Student Voice, Teacher Action Research and Classroom Improvement

171 Pages·2014·4.72 MB·English

by  Lisa M. Bell

Student Voice, Teacher Action Research and
Classroom Improvement
ADVANCES IN LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS RESEARCH
Volume 6
Series Editors
Barry J. Fraser
Curtin University of Technology
Editorial Board
Perry den Brok, Eindoven University of Technology, the Netherlands
Shwu-yong Huang, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
Bruce Johnson, University of Arizona, USA
Celia Johnson, Bradley University, USA
Rosalyn Anstine Templeton, Marshall University, USA
Bruce Waldrip, University of Southern Queensland, Australia
Scope
The historical beginnings of the field of learning environments go back approximately
40 years. A milestone in the development of this field was the establishment in
1984 of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Special Interest
Group (SIG) on Learning Environments, which continues to thrive today as one of
AERA’s most international and successful SIGs. A second milestone in the learning
environments field was the birth in 1998 of Learning Environments Research: An
International Journal (LER), which fills an important and unique niche.
The next logical step in the evolution of the field of learning environments is
the initiation of this book series, Advances in Learning Environments Research, to
complement the work of the AERA SIG and LER. This book series provides a forum
for the publication of book-length manuscripts that enable topics to be covered at a
depth and breadth not permitted within the scope of either a conference paper or a
journal article.
The Advances in Learning Environments Research series is intended to be broad,
covering either authored books or edited volumes, and either original research reports
or reviews of bodies of past research. A diversity of theoretical frameworks and
research methods, including use of multimethods, is encouraged. In addition to school
and university learning environments, the scope of this book series encompasses
lifelong learning environments, information technology learning environments, and
various out-of-school ‘informal’ learning environments (museums, environmental
centres, etc.)
Student Voice, Teacher Action Research and
Classroom Improvement
Lisa M. Bell
University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
and
Jill M. Aldridge
Curtin University, Perth, Australia
A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: 978-94-6209-774-2 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-94-6209-775-9 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-94-6209-776-6 (e-book)
Published by: Sense Publishers,
P.O. Box 21858,
3001 AW Rotterdam,
The Netherlands
https://www.sensepublishers.com/
Printed on acid-free paper
All Rights Reserved © 2014 Sense Publishers
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the
exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and
executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Figures ix

List of Tables xi
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
The Issue of Teacher Quality 2
School and Teacher Effectiveness 4
Teacher Professional Development and Professional Growth 8
Teacher Action Research 13
Teacher Reflection 15
Learning Environments Research 18
History of the Field of Learning Environments 20
Students’ Attitudes and Self-Beliefs 24
Assessing Students’ Attitudes 25
Assessing Students’ Self-Efficacy Beliefs 26
Design and Methods 28
Research Design 29
Sample 30
Phases of Data Collection 36
Instruments Used for Data Collection 38
Assessing Students’ Perceptions of the Learning Environment 38
Assessing Students’ Attitudes and Self-Efficacy Beliefs 41
Qualitative Data Collection 44
Structure of the Book 45
Chapter 2: Students’ Voices: Assessing the Learning
Environment, Students’ Attitudes and Self-Beliefs 47
Assessing the Learning Environment 47
The Relationship Dimension 48
The Assessment Dimension 51
The Delivery Dimension 52
Assessing Students’ Attitudes and Academic Self-Beliefs 55
Attitude to Subject 55
Academic Efficacy 55
Validation of the Instruments 56
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Translation Validity of the COLES and ASBS 56
Criterion-Related Validity 58
Reliability and Validity of the ASBS 67
Chapter Summary 71
Chapter 3: Using Student Perception Data to Guide
Teacher Action Research 73
Overview of the Teacher Development Activity 74
Step One: Assessing the Learning Environment 74
Step Two: Providing Feedback 75
Step Three: Reflection and Discussion 76
Step Four: Intervention 76
Step Five: Re-assessment 78
Pre–Post Changes in Students’ Perceptions of Their
Classroom Learning Environments 81
Pre–Post Changes: Whole Sample 81
Pre–Post Changes: Comparing Reflection-Only and Focus Teachers 83
Using Student Perception Data to Guide Improvements to the Classroom
Learning Environment 85
Teacher Action Research 87
Interpretative Discussion 95
Teacher Action Research Based on Students’
Perceptions as Professional Development 99
Chapter Summary 100
Chapter 4: Student Perception Data, Teacher Action Research and
School Improvement 103
Using Teacher Action Research as Part of Initiatives for
School Improvement 103
Maggie’s Story 106
Monitoring the Success of School-Level Initiatives 110
Chapter Summary 115
Chapter 5: Discussion, Limitations and Future Directions 117
Development, Validity and Reliability of the Coles and the ASBS 118
Pre–Post Changes in Students’ Perceptions of the Learning Environment 119
Using Student Perception Data as the Basis for Teacher Action Research 121
Teacher Action Research Based on Student Perception Data as
Professional Learning 123
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Teacher Action Research and School Improvement 125
Limitations of the Study 127
Contributions of the Study 128
Future Research 130
Concluding Comments 130
Appendix 1 – Constructivist-Oriented Learning
Environment Survey (COLES) 133
Appendix 2 – Attitudes and Self-Belief Survey (ASBS) 139
Appendix 3 – Teacher Evaluation Form 141
Appendix 4 – Guide to Using the Data as Part of Action Research 143
Appendix 5 – Teacher Planning Sheet (Example) 145
Appendix 6 – Written Report Template 147
References 149
vii

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Overview of the research program showing areas
of interrelatedness. 31
Figure 2. The different ‘grain sizes’ used in the research program. 32
Figure 3. Phases of data collection undertaken each year of
the three-year period. 39
Figure 4. Side-by-side response format for actual and preferred
responses used in the COLES. 41
Figure 5. Illustration of the response format for items in the ASBS. 42
Figure 6. Example of a circular profile and column graph used
in the teacher feedback package for the pre-test. 75
Figure 7. Example of the box plots used in the teacher feedback
package for the pre-test. 76
Figure 8. Example of the data for one scale for the learning
environment in the teacher feedback package for the pre-test. 77
Figure 9. The model for action research adapted from Kemmis
(Carr & Kemmis, 1983). 78
Figure 10. Example of the circular profile and column graphs
used in the teacher feedback package for the post-test. 79
Figure 11. Example of the box plots used in the teacher feedback
package for the post-test. 79
Figure 12. Example of the teacher feedback for one scale of the
learning environment instrument for the post-test. 80
Figure 13. Actual and preferred scores for students’ perceptions
of the learning environment for Anne’s class for the post-test. 89
Figure 14. Mean actual and preferred scores for students’ perceptions
of the learning environment for Michael’s class for the post-test. 91
Figure 15. Mean actual and preferred scores for students’ perceptions
of the learning environment for Peta’s class for the post-test. 95
Figure 16. Mean actual and preferred scores for students’ perceptions
of the learning environment for Maggie’s class for the post-test. 109
ix