I really liked the research idea I posted last week, but since I wrote it, I have had some doubts about using it. I could be wrong, but I remember mixed ability-level groups as being more of a middle-school trend, so I fear that I wouldn't have any good opportunities to study them when I shadow in the fall. Oh, well. I'm trying to roll with the punches.
So I was brainstorming about phenomena that
a.) interested me, and
b.) were sure to take place within just about any English class,
when Dr. McCoy mentioned a previous student's study on homework. I don't want to copycat another student's study, but this interests me. It seems to me that most high school English classes rely heavily on students' reading outside of class. If students don't read, then there's really not a whole lot you can do with the texts.
But I have been in classes where teachers assigned so much reading, that trying to keep up the assignments seemed hopeless. I remember thinking in one A.P. class, "We only end up discussing one short story per class, so why do I have to spend 3 hours reading three per night?" And in college, (I am embarrassed to admit), I sometimes just gave up on trying to read all the material for a class in which my completing the reading seemed hopeless.
So here goes--research idea #2 with a potential quantitative framework:
I would like to take down the page numbers (or approximate word count) of all the overnight reading assignments given by the teachers I shadow (that's 4 classes).
Then, I would like to administer surveys to the students to ascertain the effect of page number on morale and likelihood of comprehension/success.
6 comments:
When you say mixed ability level groups do you mean having inclusive classrooms with honors, regular, and low level students all in the same class? That would definitely be something hard to find. However, if you wanted to still use the different ability levels, then you might be able to do some stratified sampling. I don’t know about this county but my former school system had three different levels of English I. There was Honors English I, regular CP English I and then English I A & B (taken over two semesters) for the really low students who preformed badly on the middle school English tests. Don’t know if this helps any…hope it does!
Megan, this idea is another good possibility. You might get quality data if you surveyed or interviewed several English teachers and asked them how they decide how much out-of-class reading to assign, and if it is different for different levels.
Keep track of all your ideas so that you can revisit all of them before making a final decision.
Megan, I love this idea! I know at certain points over my schooling career, I have had friends who, seeing how much reading was assigned for that night, simply decided to read the cliff notes, without even giving the real book a chance! It was almost like they were defeated without even trying. Now granted, that may be saying something about them personally, but it may be saying something larger about how much reading high school students can be expected to do in one night. As far as ability groups go, you may look at a regular English class, versus an English honors, verses an AP English. I realize I'm not giving you tons of new thoughts and ideas here, but I think this topic has great potential!
I think this is a great idea! I am a page counter...before I start any reading assignment, I always count the number of pages I have to read. And after I've been reading for awhile, I count again to see how many I have left. I have definitely had the feeling of just being completely overwhelmed with how many pages I have to read and it really does give me a negative attitude while I am reading, that is if I even get up the motivation to start reading. It might be worth considering the different types of reading, too. Reading 30 pages in a novel is much different than reading 30 pages in a textbook. Good luck!
I like this topic. It has the potential to provide important data that could be used across many disciplines. As a social studies person, I recognize that a high school textbook is certainly not the most exciting read, but if students do not come to class with the required background, then discussion (the topic I am looking at) is pointless, unless it simply piggybacks on whatever was discussed the day prior or earlier in class. This would help a lot of us out!
Megan,
this sounds like it has some serious potential. And, if you do decide to do this study, can I see your notes? I (and I am ashamed to admit it) am still a page counter, but my motivation is a bit stronger than it was in HS. I will at least complete my assignments, whereas in high school if I got bored, I just quit reading, especially when I knew that the teacher would tell us the important parts the next day. I like what Jen had to say as well, because the different types of texts and maybe even student genders may affect their motivation and willingness to complete their reading.
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