classroom research workshop at darunsikkhalai, 2 november 2012 richard watson todd king mongkut’s...
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Classroom ResearchWorkshop at Darunsikkhalai, 2 November 2012
Richard Watson ToddKing Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi
http://arts.kmutt.ac.th/crs/workshop.htm
A quick survey
Have you conducted any research within the last year?
Have you changed your teaching because of research within the last year?
What is research?
“Research is an attempt to understand something better through the systematic and formal collection and analysis of empirical data” (Shanahan, 2002: 10)
– research is not ‘proving’ something– research is not necessarily changing something
– research is UNDERSTANDING
Why do research? “Research is valuable because it offers mor
e than results. It provides grounds for thinking more deeply about what is being studied” (Shanahan, 2002: 15)
Uses of research– To identify or understand problems– To increase our understanding of how things w
ork– To lead to reflection
Benefits of research
Conducting research helps teachers to– Become more professional– Think more deeply about their work– Become more innovative
Conducting research helps an institution to– Become more professional– Become more respected
Classroom research and formal research Classroom research
– exploratory
– context-specific
– emphasis on insightfulness
– focused on addressing immediate concerns
Formal research– predetermined expectat
ions
– generalisable
– emphasis on validity and reliability
– focused on contributing knowledge
Goals of classroom research
Deeper understanding of a specific context Greater awareness by teacher-researcher
NOT– Testing solutions– Objective findings– Widely applicable theory
Stages in classroom research Deciding on the focus - an area you want to unders
tand more deeply (not necessarily a problem) Deciding on the type of data that sheds light on the
focus Organising collection of the data Analysing the data Reflecting on the findings for personal developme
nt Disseminating your findings
Deciding on the focus
What are you curious about? What would you like to know reasons for? What gaps are there between your current
performance and your ideal performance? Why do your students behave the way they
do? Why do your students believe as they do?
Typical areas of classroom research
Teacher talk Interaction between teacher and students Student talk Student behaviour on tasks Student attitudes and beliefs
Refining your focus
Simple focus– How much L1 do I use?
Broad focus– How can I get students to
speak more? Focus without reasons
– Do my students score better if I …?
Judgmental focus– What activities work well?
Complex focus– What purposes do I use L1 for?
Specific focus– What sorts of questions lead to
extended responses? Focus with reasons
– What do my students do if I …?
Insightful focus– How do I rate activities, and
are there any differences with how my students rate the activities?
Deciding on the type of data Quantitative
– Number of open and closed teacher questions– Average length of student response
Qualitative– Examination of student talk during a
groupwork task to identify how they work together to complete the task
Deciding on the type of data Quantitative to qualitative
– Numbers of teacher questions and student responses
– Interesting examples examined in depth Qualitative to quantitative
– Detailed examination of teacher instructions to identify components
– Frequency of different components
Typical instruments used in classroom research Observing
– Video recording (description and transcription)– Audio recording (transcription)– Observation sheet
Student work (essays, tests etc.) Asking
– Diaries, interviews, questionnaires
Analysing data Quantitative
– Frequency, percentage, means, SDs Qualitative
– Identifying key features– Thematic categorisation– Narrative
Goal of analysis: To provide as much insight as possible
Disseminating research
Internal sharing workshops Presenting at conferences
– Submit abstract, prepare presentation, write article?
Publishing articles– Identifying journal, finding model article,
finding references, writing, submitting, dealing with reviewers’ feedback
Finding references
Useful search resources– Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com)– BALD (http://arts.kmutt.ac.th/books/main.asp)
Finding texts– Full text available on the web (30% of
references in Google Scholar)– Main library website– KMUTT Resource Centre (5th floor, SoLA)
Some examples What REALLY happens when designing a
course?– Course design literature presents an
unrealistically neat picture– Keep an extensive diary while designing a
course– Analyse qualitatively as a narrative– Compare against neat picture from literature– Paper published in ThaiTESOL Bulletin
Some examples
How do teachers use their power in the classroom?– Observe lessons, record and transcribe– Qualitatively identify features that show power
(e.g. modals – “you must” “you might like to”)– Count frequencies– Show varieties of manifestations of power and
relationship to contexts– Paper presented at international conference
Some examples Can students induce grammatical rules by
themselves?– For an error they made, students collect
examples of use from the Internet– Students analyse examples for patterns– Students use patterns to correct errors– From student work, count numbers of suitable
examples of use, correctly induced patterns, corrected errors
– Paper published in System
Some examples
How do students react to different formats of feedback on journals?– In a course with 3 teachers, students submitted
journals and teachers gave feedback in different formats
– Students interviewed about reactions to feedback
– Paper published in ELT Journal
Some examples Do bulletin boards or discussion lists
provide a better outside-class support system?– For outside-class sharing, bulletin boards and
discussion lists each used for half a semester– Student contributions analysed for length,
complexity, quantity of ideas, patterns of interaction
– Paper presented at an international conference
Task
What about you? Make a plan for conducting classroom research– Identify an area of interest– Think about what information you need– How will you collect the information?– What data will you get?– How will you analyse the data?– How will the research help you develop?– How might you disseminate the research?