Thursday, August 4, 2011

Week 3, Part 2 - Developing an Action Research Plan


Goal: How can using online multiplication games and programs help low-performing students improve knowledge of multiplication facts?










Objectives
Activities (Action Steps)
Resources Needed
Timeline       For Completion (start/end)
Person(s) Responsible For Activities
Process For Monitoring Achievement Of Objectives
Assessments For Evaluating Effectiveness Of Research

For low-performing students, determine the initial level of mastery of multiplication facts.
Use a quiz of multiplication facts (2's through 12's) to check initial level of mastery of multiplication facts.
Quiz of multiplication facts (2's through 12's) created using ACCES. Google spreadsheet set up to document student results that can be viewed by those educators and administrators involved in the action research project.
Administer quiz sometime during the first two weeks of the second semester of school (2011-2012) during one class period.
Teacher(s) of low-performing students, math curriculum coach.
Administer the quiz and document results on the Google spreadsheet to use as a baseline for comparison as the school year progresses.
Formative assessment using a quiz of multiplication facts (2's through 12's).

Engage low-performing students in the practice of multiplication facts to improve knowledge.
Use online multiplication games and/or math software to improve knowledge of multiplication facts.
Websites and/or math software that can be used to practice multiplication facts.
Once each week starting with second semester of school/ending with last week of the 5th six weeks.
Teacher(s) of low-performing students, math curriculum coach.
Monitor the online multiplication game practice to encourage student effort.
Formative assessment through teacher/math curriculum coach observations.

Spot check student progress toward mastery of multiplication facts.
Use a short quiz to check on student progress in mastering multiplication facts (quiz designed to check specific multiplication facts in order to pinpoint problem areas).
Short quiz created using ACCES that is grouped by specific multiplication facts to facilitate the recognition of problem areas.
Every week and a half to two weeks (depending on scheduling conflicts) starting with the second semester of school/ending approximately two weeks before the summative assessment described in activity 4.
Teacher(s) of low-performing students, math curriculum coach.
Administer the short quiz and document results to track progress. Use the results to modify the selection of websites and/or math software being utilized.
Formative assessment using a short quiz of specifically grouped multiplication facts.

For low-performing students, determine the final level of mastery of multiplication facts at school-year-end.
Use a quiz of multiplication facts (2's through 12's) to check final level of mastery of multiplication facts.
Same quiz of multiplication facts (2's through 12's) created using ACCES at the beginning of the year.
Administer quiz during one class period in the last six weeks grading period of the school year.
Teacher(s) of low-performing students, math curriculum coach.
Administer the quiz and document results to determine amount of improvement since the beginning of the year.
Summative assessment using a quiz of multiplication facts (2's through 12's).

2 comments:

  1. When looking at your plan, I can tell that you have really thought about the objectives and activities. It will be interesting to see the end results. I would assume that using online resources, for extra practice with multiplication facts, would provide success for the students. I will be interested in seeing which sites worked well so that they could be used with elementary students as well. Good luck with your research!

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  2. I just attended a workshop on this very topic! I cannot wait to see what your results are, as I am interested in utilizing this technology in my classroom.

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