Chapter 3: Methodology

Chapter 3: Methodology

My research on how 1:1 iPad use affects academic achievement in 7^th grade science was conducted during my Plate Tectonics unit which occurred from February 21^st 2019 to March 29^th 2019. Each one of my students is issued a school iPad in 7^th grade which is for their use in school and out for three years, even during the summer. After three years they are issued a second iPad for them to use their sophomore through senior years in high school. I chose to use all of my Level 1 and Level 2 students in the study. I felt it was important to gauge the effect of the iPad on my highest achievers as well as my special education and lower level students. There were 118 students included in this study. My students took a pre-assessment and post-assessment on Plate tectonics and they also filled out a comprehensive survey on Google Forms in which they answered a variety of questions on how iPad use helped them achieve academically in Science class.

The following Next Generation Science Standards were covered in my Plate Tectonics Unit study:

ESS1.C: The History of Planet Earth

· Tectonic Processes continually generate new ocean seafloor at ridges and destroy old seafloor at trenches

ESS2.A: Earth’s Materials and Systems

· All Earth processes are the result of energy flowing and matter cycling within and among the planet’s systems. This energy is derived from the sun and Earth’s hot interior. The energy that flows and the matter that cycles produce chemical and physical changes in Earth’s materials and living organisms.

ESS2.B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale System Interactions

· Maps of ancient land and water patterns, based on investigations of rocks and fossils, make clear how Earth’s plates have moved great distances, collided, and spread apart.

The following ISTE Standards for students were covered in my Plate Tectonics Unit study:

ISTE 1c

· Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways

ISTE 3d

· Students build knowledge by actively exploring real world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories and pursuing answers and solutions

ISTE 4a

· Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts, or solving authentic problems

ISTE 4c

· Students develop, test and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process

ISTE 6c

· Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models, or simulations

ISTE 7c

· Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal

The following ISTE Standards for educators were covered in my Plate tectonics Unit Study:

ISTE 5a

· Use technology to create, adapt and personalize learning experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs

ISTE 5b

· Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and use digital tools and resources to maximize active deep learning

ISTE 5c

· Explore and apply instructional design principles to create innovative digital learning environments that engage and support learning

ISTE 6a

· Foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in both independent and group settings

ISTE 7b

· Use technology to design and implement a variety of formative and summative assessments that accommodate learner needs, provide timely feedback to students and inform instruction

ISTE 7c

· Use assessment data to guide progress and communicate with students, parents and education stakeholders to build student self-direction

The specific goal of the plate tectonics unit is for the students to be able to understand how the energy within earth’s interior creates convection currents which move our plates and creates different landforms in the process. This unit brings back the topics of heat transfer and density which the students learned about earlier in the year during their Chemistry curriculum. This unit expands upon these topics to teach them to apply what they learned to explain why the plates move and how the various land forms are created by the different plate interactions of colliding, spreading apart, or sliding past each other horizontally.

I did not want to do the traditional pre-test before the students were introduced to the material because I felt they would obviously do poorly. I instead introduced my students to the different plate tectonic topics starting February 21^st. We then worked on different plate tectonic lab and classroom activities for a little over three weeks. On March 19^th I had my students take an open note Edulastic pre-assessment to gauge where they were in their understanding of plate tectonics. After the pre-assessment I introduced my students to a variety of study games including Quizizz, Kahoot, Gimkit and Quizlet Live that they could play to master the content over the next week and a half to help them solidify their content knowledge before the final summative assessment was given on March 29th. Some of the games were played in class while we were finishing out the units classwork activities, but all of the games were posted to Google Classroom where the students could play as many times as they would like in order to master the content. I also posted my Plate Tectonics Nearpod presentations on Google Classroom for review.

In addition I had my students complete an in depth survey on iPad use in schools. Some of the questions students answered were as follows:

· In what class do you use the iPad the most?

· In what class is the iPad most useful for learning content? Why?

· What was the best assignment you had this year in any class that involved using the iPad? Why was this assignment so memorable?

· Does Quizizz help you review content?

· Why does or doesn’t Quizizz help you review content?

· Does Kahoot help you review content?

· Why does or doesn’t Kahoot help you review content?

· Does Nearpod help you review content?

· Why does or doesn’t Nearpod help you review content?

· Which app have you used in another class that you wish you could use in Science?

· Which app or apps have you used in other classes for presentations?

· Of those apps you have used in other classes for presentations which ones did you find to be the best and why?

· Would you rather complete schoolwork on an iPad or on paper?

· Explain your choice for the question above about using iPad vs. Paper for schoolwork.

· Please give your opinion on what you like about iPad use in school and what aspects of the iPad are not helpful in learning.

· On a scale of 1 to 5 how important is iPad usage to learning content in school? 1 is the least important and 5 is the most important.

· Does doing work on the iPad lead to more distraction than when working on paper?

For my data collection I analyzed the pre-assessment scores, final summative scores, number of Quizizz attempts, average Quizizz score. I also collected data on whether the students found Nearpod, Quizizz, and/or Kahoot helpful in learning science content and why. Some other data I collected was how important iPad use was to students for learning science content and whether they find themselves distracted while using the iPad. I have included my pre-assessment, post-assessment, and survey in the appendices section of my research.

References

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2019). ISTE Standards for Educators. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-educators

International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2019). ISTE Standards for Students. Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-students

Next Generation Science Standards. (2013). Next Generation Science Standards: For states by states. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.nextgenscience.org