2. The Inquiry Question
This study seeks to answer the following question:
Professional Learning
Observing the practice of others
Date: 7/5/15
TEACHERS INVOLVED:
T. McInnes observing D. Alateras
The focus for this observation was how a more experienced teacher facilitated group work, including giving feedback to students on how they were progressing with the learning outcome during a session in a computer lab (the research stages of the unit).
What did you see/ hear?
What did you learn?
I was able to see how a teacher facilitates group work during a learning outcome that is meaningful and productive. The teacher observed and monitored student progress by moving around the room and discussing the task with students. Students were focused and the teacher was able to provide point-of-need feedback on the task that students could use immediately or write down for future reference. Students were also able to gain feedback from their peers as they worked in pairs or small groups. I was able to see a positive, respectful relationship between the teacher and students. The teacher effectively used verbal persuasion to boost self-efficacy and highlight task value for students. The checklist spread sheet encouraged students to take responsibility for their progress and made this assessment transparent.
How does this help you address your inquiry question?
This observation allowed me to see a range of strategies for facilitating meaningful group work and how a teacher can provide point of need feedback during a unit. The teacher was not providing praise for well-being, rather the teacher was giving constructive feedback about the task. I learnt the importance of having a positive teacher-student rapport and the effect this has on giving feedback. Additionally, I observed different ways of assessing student progress. All these factors are important in helping me address my question of inquiry as the classroom context has a significant impact on the usefulness of feedback in boosting outcome-specific self-efficacy.
Talking to colleagues
Discussion 1
DATE: 31/ 7/ 2015
Teachers involved:
T. McInnes and M. Bainbridge
What was discussed?
We identified several ways of approaching my inquiry question, discussing the best way to word my question and how I could implement the action plan in my classroom. We discussed a timeline for implementing my plan and the evidence I would need to gather to meet the standards. We then discussed the students I would select for this inquiry and how I could assess their prior learning before implementing my action plan. We also discussed definitions of the key terms I would be using. We decided on three methods that would make up my action plan based on the work of Hattie and Timperley: FEED UP (help students identify their goals and make assessment transparent by asking students to design the rubric and marking scheme for the task); FEED BACK (provide ongoing feedback to students on how they are going in the form of teacher-student conferences); FEED FORWARD (guide students in understanding where they are going next by asking them to complete a self-assessment reflection based on the Level 10 AusVELS standards).
What did you learn?
From this discussion I learnt how to phrase my inquiry question and how to make this study meaningful for my students and for my growth as a teacher. I learnt that my goal was not to discover an answer to my question per se, but was to professionally engage with an area of pedagogical knowledge and practice and reflect on my development as a teacher.
How does this help you address your inquiry question?
This professional conversation allowed me to understand how other teachers understand and use feedback. It was useful for my inquiry question to hear how other teachers view research on feedback such as that of Hattie and Timperley, and how other teachers would research my area of interest. Brainstorming ideas about different ways of using and giving feedback helped me to design my action plan.
Discussion 2
DATE: 25/8/2015
Teachers involved:
T. McInnes and M. Bainbridge
What was discussed?
We discussed how I was progressing with the VIT process, focusing on the effective implementation of my action plan. We discussed how to plan my inquiry to support students who need extending beyond the learning outcomes and those that need support to meet the learning outcomes. We discussed the class environment and the context of the students, including individual student needs. Our discussion focused particularly on media literacy and the language specific to our discipline. We discussed how feedback in Media Studies involves language specific to the discipline and the feedback strategies would need to be both specific to the task requirements but also written in an accessible and meaningful way for all students. We also discussed the standards and ensured I was on track to meet the VIT requirements.
What did you learn?
I learnt that the literacy needs of the students would need to be carefully considered when designing my feedback strategies as literacy is inextricably linked to feedback and self-efficacy. This influenced what assessment tools I used to gauge prior knowledge of students in the pre-unit dimension. I also learnt more about the standards, what they demanded of me and how best to meet them and meaningfully incorporate them into my planning.
How does this help you address your inquiry question?
This conversation influenced what strategies I used in my action plan to cater for the literacy needs of individual students. This consolidated my understanding that there are significant literacy demands in areas of Media studio practice and practical subject teachers must adequately know students’ literacy levels to effectively plan and implement meaningful feedback strategies.
Other professional learning and how it helps you address your question for inquiry
Attending professional development
Date: 13/10/2015
Effective Instructional Practice at Buckley Park College
During this workshop I discussed my VIT and thoughts on effective feedback practices with colleagues. This provided me with insight into how other teachers think about and use feedback. We discussed the idea of ‘feed forward’ and how this is an under-utilised strategy in classes. We discussed the importance of on-going feedback, positing this in the context of BPC’s new timely reporting process. This helped me address my inquiry question as I reflected on feedback as being an important part of effective instructional practice; feedback is a part of every lesson and we need to move away from an idea of feedback as being about praise or criticism and consider feedback as building outcome-specific self-efficacy.
I also had the opportunity to discuss my VIT action plan with teachers in my Student Learning Team. There are similarities between media studio practice and drama practice and it was useful for me to discuss feedback strategies with fellow drama teachers, particularly the subjective nature of artistic outcomes and the importance of feedback specific to process and skill development.
- How can I use a range of feedback strategies to improve students’ self-efficacy with regards to learning outcomes during Media practice?
Professional Learning
Observing the practice of others
Date: 7/5/15
TEACHERS INVOLVED:
T. McInnes observing D. Alateras
The focus for this observation was how a more experienced teacher facilitated group work, including giving feedback to students on how they were progressing with the learning outcome during a session in a computer lab (the research stages of the unit).
What did you see/ hear?
- I saw students sitting at their computers.
- I saw students typing or talking to their peers.
- I saw students reading their task sheet.
- I saw students making notes on their task sheet.
- I saw the teacher remind students of the expectations for the task.
- I saw the teacher move around the room observing students working.
- I saw the teacher tell two students to focus on their work.
- I saw the teacher discuss the task with students.
- I saw the teacher check how students were progressing with the task (where are you up to?/ how are you going?)
- I heard the teacher give verbal feedback to students.
- I saw the teacher ask students to go the front of the room and indicate by adding to the spread sheet, which was on the projector, how much of the task they had completed to check progress and monitor student work.
- I saw students walk to the front of the room and type where they were up to on the computer. Some students did this quickly, others spent a few minutes on this.
- I heard the teacher give clear instructions about where students should be up to.
What did you learn?
I was able to see how a teacher facilitates group work during a learning outcome that is meaningful and productive. The teacher observed and monitored student progress by moving around the room and discussing the task with students. Students were focused and the teacher was able to provide point-of-need feedback on the task that students could use immediately or write down for future reference. Students were also able to gain feedback from their peers as they worked in pairs or small groups. I was able to see a positive, respectful relationship between the teacher and students. The teacher effectively used verbal persuasion to boost self-efficacy and highlight task value for students. The checklist spread sheet encouraged students to take responsibility for their progress and made this assessment transparent.
How does this help you address your inquiry question?
This observation allowed me to see a range of strategies for facilitating meaningful group work and how a teacher can provide point of need feedback during a unit. The teacher was not providing praise for well-being, rather the teacher was giving constructive feedback about the task. I learnt the importance of having a positive teacher-student rapport and the effect this has on giving feedback. Additionally, I observed different ways of assessing student progress. All these factors are important in helping me address my question of inquiry as the classroom context has a significant impact on the usefulness of feedback in boosting outcome-specific self-efficacy.
Talking to colleagues
Discussion 1
DATE: 31/ 7/ 2015
Teachers involved:
T. McInnes and M. Bainbridge
What was discussed?
We identified several ways of approaching my inquiry question, discussing the best way to word my question and how I could implement the action plan in my classroom. We discussed a timeline for implementing my plan and the evidence I would need to gather to meet the standards. We then discussed the students I would select for this inquiry and how I could assess their prior learning before implementing my action plan. We also discussed definitions of the key terms I would be using. We decided on three methods that would make up my action plan based on the work of Hattie and Timperley: FEED UP (help students identify their goals and make assessment transparent by asking students to design the rubric and marking scheme for the task); FEED BACK (provide ongoing feedback to students on how they are going in the form of teacher-student conferences); FEED FORWARD (guide students in understanding where they are going next by asking them to complete a self-assessment reflection based on the Level 10 AusVELS standards).
What did you learn?
From this discussion I learnt how to phrase my inquiry question and how to make this study meaningful for my students and for my growth as a teacher. I learnt that my goal was not to discover an answer to my question per se, but was to professionally engage with an area of pedagogical knowledge and practice and reflect on my development as a teacher.
How does this help you address your inquiry question?
This professional conversation allowed me to understand how other teachers understand and use feedback. It was useful for my inquiry question to hear how other teachers view research on feedback such as that of Hattie and Timperley, and how other teachers would research my area of interest. Brainstorming ideas about different ways of using and giving feedback helped me to design my action plan.
Discussion 2
DATE: 25/8/2015
Teachers involved:
T. McInnes and M. Bainbridge
What was discussed?
We discussed how I was progressing with the VIT process, focusing on the effective implementation of my action plan. We discussed how to plan my inquiry to support students who need extending beyond the learning outcomes and those that need support to meet the learning outcomes. We discussed the class environment and the context of the students, including individual student needs. Our discussion focused particularly on media literacy and the language specific to our discipline. We discussed how feedback in Media Studies involves language specific to the discipline and the feedback strategies would need to be both specific to the task requirements but also written in an accessible and meaningful way for all students. We also discussed the standards and ensured I was on track to meet the VIT requirements.
What did you learn?
I learnt that the literacy needs of the students would need to be carefully considered when designing my feedback strategies as literacy is inextricably linked to feedback and self-efficacy. This influenced what assessment tools I used to gauge prior knowledge of students in the pre-unit dimension. I also learnt more about the standards, what they demanded of me and how best to meet them and meaningfully incorporate them into my planning.
How does this help you address your inquiry question?
This conversation influenced what strategies I used in my action plan to cater for the literacy needs of individual students. This consolidated my understanding that there are significant literacy demands in areas of Media studio practice and practical subject teachers must adequately know students’ literacy levels to effectively plan and implement meaningful feedback strategies.
Other professional learning and how it helps you address your question for inquiry
Attending professional development
Date: 13/10/2015
Effective Instructional Practice at Buckley Park College
During this workshop I discussed my VIT and thoughts on effective feedback practices with colleagues. This provided me with insight into how other teachers think about and use feedback. We discussed the idea of ‘feed forward’ and how this is an under-utilised strategy in classes. We discussed the importance of on-going feedback, positing this in the context of BPC’s new timely reporting process. This helped me address my inquiry question as I reflected on feedback as being an important part of effective instructional practice; feedback is a part of every lesson and we need to move away from an idea of feedback as being about praise or criticism and consider feedback as building outcome-specific self-efficacy.
I also had the opportunity to discuss my VIT action plan with teachers in my Student Learning Team. There are similarities between media studio practice and drama practice and it was useful for me to discuss feedback strategies with fellow drama teachers, particularly the subjective nature of artistic outcomes and the importance of feedback specific to process and skill development.