My Findings
Throughout this project, I have been able to see the direct results of my efforts with students participating and approaching questions with more confidence than before.
Overall, I have noticed the value of creating a classroom culture suitable for engagement where students know that they are expected to learn, where they are encouraged and where they aren't afraid of making mistakes. This can be done through emphasizing respect and the ability of each student to learn things while in your class. It is incredibly important to build confidence, and involve them in their learning.
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Below you can find specific observations and findings related to different strategies.
The following findings are based on survey results, conversations and personal observations:
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Exit slips
- students' opinions of exit slips varied from not liking them at all to liking them (since surveys were anonymous, I was unable to see which students disliked them to find if there was a correlation with engagement level and disliking of them)
- I was provided with immediate feedback to see students' level of understanding before moving on, helping with the idea of building a good foundation before adding new concepts to it
- engagement was high when we went over the exit slips, students previously had to solve their way through the problems so they were attentively watching how and whether they did these correctly
- I believe attention increased when students knew they were going to have to answer questions related to the content in a few minutes
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Real-life and Stories
- after connecting gas stoichiometry to airbags and the idea of buying oxygen in bottles, I noticed students being fascinated by the idea, talking about it and noticing a new appreciation for chemistry
- we covered other topics in Chemistry such as pH of skin, the real-life purposes of certain precipitates we made and fertilizer stoichiometry. I noticed many attentive ears, yet reading through some research, I don't know if that was a type of entertainment or engagement
- relations in Math were made to taxes, jobs and Covid-19 percentages, yet I was not able to observe any clear increases in engagement or interest
- I believe there is a lot of room for growth especially with my Math students
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Research
- importance of scaffolding and slowly building to build confidence (self-efficacy). Boosting confidence increases interest, which affects engagement and finally achievement
- importance of making a student realize the purpose of the subject, the more they dislike a subject (even if based on misperceptions or experiences) the less engaged students will be
- importance of classroom environment and culture to provide them an awareness of your expectations and their abilities, which leads to confidence to succeed while being vulnerable (asking questions and making mistakes) along the way.
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Taking risks and making mistakes
- I tried to model making mistakes and going back to fix them without being shamed
- I focused on making students realize that making mistakes is expected when you are trying and learning new things. I also made it clear that I expected them to try questions, even when they claimed that they didn't know. As we worked on mindset and overall respect of each other in class, I noticed that students were more willing to answer questions and participate even when they were unsure. Going from quick "I don't know" we moved to better answers where they actually tried. They also became aware of my expectation for every student to learn the material. If they didn't know, I would go back and make sure they learned it. I think this forced students to believe that they were capable.
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Putting learning in their hands
- students were very engaged in stress-free labs (whereby I mean they were not marked for how much precipitate they ended up with for example - again making mistakes was okay), hands-on activities in math and minimal direction in certain tasks (such as use stoichiometry and your previous knowledge to find a way to prove the law of conservation of mass)
- the concepts covered in these types of tasks were also the ones they did well on in assessment
- build responsibility on the students' side. Clearly outline your expectations of them (respect and hard work in class, thorough completion of assignments, and reaching out to ask questions when they are unsure)
Survey comments
- "I feel like we could engage more information and activity" - Math
- less homework - both Math & Chem
- "Probably in the top 5 best math teachers I have had, she will hold you accountable" - Math
- "You make sure each student understands what you are talking about" - Chem
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