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Week 9

Essential Question: How will you go about making sense of your data?

As I began thinking about this question, my mind wandered to all of the data we collected as a school district that goes unused. We have state standardized tests, MAPS three times a year, ASVAB, in addition to all of the informal assessments given within our individual classes. Most of which ends up being a waste of time because no one ever really used that data to inform decisions about teaching and learning.

So as I create my research project and think about how I would like to go about making sense of the data, it is first important that I tailor the collection method to make it as easy as possible for me to sift through my data. An article by Marsh et al. (2006), discusses the challenges and limitations of time in the classroom and suggests that we should narrow our focus with data collection so that we can target strategies that can improve instructional time.

As I noted in week 5, my data was generated through two surveys of WPSD middle school and high school teachers and about 55 WHS students. My surveys included a variety of questions directed towards investigating the following questions:

  1. Which technology tools proved most effective for digital education at secondary level?
  2. Where teachers and students obtained technology support during the transitional time to remote teaching?
  3. If and how the comfort level of using technology changed from the beginning to the end of the experience for teachers and students?

The surveys were sent with strategic timing; one at the beginning of the global pandemic and one at the end of the school year. To begin with I will make sense of the data by looking for trends and patterns within each individual survey. Once I have a good understanding of each survey, I will compare and contrast the before and after surveys to one other. From there I can extrapolate the results and write my conclusions.


Resource:
Marsh, J., Pane, J., & Hamilton, L. (2006, November 07). Making Sense of Data-Driven Decision Making in Education. Retrieved June 26, 2020, from https://www.rand.org/pubs/occasional_papers/OP170.html

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