710 Masters Thesis Powerpoint presentation on Chapter 1

1. Research Proposal
Presentation
Karin Blackwood
EDU 710
Dr. Helen Hawley
3/6/2012 Karin Blackwood, ID# 427003 1

2. The Use of Clickers in a
High School Biology Class
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3. Statement of the Problem
• Using a device, such as a handheld clicker, might
level the playing field for the language learner and
the reluctant learner; while capturing the attention
of the tired and disengaged student.
• Educators find themselves in a very difficult time
to teach, and teach well.
– Language issues exist for many students
– Students don’t get to touch technology even though it is
all around them
– Students are difficult to engage (over-stimulation,
family issues, too many activities)
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4. Background & Need
• Response Systems have been around since the
1960s but entered the educational arena in the 80s
• Clickers today transmit a student’s response & can
instantly see it being evaluated
• It is a means of active learning while allowing the
teacher to obtain & analyze student learning
immediately
• Primarily used at the college level…most research
done at the college level
• Need to evaluate the value of the clicker for stu-
dent review sessions & its impact on summative
assessment data at the high school level
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5. Proposed Methodology
• Research Method
– Approach: Mixed-Method
– sampling strategy:
• 58 biology students will be participating from this
teacher-researcher’s 3rd & 4th period classes
– Timeframe: 1 school year
• The fall semester of assessment scores will be the
baseline data; overall GPAs will be collected as well
• The spring semester of assessment scores will be
collected after using the clickers for the review
sessions; overall GPAs will be collected.
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6. Methodology continued…
• Scope & location of research
– This study takes place at a large high school in
CA where enrollment if just over 2000 students
• All students at this site must take biology
• Classes are heterogeneous in age, ethnicity, and
intellect
– Triangulation of data? YES!!
• The overall GPAs of the individual participants will
be compared between the fall & spring semesters
• Students will also be compared by grade level (9,
10, 11, & 12)
• Students will take a perception survey
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7. Issues & Limitations
• Ethical
– Privacy: The students will remain anonymous
and will be identified by student number, not
name
– Confidentiality: The data will be shared with
the teacher-researchers content team and also
with NVUSD, but the students will remain
nameless
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8. Issues & Limitations continued…
• Limitations
– Study limited to the accessibility of a class set
of clickers
– Steep learning curve for first time users
– Most questions target factual questions that are
lower down on Bloom’s taxonomy
– Technology issues
– Cheating
– Cost & storage
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9. References
• Achievement Gap. (2011, July 7). Education Week.
• Beatty, I. (2004). Transforming student learning with classroom communication systems. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 3, 5. Retrieved from
http://www.educause.edu/LibraryDetailPage/?ID=ERB0403
• Bloom, B. 1956. Taxonomy of educational objectives: Book 1, cognitive domain. New York: Longman.
• Caldwell, J. E. (2007). Clickers in the large classroom: Current research and best-practice tips. Retrieved October 9, 2011, from
http://www.lifescied.org////.full
• Dills, I. (2011, October 9). School district launches $11 million learning plan. Napa Valley Register.
• Gee, J. P. (2005). Learning by design: good video games as learning machines. E-learning, 2(1), 5-16.
• Gee, J. P. (revised, 2008). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. In Empowered learners: Problem solving,
understanding (pp. 8, 14). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Guess, A. (2008, July 18). Keeping clickers in the classroom. Retrieved from http://www.insidehighered.com
• Herreid, C. F. (2006, October). “Clicker” cases: Introducing case study teaching into large classrooms. Journal of College Science Teaching,
36(2), 43-37. Abstract obtained from “Clicker” cases: introducing case study teaching into large classrooms, 2006, 36, Abstract No. 2.
• Johnson, C. (2007, January 24). Clickers in your classroom [Electronic mailing list message]. Retrieved from Wakonse-Arizona E-
Newsletter: http://cite.asu.edu/wakonse//idea.htm
• Lane, D., & Atlas, R. (1996, March). The networked classroom. Lecture presented at Computers & Psychology, York, UK.
• Martyn, M. (2007). Clickers in the classroom: An active learning approach. EDUCAUSE Quarterly, 30, volume 30, number 2. Retrieved
from http://Volum//7458
• Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D. J., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student
achievement.
• McDaniel, R. (n.d.). Motivational theory. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/_5010005_theories-r
• SARC data. (n.d.). Napa valley unified school district. Retrieved October 24, 2011, from NVUSD website: http://www.nvusd.k12.ca.us/
• Strom, P. S., & Strom, R. D. (2002). Collaboration integration theory: Overcoming limitations of cooperative learning among community
college students. The Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 315-331. Retrieved from http://www.public.asu.edu/~rdstrom/
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Karin Blackwood, ID# 427003