School Based Enquiry

Webster, J.

09004760

School Based Enquiry

P70618

Case StudyWord Count 3,200

Does reflection improve learning behaviour?

Methodology

Drever (2003, p. 7) states that a case study can “provide an in-depth picture of a particular area of the educational world, chosen because it is relatively self contained”, he goes on the say that “we could aim at quite detailed understanding of factors at work in that particular case, without assuming that any other case would be the same”. The case study, however, could have limitations in validity and potential subjectivity. In Wilson (2009, p. 205) Demetriou quotes Yin (1994)who suggests three remedies:

Multiple sources of evidence

Establishing a chain of evidence

Having a draft case study report reviewed by key informants

To ensure multiple sources of evidence I will use the triangulation approach. Time constraints within school have limited my options of data collection. Ideally interviews with a sample of individual students would give me the depth of response that I require and allow flexibility, as opposed to a fixed questionnaire. A semi-structured interview,Drever (2003, p. 1),would allow me to prompt to explore student’s experiences, motivation and reasoning while asking the same key questions. A questionnaire would be quick and easier to manage however, with small scale research it could be of little statistical significance. A good compromise would be to use blogs to collect qualitative data. The blog will allow me to pose key open questions and follow up individually with more probing questions. Alternatively, I could follow up with group discussion and conversations with individual students where appropriate. In group discussions I need to be aware of bias, where students potentially could be influenced by peer pressure or the fear of getting the wrong answer. A real possibility is that students will give what they perceive as the right answer rather than their own opinions or experiences. I also intend to observe lessons from two different perspectives. The RAP wall (Appendix 1) will focus on the effect of the reflective activities on learning. My reflections on the lesson plan will capture further evidence of learning behaviour in the students. I will also analyse test answers to see if students have remembered what they have learned. I also intend to use video to capture students learning behaviour, although I may not use this in my overall analysis.

Ethics

I have discussed this case study with the group and individually with their parents at parents evening. I have also got written consent to use video footage of the students. All are aware that I will not use any names in the write up of this case study or anything that will give away their identity. All students have the option to opt oyt at any time.

School context

Informal feedback form OFSTED 2006 recommended that it was time to “lift the lid” and move away from the safe results driven “spoon feeding culture”. We aim to develop independent learners with the knowledge, skills and understanding to be life long learners in the ever changing work place. The SIP from 2007 – 2009 focussed on AfL and as a school we have embedded the principles of AfL. The new SIP 2009-12 continues the work on AfL but with a greater emphasis on the journey from‘Passive to Active to Reflective’ learners.

In Mathematics changes to the curriculum and examinations are significant for 2012. Students will be required to reflect on prior knowledge to solve unfamiliar problems in different contexts. The focus has shifted from content to content and process. The introduction of functional skills alone will not transform learning and teaching. Teaching needs to adapt to facilitate good learning.

For these reasons I have decided to base my case study around my year 8 middle ability group. The group are open to try new things and are keen to learn. The students are already used to group and pair work and they are willing to discuss and share their ideas. For this reason my case study will only be valid for similar groups.

Literature Review

The skills needed to prepare students for life long learning cannot be fostered in a content driven and ultimately spoon fed environment. Learners need to be challenged, take risks and be prepared to try different approaches. Moon (2004, p. 84) suggests that reflection is linked with the process of learning. This led me to look at learning and reflection separately and draw connections between them.

The structure of learning outcomes identified in the SOLO taxonomy developed by Biggs and Collis (1982) is summarised in Atherton(2009) in the following stages:

Atherton (2009) / My interpretation
1 / Pre-structural: Here students are simply acquiring bits of unconnected information, which have no organisation and make no sense. / Pre-structural and Unistructural relate well to the “spoon fed culture” that existed in 2006. Pupils were working towards an exam and remembered facts without really making any connections.
2 / Unistructural: simple and obvious connections are made, but their significance is not grasped.
3 / Multistructural: a number of connections may be made, but the meta-connections between them are missed, as is their significance for the whole. / Multistructural describes the efforts that have been made by individual departments to promote learning within their subjects. Students are actively learning and connections within subjects can be made. AfL has played a big part in this transition. However, the introduction of Learning to Learn is aimed at getting all students to think about their learning skills and apply them to all subjects.
5 / Relational: the student is now able to appreciate the significance of the parts in relation to the whole. / Relational is where we want to be in the next twelve months. I interpret “able to appreciate the significance of the parts in relation to the whole” as students making connections between new and prior learning to see the bigger picture and relate to unfamiliar contexts.
6 / Extended abstract: the student is making connections not only within the given subject area, but also beyond it, able to generalise and transfer the principles and ideas underlying the specific instance. / Extended abstract is our ultimate aim, were learners are able to make connections between subjects and have learning skills that are transferable.

In summary, the SOLO taxonomy describes the journey that we are on as a school. The change from pupils to students to learners is significant and intentional. It emphasises the shift from spoon fed pupils to independent learners.

Moon (2004, p. 88) claims that “reflection facilitates good learning behaviour”, however, she also warns on page 96 that “superficial reflection is descriptive” and “superficial reflection may not be effective as a means of learning” on page 81.

Initially I intended to base my enquiry on reflective writing using blogs as a way for the students to record their ‘reflection on learning’. I did have my concerns that the case studies that I had read where based in Higher Education, but I decided that it could work with effective questioning to support students.

The use of blogs proved mainly to provide superficial ‘reflection on learning’. This is partly due to the age and maturity of the students. Some examples of this are in Appendix 2.

The students enjoyed using ICT and the creative side of making a blog. It also revealed interesting possibilities for personalised learning, where students can reflect and request specific support before the lesson, JiTT, just in time teaching (Novak, n.d.; Rozycki, 1999) taken from King et al (2006, p. 13). Examples of this are annotated in Appendix 2.

Defining Learning Behaviour

Moon (2004, p. 58) draws on research from various authors to explain deep and surface learning. Some of the definitions I have listed below.

Surface Learning / Deep Learning
A surface learner absorbs as much as is necessary and without relating to previous learning or knowledge. This is often superficial and the learner may struggle to reiterate in forms other than in the manner it was learned. A surface learner is often not interested and has no drive to make sense of the learning material. / Deep learning is characterised by “an intention in the learner to understand the material of learning, seeking the meaning and understanding the ideas in it. The learner who takes a deep approach seeks the underpinning principles and endeavours to relate the material to previous knowledge and understandings. She may question the logic and argument. A learner who is interested in a topic is likely to take a deep approach and it appears to be harder for learners to sustain this approach when they are anxious or under pressure. Entwistle, (1996) taken form Moon (2004, p. 58)
From the descriptions above it would be easy to assume that surface learners may be disaffected or of low intelligence. However this is not always the case, some students simply think that this is the best way to learn because of the way they have been taught and experienced success previously. Most of my students in my case study see this as ‘good learning’. I am not suggesting that surface learning should be avoided, that would be impossible and largely out of the teachers control. Surface learning is safe and has well established rules and success criteria for students. / Deep learning appears to lead to understanding. Understanding can be applied to unfamiliar contexts. To encourage deep learning I will need to engage the students and keep them interested. However, close to test time this could be difficult when students are anxious and may revert to the safety of surface learning.

Further reading on reflection made me rethink my methodology of my case study. I focussed on ‘reflection on learning’ using blogs. Reflection is often not seen as a valid learning activity in its own right, perhaps because it is not assessed. This was a problem encountered in Higher Education by Waddington and Wright (2007, p. 52). Their mid-year findings summarises the student experience of reflection using blogs as “all well and good, but of very limited value and not of any practical use in the real world, at least when no credit was gained and time was involved.”

My challenge is how do I get students to reflect inand onlearning?

Moon 2004 (p. 82)describes her common sense view of reflection, in which she says

“Reflection is applied to relatively complicated, ill-structured ideas for which there is not an obvious solution and is largely based on further processing of knowledge and understanding that we already possess.”

Moon (2004, p. 84) further goes on to summarise outcomes that can result from a reflective process:

Moon 2004 / My interpretation
Learning, knowledge and understanding / The key words here are learning and understanding. Knowledge is useless without understanding. When students understand they are more likely to be able to apply knowledge to unfamiliar contexts. (See Appendix 6 for summary of knowledge and understanding from literature review and discussion with the learning and teaching group).
Some form of action / In terms of this case study this could be:
students ask further question of each other or the teacher
revise the topic on mymaths at home
go over the topic with their tutor
A process of critical review / This could be interpreted as self or peer assessment.
Reflection on the process of learning / This is what I have described as ‘Reflection on Learning’.
Unexpected outcomes (e.g. images, ideas that could be solutions to outcomes or seen as creative activity) / If students are allowed the opportunity and time to be creative they can come up with unexpected outcomes. It gives a good insight into what students have understood. E.g. create a powerpoint of what you have learnt today. Make a video to be used as a learning resource.

For the purpose of this case study I am going to define learning behaviour as

Reflection in Learning
Surface learners: / Deep learners:
Copy notes and memorise them. / Look for meaning.
Can apply knowledge in a familiar context. / Relate new information to previous knowledge.
Ask questions to clarify the task or confirm correct answers rather than methods. / Ask questions to deepen their understanding, justify their decisions and explain their thinking.
Do not make links within the subject or between subjects. / Can transfer knowledge and make links between subjects.
Memorises facts for a test. / Ask questions to find out the underlying principles of what they are learning.
Are passive. / Are interested in what they are learning.
Do the minimum work necessary to complete the task / Can apply knowledge to unfamiliar contexts.
Can only apply knowledge in the form it was presented. / Can relate knowledge to real life situations.
Can be active but not engaged / Are active and engaged in learning.
Reflection on Learning
Surface learners / Deep learners
Can describe the activities they did within the lesson / Can describe the activities and how it helped them learn.
Can represent learning in the format it was presented / Can represent learning in other formats.
Can reflect on learning skills and transfer them to other situations and subjects.

To come to these definitions I have considered my own classroom experience and similar lists from the extract Education in a Changing Environment, Atherton (2009), Lever (2002, p. 1), Hughes (2010, Telephone conversation on Red and Blue questions) and Moon (2004)

Smith (2010, p. 3) has some interesting thoughts and strategies based around the central principle that teach less = learn more.

“employ a series of strategies that put the responsibility of learning directly and consistently onto the students. In doing so they learn to engage with their own learning, and not just in what they have learned but in how they have learned it. In other words it’s not just learning outcomes that are important but the process of learning itself”.

Smith, (2010, p. 1) also suggests we do “too much teaching at the expense of learning”. In my experience, in an attempt to get students to learn we ‘over teach’. I personally feel the responsibility to prove that students have been taught. External pressures of exams, league tables and the National Curriculum have made teachers and teaching very content driven. There is a sense of safety in knowing you have taught the content.

I am still left with the question, how do I encourage deeper learning?

Reflection for Learning

This combines ‘reflection on’ and ‘reflection in’ learning. Hughes (2008) has useful strategies to promote learning in the classroom. It contains different ideas and activities aimed at getting the reader to distinguish between teaching and learning in the classroom. After a discussion with the author, I have chosen to use the RAP wall and RED and BLUE questions. The RAP wall is a tool to record different phases of learning: Passive – Active – Reflective (Appendix 1). Red and Blue reflection questions are questions to promote deeper reflection, where red questions promote reflection in learning and blue questions reflection on learning. Smith (2010, p. 4) suggests that if the teacher uses strategies to engage students in their own learning, it leaves the teacher “freed up to reflect upon – and be critically focussed on- the learning”. This will be necessary to give me quality time to ask red and blue questions.

In summary I will plan ‘reflective activities’ that will ensure students are active and engaged. This will free up my time to ask red and blue questions to deepen learning.

What are reflective activities in mathematics?

I am defining a reflective activity as an activity that is designed to promote reflection in learning.

Reflective Activities

Moon (2010, p. 82) / My interpretation
“Reflection is applied to relatively complicated, ill-structured ideas for which there is not an obvious solution and is largely based on further processing of knowledge and understanding that we already possess.” / In the context of learning Mathematics, challenge to the learner is the complicated question where there is not an obvious solution and further processing of knowledge is needed. This reflection will encourage deeper learning.

Challenge – a challenge requires the use of prior knowledge with a twist, e.q. content presented in a different way. This could be a functional skills activity or an extension task.

Example - Circle lesson Appendix 3

Knowledge - Area of a circle = π r².

Reflection – use this knowledge to find areas of shapes with parts of circles and other shapes.

My Reflections

The RAPwall (Appendix 3) allowed me to capture my perspective of when students were passive, active or reflective at ten minute intervals during the lesson. The most reflective phase of the lesson happened when the students were working in pairs or small groups. The initial ten minutes of group work was more active, students were discussing how to solve the problem. This became more reflective when they questioned each other and looked at prior knowledge to help with the problem e.g., area of a square. The reflective phase continued when students marked each others work and asked questions to find out how and why the problems had been solved in a certain way.

In an attempt to make the homework reflective I asked students to make their own notes on what they had learnt. This produced some interesting results. It enabled me to pick up on any misconceptions quickly and address them the following lesson. It was also surprising to see the variety of content in the notes. Some students described where pi comes from and why the area is pi x r squared, whereas a number of students preferred to write a couple of examples. A few students added challenging questions to their notes. This is definitely something that I will consider again. As Moon, (2004, p. 84) suggested, it is an unexpected outcome.