Data Collection Methods
Achievement Data: Pre- and Post- Assessment of Vocabulary Retention (Quantitative)
My students are highly motivated by grades with a strong desire to do well and succeed in the classroom. Using ungraded pre and post assessments to gather data about vocabulary retention did not create stress and left students with the opportunity to do their best and write what they knew. Students completed these Pre- and Post- assessments consisting of 10 items to determine their retention of vocabulary. While the pre- and post- assessments were parallel forms, consisting of the same number of items, the content was unique to the instructional units. The pre-test consisted of common phrases used in conversation such as “What is your name?” and “Where are you from?” The post-test measured student retention of story-specific vocabulary from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. These measures gave me a true picture of which words were retained for each student. I chose this data collection method as I wanted to see which words/phrases the students could recall on their own. The ability to recall vocabulary leads students to be able to use the vocabulary in real-life conversations. In the graphs below, results are reported by class period.
In addition to class-by-class data, I compiled overall student performance and calculated the difference in the total number of words each student retained between the pre and post assessment.
Engagement Data: Pesos
Students earned pesos for answering questions in Spanish or speaking only Spanish with a partner during a designated activity. Using a children’s story as a context for learning vocabulary served the purpose of increasing engagement of the learners. I chose to use pesos as a data point because engagement and participation are the key to success in a world language classroom. Often times students are using a completely different skill set in learning a different language than they use in their other courses, so utilizing class time to be active participants helps students significantly grow.
Using pesos/participation points to collect participation and engagement data was best for this group of students as often times, two or three students dominate instructional activities by wanting to respond to every question. When students see that these few students always answer questions, they may not feel the need to volunteer or participate to their full ability. With pesos, students were required to earn 10 every 6 weeks for a grade, so they were highly motivated to be engaged and actively participate.
Consistent with research, as engagement levels increase, students should be willing to participate and volunteer more often in the target language. If students were engaged and participated more, my prediction was that those students would score higher on the post-assessment. As a result, I chose to collect peso data and determine correlation with their post-assessment scores.
The data below represents the post- assessment score compared to the amount of pesos (participation points) earned during the research data collection period.
Engagement Data: Classroom Climate Survey
While academic achievement provides some indicators of student retention of vocabulary, there is a high correlation to achievement and learning environment. I chose to use the Classroom Climate Survey as the results provided a plethora of information about topics that lead to engagement levels. In order to be successful in using comprehensible input in Spanish, it is critical that students “buy-in” to the process and trust the teacher to help them learn. This metric provided perspective that led to instructional refinements throughout the research study.
Chart 1-Interest: Students were asked if they thought the lessons that we do in class are interesting. I chose this question as engagement is a key factor in learning a world language, especially while using a children’s story with comprehensible input.
Chart 2-Rigor: Students responded whether the work they do in class makes them think or not. I chose this question because while using the high frequency vocabulary words to ask questions, students were pushed to listen intently and think critically about the questions. Although the questions were simple, “What color is the apple?” the content was challenging as the questions and answers were communicated in Spanish.
Chart 3-Teacher Belief: The third question I focused on was based around if students felt that I thought they could learn or not.
Chart 4-Behavior: The fourth question asked students if they felt students behaved the way that I wanted them to behave in class.
Data-Informed Decisions
During the study, student progress was measured in many different ways. First, I employed various formative assessments through Google Forms. I used Google Forms as warm-ups or closures for students to answer questions about the story using high-frequency vocabulary words and structures. I also used Quizizz and Kahoot for formative assessments. I gathered data by asking questions in whole-group instruction. I could tell which students were following the story by asking simple yes/no or true/false questions. If most students answered these questions correctly, I knew that it was time for me to dig deeper into the content and ask questions at a higher difficulty. If more than a few students were confused, I took a step back and asked more basic questions or repeated the question with more gestures and clues to enhance comprehension.