Tessie Sanders
LTC 5336-Spring 2010
Professor-Dr. Vowels/Concordia
Research Questions and Hypothesis For Case Study
The question is…How do you develop a usable research question? Answer: choose an appropriate topic or issue relevant to your research or case study and ensure that it is one that can actually be researched. A helpful tip from the reading would be to evaluate the research question and hypothesis prior to completing the research. To paraphrase one can develop a hypothesis and research question based upon professional knowledge regarding the topic of the case study.
Key points to developing research questions and hypotheses for the three modes of research case studies. For a qualitative research case studies, the questions assume two forms: a central question, which is a broad question that asks for an exploration of the central theme or concept of the study; and sub-questions : which are a series of questions that follow the central question and narrows the focus of the study. In quantitative studies, the research questions and hypotheses inquire about the relationships among variables that the investigator seeks to understand. For the quantitative hypotheses, the researcher makes predictions regarding the expected outcome among the relationships observed. For mixed method research, one typically would not see questions or hypotheses statements. It is predicated upon the format of both modalities to be combined.
What impacted me the most while conducting this case study were the guidelines for developing a quantitative research format; the format may seem challenging, but it appears to be something that can be accomplished. The guidelines for writing and developing a good quantitative research and hypotheses statement states: the researcher may relate and describe one or more independent variables by comparing groups to see the impact on a dependent variable; the most challenging form of the research comes after testing the theory of both dependent and independent variables; in order to eliminate repetition, use only the research question or the hypotheses, not both; and the researcher must be knowledgeable of using a null or directional hypotheses when casting a general or isolated prediction about the central theme studied.
To summarize, research questions and hypotheses narrow the purpose statement and assists the reader in specifying the topic studied. In short, it should incorporate the 5 W’s and H.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Purpose Of ESL Case Study
Purpose
The purpose of this case study is to contend that reading vocabulary, and reading fluency is key, for all learners, especially for second language learners.
In this study, it will explore that differentiated instruction for the English Language Learner provides multiple approaches to content, process, and product. A teacher who understands the need for planning and teaching to match, has a keen awareness that in an effective classroom, a lesson plan provides three curricular elements: 1) content-input, what students learn; 2) process-how students make sense from what has been learned; and 3) product-output, how students demonstrate what they’ve learned. By differentiating the three concepts, the teacher can offer different approaches to what students learn, how they learn it, and why it is important for them to retain it. According to ERIC article Critical Issue: Using Technology to Support Limited-English-Proficient (LEP) Students’ Learning Experiences, supports the view that academic content understanding, linguistic knowledge, and technological literacy should, ideally, develop simultaneously in order to:
The purpose of this case study is to contend that reading vocabulary, and reading fluency is key, for all learners, especially for second language learners.
In this study, it will explore that differentiated instruction for the English Language Learner provides multiple approaches to content, process, and product. A teacher who understands the need for planning and teaching to match, has a keen awareness that in an effective classroom, a lesson plan provides three curricular elements: 1) content-input, what students learn; 2) process-how students make sense from what has been learned; and 3) product-output, how students demonstrate what they’ve learned. By differentiating the three concepts, the teacher can offer different approaches to what students learn, how they learn it, and why it is important for them to retain it. According to ERIC article Critical Issue: Using Technology to Support Limited-English-Proficient (LEP) Students’ Learning Experiences, supports the view that academic content understanding, linguistic knowledge, and technological literacy should, ideally, develop simultaneously in order to:
- Increase strategic use of technology
- Enhance LEP student orientation in content classrooms
- Redefine teacher roles
- Increase access and equity for LEP students
Action Plan/Methodology
The Qualitative research methodology that was used in this ESL Case Study contends how differentiated instruction impacts the stages of reading regarding phonemic awareness vs. whole language which was personified by using Bloom's Taxonomy, which has been proven to improve classroom instruction, and The Stages Of Reading Development. Through out the history of reading development, these two models have been used as the backdrop for developing a sound, and structured reading curriculum from state to state. I attempted to develop a qualitative case study that drew out the differences and similarities between the ESL learner, and the General Ed. learner in a differentiated Reading classroom.
Action Plan
* Draw upon prior knowledge
*Recognize the effects of one’s own point of view in interpreting the text
*Formulate questions before reading
* Make predictions prior to reading, and then make confirmations and revise predictions based upon proven information from the text.
*Evaluate and eliminate information in order to arrive to the best possible answer
When planning this type of lesson, the Teacher should consider scaffolding the lesson by doing Anticipation Guides, or a Think Aloud. Doing a think aloud demonstrates what a skilled reader should do. The following is a guideline as to what skilled readers do while they read:
* Activate prior knowledge: student recalls any information or background that they have in common with the topic. This aids in building background for the text, and helps the reader make sense of what is read.
* Set a purpose/goal for reading: Teacher helps student define the reason, purpose or goal for the reading.
*Decode text into words and meanings: although 4th-6th grade is advanced for decoding, this strategy is used to define unfamiliar words using context clues or word parts (prefixes, suffixes, and word roots)
* Make Connections: skilled readers compare & contrast their knowledge and experiences related to the text
* Make Predictions: readers should look at titles, table of contents, graphic aids, and other qualities of the text.
* Visualize: students should be able to imagine what the character is doing; how the character is feeling; scenes that are laid out in the flow of the story. They should be able to immerse themselves into the reading.
* Ask Questions: Good readers ask questions about the text. They are able to ask what was the author’s purpose for the writing, or background for the setting of the story.
* Summarize: Skillful readers skim through previously read information, synthesizing and evaluating the text as they formulate a logical overall view of the reading.
*Apply: In this process, the skilled reader is able to apply and demonstrate how the learned information comes together, and complete an assigned task with a level of proficiency and mastery.
The following is a comprehensive lesson plan that was used to engage the students mastery of the concepts that were to be presented in this lesson.
Guided Comprehension: Self-Questioning/Self Monitoring tips in Getting the Right Answer
Lesson Objective: This lesson aids in strategic reading, which allows the student to monitor their own thinking and make connections between two or more text, and their own experiences. Students learn different types question/answer relationships, which will help them identify how answers can be found. Students will view the Life of Ruby Bridges, one of the first American-Negro children in the South, to undergo desegregation.
Student Objectives:
Students will…
· Understand SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review) strategy.
· Answer literary and inference questions, and identify how and where the character’s problems/goals/solutions are relevant to the story.
· Work in small groups and pairs using text derived information and the Inquiry method to find answers.
· Generate questions that demonstrate an understanding of the SQ3R study method.
Materials/Preparation
· Read/View The Story of Ruby Bridges, by Robert Coles to gain an understanding of Ruby’s background and her life.
· SQ3R Study Method Poster
· Guided Comprehension: A Teaching Model for 3-8 by Mary Beth Allen
· Instructional level texts that accommodate the different needs of leveled readers
Week 1
*Teacher Directed-Whole Group instruction (40 min.)
Explain to students that there are two modems of information:
· In the book: the answer can be found in the text
· In my head: the answer cannot be found in the text and must come by way of the reader’s own experiences and knowledge.
*Teacher will demonstrate the SQ3R study method, and do a read aloud of Chapter 1/View Scene 1 of Ruby Bridges.
*Guide students to apply the strategy by having students survey the information read and viewed, and generate questions.
*Practice individually or in small groups-students will complete a comprehension worksheet, which identifies the SQ3R method.
*Reflect-Teacher will bring the class back together as a whole group and discuss how the study method aided them in understanding the text.
Week 1
Teacher/Guided Groups-Facilitated Independence
Students will be divided into three instructional-level groups. Students will be ability grouped, this does not mean that students are on the same reading level, this only means that students may have similar needs for comprehension instruction.
The three stations are;
Teacher-guided small-group instruction
Student-facilitated comprehension centers
Student-facilitated comprehension routines
1. Teacher-guided small-group instruction
· Use SQ3R poster as students view segmented sequenced scenes from the story of Ruby Bridges
· Use instructional-level text to have students practice the study method
· Practice the strategy by having students work together to complete comprehension worksheets based upon the story
· Have students reflect on how the strategy is helping them self-monitor their own comprehension.
Comprehension Centers: In center, S/will complete a Circle Map to brainstorm what they know about the SQ3R study method.
Music/Poetry Center-go to Ruby Bridges website: http://www.rubybridges.com/
Writing Center: s/will create a Bubble Map using descriptive words that tell about Ruby’s character.
Art Center
Note: Classroom discipline during center time is at the discretion of the teacher.
2. Student-facilitated comprehension routines: students engage in three different literacy stages. Students are expected to practice the SQ3R study strategy after reading/viewing the second sequenced session of Ruby Bridges
Week 2
Whole-Group Reflection (20 min.)
1. Teacher will talk to students about self-inquiry comprehension methods.
2. Students will be given time to share activities they completed from the student-facilitated center.
3. Complete the Story of Ruby Bridges
Assessment/Reflections
Informal/Formal Assessment
Students can be assessed on SQ3R Study Method
Students can do oral exam on how the SQ3R method helped them through the story.
References
Guided Comprehension: Knowing How Words Work Using Semantic Feature Analysis
Reading Strategies: Scaffolding Students’ Interactions with text; www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Reading
Action Plan
* Draw upon prior knowledge
*Recognize the effects of one’s own point of view in interpreting the text
*Formulate questions before reading
* Make predictions prior to reading, and then make confirmations and revise predictions based upon proven information from the text.
*Evaluate and eliminate information in order to arrive to the best possible answer
When planning this type of lesson, the Teacher should consider scaffolding the lesson by doing Anticipation Guides, or a Think Aloud. Doing a think aloud demonstrates what a skilled reader should do. The following is a guideline as to what skilled readers do while they read:
* Activate prior knowledge: student recalls any information or background that they have in common with the topic. This aids in building background for the text, and helps the reader make sense of what is read.
* Set a purpose/goal for reading: Teacher helps student define the reason, purpose or goal for the reading.
*Decode text into words and meanings: although 4th-6th grade is advanced for decoding, this strategy is used to define unfamiliar words using context clues or word parts (prefixes, suffixes, and word roots)
* Make Connections: skilled readers compare & contrast their knowledge and experiences related to the text
* Make Predictions: readers should look at titles, table of contents, graphic aids, and other qualities of the text.
* Visualize: students should be able to imagine what the character is doing; how the character is feeling; scenes that are laid out in the flow of the story. They should be able to immerse themselves into the reading.
* Ask Questions: Good readers ask questions about the text. They are able to ask what was the author’s purpose for the writing, or background for the setting of the story.
* Summarize: Skillful readers skim through previously read information, synthesizing and evaluating the text as they formulate a logical overall view of the reading.
*Apply: In this process, the skilled reader is able to apply and demonstrate how the learned information comes together, and complete an assigned task with a level of proficiency and mastery.
The following is a comprehensive lesson plan that was used to engage the students mastery of the concepts that were to be presented in this lesson.
Guided Comprehension: Self-Questioning/Self Monitoring tips in Getting the Right Answer
Lesson Objective: This lesson aids in strategic reading, which allows the student to monitor their own thinking and make connections between two or more text, and their own experiences. Students learn different types question/answer relationships, which will help them identify how answers can be found. Students will view the Life of Ruby Bridges, one of the first American-Negro children in the South, to undergo desegregation.
Student Objectives:
Students will…
· Understand SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review) strategy.
· Answer literary and inference questions, and identify how and where the character’s problems/goals/solutions are relevant to the story.
· Work in small groups and pairs using text derived information and the Inquiry method to find answers.
· Generate questions that demonstrate an understanding of the SQ3R study method.
Materials/Preparation
· Read/View The Story of Ruby Bridges, by Robert Coles to gain an understanding of Ruby’s background and her life.
· SQ3R Study Method Poster
· Guided Comprehension: A Teaching Model for 3-8 by Mary Beth Allen
· Instructional level texts that accommodate the different needs of leveled readers
Week 1
*Teacher Directed-Whole Group instruction (40 min.)
Explain to students that there are two modems of information:
· In the book: the answer can be found in the text
· In my head: the answer cannot be found in the text and must come by way of the reader’s own experiences and knowledge.
*Teacher will demonstrate the SQ3R study method, and do a read aloud of Chapter 1/View Scene 1 of Ruby Bridges.
*Guide students to apply the strategy by having students survey the information read and viewed, and generate questions.
*Practice individually or in small groups-students will complete a comprehension worksheet, which identifies the SQ3R method.
*Reflect-Teacher will bring the class back together as a whole group and discuss how the study method aided them in understanding the text.
Week 1
Teacher/Guided Groups-Facilitated Independence
Students will be divided into three instructional-level groups. Students will be ability grouped, this does not mean that students are on the same reading level, this only means that students may have similar needs for comprehension instruction.
The three stations are;
Teacher-guided small-group instruction
Student-facilitated comprehension centers
Student-facilitated comprehension routines
1. Teacher-guided small-group instruction
· Use SQ3R poster as students view segmented sequenced scenes from the story of Ruby Bridges
· Use instructional-level text to have students practice the study method
· Practice the strategy by having students work together to complete comprehension worksheets based upon the story
· Have students reflect on how the strategy is helping them self-monitor their own comprehension.
Comprehension Centers: In center, S/will complete a Circle Map to brainstorm what they know about the SQ3R study method.
Music/Poetry Center-go to Ruby Bridges website: http://www.rubybridges.com/
Writing Center: s/will create a Bubble Map using descriptive words that tell about Ruby’s character.
Art Center
Note: Classroom discipline during center time is at the discretion of the teacher.
2. Student-facilitated comprehension routines: students engage in three different literacy stages. Students are expected to practice the SQ3R study strategy after reading/viewing the second sequenced session of Ruby Bridges
Week 2
Whole-Group Reflection (20 min.)
1. Teacher will talk to students about self-inquiry comprehension methods.
2. Students will be given time to share activities they completed from the student-facilitated center.
3. Complete the Story of Ruby Bridges
Assessment/Reflections
Informal/Formal Assessment
Students can be assessed on SQ3R Study Method
Students can do oral exam on how the SQ3R method helped them through the story.
References
Guided Comprehension: Knowing How Words Work Using Semantic Feature Analysis
Reading Strategies: Scaffolding Students’ Interactions with text; www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/6-12/Reading
Literature Review
This is a qualitative research study that turns its focus on the ideology of there still being a need for teaching phonics as oppossed to whole language.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
March 23, 2010 Reflection
In this class' session, we discussed pivitol and seminal moments. At first the class wondered what was ment by each of these terms, but with contextual detailed discussion, we discovered that pivitol moments are those life lessons that arise from trials and tribulations that cause twists and turns from those we've depended on or things that we depended on. Thus, spring boarding us into the next stage in life.
Seminal moments are those moments that are primary, crucial happenstances; such as a death, divorce, devistation and disater. They can also be classified as moments when we've said, " Hey. It is what it is..." Either way, we each have had moments of discourse where our faith was tried, and tested. We've had to wonder...will God bring us through?
To summarize the class session, that next pivitol or seminal moment awaits. It's just around the corner. The question is, will you be pro-active, or re-active?
Seminal moments are those moments that are primary, crucial happenstances; such as a death, divorce, devistation and disater. They can also be classified as moments when we've said, " Hey. It is what it is..." Either way, we each have had moments of discourse where our faith was tried, and tested. We've had to wonder...will God bring us through?
To summarize the class session, that next pivitol or seminal moment awaits. It's just around the corner. The question is, will you be pro-active, or re-active?
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