Data Collection Methods

The data collection methods I used during my study were student engagement observations, pre and post tests, a reflection video rubric, and student interviews.

Student Interviews

Student interview questions

I interviewed my students one-on-one to find their preferences on how math should be structured as well as to get an overall sense of how they felt about math. Students were asked questions like which type of structure do you like for math, when it is mostly whole group or when we do rotations and why? How do you feel about math? How can math be fun? How could math be better? These questions and responses helped me understand what motivated each of my students during math as well as what needed to be changed to make math more engaging for all students. I used the data from these interviews to include more of the types of activities students liked. For example, many students liked the math investigations, so I continued to use them as the weeks went on. I think that this data point was the best fit for my student population because every student learns differently and it gave my students and me a better understanding of how they learn and how they like to learn.

Pre and Post Tests

My students were given a pre and post test for every math topic, or unit. These tests were graded to find the difference, or growth, after the topic was completed. The tests were between fifteen to twenty questions each based on the number of lessons in the topic and each topic lasted one to two weeks. I also used the pre-test data to create my math workshop groups. I based my groups on ability, so that I could focus my time on teaching the material at the speed each student needed. For my students that had very little prior knowledge on the topic, we spent a lot of time scaffolding the lesson. To meet the needs of my higher level students, I provided above-grade level questions as well as more critical thinking and problem solving questions. By looking at the data from pretest to post test, I was able to see where students had made growth in their mathematical understanding as well as where I needed to provide some more reinforcement to continue the students’ growth.

This is one of the topic tests students were given as a pre and post test.

Reflection Video Rubric

Left: The rubric that was used each week to grade students' reflection videos. Right: This student example was graded a 9/9.

Every day, students were required to create a video that showed them solving a word problem based on the day’s objective. These questions often required students to use their critical thinking skills as well as the vocabulary they were learning. To answer the question, students also had to use words, numbers, and pictures. To grade these videos, I created a rubric that focused on the students’ ability to answer the problem using multiple strategies (i.e. in words, pictures, and numbers), their ability to use math vocabulary, and their ability to explain their understanding of mathematical concepts. Though I watched the student videos every day, students were only scored on the rubric once a week. The data was then used to find any misconceptions students had on each topic, so that students had a better and more complete understanding of the lesson. For example, when teaching area, I still had students multiplying 8 x 4 to find the area of a square instead of multiplying 8 x 8. The next day, I then was able to reteach how to find the area of a square. I would not have known that there was this large gap in their understanding had I not used the videos. This data point was also important to my student population because one skill all students could get better at was critical thinking and word problems. No matter the student’s math ability every child needed to be exposed to questions that required them to think on a higher level. When they got to work with problems at varying degrees of difficulty, they were able to grow and apply the concept to a variety of situations. Finally, this rubric met the needs of my students because it gave every student the opportunity to explain their thinking and reasoning. They were able to solve the problem using the strategies that worked best for them as well as put the vocabulary into their own words, which would make the material stay with them longer.

Student Engagement Observations

This is the sheet that was used to record how many students were on task during whole group and rotations.

To find out if students were more engaged during math rotations or whole group instruction, my mentor and I kept track of how many students were engaged in the lesson every 3 minutes. The more students counted at each interval, the more engaged the class was at that time. These observations were made during 9 different math lessons to ensure that the results were reliable and not just a one time event. I used this data point because a large piece of increasing achievement is to have students engaged and focused during learning. This data was used during my study to not only help me see that students were more engaged during rotations, but also to see what rotations and activities were most engaging. Student engagement was very high at Technology and Hands-on compared to At Your Seat, which informed me that I needed to improve this rotation to make it as effective as possible. This method benefited my student population because it allowed me to see where each group of students needed adjusted work in order to stay focused and be challenged. By paying attention to where my struggling students were losing focus, I was able to adjust their workload so that the work was challenging enough that they had to really focus, but not so hard that it was frustrating.