Framing the Research Problem

This assignment is for 638 with Professor Margaret Riel. We are asked to look at our Action Research Project and examine the challenges and possible solutions that we might have. This in turn will generate additional questions as I work through my action research cycles.

Field of Action Research: Elementary School Technology Club

Problem: Low-participation in Tech Club by female students

Possible Solution: Increase participation by creating projects that are engaging and entertaining for elementary school girls.

Library Search Terms: "computers and girls;" "computer clubs;" gender

Outcomes: Increase the number of female students participating in Tech Club.

Research Question: Will activities based on "humantities-type" assignments (i.e. journaling, creating art) increase female participation in a technology club?

Cycle Questions: How has writing encouraged female students to further participate in Tech Club? Have the photographs and accompanying writing proven popular with students not in Tech Club, generating excitement about the Clubs' activities and in turn increased attendance and enrollment? What are teachers saying about the activities that Tech Club is engaged in, and how do they connect with what the students are doing in class?

Field of Action Research: Elementary School Technology Club

Problem: Marginalized students need a social activity where they can feel welcomed

Possible Solution: Involve students from the Autistm Spectrum program and principal referrals in Tech Club.

Library Search Terms: "computers and autism;" "computer clubs;" Asperger's Syndrome

Outcomes: Reduce marginalization of students, provide point-of-contact for Spectrum students to showcase their computer skills.

Research Question: How can I facilitate giving marginalized students voice and encourage them to interact with others through participation in a technology club?

Cycle Questions: Have the students gained a voice through their use of technology? What kinds of interactions have I facilitated between the students? How have I encouraged students to respect diversity and differences?

Field of Action Research: Elementary School Technology Club

Problem: Students lack leadership opportunities in the school and classroom.

Possible Solution: Technology skills can be helpful in the classroom and the computer lab. By being able to help others, students demonstrate leadership and competency.

Library Search Terms: "student leadership;" "technology and identity"

Outcomes: Students interested in technology are able to demonstrate their competency and create a leadership role within the classroom and school community.

Research Question: How can the technology skills I help to build in students create feelings of empowerment and leadership potential?

Cycle Questions: Have I encouraged students to troubleshoot technology issues in the classroom or computer lab before I am called to repair and issue? Does the work that the students create under my direction inspire other students?

		1. What questions arise out of my experience to which I would like to search for answers? A. What kinds of technology-rich learning environments are best suited to attracting and retaining the attention of elementary school students? B. What novel and interesting uses of technology are students able to devise? C. Does technology foster increased collaboration among elementary school students? D. How does combining new technology with subjects students are very familiar with, such as writing, increase student comfort with and ease of use of these technologies?


		2. What might be the answers to these questions? A. Lessons that are hands-on and which allow students to create digital content are popular because they encourage creativity and ownership of the content. Being able to easily share digital content through print, on a computer screen, or through the internet has appeal to elementary school students, to whom the internet is still a novelty as many are just beginning to use it in a supervised manner. B. Students look at technology and its uses in different ways than adults because they have fewer preconceived notions of the particular use of a device. For instance, I have seen students use PowerPoint as a simple "cell" animation program by illustrating "slides" and increasing the slideshow animation rate to a speed that causes the images to appear animated. As the year progresses it will be interesting to track the different ways that students use technology in ways that may not have been originally conceived. C. With limited resources there is a need to share equipment. This can oftern result in power struggles for control of a digital camera, for instance. Will learning to share be an important lesson and trait that is developed this year? Can students work on large projects, such as stop-motion animation film, and organize themselves into smaller teams to work collaboratively on a project? D. Tech Club has evolved from a technology troublshooting and repair club to a multimedia-rich center for creativity. Students are less interested in how the computers work than in creating digital content. I see potential to capitalize on the students' writing abilities to create complex narratives that mix media such as digital photography and writing or film and oral narration.
		3. What do I think might be the underlying causes of the situation for which I have these questions? Students at this age are beginning to form more of an independent view of themselves, which can cause issues with sharing and collaborating. It also causes them to think creatively and in ways that can surprise and amaze adults used to seeing set solutions to problems. I think elementary students in grades three through five stand to influence one another in very positive collaborative ways: the third graders stand to gain some maturity working with the slightly older students, while the fourth and fifth graders are allowed a positive role as mentors or teachers as they might possess more refined skills or knowledge.
		4. What alternative answer might exist? Students might need more structure or more explanation about how software or particular hardware functions. They might be unwilling or unable to find the answers for themselves and collaborate to complete a project.
		5. Where do I fit into the situation as defined by the questions? I hope to be the facilitator and the person who pushes the students' zone of proximal development to new levels of comprehension. I will be carefully observing the students as they work together to devise solutions rather than providing them with answers. If needed, I will serve as a resource or guide to the students. However, I hope that they are able to influence one another's growth and development and push each other to achieve and grow through the projects that they complete.
		6. What opposition will I encounter? The biggest opposition that I can forsee is the attention span of the students. It is difficult to keep a diverse group of students engaged in a particular project. I am hoping to devise projects that are open-ended and varied enough that students are able to adapt the particular project to their own needs and interests and build new knowledge through the experience. Keeping students invested in the work and coming back has been a challenge in the past and one I hope to work on this year.
		7. Where are the sensitive issues? I think the most sensitive issue is making sure that all the students who are showing up feel that they have a role and that they are participating. Oftentimes if a student does not get to use a particular piece of equipment, like the video camera or the mouse, they disengage from the project. I hope that by being sensitive to each student's needs to have hands-on time with the equipment I might make the experience engaging enough that students are willing to wait until it is their turn, knowing that their turn will soon come.
		8. What are the constraints? Time and access to enough equipment might be the biggest constraints. There is limited amount of time to conduct meetings. Additionally, with the number of students participating having enough equipment to go around can be difficult. It might take splitting the Tech Club into two cadres makes the most sense as it would create smaller groups and allow for students to have more hands-on time. Learning circles can be formed and rotated throughout the course of the year.
		9. Who needs to be involved? First and foremost students. The school counselor is a valuable resource because she has a good sense of which students need a club or some place that makes them feel involved and provides a good social outlet, as does the principal. Teachers are also valuable because they recognize the fun and creativity that goes on in Tech Club. Finally, the support of parents is very important as well for they help build enthusiasm and commitment from the students.
		10. Whose support do I enlist? Getting students involved gets them to bring along a friend, which increases participation. Sometimes parents come to me about Tech Club trying to get their child interested, but I often feel that in situations such as this they are pressuring their child to participate in something in which they lack interest. Mostly it is a matter of publicizing the club and its activities: the excitement builds among students based upon the exposure and the quality of the projects.
		11. Where would be a good place to begin? I started by having two meetings during lunch and lunch recess to showcase past projects and the projects that we would be enaged in this year. The turnout was very good, and the first two sessions of Tech Club were very popular, with over twenty five students participating, nearly a third of whom were girls and two of whom have Asperger's Syndrome. I feel that the beginning of Tech Club has been a success, and student interest is very high.
		12. How will I engage in uncovering the data? Careful observation of the students as we participate in activities coupled with journaling and photography will capture the data at the beginning of Tech Club. As club progresses students' own writing and podcasts will also serve to illustrate the participation of students. Student feedback in the form of questionaires or surveys will prove valuable in assessing their interest level and aspirations.

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