My data showed that the students in the control group (unexposed to the audio textbooks) scored, on average 3.57% lower on the concluding test than the initial test. The students in the experimental group, however, scored on average 4.25% higher on the second test.
Knowing that these statistics were far from significant (since it was gathered from only 14 students), I ran a statistical significance test. From that, I calculated that only 7% of future experiments would garner similar results purely by chance. Conclusion: regular reading with audiobooks may increase scores in phonics, reading comprehension and vocabulary! I hope your family can continue to incorporate auditory reading in your students' schedules.
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This quarter has been the most fun for my i2 project because I got to work with the students at my former grammar school and get feedback on my audio textbooks. They can be found at www.readwithyourears.weebly.com or on my SoundCloud profile Here are some pictures of the materials I've been working with. Once I get parent permission, I will post the pictures I have of my wonderful, 4th grade volunteer test subjects. Goals I've completed: -finished audio textbook of Units 4 and 5 -tested it in the fourth grade classroom for a month -proctored two exams to measure change in phonics, vocabulary, or reading comprehension -organized data from exams -gathered feedback from the students Goals left to complete: -finish more units of the textbook -analyze data and see if I can come to any conclusions (though I know that because of my small sample size, they will not be scientifically accurate) -finish cleaning up Weebly site -figure out how to make the audio files' speed adjustable a. In hopes of gathering a set of data to analyze with a group of elementary students, I've adjusted my recordings to consist of the content in History and Geography, Grade 4 rather than Grade 6. I've administered a diagnostic test to the 4th graders at Zion Lutheran School (my former grammar school) to establish a foundation of skill level in the students. I plan on having the class split into two and giving half of the class my audio textbook to use for a month (January) and leaving the other half to study as they have been. After that month, I will re-administer the test and compare the results.
b. I've decided not to contact De Marillac Academy and focus on studying the students at Zion Lutheran School, with whom I already have contact. c. The History and Geography, Grade 4 book has been recorded (since it was slightly shorter, I was able to complete it sooner than expected). However, I have not yet edited them and uploaded them to SoundCloud. These will be uploaded before December 17 (for students to use over Christmas break and throughout January). Done: -record -administer diagnostic test Needed: -edit, upload, embed by 12/17 -write instructions for use of audio textbook by 12/17 -re-administer test in classroom on 1/27 or 2/3 (SHC student holidays) -analyze data by 2/29 -culminate presentation by 3/15 d. No further material resources are needed for my project.
"Everyone needs a coach..." says Bill Gates. And I think that's true. We all need coaches to grow and develop, while we also need to serve as coaches to others. Yet, I think this is common knowledge. The problem is that not everyone knows how to coach WELL.
General Problem: We aren't giving appropriate feedback to our teachers, which is essential to improvement. Diagnosis + Tools and Resources = Real Improvement Not providing teachers with valuable feedback is hurting our future America. Out of the top 15 reading proficient countries, 11 out of them have official teacher feedback systems. Bill Gates' Measures of Effective Teaching looked to student feedback to give to the teachers, and found it to be excellent because of its specificity. One teacher used video to reflect on her day in the classroom, certain lessons, and helps her improve in a very simple way. If videos of various teachers in their classrooms were shared with other teachers nationwide, then every student will have a greater chance of getting a better, more just education. I think this proposition is a viable solution, because it truly does give teachers a more interconnected workspace and more easily accessible opportunities to improve. Source: "Teachers Need Real Feedback." Bill Gates. Video. Web. May 2013. Big Goal
To have fully furnished an easily accessible webpage linked to the complete audio textbook, History and Geography, Grade 6 and a smaller audio textbook for younger students (TBD), and have tested its effectiveness in the classroom. Timeline September:
I am not making any changes to my project. Below is the timeline from my Q1 post for the months of January-March:
January: -start to work on written piece or website/social media platform (which would include learning how to manage a technology-based platform such as this) -OR identify a specific subject that I would like to improve and draft program/course -ask for feedback/post update on i2 blog February: -formally interview one of my connections to integrate their opinions (which may include compiling a video to post) -OR test program/course on students at my old grammar school? (if available) -ask for feedback/post update on i2 blog March: -continue experimenting program and analyze data (post data analysis in some sort of compilation, such as a blog post or video) -OR finalize draft (of website, social media, written piece) for peer review -ask for feedback I have started working on creating a website and have discussed my project with one of my former grammar school's staff members, Mrs. Hovatter, who is also a reading specialist. In the classroom, she pulls small groups aside while another teacher takes over the general reading class. In these small groups, she focuses in on individual reading needs. As I was gaining expertise from her, I was trying to come up with a practical way of putting that knowledge into practice. So, my project went down a slightly different path. Instead of creating and testing a program at my old grammar school, I decided to record some audio files of the history textbooks my grammar school was using. I know that audio really helps children comprehend better what they're reading, especially kids with dyslexia. Plus, I knew that I had materials readily available for me to at least experiment with the project and see how it goes. (I have experience making short documentaries, so I already know how to work with audio editing, etc.) HERE is a sneak peak of what I've been doing. I hope to maybe finish a textbook by the end of the year for my old grammar school to be able to use. Reviews: Callie Boskin (2017): I'm glad Callie was able to recognize that she wasn't really enjoying her project and decided to switch to something she would enjoy. That's quite admirable, and it looks like this project, because it's actually a "live" project with real people participating, will be something that keeps her busy and productive, and the team can achieve great things. SignUpGenius and/or Survey Monkey are great online forms for group activities if that would be at all relevant to VEX. Good luck with that cabinet... Chloe Jenniches (2019): Chloe, your project sounds extremely interesting and creative. Though it's not commonly recognized as a serious issue in San Francisco, I definitely agree that taking care of our bees is extremely important for our environment. Great idea making a Zotero account! Maybe you could go into more depth on your blog post about what exactly the issue with bees is today? Others will want that clarified before you show them your 3D model. Charlie Lewkowitz (2019): Your prototype is looking good! I appreciate your honesty about the progress of your project as well. I know that I have also struggled with staying on top of it- but you're doing great! I would recommend talking with someone who does that kind of engineering who could possibly help you. Or maybe even someone who just enjoys working with tools and materials? Getting some adult expertise might be beneficial. Otherwise, your project looks great. This is an essay I wrote for a class recently, and since it was related to my topic, I'm posting it here! I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Why does U.S. law state that you must attend school until age 16? Is education becoming more and more necessary to thrive in today’s rapidly changing world? Are youth and adolescence truly important times in our lives to develop our own opinions and skills of analysis? Do parents send their kids to school simply out of an obligation to follow the law? Each state has its own regulations on the specifics, and every person their own opinions, yet one general belief remains: education is key. However, the standards we set for our teachers contradict this philosophy. If we truly value education, why do our actions regarding our teachers not reflect that? Many would agree that the U.S. Education system begs reform. The driving question now is: how can we effectively develop the finest American education system? Implementing virtuous education in the American school system is a two-fold procedure. Once we incorporate suitable teachers in our classrooms, our students' performance will improve, which will allow teachers to be worthy of greater respect and higher pay. What defines a suitable teacher? Appropriate training (to earn them acceptable qualifications), equal access to ample resources, usable feedback, and a passion for service in the classroom are all qualities that should be associated with future professionals in this field. A new teacher training program can be modeled after countries with internationally renowned education systems. For example, Singapore, a country with significantly higher math scores than ours, has a government that nominates the top twenty percent of each high school class to be teachers. With this nomination comes a full ride scholarship to education studies. Part of America's problem with teacher qualification is that we lack such high standards. People who may not truly want to become doctors do not accidentally become doctors. Yet this happens constantly in the teaching profession. Teachers ironically graduate from school with less rigorous education and experience than many other professionals, yet kids, our future leaders, are sent to learn from them seven hours a day, five days a week? As a student, I have experienced this firsthand. I notice the zeal some teachers have in the classroom because I naturally enjoy those classes more, and subsequently perform better. In other classes, I am merely attempting to memorize material to pass tests. Elevating our national standards for teachers will be a win-win situation. Teachers who definitely want to work in the classroom will be paid the appropriate amount, and our students will benefit from their additional knowledge and passion. Having suitable teachers in our classrooms will save our country the excessive time, money, and energy constantly administering tests to their students to track performance and instead. Though it is important, America spends far too much time giving standardized tests. If we train our teachers with higher expectations, fewer people will be concerned or dissatisfied with our public school system. Therefore, fewer tests will need to be administered, and less money spent on such time-consuming and hardly conclusive (well, hardly positively conclusive) procedures. The government should replace these tests with more opportunities for the teachers themselves to experiment with new techniques. Once teachers receive a higher status, exploring new education strategies could (and should) become as highly regarded as researching new cures for cancer. The minds in control of our country’s future will be much better off with proper, fundamental citizen knowledge. Once we train our teachers adequately, our current expectations of them will be appropriate and our students’ performance will improve. The amount of training our teachers receive is not nearly enough to produce the results society constantly demands of them. In an attempt to gain these desired results, the government proposed Common Core standards in 2009. Theoretically, using these standards would be an appropriate evaluation of classroom effectiveness, because the teachers would know exactly what is expected of them before the school year begins. However, with Common Core, we have made teaching more monotonous, which restrains those who are truly adept for the position. Strict policies nationwide have been implemented to equate standards and classroom rules, which disappoints the most innovative and passionate teachers. These Common Core standards lock teachers in, yet we still expect them to perform superbly. This is entirely unfair. If we appropriately train our teachers, we will not need to continue down the path of Common Core and a robotically structured and restrictive classroom. Students’ grades will reflect the benefits of creativity-driven classrooms. As the teaching profession develops, so will our virtuous education system. The demand for exceptional individuals in our developing era of technology is only growing exponentially. Though other issues have risen and rob our education system from appropriate reform. For example, many want to ensure that one neighborhood does not have fewer educational opportunities than another. Others want to focus on developing the curriculum of certain subject areas. Special education is a division begging additional assistance as well. Improving the quality of our American teachers will take the largest leap toward general reform because they will be able to use their knowledge to provide assistance in these areas and receive the respect and pay they truly deserve. 1. Not making any changes to my I2 project. :)
2. This is my timeline from my Q1 benchmark post. The red text has been completed. October: -continue researching educational reform programs in America to help narrow topic -ask for feedback and consider this in narrowing topic November: -narrow topic options to 3 specific areas of American education -find people I can connect with locally to discuss opinions on education -family friends teaching in San Mateo Public School System and SFUSD -friends in college studying to be a teacher -experienced teacher/ alum of TFA -my teachers (current and former) -SF Board of Education (may have a connection) -ask for feedback -post update on i2 blog December: -have topic narrowed down to 1 specific controversy -identify best way to "make a difference" -inform (i.e. a talk to get people involved, publicize idea with a written piece) -change (i.e. start a new program with a different style of teaching) -get to know education experts that I connect with -post update on i2 blog -ask for feedback The only outstanding task I have from my timeline is to form a relationship with some of the people I've connected with. I have only had a Google Hangout conversation with two of my connections, Allison and Sara, seniors at Azusa Pacific studying education. One of my relatives was friends with these two lovely ladies, and I had the opportunity to correspond with them via email before having a face to face digital conversation. I gained lots of expertise from them both about education studies programs, which gave me great insight on how teachers are trained today. However, I realized that their education majors have somewhat general courses of study. Though this is beneficial in some sense, it also has some consequences. It connects with one of the essays I wrote for ethics and posted on my blog, about how the teaching profession does not have nearly as much respect as it deserves, partially because it does not demand as competitive and complex results as, for example, the medical profession does. I plan on connecting with my other human resources over break and within January. These people include:
I've narrowed down my main I2 topic to design a program that I think best addresses 1) the maintenance of the importance of reading comprehension in today's digitally advancing age, and 2) how to combine the two together 3. Video/Picture evidence: My inspiration (I may want to create a program similar, but specifically for elementary students) -also have used various iPad apps for when I tutor elementary students in reading comprehension (both over the summer and during the school year) The best piece of evidence I have is from my tutoring. I tutor a few elementary school students in their reading and have been using www.arcademics.com for time when we don't meet in person. I've been playing around with Arcdemics, and can use the platform to discover how they've integrated technology into making reading comprehension/grammar more fun to learn. Here's an example of what I sent to one of my tutor students for when we don't meet in person. (names changed for privacy) Reviews: Chris Sauvageau: Chris originally was going to design a variation of Pandora, but is now going to create his own arrangement of one already composed piece of music. I think that because the complexity of the project as decreased, you'll enjoy doing this project more (not to mention that you've already dedicated quite a bit of time to it without the intention of fulfilling your project duties). I especially like the division of future and ASAP goals. I would suggest you find a public platform to share your arrangement and get feedback (I'm not sure if you have one in mind, but it wasn't mentioned). Looking forward to hearing it! Brianda Cerda: Brianda's modified project is to promote the use of natural pesticides by growing milkweed and housing some of her own monarchs in partnership with Coco Ranch in Davis. You clearly have a great amount of passion for the environment! I love all the research you've already put into your project, and how you've already identified a local place that may be able to directly assist you. I do see creating your own pesticide as a daunting task, but I'm sure you can do it! However, I'd recommend that you connect with more science teachers or farmers outside of Coco Farm who focus on the development of pesticides in general. It's great to get more opinions, and science teachers may be able to teach you more about the process of making them instead of its effects. Great project idea! Vanessa Hom Chin: Vanessa hopes to improve her photo editing skills with Photoshop. I absolutely love the modified pictures of the rose. They're gorgeous. I think it's great that you've already figured out that you didn't like Lightroom and have moved on; it shows you really want to make these pictures the best they can be! I also like the simplicity and general aspect of this project. You can really take this anywhere you want once you're more comfortable with the skill. I'd recommend you start brainstorming what you think you can do with Photoshop. Start focusing on editing photos of people? Or landscapes? Create an online portfolio? Take classes? Share your knowledge in a class with classmates? The options are endless, and your artistic talent very admirable. Part of my plan for the start of my I2 project this year is to continually research specific controversies within the country regarding the American education system. Recently, I read an article that interested me. Though this idea is not new, it caught my attention because it isn't exactly the first thing I hear that people say when talking about our education system. But this idea makes tons of sense.
General Problem: We aren't training students properly for the careers they aim to pursue in an increasingly popular category: entrepreneurship. Current situation: Because of our changing economy, more people are wanting to become entrepreneurs. Proposed solutions: 1) Technology is HUGE for getting a job! So why isn't American education pushing it? Partner privately with resources in school districts. 2) We aren't teaching business and finance skills, so we need to integrate that into our system by funding programs already doing this in more school districts. 3) Structure practical classes. 4) Show people how to think like entrepreneurs, not necessarily become them. (After all, we need people to work for entrepreneurs too!) This idea answers the question, "What is the goal of education?" with "Feeling prepared for your career." This was a good reminder to me, because it seems like every student today is so caught up with merely the next step in their educational path (for me, doing well on SAT's to get into a "good" university) that they forget that ultimately, we are preparing to be happy with and ready to perform well in our careers. I'm hoping to continually post about different resources I find to help me narrow my topic and identify the specific part of education I'm most interested in. Source: Time Magazine. Web. 2 June 2014. The Exploration of Education
Introduction & Type of Project Why do American students perform so poorly compared to the rest of the world? Why do teachers get away with working while being under-qualified (and that's not even considering other countries' higher standards)? Why do Americans see the field of teaching as such a respect-less career? Why does the American education system encourage many parents to drive their children past dozens of public schools to drop them off at a private school? I've spent some time exploring American education issues, from reading books (a good one: Radical by Michelle Rhee) to watching documentaries (Waiting for Superman is excellent). The long-lasting debate is fascinating to me. The list of controversies goes on and on, and now, I want to help solve these issues. For my I2 project, I would like to identify a specific problem of American education and learn more about it (Skill category), and from there, do something to try and solve that problem (Creation category). I've considered creating a website and community to promote awareness amongst students of issues of education in America (because students are experiencing this firsthand), applying to do a TEDx talk at SHC, creating a written work, or developing a course/program that addresses one specific subject. However, I have yet to choose one, and this is outlined in my plan of action below. Related Projects & Inspiration Ever since I began school, I've wanted to become an elementary school teacher. That desire has stemmed from a number of things, including my love for working with kids and the time I've enjoyed in my own school experience. Yet, as I've grown older and thought more seriously about what I want to study in college and have as a career, the teaching profession has become less appealing. Some of the harsh realities of pursuing education in America have put teaching under a different light and flood my brain with questions. I have not found a related project run by students, but some major education programs in America that try to address issues are Teach for America (TFA), Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ), National History Day (NHD) and StudentsFirst. I've chosen these for their popularity, success, and level of experience (of people I know or my own). Of course, there are many more that I've failed to list here, but these are the more well-known groups.Teach for America trains numerous aspiring teachers to equip our classrooms with high quality educators. Harlem Children's Zone aims to provide more education opportunities for those in poverty. NHD is a program I've participated in that allows students passionate about history to explore a specific topic further and compete with their project (the history version of I2). StudentsFirst aims to make education issues more aware in the rest of the country and works to ensure that laws being passed are truly benefitting American students. I hope to use these resources to learn more specifically (and gather statistics) about the issues they chose (poverty, reaching out to students by making a certain subject more interesting, etc.), which will help me narrow down my topic. Most importantly, I hope to model these to solve the specific problem I identify in the next few months. For example, StudentsFirst specifically lists in its mission that it aims to raise awareness about education, and that may be the first step I need to take over this next year, before moving on to taking direct action like TFA or HCZ. Plan of Action (blue= continuous throughout the year; I'll have to edit 2nd semester plan of action in December once I've chosen the "create" aspect of my topic, as that'll dictate the majority of my actions) October: -continue researching educational reform programs in America to help narrow topic -ask for feedback and consider this in narrowing topic November: -narrow topic options to 3 specific areas of American education -find people I can connect with locally to discuss opinions on education -family friends teaching in San Mateo Public School System and SFUSD -friends in college studying to be a teacher -experienced teacher/ alum of TFA -my teachers (current and former) -SF Board of Education (may have a connection) -ask for feedback -post update on i2 blog December: -have topic narrowed down to 1 specific controversy -identify best way to "make a difference" -inform (i.e. a talk to get people involved, publicize idea with a written piece) -change (i.e. start a new program with a different style of teaching) -get to know education experts that I connect with -post update on i2 blog -ask for feedback January: -start to work on written piece or website/social media platform (which would include learning how to manage a technology-based platform such as this) -OR identify a specific subject that I would like to improve and draft program/course -ask for feedback -post update on i2 blog February: -formally interview one of my connections to integrate their opinions (which may include compiling a video to post) -OR test program/course on students at my old grammar school? (if available) -ask for feedback -post update on i2 blog March: -continue experimenting program and analyze data (post data analysis in some sort of compilation, such as a blog post or video) -OR finalize draft (of website, social media, written piece) for peer review -ask for feedback April: -prepare demonstration of program for May i2 event -ask for feedback and edit written piece or plan of attack to involve community May: -present and gather even more valuable feedback -...freak out about AP's, finals, and college apps Posting monthly updates until March will keep me accountable to continuously check for feedback. In March, I will focus on finalizing based on the feedback I've gotten over the months and prepare to present in May. I haven't started yet (besides a little reading and watching for research) but will post when I have some evidence of doing so! And, well, this is obvious...but I'd LOVE any and all feedback, tips, comments, and thoughts. After all, fellow students and current teachers are some of the most qualified people to be reforming American education. :) |
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April 2017
CategoriesAuthorEmily Tam '17 |