I am most interested in how student engagement can increase by teaching about and defining quality questions in the typical classroom. I know and use some inquiry based lessons in my class, but what about the times when my students are not in an inquiry project? What then?
My research question is, "What are the effects of positive behavior treatment on the quantity of quality student generated questions in the middle school classroom?" I have found very little recent research into this topic. Most research is focused on involving the students in inquiry projects and generating questions through these. There is one researcher from the 1990s and early 2000s who does, however focus here. Her research takes place in a country highlighted in the Darling-Hammond book, Singapore. This researcher is Christine Chin. Although Christine Chin's research is focused on the sciences, I find her insights to be applicable in my social studies classroom as well. She has shown how systematic teaching of quality questioning strategies engages students in a deeper level so that their performance is increased. I look forward to reading more of her work while hoping to find similar work with more recent research.
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According to NAEP, in the 2014 Civics test, white students scored 23 points higher on average than Hispanic students (http://nationsreportcard.gov/hgc_2014/#civics/gaps). According to NAEP, a student score of 178 was “Proficient,” while a score of 134 was “Basic.” In this administration, white students scored 164 while hispanic students scored 141. Research has shown that student questioning is both helpful and a “meaningful learning tool” to enhance the learning process (Ng-Cheong, Joan & Chin, 2009). Unrau and Schlackman have shown that there is also a significant decline in motivation in the middle school classroom (2010). This decline may influence the number of questions that students ask in class. According to Warren Berger, the number of questions that children ask steadily declines as children go through school (2014).
In the 7th grade classroom used for this study, I have seen more and more of my students who seem to be disengaged from the learning process and have stopped asking questions. Although, their test scores from CAASPP are comparatively high, there is a large gap between the scores of the English only students and our ELL and RFEP students. I see this reflected in my classroom with engagement through in-class questions. Students who generally ask more clarifying or greater-depth questions do better than students who do not. Further, this gap in student achievement can be seen in national scores as well. Through this research, I plan to teach effective questioning strategies as well as apply a positive reward to students who ask quality questions. If I can increase the frequency of quality student-generated questions, I may be able to help lessen the score gaps between my white and Hispanic students. How can a video about puppy mills be inspiring?
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About MeAfter teaching for 20 years, I've decided to pursue a master's degree! Archives
July 2017
CategoriesThis is me working on my classwork... usually at night after the heater is off.... sitting long times makes me cold!
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