This document proposes implementing a Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle to promote student engagement in social studies classrooms using student-centered learning strategies. It recommends that social studies teachers in a school collaborate to design lessons that give students more autonomy, choice, and input through approaches like project-based learning and culturally responsive teaching. The document discusses potential barriers to student engagement and collecting data to study the impact of the proposed strategies on student motivation and outcomes.
1. 1
A Proposal to Improve Student Engagement
David Davenport
American College of Education
CI5091 - Capstone Experience for Curriculum and Instruction
Dr. David Mapp
December 11, 2022
2. 2
Develop the first step in a Plan-Do-
Study-Act cycle to promote student
engagement and motivation
Examine student-centered learning
strategies
Promote discussion of evidence-based
strategies to promote engagement and
motivation
Use the collaborative strength of
teachers to design potential solutions
Identify potential barriers
4. WHERE?
All social studies classrooms in
our school
Designing student-centered
lessons that promote engagement
WHO?
All social studies teachers &
students
4
WHEN?
Beginning of the third quarter
WHAT?
HOW WILL THE PDSA CYCLE BE
IMPLEMENTED?
Action Plan
Collecting Data
District benchmark assessment results
Student self-assessment survey
Teacher observational notes
5. 5
Strategies for Improving
Student Engagement and
Motivation using Student-
centered Classrooms
Culturally responsive teaching
Authentic learning activities
and assessments
Project-based Learning
Student choice
6. 6
Learning responsibility lies with
students/greater autonomy
Promotes engagement
Teacher is facilitator
Addresses learning needs and interests
Modifies assignments and assignments
Students have more input by setting
learning goals
(Arman, 2022)
7. This allows teaching to connect
learning to:
• The real-world, using examples and
problems
• Student interests and learning
preferences
• Relevant real-life experiences that
connect to their futures
(Larson et al., 2018)
Culturally Responsive
Teaching
8. 8
In your PLC groups discuss how we can
create classrooms that promote student
engagement using student-centered
strategies. You will have ten minutes.
9. 9
Elements
Includes other strategies such as
problem-based learning
Often includes collaborative tasks
that asks students to solve a problem
Focuses on learning that is
meaningful to the students’ real-lives
Promotes real-world problems that
connect to the student futures
(Di Blas, 2022)
Reflection opportunities
10. 10
Investigating a problem
Active earning
Collaboration to complete a project
Authentic learning activities and
assessments
Meaningful experiences for deeper
comprehension
Students are interdependent
Product based
(Handriato & Rahman, 2018)
11. 11
What barriers are preventing students from
engaging in their learning?
Cultural relevance – students do not feel
connected to their learning.
Students are not active participants in their
learning.
Curriculum does not have enough examples
and content that relate to their lives.
Barriers to Success
12. 12
At your tables, get together with your
PLC groups to discuss the barriers that
may exist preventing the success of this
initiative. Secondly, discuss the predicted
outcomes of using student-centered
learning. You will have ten minutes.
13. 13
Student choice can provide alternatives
for content, process, and/or assessment.
It is an excellent way to differentiate
learning based on academic needs and
interest. This can have many benefits
including:
Improving individual interest which is
a main factor in the learning process.
(Rotgans & Schmidt, 2017).
Allowing students to access the
content through their preferred
learning method.
Allows for assessments based on their
learning profile
They have more autonomy and will be
more inclined to own their learning by
setting goals and reflecting on their
learning.
14. 14
Student Engagement and Motivation
• Determine what strategies each PLC
will use in planning their PDSA cycle.
• Meet with the department to
collaborate with the other grade
levels.
• Research the strategies and determine
how to design and implement them.
• Collaboratively create the PDSA cycle
for each grade level.
15. 15
Discussion Topic
In our grade level PLC
groups, discuss what
student-centered
strategies you would like
to design and implement
within your curriculum.
We will take ten minutes.
16. 16
Survey
Based on your discussions
with your PLC please
take this brief survey.
Survey Link
17. 17
References
Arman, M. (2019). Student-centered approach to teaching english language: Students' voices & choices. Ahfad
Journal, 36(2), 43. https://discovery.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=1fbffada-c10b-305b-aba0-8596996854b3
Aynas, N., & Aslan, M. (2021). The effects of authentic learning practices on academic success in science courses.
Educational Research Quarterly, 44(4), 3-30. https://discovery.ebsco.com/c/36ffkw/viewer/pdf/s7rm7uxk4f
Di Blas, N. (2022). Authentic learning, creativity and collaborative digital storytelling : Lessons from a large-scale case-study.
Educational Technology & Society, 25(2), 80-104. https://discovery.ebsco.com/c/36ffkw/viewer/pdf/brpwve7tvj
Handrianto, C., & Muhammad, A. R. (2019). Project based learning: A review of literature on its outcomes and
implementation issues. Linguistics, Literature and English Teaching Journal, 8(2), 110 – 129.
https://doi.org/10.18592/let.v8i2.2394
Larson, K. E., Pas, E. T., Bradshaw, C. P., Rosenberg, M. S., & Day-Vines, N. (2018). Examining how proactive management
and culturally responsive teaching relate to student behavior: Implications for measurement and practice. School
Psychology Review, 47(2), 153-166.
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=eric&AN=EJ1182041&site=eds-
live&scope=site&custid=ns083389
18. 18
Lowell, V. L., & Moore, R. L. (2020). Developing practical knowledge and skills of online instructional design students
through authentic learning and real-world activities. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning,
64(4), 581-590.
Murray, E. J. (2018). Using iterative plan-do-study-act cycles to improve teaching pedagogy. Nursing Education
Perspectives, 39(6), 375-377. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NEP.0000000000000265
Rotgans, J. I., & Schmidt, H. G. (2017). The relation between individual interest and knowledge acquisition. British
Educational Research Journal, 43(2), 350-371. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3268
Sulemanoski, D. (2022). Teaching strategies with a focus on the student-centered approach to learning. Anglisticum, 11(7),
11–31. https://doaj.org/article/bb27731d167a49bc892fe2d89e7a27c8
Editor's Notes
Today, I am presenting a proposal to improve the engagement and motivation of our students. Student assessment scores have declined in all content areas. This decline has coincided with lower student engagement and motivation in their learning. As a department I feel that we do an excellent job of building relationships with our students. This is an important aspect for engaging students. However, we can make the learning more engaging by designing a curriculum that lets the students take more of an active role in their learning. Student-centered learning provides differentiation based on academic needs and student interests. We can accomplish this by working collaboratively through a teacher led initiative. The conduit for this initiative is the plan, do, study, act cyclical process. Today’s purpose is:
Develop the first step in a Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle to promote student engagement and motivation
Examine student-centered learning strategies
Promote discussion of evidence-based strategies to promote engagement and motivation
Use the collaborative strength of teachers to design potential solutions
Identify potential barriers
We can achieve our goals through the plan, do, study, act process. We will focus on the first element of this process. The planning stage will provide us with the means to implement our plan by identifying student-centered methods that we can use in our classrooms. We will plan our lessons using these methods and monitor our progress. We will study our results within our PLCs so that we can revise the process and materials to provide more effective instruction. I do anticipate some initial problems because the students are not used to the autonomy they will have with student-centered strategies. For this reason, it is essential that we are providing feedback that is timely to support the learning process.
Before we progress further it is essential to identify some basic answers for the four w’s. Where? When? What? And who? The first step in the PDSA cycle is to identify goals, predict outcomes, plan for implementation, and determine how to collect data (Murray, 2018). During this presentation we will make our predictions for the outcomes. This action plan is partial and can be adjusted according to the collaborative input of our department.
We can work individually in our classrooms to design lessons that incorporate these strategies. However, we are stronger when we work as a collaborative coalition to resolve the engagement and motivation issue. We already include some student-centered activities, but we can do more to make students active participants in their learning. Many of the strategies described in this presentation are closely connected and will work together synergistically. In addition to these strategies, we will research other strategies that address engagement and motivation. As teachers we can lead an initiative to improve the learning in our school. This list is not exhaustive nor is it intended to be another thing we have to do. By making a change in the dynamics in our classrooms we can change the learning for the improvement of our students and our own pedagogy. We can use these strategies to promote engagement. Improving Student Engagement and Motivation
Student-centered classrooms
Culturally responsive teaching
Authentic learning activities and assessments
Project-based Learning
Student choice
Using authentic learning promotes collaboration, communication, and makes the learning more culturally relevant (Lowell & Moore, 2020). It is also important to establish classroom rules and expectations with the students. By including students in the process, they will take ownership in the classroom environment and be more likely to follow the rules and expectations.
Student-centered learning is an evidence-based strategy that promotes engagement and motivation. Students have control of their learning through carefully designed lessons that uses the teacher as the facilitator in deciding what is learned, how it is learned and when it is learned (Arman, 2022). The culture in a classroom is changed because the teacher is not the dominating force in the classroom. As we progress through this presentation you see there are several commonalities between the strategies. Student-centered learning is a best practice for acquiring independent study skills, working collaboratively to construct knowledge using authentic purposes (Sulemanoski, 2022). There are many elements in student-centered learning these include:
Learning responsibility lies with students/greater autonomy
Promotes engagement
Teacher is facilitator
Addresses learning needs and interests
Modifies assignments and assignments
Students have more input by setting learning goals
Culturally responsive teaching allows students to see their culture in their learning. An important aspect is getting to know your students academically and culturally. This is an important aspect for differentiating our lessons to design and implement student-centered learning strategies. We do a very good job of knowing our students but there is always room for improvement. There are many ways to include real-world and real-life connections to the learning in our classes. We hear students complain every year “why do we have to learn this?” By accessing their interests and learning preferences we can improve our instruction, so we do not hear this question. Or at least not as often. According to Larson et al., (2018) culturally responsive teaching allows teaching to connect to their learning by including real-world examples and problems, student interest and learning preferences, and relevant real-life experiences that connect to the students’ futures.
Please write down your thoughts as you discuss our topic.
At its core, authentic learning provides students with lessons that are relevant outside of the classroom. Aynas and Aslan (2022) state the importance of using content that connects with students’ real lives when they find that “Authentic learning has a significant effect on enabling students to associate their acquired knowledge and skills with the outside world” ( p. 5). Includes other strategies such as problem-based learning. Often includes collaborative tasks that asks students to solve a problem using skills that provide students with opportunities to communicate, collaborate, and reflect (Lowell &Moore, 2020). Focuses on learning that is meaningful to the students’ real-lives. Promotes real-world connections that apply to the student futures,
Project-based learning is based on investigation through active learning. Providing a meaningful experience is the goal of authentic learning (Handriato & Rahman, 2018). It builds interpersonal skills by having students work interdependently toward a project. Students are more likely to retain knowledge through project-based learning (Handriato & Rahman). Assessing a project is based on the final product usually through a rubric. This helps to eliminate any vagueness on how a student understand their assessment. It may be difficult to implement student-based learning every day but the elements provide valuable experiences for the students.
There are several barriers to improving student engagement. I have provided three to get us started. These barriers are cultural relevance or students do not feel connected to their learning, Students are not active participants in their learning, and the curriculum does not have enough examples and content that relate to their lives. As social studies teachers we can include these into our lessons very easily. I know that we do this now, but they can be included on a more consistent basis.
Please take ten minutes to discuss other barriers to student engagement and motivation. This will help us to address these barriers. When we come back, we will be reviewing some student-centered strategies we can use in our classes.
Providing students with choice has many benefits that include building self-regulation, engagement, and self-efficacy. It is essential to know your students, so they have learning options that meet their needs. It is an excellent strategy to differentiate instruction for our students. Having students create learning goals with the teacher will help them to achieve these goals. In addition, students are choosing assignments and assessments based on their preferred learning style and interests. A key element is providing timely feedback for the students (Rotgans & Schmidt, 2017). Students may struggle at first because of the change in autonomy in the classroom. Of the strategies discussed in this presentation student-choice involves more planning because it may include the other strategies. However, when students become adjusted to the autonomy this strategy promotes they can become learners that understand how they learn best. Each of the strategies will need further research especially student choice.
By working together to implement student-centered learning students will be more motivated and engaged. Before our next meeting each PLC will need to do the following:
1. Determine what strategies each PLC will use in planning their PDSA cycle.
2. Meet with the department to collaborate with the other grade levels.
3. Research the strategies and determine how to design and implement them.
4. Collaboratively create the PDSA cycle for each grade level.
Think about the next time we meet and what needs to be done collaboratively before that meeting. In addition, please think of any questions that you need answered. We have taken the first steps in promoting engagement in our school.