Framing The Problem

Field of Action Research: Community of Practice at Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology (9-12 Grade)

Problem: Physical science is one of the lowest scoring areas in our school. I want to assist teachers to increase scores in this area as well as other subject areas that have not met the EOC (end-of-course) assessment goal. Also, I want to develop a framework to enhance the learning experiences of students when we leverage the idea of integrating technology in each subject being taught.

Possible solution: Provide educational technology tools to assist Physical Science teachers to prepare students to master the course and help improve EOC test scores above a specific percentage (i.e., 17%). Establish partnership(s) with teachers (via Professional Learning Communities) to aid students in mastering classes (i.e., Physical Science) and to help other teachers inspire students to learn by using technology in the classroom.

Library Search Terms: Bloom’s Taxonomy (21st century learning and skills), Collaborative teaching models, Community of Practice, Differentiated instruction, Professional development, Professional Learning Communities, Student-centered instruction, Student/Teacher incentives, Technology instruction tutorials, Technology integration (Blogs, Forums, Wiki, etc.), Web 2.0 Education Tools, ThinkQuest

Research Question: How will utilizing technology in the classroom inspire students to learn and for teachers to collaborate/knowledge-share within Professional Learning Communities?

The next step is to define what kind of communication tool will be used and how to measure the amount of communication with educators (teachers).

1. Blogs/Forums

2. Email

3. Online Courseware Systems (i.e., Moodle)

Cycle questions that might evolve from this research:

1. If I introduce the usage of technology as a new lateral-entry teacher (transitioning careers from corporate to the classroom) to other teachers (new/seasoned) within Professional Learning Communities, will the level of acceptance, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing of technological ideas enhance or decrease the effectiveness of the PLCs?

2. If I continue to facilitate discussions with the Teachers and IT Support Staff through the PLCs, will they continue to be receptive and responsive in a timely manner when I introduce a variety of technologies (i.e., Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts, Social Media, and other Web 2.0 tools) to them and request feedback?

3. If I provide a variety of technology tools (i.e., Wikis, Blogs, Podcasts, Social Media, and other Web 2.0 tools) for students and teachers to use in the classroom and within their Professional Learning Communities, will they be inspired to use these tools more often and integrate them into future lessons/projects?

1) What questions arise out of my experience to which I would like to search for answers?

I would like to understand why students are not enthusiastic about learning about Physical Science and other subject areas. Based on the EOC test scores in Physical Science, it seems that either teachers are not covering the materials for differentiated instruction or students choose not to do the work or study the material.

2) What might be the answers to these questions?

There's a possibility that larger enrollment of student classes and budget cuts are affecting the retention rates. This leaves some teachers ascribing lower/stagnant student achievement due to lack of motivation, laziness, and possibly not completing work in physical science and other subject areas.

3) What do I think might be the underlying causes of the situation for which I have these questions?

It seems that budget cuts have created a negative situation for teachers to accomplish more with less. This seems to decrease the morale of teachers who want to do their best for students but, may not have the resources to meet or surpass goals expected. The lack of students passing seems to come from several areas but, teachers are being held accountable for student's enthusiasm. I truly believe that all students can learn and master the materials. It is a choice for them to take initiative to make their educational experience worth their time being involved in and outside the classroom. Again, it seems that some students do not want to do more than they are responsible for or they choose not to do anything. Overall, I truly feel that we can mold the attitudes towards learning if 'I' make the change and set the tone for the learning environment for students and sharing best practices with my fellow teachers.

4) What alternative answer might exist?

Perhaps I will find out that even with the technology being used in the classroom that some teachers will resist to learning the technology or they may feel that conventional teaching will work best for them. Also, I may find out that some students may lack the knowledge needed to navigate around the technology introduced to them.

5) Where do I fit into the situation as defined by the questions?

I will be very proactive role in this situation. I truly feel that there will be other teachers who will be inspired to assist with this situation to help improve Physical Science scores as well as their own. The key thing here is that you have to show incentives for teachers to leverage the usage of technology in their curriculum.

6) What opposition will I encounter?

The key restraining forces that I am going to focus on are 1) Teachers, 2) School District IT Department, and 3) Students. I will definitely need teachers to support the efforts to make it beneficial and rewarding for all of us since I would like to develop a framework to not only focus on Physical Science classes but, all classes since we are striving to increase or maintain scores 77% or higher. The District’s IT Department is another area that I would need buy-in because all of our software needs the approval to use it in the district based on the newly sanctioned guidelines. Lastly, I will work cooperatively with teachers to help boost the morale of learning for students by providing incentives for them wanting to master the course as well as excel in the EOC tests. I know I cannot do this alone and it will take all the teachers in my school to come together to make this experience rewarding.

7) Where are the sensitive issues?

The sensitive issues are: 1) Teachers being opposed to utilizing technology that is available to use, 2) The learning curve for utilizing the technology is possibly too high, and 3) New school teaching with the use of technology as a catapult for innovation and some teachers feeling like they are being "forced" to use it or it is a way of "degrading" their experience as a teacher by not knowing how to use it.

8) What are the constraints?

Teachers of all levels (1st year teachers, tenured teachers, and veteran teachers) are all possible constraints due to a possible lack of knowledge towards what technology can do to enhance teaching styles and best practices to heighten student enthusiasm/learning. Again, we know technology tools for education are available. It will be a choice of teachers to venture in using the technology or resist the opportunity to use it. This will be the game changer (momentum shift) to see whether teachers will be open or oppose to this idea of change.

9) Who needs to be involved?

Everyone in our Community of Practice (administrators, faculty, staff, and students), Professional Learning Community will need to be involved. Furthermore, I will contact specific companies who develop these tools to see if there are other case studies that I can leverage to formulate specific tasks for me to take on to pursue this opportunity.

10) Whose support do I enlist?

I feel that I need to obtain a "sponsor" and support team for this project to come to fruition. The support team will comprise of teachers (various levels of teaching and technology) and students to actively participate.

11) Where would be a good place to begin?

Currently, I have been meeting with the Lead Physical Science Teacher and Principal to inquire what has been done in the pass in preparation of lessons for students. I’ve been talking with our local administrators to see if we can host our information on the local web server to serve as a place where we can establish a blog to record our findings and forums to post questions. Ground rules are being worked out to help us facilitate tutoring lessons and obtain the approvals for using learning technology tools (i.e., Microsoft Student, Moodle, T-Sparta, etc.,). Furthermore, I am planning to reach out to other teachers in the district who are scoring high and surpassing the state requirements to see if we can collaborate on some best practices and other ideas. This seems to be a strong challenge to face but, I truly believe that we can succeed together if we continually focus on student success and the mastery of learning.

12) How will I engage in uncovering the data?

I plan to keep track of all conversations via email/blogs/wikis. I will do my best to maintain organizational metrics of this data by filing each interaction with administration/students/teachers securely and separately from school servers to stay compliant to the usage of information being shared within and outside of the infrastructure of the centralize network.