A Student-Centered Inquiry Approach
within the English Classroom
Action Research Project
James Browder
Wright State University
Summer 2006
Table of Contents
I. Chapter I ………………………………………………………………………………. 3
Background Literature ………………………………………………………...... 3
Purpose of Study…………………………………………………………………..4
Problem Statement………………………………………………………………...5
Research Questions……………………………………………………………...... 6
Definition of Terms………………………………………………………………..6
Pilot Study…………………………………………………………………………7
Data Collection Methods……………………………………………………….....8
Data Analysis Methods……………………………………………………………8
Significance of the Study………………………………………………………….9
Limitations of the Study………………………………………………………....10
Chapter Summary………………………………………………………………..10
II. Chapter II……………………………………………………………………………...11
Literature Review………………………………………………………………...11
III. Chapter III…………………………………………………………………………....22
Research Ethic…………………………………………………………………...22
Research Settings and People……………………………………………………23
Data Collection Methods and Analysis………………………………………….23
IV. Chapter IV…………………………………………………………………………...24
Research Findings……………………………………………………………….24
Literature Relevant to Findings………………………………………………….26
V. Chapter V……………………………………………………………………………..28
Summary of Study and Recommendations………………………………………28
Personal Plan of Action………………………………………………………….30
VI. References…………………………………………………………………………...30
VII. Appendices…………………………………………………………………………32
Appendix A: Pilot Study………………………………………………………...32
Appendix B: Pilot Study Field Observation Sheet………………………………40
Appendix C: Pilot Study Survey………………………………………………...41
Appendix D: Pilot Study Questionnaire…………………………………………41
Chapter I
Literature background of the study
My approach to the literature based research of this study was focused on backing up my proposed intervention strategy, mainly using a critical inquiry approach in order to connect in class material with the student’s personal and societal lives, allowing students to find meaningful validation for their pursuits. Three themes emerged: critical inquiry allows students to find meaning and make connections within their academic efforts, the response-based approach to literature allows readers to realize their role as an individual and as a participant within a culture, and the ability to foster all of these skills is best done in groups.
Routman (2000) proposes that, “When we encourage, support, and guide their natural inquiry and investigation, our students can set purposes for their learning, make connections across disciplines, and learn how to gather evidence and use it to conform, revise, extend, and construct learning” (p.462). In this way learning becomes a process of exposure, questioning, reflecting, revisiting the text, and constant reevaluation.
Andraisik (1990) advocates that this type of inquiry should be thought of as “spiral in shape;” thus, it repeatedly twists students from a textual experience, to personal response, to communal discussion, into expressive writing, and then to transactional discussion (p. 145). This creates a cyclical process which incorporates textual acknowledgment, personal response, social discussion, and reevaluation. The students generate genuine and thought out responses.
According to Purves, Roger, and Soter (1995) this type of an interconnected experience can be created through a response-based approach to literature. This approach then introduces students to “a multicultural collection of authors and works, to the community of readers in and beyond their classroom, and to their individual and group nature as readers and participants in a culture” (p. 59). The students not only make individual realizations, but they can now take responsibility for their actions against the backdrop of a community.
Tovani (2000) furthers this ideology by suggesting that one of the best ways to help readers interact with the text is to, “show them that they have something in common with it” (p. 68). He suggests doing this by encouraging students to make “text-to-self” and “text-to-world” connections (p.70). These literal interpretations allow the reader to go on and infer deeper meaning. The student is no longer merely a reader of a text; instead, they are now validated in their interactions with the text and the learning community as a whole.
Burke (2003) also explores this idea of thinking through making connections. He suggests that, “The building blocks of such thinking are words, language; and this work is often done best in groups, where people can, through exploratory talking, not just add new information to old, but use the new to transform and revise the older ideas they have about the world” (p.227). Once again, we are revisited with the idea that the true acquisition of knowledge is done through reflection incorporating the text, the individual, and the world.
Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study is to determine whether moving away from a standardized plot summary type of analysis towards a critical inquiry type of approach will facilitate an opportunity for students to develop a sense of legitimacy and validity in their academic pursuits. I want to understand why students rarely associate the material they are learning in their English classrooms with life long learning processes. I also want to understand the why and how some students do see the material as important and relevant.
Problem statement
As I began my research, I realized that my goal through the incorporation of supplemental resources was to facilitate a connection with the material I am required to teach, the material I choose to incorporate, and the world which surrounds and confronts my students on an everyday basis. I wish to create an atmosphere of thoughtful inquiry, reflection, dialogue, and constant reevaluation of the themes and materials that face my students; thus, they will be able to carry these practices beyond the walls of my classroom and into their homes, workplaces, and communities throughout the rest of their lives.
My approach to the above mentioned goals will be facilitated through an inquiry based type of instruction. I plan to use double-entry journals which will prompt the students to think critically about themselves and their surroundings. This will then be interconnected with the literature with textual references. The double-entry journals will require the students to find textual references which they either had questions about or found strikingly provocative. The actual response to these references will require the students to find meaning within the text, within society, and an eventual connection with their personal lives. This style of teaching will not only give the students a sense of ownership, but will also provide legitimacy to their pursuits.
All of these methods disregard standard plot summary questions; instead, these practices require the student to think beyond simple stories, individual tests, and the occasional totalitarian teacher. Through connecting the immediate material inside the classroom with the student’s real world experiences and decisions, the students will find a meaningful purpose in their academic and literary pursuits. They not only have a purpose for their reading, but they now have an even more important audience for their writing. The students will be able to see their education as a life long learning process.
Research questions
Baseline Question:
1) What are the effects of a standard plot summary type of analysis inside an English classroom?
a) Without a global and personal connection can students truly find a sense of validation and relevancy in their academic pursuits?
Intervention Question:
2) What would be the benefits in facilitating a critical inquiry based approach to the literary classroom?
a) Does facilitating a student-centered critical-inquiry style of learning develop ownership, validity, and responsibility within a student’s academic pursuits?
b) How would attaching life-long meaning and pertinence to the literature and writing student’s attempt inside their English classrooms affect motivation and their willingness to interact?
Definition of terms
Response-Based Approach: Purves, Rodgers, and Soter (1995) suggests a response-based approach to literature will, “help introduce students to a multicultural collection of authors and works, to the community of readers in and beyond their classroom, and to their individual and group nature as readers and participants in a culture.” In this definition we find that a response-based approach values the individual’s interpretation as much as the group’s. The reader also finds that discussion should include the idea that students are “participants in a culture.”
Critical inquiry: Andraisik (1990) describes critical inquiry as a sequence that, “might be thought of as spiral shape” (p.145). “It repeatedly twists students into a textual experience and then out to acknowledge responses; it turns them inside for personal responses and outside for communal discussion; it moves them into expressive writing and out to transactional discussion and writing” (Andraisik, 1990, p. 145). The reader finds critical inquiry to be a shuffled combination of textual exposure, individual response, whole group reflection, reevaluation, and publication.
Pilot study
The purpose of my pilot study was to determine the effects of a standard plot summary type of analysis inside an English classroom. I also wanted to know if students could truly find a sense of legitimacy and validity in their academic pursuits without a global and personal connection being applied to the material. During my field experience I was constantly bombarded with the question of why we were reading the assigned material. The students were constantly disinterested in the material and assignments which was taking a toll on the classroom community.
Several different data collection methods were used in this study: a survey (see appendix A), a questionnaire (see appendix B), and field observations (see appendix C). Data were collected from five English classrooms. Two of the classes were sophomore English Honors classes, two were junior American Literature classes, and one was a multi-age foundation of composition class. I selected one of my honors 10 classes and the foundation of comp class in order to cover the spectrum of ability, effort, and motivation. Approximately 40 students, depending on attendance, were assessed in the data collection methods. Each of these methods generated data useful in answering my baseline research and intervention questions.
Data collection methods
As I continue my research I plan to reuse the same data collection methods used in my pilot study. Data will be collected using surveys, questionnaires, and field notes. Starting January 1, Data will be collected from five English classrooms. Two of the classes will be seventh grade English Honors classes, two will be eighth grade classes, and one will be a multi-age class. I will select one of the honors classes and the general English class in order to cover the spectrum of ability, effort, and motivation. Approximately 40 students, depending on attendance, will be assessed in the data collection methods. Each of these methods will generate data useful in answering my baseline research and intervention questions.
Data analysis methods
For the analysis of data that will be collected during my field observations, all of the hash marks will be tallied to get a grand total of overt displays of disinterest. The number of students that actually display the disinterest will also be tallied. This will allow the purveyor to asses the amount and frequency of disinterest in the classroom. The following codes will be looked for when I analyze, using deductive methods from the pilot study, the data that will be collected from my questionnaires. New codes will also be looked for as the new material is analyzed. There will also be room for inductive codes as I continue to review relevant literature.
The survey will be analyzed through selective processes. The students will be asked to answer a total of eight questions; however, only the three most relevant to my topic will be used for analysis. The not very often and never answers will be grouped into one category. The sometimes will be calculated, as well as the always. These numbers will then be totaled and turned into percentages.
Significance of the study
I am now reaching the sixth year of my educational journey and will soon be taking on a classroom of my own. I feel that I am readily able and more than adequately prepared for this challenge; however, I want to assure that no mountains will jump in my way. The type of research I performed in this study should be done on a continual basis all throughout my instructional career. Assessing the student’s needs and optimal learning devices is crucial to a successful classroom. Critical inquiry can and should be applied across all curriculums. More than anything, I want for my students to be engaged, passionate, and interested in the material I am teaching. In this study I have attempted to understand why students are disinterested and how educators can get around this problem.
As for my students, this study is whole heartedly for, and comprised of, them. This was their chance to let their teachers know what they needed inside the classroom. Feedback should be a constant inside a well run classroom. They know best what is working and what is not; they are the ones sitting through it for nine months of the year. Through this study I was able to affirm the need for real life connections and inquiry based learning. Students need to be engaged and thinking in order to maintain interest.
This study not only offers personal insight into my classroom, but it can be used as a resource for all educators in all fields. Societal and personal connections can be made, and should be made, in all subject areas. My research stresses the need for validity in a student’s education. They are not always able to make the real world connections.
As for my parents/guardians, administration, and society as a whole, this study signifies a teaching approach that will create critical thinking individuals. The methods denounced and the skills brought about by this study will go a long way in producing functional and informed members of our community.
Limitations of the study
Although grave effort was taken to minimize the number, this study still has a number of limitations present. Due to the limited possibility for participants, the study will not be able to equally poll both genders. A greater number of girls might be included in this study; therefore, my findings may not apply to the male students. Socioeconomic background of the students in the study should be taken into consideration. The school being surveyed is a middle class suburban high school. My findings may not apply to students of extreme wealth or extreme poverty. Due to the participant’s age in this study, junior high level students, it may not be helpful to apply the results to students within other age groups. The intervention teaching methods were chosen by myself; my study’s findings may not apply when other methods are used.
Chapter 1 Summary
The purpose of my study was to see whether creating critical thinkers instead of plot summarizers would eliminate the disinterest and foster a sense of legitimacy within student’s academic pursuits. During my field observations, I was confronted with students that lacked the ability to connect what was going on inside the classroom with what was going on outside and in their possible futures. I wanted to create an intervention method to provide students with the ability to find meaning in what is going in the classroom by connecting it with things that are going on in their personal lives and within society. Therefore, my base-line question asked, “What are the effects of a standard plot summary type of analysis inside an English classroom?” Accordingly my intervention question asked, “What would be the benefits in facilitating a critical inquiry based approach to the literary classroom?” As an educator it would be easy for me to provide obvious connections and present them to the class. However, these students will only be with me for nine months; thus, it was important for my intervention methods to reach beyond the walls of my classroom. I decided I would encourage critical thinking in all aspects of my instruction. The actual process of critical inquiry requires the students to make connections with society and self. During the research phase of this study I will use surveys, observations, and questionnaires to fine tune the best approach towards critical inquiry in the English classroom. I will use the surveys and questionnaires as tools to guide my methods and their reaction. The observations will be useful to gage the effectiveness of my techniques. This study and the methods incorporated within it can and should be used across disciplines. The ability to critically think is a skill that fosters discussion, debate, growth, and functional members within a democracy.