass Lookingback,thisactionwasthelaststructuralchangethatoccurredduringmyresearchforthemath class.Theremainingtime,afewweeks,wasspentgatheringdatatostrengthenorclarifyearlierfindings. Theinformationpresentedbythedistributiongraphwasinterestinginthatitdetailedhoweachsupport wasreceivedbytheclass,butmoreimportantly,itreaffirmedmyearlierassertionthatstudentswere developingasenseofthemselvesaslearners.Formostsupports,asignificantportionoftheclass respondedwithalittlehelpfulandveryhelpfulresponses.Bothofwhicharetellingbecausethey indicatethatstudentsunderstoodthemselveswellenoughaslearnerstomakeadefinitivestatement aboutsomethingbeingusefulornot.Wewereprogressingtowardatrulynotonesizefitsallclass. Therewassomethingstillitchingatme.Ihadbeenmisledbyquantitativedatabefore,soIwantedto doublecheckthevalidityoftheresults.TheassertionsIvemadeweredependentuponthestudents abilitytoassesswhatis,orisnthelpful.Idecidedtoseekadditionalqualitativedatatoprovidefurther validationbyhavingthemreflectontheirgrowthandunderstandingofthemselvesasmathlearners afterthelastquiz.Iwouldanalyzetheircapabilitytoconnectsuccessfuloutcomestospecificmeasures theytook,whichIhopedwouldgivemegreaterinsightintotheleveltowhichtheyassessedthe helpfulnessofcertainsupports. Asthefollowingweekstranspired,nothingofsignificantnotehadoccurredoutsideofmyprevious findings.Ifanything,thingswererunninginaccordancewithmyexpectations.Iwasanxioustoseetheir progressthroughouttheresearch,andafterthefinalquizIcompiledtheclassaverageforeach assessmentinthefollowinggraph.

 Fig.18studentquizperformanceovertime Thegreenlineshowstheactualprogressionofquizaveragesovertheeightthatstudentstook.Thedip forquiz5mighthavebeencausedbystudentsresettlingbackintoclassafteramonthlongabsencefrom theirstudies.Iaddedthetrendlineforthedatatobetterillustratethegrowthintheirperformanceover time.Whenquantified,quizperformanceincreasesatarateof2.3%pointsperquiz,withan approximate16%increaseovertheentirerange.Thiswassignificant,andIfeltoureffortstogetherhad beenrelativelysuccessful. Ivealsoincludedredarrowsrepresentinganaddedandsubtractedstandarddeviationfromthemeanto illustratethechangeindistributionofgradesovertime.Asweprogressedthroughouttheyear,student performanceincreasinglyconvergedtowardstheaverage,demonstratingadramaticimprovementfor studentswhotypicallyscoredlower,orstruggled.Itwasabitselfservingformetodo,butIconcluded thatthiswasanothersuccessfulresultoftheclassstructure,whichinpartwasdesignedtocompel individualstohonetheirpersonalapproachforlearningthematerial. Asstatedbefore,studentreflectionsontheirgrowthwouldhelpvalidatemyearlierassertions.Below arethepromptstoguidetheirreflectionsaftertheirfinalquiz.
Howdoyoufeelaboutyourperformancesincethebeginningoftheyear? Ifyoucouldgoback,isthereanyadviceyouwouldgiveyourself? Whatcanamathteacherdotobesthelpaclassprepareforassessments? Isthereanythingyou'lldoinfuturemathclassestobesuccessful?

Fig.19blogpromptsforfinalmathreflection Iusedtheirresponsestomeasurethevalueofthespecificstructureweusedinmath,whereweworked tocreateasystemthatcreatedcleargoalsandprovidedsufficientchoicetoallowstudentstodevelop

theirownlearningstrategies.Inadditiontorecognizingtheirgrowth,Iwasspecificallylookingtoseethe leveltowhichstudentswerecapableofarticulatingtheirneedsandconnectingsuccessfuloutcomesto specificmeasurestheytook. WhatIfoundwasthattheywereverycapableofdoingthesethings.Theirresponseswereclearand specific,almostasiftheyvedevelopedalanguagefortheirlearning.Ibecameconvincedthatmy findingswerevalid.Theimpactofbringingstudentvoiceintomypracticehadbecomemuchmore realized.MathisasubjectthatIvehaddifficultyconnectingwithallstudentsinthepast,yetitseems likethevastmajorityoftheclassdevelopedanabilitytocreateandidentifyaccesspointstothe curriculum.Itwasnolongermysoletasktodothis. Ofcourse,Icannotclaimwithabsolutecertaintythattherewerentotherinfluencesatworkthatcaused studentstoperformbetterthroughouttheyear.Thereareverylikelyotherreasons.WhatIdoknowis thatthingswereworking,andthedataIcollectedhadcommonthemesthatseemedtorecurwhich wereconsistentwithmyassertions.Studentscanidentifysupportivestrategiestotheirindividual learningandperformancehasimproved. Inassumingthisasaresultofthesystemweused,Iwentbackandtriedtodeterminewhathad contributedtothesuccessthatIwasrealizing.Choicewasanimmediatelyrecognizablekeyelementin usingstudentvoicetohelpbuildclassstructure.Whenstudentshadchoice,theymadedecisionsabout whichstrategiesorapproachestoadopt,usingreflectiontoevaluatewhatworked,ordidntwork,and becomingabletoidentifywithconfidencewhatsupportsthemasindividuallearners.Asaresult,they developedalanguagefortheirlearning,givingthemastrongervoiceandgreatercapabilitytogive valuablefeedback.This,inturn,promotedmoreeffectiveconstructionofclassstructure.Thesystemwe usedcreatesaprocessforstudentworkthatdrivestheevolutionofmoreeffectivestructure. Anotherkeyelementtothedesignwasthattherewasacommongoalthatstudentsworkedtowards learningthecontentandbeingabletodemonstratetheirknowledgeonasummativeassessment. Withoutthisdefinedend,Icannotpicturehowstudentswouldhavebeenabletoplanorestablishwork habitsinaprogressivemanner.Thegoal,ineffect,providedafixedpointforwhichstudentscouldself assessandevaluatetheirprogress.Itallowedthemtomeasuretheeffectivenessoftheapproachesthey used,andassuch,wasanindispensableelementintheoverallsystem.
Studentshave choiceinthe directiontheir learningproceeds Worktowardsa common,agreed upongoal Usingbackward, forward,inward, andoutward reflectiveprompts

REFLECT

PERFORM

CODESIGN

IMPLEMENT
Fig.19evolvedsystemforusingstudentvoice

Studentshavean opportunityto influence decisionsmade abouttheir learning

Thinkingahead,Istillwonderwhatitwouldbeliketotrythissystemwhileimplementingapersonalized goalsettingcomponent.Ifeelitwouldbeinterestingtoseethedynamicsbetweenstudentvoice, choice,andpersonalizationinascenariowhereinsteadofacommontangiblegoal,thereisamore abstractgoal,andstudentsaregivenchoicetocreatetheirownuniqueproducts.IfIweretodothisas anextensionofmycurrentresearch,Imightchangethemathgoalfromsummativeassessment performancetoanalternativewayofdemonstratingknowledge.Itwouldhavetobesomethingabstract, suchastobecomebettermathstudents,andbeopentohoweverthatmaylookindividually.I presumeanyassessingcriteriawouldalsohavetobepersonalized.Imayhavereachedadefinitivepoint inrecognizingtheimplicationsofusingstudentvoice,butthisresearchistobecontinued.