FIN Commons

A.    Zoom-Lens Inquiry: Focusing on Students

1)    What data will you gather and analyze on individual students? (e.g. student work, self-reflections, interviews, videotaped think-alouds or problem-solving)

In the first two weeks of class, we asked the students to fill out a reading survey. Among other things, the survey asked them to identify “texts” they read outside of school (such as magazines, newspapers, websites, etc).
We are also creating in-class goal groups that will meet at least six times during the semester. There is some variation in what each instructor will ask the goal work to focus on (for example, one instructor is asking students to create goals focused on the course SLOs, while others are more focused on personal as well as academic goals). As part of this work, students are asked to write reflective paragraphs at the end of each goal group session.

2)    How do you imagine this data will help you understand the problem/issue you’re investigating? In other words, how does the data connect to and inform the overall focus of your inquiry?

One focus of our inquiry is how to more successfully engage African American students in Engl 70 by using more culturally relevant reading materials. In order to do this, we need to know what it is students are reading outside of school, so that we can integrate more culturally relevant material, both in terms of content as well as style.
Another focus of our inquiry is that of greater engagement. As a part of that focus, we plan to help students focus on goals that will help them succeed. Their reflections about this process will be invaluable.

3)    When and how will you collect this data? (e.g. Which classes will you target? Where will you conduct interviews or think-alouds?)

The reading surveys were collected during the first two weeks of class. The reflective paragraphs will be collected after each goal group section.

4)    When will you analyze this data? (e.g. mid-semester team retreat, after lesson-study session, at the end of the semester )

We haven’t determined that yet, but it will be before the end of May so that we can make needed curricular changes for the Fall 2009 semester.

5.) How will you analyze the data?

We don’t have a set plan for this analysis. It’s safe to assume that all four team members, as well as the two other Engl 70 instructors involved, will read both the surveys and the paragraphs and discuss any themes or patterns that they observe.

Mid-Range Shots: Focusing on the Classroom

1)    Please name ONE specific lesson in a particular course that will give you a good vantage point for observing student learning relevant to your Inquiry.

The lesson we will focus on is helping students apply the concepts introduced in Martin Luther King’s “Three Ways of Meeting Oppression” to the memoir Warriors Don’t Cry and to their own life experience. This is a departure from the more standard academic prompt we have used in the past with this memoir, and we hope it will more directly engage students as they reflect on how they choose to respond to perceived and actual oppression in their lives.

2)    How do you imagine the Lesson Study will help you understand the problem/issue you’re investigating about students and their learning? In other words, how does it connect to and inform the overall focus of your inquiry?

This lesson will help us to observe the reaction of our African -American students to culturally relevant readings and pedagogy.  We have intentionally revised the usual essay prompt for Warriors Don’t Cry in order to bring in students’ experiences and perspectives on responding to oppression.

3)    When and how will your team conduct this Lesson Study? Please detail the timeframes and participants for the three parts of the Lesson Study process (collaboratively planning the lesson, teaching/observing the lesson, and debriefing/analyzing videotapes & student work from the lesson).

This lesson study is a collaboration between two English 70 faculty: Katalina Wethington and Nancy Ybarra

• Part 1: We met to plan the essay prompt and the supplemental readings during week 6.
• Part 2: We plan to teach and observe the lesson after students finish reading the memoir, but prior to introducing the essay assignment. (Between weeks 8 and 12)
• Part 3: We will meet between weeks 15 and 17 to discuss and analyze observations about our teaching of the lesson. We will also discuss the extent to which students were able to apply the concepts in the article to the book and their own life experiences in the essay.

4)    What kinds of things will the observers be looking/listening for during the lesson? What artifacts of student learning and student experience will the team collect during the lesson? Will you videotape any portion of this process (pre-planning, lesson, debrief)?

During the lesson we will look for ways in which the instructor encourages students to:

• Make text to self connections.
• Make text to text connections.
• Engage with other students and the subject matter.
• Deepen their comprehension of the concepts contained in the article and apply them in multiple contexts.
• We will not videotape any portion of this process.
• We will collect student essays, summaries of the article, and student reflections on their own experiences with oppression.
• We will write reflections on our teaching of the lesson and our perceptions of student response.

5) What questions/concerns do you have about this element of your Inquiry? How can your Inquiry Coach support you in this phase of your Inquiry?

• We are not ready for the cameras.
• Is the article too difficult for the students? Will they comprehend it?
• Will those students who have not experienced oppression still be engaged?
• What is the most effective way to help the students synthesize the article, the memoir and their own experiencees

Wide Angle Lens: Focusing on Larger Trends in Institutional Data

1)    What data from your Institutional Research Office will you integrate into your Inquiry?

1. We are keeping track of attendance and drop patterns of all students in our four pilot sections in Spring 2009, and will specifically target those of African American students starting in Fall 2009. In order to do so, we have requested the student data for the four sections disaggregated by ethnicity, age, and gender.
   • Each of the four instructors is sending the team leader the student IDs of students who appear to have dropped the course (or at least are no longer attending).
   • The team leader is sending out form letters to those students, asking them for feedback about if they have dropped the course, and if so, why. The students do not have to fill out any personal information on the letters. Those letters include a SASE addressed to the team leader, so that we may collect data about the stories behind students’ choices.
2. We will also be looking at persistence patterns after the first semester, disaggregated by the same categories as above (as well as by stated goals, if recorded)
3. We will also be analyzing student pass rates
4. As part of the Engl 70 curriculum, students are required to see an academic counselor and create an educational plan. The Developmental Education Committee has already started a research project examining how this requirement influences student persistence. We will use this data as part of our look at persistence.

2)    How will this data help?

In contrast to the classroom and student-focused data, which will help us understand the student experience and student perception of our work on engagement and culturally relevant pedagogy and their influence on retention and success for African American students, this look at the numbers will give us, first of all, a baseline from which to measure our work. Secondly, it will allow us to make some comparative evaluations of the pilot sections vs the other stand-alone sections. The numbers are in no way the whole story, but they are an important part of the story.

Our goal in this grant is to create and refine methods that can be used by all Engl 70 instructors, regardless of their commitment to equity perspectives, their status in the institution, and their commitments elsewhere, to increase the retention and success rates of African American students in Engl 70. To that end, the methods we ultimately recommend to the Engl dept must be efficient, cost-effective, easily incorporated into the curriculum, and usable by adjunct faculty members, who teach at least 70% of the Engl 70 sections.

In order to make these kinds of sweeping programmatic suggestions, our efforts have to be reflected in the retention, persistence, and success rate figures for the course for all four sections. So a close monitoring and evaluation of those numbers is essential to our goal.

Questions and Concerns:

• Will the numbers and the student perceptions match each other?
• What if none of the students who drop mail back the letters?
• Will any of the numerical data be meaningful enough to warrant changes in curriculum and pedagogy for all Engl 70 instructors?

Timeline for Spring 2009

REVISED BUDGET