What data I collected and what evidence the data provided...

In Cycle One, Cycle Two, and Cycle Three of my Action Research Project, I used different ways of data collection and analysis methods to show research progress. These data collection methods included my own action research journal, my observation, collection of students' work including their weekly Tapped-In transcripts and blogs, students' survey, comparisons of the student's current grades with the same student's grades a year ago. collection of students' presentations, students' reflections, and students' digital portfolios.

As a teacher and researcher, I have kept a reflective journal throughout my action research project focusing on my own intentions and on how the students were responding to the environments and lessons I created and facilitated. Revisions, actions taken, and responses to these actions were also noted. The students' discussion transcripts and blogs were all valuable data for this research. Sample transcripts and blogs were collected and shown in the data section of the Cycle One report. The result of the students' survey helped me understand students' feelings about their progress with the new learning approaches. The sample student's work and reflections, sample TI transcript, sample blog messages, and the survey results all allowed me to see that the integration of the interactive technologies with language pedagogy supported student's learning. However, how did I prove if the use of the technologies really had a positive impact on student learning? I turned to student's grades for answers. I believed if the students really learned better, their improvement of the learning should reflect on their grades. I compared Chinese IV student's first-quarter grades with the same student's first-quarter grades a year ago. The Data Comparison and Analysis Chart showed me the evidence of students' progress. From students' learning reflection, I found student's suggestions, which told me where I needed to modify my plan for the second cycle to increase learning.

One of my data collection methods in Cycle Two was observations of students' learning activities that were documented in my journal. Students' new learning activities were analyzed for my own learning and improvement. Through the student's movie, we can see how the students worked enthusiastically and collaboratively to design their projects and to prepare their lessons through the learning community. These activities showed that the role of community was a critical part of the learning process. Students' portfolios with final reflections which were records of the students' thoughts on various activities were collected and examined for student understanding and perceptions.

An important part of the data collection for Cycle Three is students' presentation, the final product of a project-based learning, Your School and My School. This final product was the demonstration co-created by the students. The data shows that students' communication with their cross-cultural buddies in China was an on-going activity that supported the primary, essential learning question of the unit. The students' reflections on this project-based learning showed us that students commonly found this learning experience fun, helpful, and/or conducive to improving their communication skills in Chinese. I found from the data analysis that with collaborations that involved the native speakers, students had a real-life purpose and motivation to construct their knowledge and develop their language skills.