What does research mean to me?

What does research mean to me?

May 9, 2011

When I think of research I think of many things. In my daily life I do make decisions based on quantitative research. Over the years I drank coffee and then stopped and then started again. Each time was in response to research that said it was good or bad for you and then good again. Currently the research seems to claim that coffee is good for you. BUT I choose not to drink coffee because I choose another “poison”. Chocolate!

Research claims that 70% chocolate is good for you (DeNoon, 2003).  So that is how I get my caffeine kick! The only problem is that more recent research suggests that dark chocolate is only good for you in moderation (Parikh, 2011). Oops. Who do I believe? I need to look at my sources. Both of the references I have used here are web-based. Are they trustworthy? Both claim to be medical sites. But?

In this case I need to add my personal experience to help me make this judgement. If I eat too much chocolate I feel sick. And I feel a bit woozy like I do if I have too much caffeine. When I have just a little I feel good and I always love the taste. I have also read that 70% chocolate in moderation is good for you in many other reputable places such as the health newsletters that I get Nutrition Action and Consumer Report Health. The Web sites confirm what is said in my ongoing newsletters and my own experience.  Thus I continue to eat dark chocolate to feel good and to get a small jolt of caffeine  (instead of coffee).

At work, I am often the researcher and not the decision maker. I am trying to explore what is to increase understanding.  My research on assessment is actually based on a seminal piece of work by Black and Wiliam (1998). They did a meta-analysis of existing robust studies on classroom assessment to conclude that a certain type of assessment “assessment for learning” improves student achievement.  This was a very bold conclusion that changed the face of assessment and how educators think about it. Now educators strive to use assessment so that the student actually learns from it – rather than regurgitates memorized facts and promptly forgets. Further work done by Black et al. (2004) further describes assessment for learning.  Still it is an ongoing battle and educators are slow to implement this proven strategy.

My own research is qualitative and asks the question “What was your best experience with assessment?”  My team of researchers decided that we really don’t know what is the best way to assess until we ask how people how they actually experience successful assessment. So I have been involved in a 3-year federally funded qualitative study with 2 school boards where we have asked educators about their best experiences. As well, we have collected stories of best assessment from education students and other teachers and administrators in the field. We have over 220 stories so far. A summary of this research is being presented this Tuesday at the Ministry of Education/Faculty of Education conference May 10, 2011 (Drake, Beckett & Reid, 2011).

You will learn about my research in class as we explore qualitative research and how your stories fit in with what we have learned. Hopefully it will be interesting and enrich your understanding of both qualitative research methods and assessment for learning.   I look forward to hearing your stories.

I also want you to know that there are other kinds of research beyond quantitative and qualitative. For example, there is historical research and conceptual research. These types of research use the same process as “empirical” research but do not actually use living human participants. More on this later.

References

Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C, Marshall, B., & Wiliam, D. (2004). Working inside the black box: Assessment for learning in the classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 86(1), 9-21.

Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: raising standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80,  45 - 52

DeNoon, D. (2003). Dark chocolate has its benefits not seen in other varieties. WebMD News. http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20030827/dark-chocolate-is-healthy-chocolate

Drake, S. Beckett, D. & Reid, J. (2011, May). Exploring best stories of assessment experiences. Paper presented at MOE/FOE Conference, University of Toronto, ON.

Parikh, L. (2011). Is dark chocolate good for you? Clinical correlations. http://www.clinicalcorrelations.org/?p=4150

What does accountability mean to me?

To me, accountability is a daunting word that conjures up an image of a big thumb squashing the little guy. At least that is the way it had always seemed to me before I looked at the concept with a more professional and academic lens.

I think back to my physical education and health classes. We did not have a set of expectations such as mandated now in the Ontario Curriculum, but there were some common objectives to guide every teacher.  Although I did use these objectives in my planning, I went well beyond the objectives. I had developed some interesting material that was holistic in nature. We explored the mind, body and the spirit. The health text was the students’ life stories.  The classes were very popular and my high school had more students in the program than any other school in the area.

One day, the Inspectors visited. I was nervous.  I knew that I was in uncharted territory. By the end of the day they had determined that I was not following the Ministry curriculum. My principal came to deliver the bad news. He took me for a long walk around the corridors outside the gym. By the end of the walk, he told me that he believed in what I was doing and that to solve the problem I was to change the titles to what the Ministry wanted and to continue on doing exactly what I was doing.  I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I would be able to continue to do the work that I loved and that I thought was so valuable.  Now my administrator had confirmed that what I was doing was the right thing to do. The students seemed to confirm it was right in that they attended the classes in large number.  This was a turning point for me -  and the future directions that I would take.

Accountability? As I reflect on this story I realize that my sense of accountability was to myself and to my students.  But I was not aligned to a bigger picture. I had no sense of extrinsic accountability -  to my administrator, to my district or to my provincial system.  I walked my own path.  Is this good or bad? Who is to say that what I thought the students needed to learn was actually what they should learn?

In an age of accountability I believe there is a middle path.  My questions have always revolved around improving the education system. How do we make it better? What is most important to teach?  To me the answer is rarely embedded in the ways things are “supposed” to be done.  How do we push the boundaries at the same time as we keep them? Much of my own research has been in how to push and maintain the boundaries at the same time. (Drake, 2010; Drake & Reid, 2010).  Instead of an EITHER/OR, it can be a BOTH/AND.

As an academic, I believe in accountability. I understand the need for some standardized measures of where we stand as a province and how we compare internationally. I can also sympathize with individual teachers who are very unhappy with EQAO. Is there a way we can attain some measure of students’ achievement that does not involve the problems of EQAO? What does the middle path look like?

I like the “new” classroom methods of assessment (Black & Wiliam, 1998) Assessment Reform Group, 2002). I think students fare much better when expectations for performance are demystified. Well prepared rubrics help. Exemplars show us what is expected (as long as they don’t limit us).  Ongoing feedback is extremely useful. At the same time I have found that when I apply a “pedagogy of ambiguity”, students produce the best work although they are uncomfortable with the lack of clear expectations. What is the balance between the two?

What is accountability? And what does accountability mean to me as I strive to be a 21^st Century teacher?  These are the questions that I wrestle with as we move forward in our explorations.

References.

Assessment Reform Group. (2002). Assessment for learning: 10 principles. http:www.assessment-reform-group.org.uk

Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Inside the black box: Rasing standards through classroom assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 80. 2, 139-148.

Drake S. M. (2010). Enhancing teacher education using a story framework. Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.   1, 2, http://www.cjsotl-rcacea.ca

Drake, S. M. & Reid, J. (2010). Integrated curriculum:  Increasing relevance while maintaining accountability.  What works? Research in Practice. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/WW_Integrated_Curriculum.pdf