INQUIRY PROJECT (Due April 24th)

 

Good teachers are frequently engaged in thinking about their practice and trying out new strategies to see what works. (The opposite of this is where a person’s teaching is based on habit or tradition - “this is the way it’s always been done.”) This process of experimentation may be difficult for an outsider to observe and few teachers would probably ever see themselves as engaged in “research.” However, effective teaching requires that teachers reflect on their teaching and seek to find out answers as to what works and what does not.

 

You are to conduct a small-scale inquiry project related to the improvement of your instruction.  A detailed explanation can be found online at the following website: http://www.uncw.edu/ed/ss/secondaryinternsindex.htm.  Please link through to the inquiry project PDF file for a detailed explanation of what is required.

 

To summarize the document:  In consultation with your partnership teacher, identify an issue or question related to your teaching.  In many cases it may be beneficial to select a question that directly relates to an area of instruction that needs improvement (e.g. if the target area for improvement of teaching is “to improve lesson closure,” then the inquiry project could be an investigation of the effects of different approaches to closure on student performance. Other examples of questions include: the advantages or disadvantages of using student selected groups vs. teacher selected groups, analysis of specific strategies for working with unmotivated learners, the value of different note-taking strategies etc.

 

Technology Integration

Select one of the 3 ways to incorporate technology into the inquiry project:

·        Study how the use of technology in instruction affects student learning (i.e. simulations in education)

·        Use technology to collect and process data (i.e. use MS Excel to analyze data)

·        Use technology to present the inquiry project (i.e. PowerPoint to generate presentation slides)

 

Time frame

1)    Identify and describe your question and Implementation plan – see the Inquiry Project Proposal

a)  Proposal Example 1

2)    Preliminary findings due April 3rd

3)    Final project due April 24th

 

Format

Format is similar to a laboratory report that you might ask your students to complete on a regular basis.  The culmination of the project will include both a three page write-up and a ten slide PowerPoint that includes the following information:

A) Identify and describe your question

§  Introduction

§  Summary

§  Cite at least three sources (The Science Teacher, School Mathematics and Science, American Biology Teacher, Textbook, etc.)

B) Describe your implementation plan

§  Who is your sample?

§  Procedure explained in detail

§  Should be based from your proposal

C) Present your results

§  Raw data (Quantitative or Qualitative)

§  Tables, Charts, Graphs

§  Descriptive Statistics

D) Discussion and interpretation

§  Inferences

E) Conclusion

§  Limitations of your study

§  Recommendations for future investigations

 

Previous Years Examples

1.     Inquiry Project Example 1:  The Write-Up

2.     Inquiry Project Example 1:  The PowerPoint

3.     Inquiry Project Example 2:  The Write-Up

4.     Inquiry Project Example 2:  The PowerPoint

5.     NCSTA PowerPoint presentation (2003)

 

Rubric for Assessment

(75 points)

 

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