CHS+Service+Learning

=Step 1: IDENTIFY A PROBLEM AREA= Teachers often have several questions they wish to investigate; however, it is important to limit the question to one that is meaningful and doable in the confines of their daily work. Careful planning at this first stage will limit false starts and frustrations. There are several criteria to consider before investing the time and effort in “researching” a problem. The question should
 * be a higher-order question—not a yes/no
 * be stated in common language, avoiding jargon
 * be concise
 * be meaningful
 * not already have an answer

An important guideline in choosing a question is to ask if it is something over which the teacher has influence.Is it something of interest and worth the time and effort that will be spent? Sometimes there is a discrete problem that is readily identifiable. Or, the problem to be studied may come from a feeling of discomfort or tension in the classroom. For example, a teacher may be using the latest fashionable teaching strategy, yet not really knowing or understanding what or how kids are learning.


 * ~ == My Inquiry based question: ==

How can students better understand the writing process?
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= = =**Step 2: GATHER DATA**=

The collection of data is an important step in deciding what action needs to be taken. Multiple sources of data are used to better understand the scope of happenings in the classroom or school. There are many vehicles for collection of data:


 * ~ interviews

portfolios

diaries

field notes

audio tapes

photos

memos

questionnaires

focus groups

anecdotal records

checklists ||~ journals

individual files

logs of meetings

videotapes

case studies

surveys

records – tests, report cards,

attendance

self-assessment

samples of student work,

projects, performances ||

Select the data that are most appropriate for the issue being researched. Are the data easy to collect? Are there sources readily available for use? How structured and systematic will the collection be? Use at least three sources (triangulation) of data for the basis of actions. Organize the data in a way that makes it useful to identify trends and themes. Data can be arranged by gender, classroom, grade level, school, etc.

My Data:

 * Students in my 2nd period class were struggling with "naming" the writing process and how our grammar activities are related to actual writing. For every assignment, I require students to complete the entire writing process. Through observation, they appeared to be completing this process just to "go through the motions" but not to actually understanding how they benefited from it or what they were learning through the process. While I had been observing improvement in their daily writing, I was unsure as to whether that was due to the work we had done in class or simply my pointing out and forcing them to follow the steps was the reason. **


 * Data I collected came through field notes, assessments, performance, samples of student work, as well as student interviews. **

**Next, a colleague of mine saw an opportunity to incorporate service learning into my action research question by pairing my students with his ELL seniors. These students were working on their senior research papers which consisted of their researching the reason why their family fled their home country. Each student identified the reason, researched the background information as well as the effects of the problem.**

[[image:https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ow4o3M6ylVs/T01c-BPOuiI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/B5BpL87nd0E/s640/021512092418.jpg width="501" height="281" align="left"]]
**After they had conducted their research, they drafted a paper explaining the issue using the material they collected. This is where my students came in. We paired two or three of my students with one of my colleague's students. They spent a morning reading through the papers and discussing how to write a thesis statement, to** **pic sentences, and how to support their topic sentences with the evidence they collected through their research. Kids were very positive about this experience and worked well together.**

**Upon returning to our classroom, I asked students to name what they had specifically needed to help the ELL students with. They explained that they noticed that the pre-writing the ELL students had completed was inadequate and they had discovered they were missing some key parts of research information while they were helping to draft the essays. In other words, they were naming parts of the writing process.**

Go to Page four: Interpret Data

Go to Page two: Steps in Action Research