Research Project 2014-2015
In a collaborative approach between our two elementary schools and with the support from a STEM grant through Memorial University, we set out to gain insight on the two following primary research questions:
1) How would the use of a flipped math classroom help inform teaching practices to promote student motivation?
2) How would the implementation of the flipped grade six math classroom affect student motivation?
Additionally, some sub-questions we considered were:
1) What data collection methods do we hope to use?
2) What is the parent’s perception and attitude towards the flipping classroom?
The period of time allotted for the completion of this in-class research project was approximately six weeks.
In that time all of us worked collaboratively in sharing resources and ideas through a google account and gave our students, during the school day, ample opportunity to further explore their learning around the Ratio and Percent math unit concepts. It quickly became apparent to all of us that the unique framework of the flipped classroom learning model was going to have a very positive impact on our students' motivation levels.
Before our implementation of the unit, in terms of collecting our research data, we brainstormed and listed various methods of data collection we hoped to use during this math unit. You can download these files by visiting our Teacher Resources page. Some ideas we came up with were:
A critical piece of the research puzzle was going to the be the idea of consistency. All educators involved wanted to be consistent in their methods of data collection. The pre and post surveys were created in the hopes of measuring the potential change(s) in student motivation around math as well as the potential change(s) in parent attitudes around the flipped classroom. With each instructional video the students were asked to complete a "Lesson Organizer" template at home - where students would list any important terms or definitions they learned about, would answer the question posed, and would write down any questions they might have to bring to the whole class discussion at the beginning of the next math class. As well, following the completion of the unit, the students were giving a rating scale and feedback form to complete. These forms were anonymous and gave the students an opportunity to voice their truest feelings about their strengths and challenges within the unit. We used pictures and short videos to capture our student's authentic learning experiences.
All of these date collection methods provided us with valuable data to help guide our instructional practices during the unit. By working in small group stations we were better able to challenge students with anchor activities as well as provide individualized instructional support to those students in need.
1) How would the use of a flipped math classroom help inform teaching practices to promote student motivation?
2) How would the implementation of the flipped grade six math classroom affect student motivation?
Additionally, some sub-questions we considered were:
1) What data collection methods do we hope to use?
2) What is the parent’s perception and attitude towards the flipping classroom?
The period of time allotted for the completion of this in-class research project was approximately six weeks.
In that time all of us worked collaboratively in sharing resources and ideas through a google account and gave our students, during the school day, ample opportunity to further explore their learning around the Ratio and Percent math unit concepts. It quickly became apparent to all of us that the unique framework of the flipped classroom learning model was going to have a very positive impact on our students' motivation levels.
Before our implementation of the unit, in terms of collecting our research data, we brainstormed and listed various methods of data collection we hoped to use during this math unit. You can download these files by visiting our Teacher Resources page. Some ideas we came up with were:
- Pre and Post Student Math Surveys (paper or online google doc)
- Pre and Post Parent Surveys (paper or online google doc)
- Flipped Classroom Workbook (one sheet per video)
- Student Rating Scale and Feedback Form
- Individual Student or Small Group Video Responses
- Pictures
- Anecdotal Notes
A critical piece of the research puzzle was going to the be the idea of consistency. All educators involved wanted to be consistent in their methods of data collection. The pre and post surveys were created in the hopes of measuring the potential change(s) in student motivation around math as well as the potential change(s) in parent attitudes around the flipped classroom. With each instructional video the students were asked to complete a "Lesson Organizer" template at home - where students would list any important terms or definitions they learned about, would answer the question posed, and would write down any questions they might have to bring to the whole class discussion at the beginning of the next math class. As well, following the completion of the unit, the students were giving a rating scale and feedback form to complete. These forms were anonymous and gave the students an opportunity to voice their truest feelings about their strengths and challenges within the unit. We used pictures and short videos to capture our student's authentic learning experiences.
All of these date collection methods provided us with valuable data to help guide our instructional practices during the unit. By working in small group stations we were better able to challenge students with anchor activities as well as provide individualized instructional support to those students in need.
Our Findings
Through the analysis of our collected data we discovered many positive things related to our research questions and sub-questions including:
Student Motivation:
From our pre and post student surveys as well as our video recordings we learned that:
Parent Attitude:
There were many resounding comments from parents highlighting their positive experiences with their child during the math flipped classroom unit. The following are some direct comments made by parents:
“It increased my child’s interest in the topic.”
“I think this format of learning is an excellent way for parents to remain actively involved in their child's learning on an ongoing basis. I often spend a lot of time trying to figure out how things are being taught in the classroom in an effort to help my child but this format makes it very clear in terms of what students are learning in the classroom and much easier to help them along the way. I found it much easier to help my child as I had a clearer understanding of the concepts being covered. I would love to see this continue particularly for subjects like math.”
“My child learned a great deal from the videos. My child has had difficulty with math and the learning through video and hands on learning she grasped the concepts a whole lot easier!! So she never had much difficulties!!”
Our data from the parent pre and post survey showed that:
Student Motivation:
From our pre and post student surveys as well as our video recordings we learned that:
- the majority of students thoroughly enjoyed the variety of activities and smaller learning stations during the math unit
- when asked in the post survey what students thought their math class looked like there was more mention of technology, group work, words used more frequently like “Fun, interesting, cool, exciting”
- less negative comments (in comparison to pre-survey)
Parent Attitude:
There were many resounding comments from parents highlighting their positive experiences with their child during the math flipped classroom unit. The following are some direct comments made by parents:
“It increased my child’s interest in the topic.”
“I think this format of learning is an excellent way for parents to remain actively involved in their child's learning on an ongoing basis. I often spend a lot of time trying to figure out how things are being taught in the classroom in an effort to help my child but this format makes it very clear in terms of what students are learning in the classroom and much easier to help them along the way. I found it much easier to help my child as I had a clearer understanding of the concepts being covered. I would love to see this continue particularly for subjects like math.”
“My child learned a great deal from the videos. My child has had difficulty with math and the learning through video and hands on learning she grasped the concepts a whole lot easier!! So she never had much difficulties!!”
Our data from the parent pre and post survey showed that:
- the majority of our parents surveyed increased their knowledge of the flipped classroom learning model (research sub-question re: perception
- the amount of time parents spent working on or being involved in math with their child increased or stayed the same
- all parents enjoyed working with their child in the ratio and percent math unit (research sub-question re: attitude)
- most parents would like to see the flipped classroom model used in future math units (research sub-question re: attitude)
A Parent's Thought on the Flipped Classroom
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Students Views After the Flipped Classroom
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