THE ABILITY AND CONFIDENCE OF STUDENTS

INVOLVED IN RESEARCH AND INQUIRY IN A PYP UNIT

OF INQUIRYNerine Chalmers

INTRODUCTION

What is the effect of using an information search process on students' ability to formulate research ideas and to conduct inquiry and report?

Will this method improve their confidence in searching for information to support their inquiry, and in using that information?

Why is this important?Research and inquiry are central to the Primary Years Program

Students in our school have difficulty formulating their research ideas, conducting inquiry and reporting

Throughout their lives, students will constantly have to access and use information in a variety of formats. Skill and confidence in this process will benefit them greatly, and should begin at Primary School level.

REVIEW OF LITERATUREHerring (2004) developed the PLUS Information Search Process Model

Students found the structure of using PLUS beneficial, and were able to transfer the skills across subject disciplines. (Herring and Hurst, 2004)

Having support in the form of an information search process is helpful to students, and also that it improves their levels of confidence in their ability to conduct research.

Herring (2009) indicated that formulating meaningful questions led to greater confidence during the research process, and to greater success

Teachers found PLUS beneficial, and also valued the input of the teacher librarian

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Wolf, Brush and Saye (2003) reiterate the support students gain from using an information search process, and the improved confidence levels of the students through its use.

Carol Kuhlthau (2007) indicates that students benefit from a structure or scaffold, but that intervention should be timely addressing a particular need. Kuhlthau also stresses that this intervention can prepare students for, and alleviate, the inevitable anxiety and uncertainty they experience.

REVIEW OF LITERATUREPenny Moore, (2002) shows that using an information search process or model enables students to combine metacognition with all aspects of information literacy

Barbara Combes (2008) shows that students are often very confident when accessing websites, but lack the information literacy skills that a model like PLUS will provide

The importance of research skills and inquiry in the Primary Years Program Making the PYP happen: a curriculum framework for international primary education (2009)

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Rindi and Rindi (2008) reported how they successfully assisted students to develop skills to evaluate resources, and to find information at an accessible reading level, in effect the skills required in the Location and Use stages of the PLUS information search process. As a result of the intervention, the students demonstrated increased confidence and independence in their research.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Carper (2011) carried out a study to ascertain whether using an information search process would have a positive impact on students’ independence in carrying out research, and in their confidence levels. She found that the students responded well to the structured format and that both independence and confidence increased, although she found that there were areas, like that of note-making, which required further emphasis.

METHOD:RESEARCH DESIGN

•two-group, post-test design for performance and• a two-group, pre and post test design for attitude.

METHOD:RESEARCH DESIGN - VARIABLES

•independent variable - taking students systematically through the PLUS information search process, incorporating the eight PYP Research Skills, in order to scaffold their inquiries. •dependent variable - investigating inquiry and reporting skills and self-efficacy in the inquiry process. •attribute variable – the influence of gender in inquiry and reporting skills and self efficacy in the inquiry process.

METHOD:INTERVENTION

•I am the librarian at Qatar Academy Primary School, and I worked collaboratively with the Grade 4 teaching team•Planning meeting for the unit of inquiry with the five Grade 4 teachers, the PYP coordinators and other support teachers•Since each student has his or her own laptop, we planned to use Google docs to support the unit, using the school’s Google Apps account.•Unit planner completed and uploaded to Rubicon Atlas – How we organize ourselves•Grade 4C to be treatment group, Grade 4E control group

METHOD:INTERVENTION

•Confidence scale – looking for and using information. •Google doc – learning activity designed to provide evidence of the students’ prior knowledge and understanding of what organizations are, how and why they are formed, the impact they have, and how they relate to the PYP action cycle.

METHOD:INTERVENTION

P – preparation and planning

•Students introduced to the central idea for the unit - Organizations take action to bring about change •You tube video Star Fish Story - Making a Difference Every Day. •General discussion related to the central idea•dictionary definition of the word organization• students created the framework for a dummy organization within the class

METHOD:INTERVENTION

P – preparation and planning•watched another You tube video – Nickleback’s If everyone cared •discussion on action, leading to a discussion on the action that the students had performed in their own lives

METHOD: INTERVENTIONP – preparation and planning•Roles within an organization – role playing activity using a fish bowl technique, in which the students first saw what would happen if everyone in an organization was trying to fulfill the same role, and then what would happen if the roles were clearly identified.•Provided books and pre-selected websites to give the students an opportunityto familiarize themselves with different organizations, and to build their backgroundknowledge.

METHOD:INTERVENTION•P – preparation and planning, •Students now had sufficient background knowledge to select and develop their own inquiries•Students opted to work in groups•Used PLUS Google doc to guide and scaffold their inquiry•Used Bubbl.us.com to brainstorm and formulate questionsL - location•Identified relevant sourcesU - use•Used Google doc to make notes, keep track of sources and create bibliography•Selected presentation format and worked on their presentation

METHOD:SAMPLE

• Convenience sample composed of Grade 4 students at Qatar Academy. • Teachers of both the treatment group and the control group volunteered to have their classes involved in the study. • Both the control group and the treatment group are mixed gender. Treatment group has 21 students, control group 22.

METHOD:SAMPLE - DEMOGRAPHICS

  Treatment groupControl Group

Total 21 22Boys 14 12Girls 7 10English first language 8 3Urdu speakers 1 1English second language 13 18Arabic first language 12 18Spanish first language 1 0

METHOD:INSTRUMENTATION AND DATA COLLECTION

• Two group pre/post test design for efficacy and a two group post test design for performance • Two group pre/post test design for efficacy - attitude survey entitled Confidence scale - looking for and using information to measure each student’s attitude and their self-efficacy• Reflection sheet with open-ended questions, for a more detailed reflection, and to yield qualitative data• Rubric to assess performance

METHOD:THREATS TO VALIDITY• Subject characteristics – different learning environments in the treatment and control classrooms• Mortality – students absent for the pre and post test• Hawthorne effect – Treatment class had librarian and class room teacher team teaching the entire unit, while The control class had no specialtreatment.

METHOD:THREATS TO VALIDITY

• History – the last unit of the year is recognized as being less focused and less demanding than others• Instrumentation – rubric was designed to cover all stages of the information search process, but for the control group, I onlyhad access to the presentation

RESULTS

Attitude survey:

Unpaired T mean test results for the confidence scale - looking for and using information.The two-tailed P value equals 0.8631, a difference that is considered to be not statistically significant  (t = 0.1736 , df = 35, standard error of difference = 1.718) 

CONFIDENCE SCALE LOOKING FOR AND USING INFORMATION - MEAN

SCORES

CONFIDENCE SCALE - LOOKING FOR AND USING INFORMATION

Change results for attitude survey to measure confidence in looking for and using information

  Group   Control Group    Treatment group Mean -0.63 -0.33

SD 6.15 4.01N 19     18    

Results for the change of attitude regarding the confidence the students showed in approaching their research were not statistically significant. Any change that did take place was purely by chance.

RESULTS – Gender (Confidence scale)

  Group   Change- confidence scale girls     Change - confidence scale boys  

Mean -2.20 0.38

SD 3.83 3.99

N 5     13    

Gender differences in the change in scores for attitude indicating confidence in the research process also proved to be not statistically significant. (t = 1.2428,df = 16, standard error of difference = 2.080) The two-tailed P value equals 0.2318.

Comparative results of gains in confidence scale according to gender in the treatment class

RESULTSPerformance:Results for performance, measured through a rubric administered at the end of the study indicated much stronger performance from the treatment group than from the control group.

RUBRIC TO ASSESS PERFORMANCEMEAN SCORES FOR TREATMENT AND CONTROL GROUP

RESULTS - Performance

Comparative results of performance on the rubric between the two groups in a t test for non-paired samples proved to be extremely statistically significant (t = 8.8952, df = 35, standard error of difference = 0.639.) The two-tailed P value is less than 0.0001.  

Performance of the two groups according to the rubric

  Group  Rubric score - treatment

group    Rubric score - control group  

Mean 12.00 6.32

SD 2.20 1.67

N 18     19    

RESULTS – Gender (Performance)

• Considering the role of gender, and the performance of the girls in the treatment class, by comparison with the boys, as assessed in the rubric, unpaired t test results indicate that the difference is considered to be not statistically significant. (t = 0.7082, df = 16, standard error of difference = 1.173)   The two-tailed P value equals 0.4890.

Comparative results of performance of the two groups according to the rubric

  Group   Rubric score - treatment group     Rubric score - control group  

Mean 12.00 6.32

SD 2.20 1.67

N 18     19    

DISCUSSIONConfidence scale - looking for and using information:•The attitude survey yielded very similar results in the pre- and post- tests for both the control and treatment groups with the mean scores being almost the same in both cases. • Both groups had an inflated view of their information literacy skills when they filled out the pre-test attitude survey.

DISCUSSION - continued

• At the end of the unit their reflections showed that the treatment group had a much clearer understanding of the statements in the survey, so that the post-test responses, although similar to the pre-test responses, were now a much more accurate reflection.

• Some students in the control group retained their positive responses while others realized what the statements entailed, and on reflecting on their unit, responded on the lower end of the scale. The range of responses for the control group was much greater than for the treatment group.

DISCUSSION - continued• The results of the rubric assessment indicated that

the mean score for the control group was 6 while the mean score for the treatment group was 12.

• There was a great disparity in the standard of the presentations for the two groups.

• The scores on the other elements of the rubric were an approximation from the class teacher, as there was no written evidence of the work the students had done.

DISCUSSION - continued

• Gender was not statistically significant in influencing either student performance or attitude in the assessment or in the reflections.

• Both boys and girls in the treatment class were highly motivated throughout the process. They had selected the organization they were studying themselves, were working in a group of peers with similar interests, and found the unit relevant and meaningful

DISCUSSION - continuedIn terms of this intervention, PLUS was effective and within the grasp of the students:•it improved their ability to formulate research ideas and to conduct inquiry and report. •their confidence in searching for information to support their inquiry and in using that information improved.•this was substantiatedby student reflections and interviews with the classroom teachers of both the control group and the treatment group.

ACTION• Qatar Academy - I shall share my action research

findings with the PYP coordinator, the 21st century learning team and the Director of Libraries as at the start of the 2011/12 school year they will be introducing a research skills scope and sequence which focuses on the PYP research skills, and how they can be modeled throughout the school using the PLUS research process. They may find this action research useful to support the introduction of this document.

• I shall share my action research findings with another PYP school in Doha, where the PYP coordinator has expressed interest in using PLUS.

• At my new school I will promote using an information search process in this way.

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map online. Retrieved June 19, 2011, from https://bubbl.us/Carper, J. (2011). The effect of direct instruction in research (using AGOPP) on students' independence and attitude towards research [Action Research - Buffalo State, SUNY].Combes, B. (2008). Techno savvy or just techno oriented? How do the net

generation search for information? Retrieved from proceedings from ASLA online III virtual conference 2008 – Under construction: A world

without walls.Grade 4 how we organise ourselves - Nerine Chalmers on Diigo. (2011, June 8). Diigo - Web highlighter and sticky notes, online bookmarking and annotation, personal learning network. Retrieved June 18, 2011, from http://www.diigo.com/user/nerine/Gr4how_we_organise_ourselves?page_num=0Herring, J. (2006). ALA | Critical investigation of students' and teachers' views of information literacy skills. ALA | Home - American Library Association. Retrieved May 11, 2011, from http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/ aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume9/informationliteracy.cfm

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REFERENCESMaking the PYP happen: a curriculum framework for international primary

education. (2009). Cardiff, Wales: International Baccalaureate Organization.Moore, P (2002) "An analysis of information literacy education worldwide." White paper prepared for UNESCO, the U.S. national commission on libraries and information science, and the national forum on information literacy, for use at the Information Literacy Meeting of

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REFERENCESUnit map 2010-11 Qatar Academy collaboration units of inquiry grade 4. (2011, June 16). Rubicon Atlas. Retrieved June 18, 2011, from http://qataracademy.rubiconatlas.org/c/pi/v.php/Atlas/Browse/UnitMap/View/ Default? Restrict Unit Name= 1&UnitID=9723&YearID=20 11&School ID=2&TimePeriodID=47&SourceSiteID= &CurriculumMapID= 169&mode=browse&Wolf, S., Brush, T., & Saye, J. (2003). The big six information skills as a metacognitive scaffold: A case study. School Library Media Research, Vol 6, Article 3. Retrieved May 6, 2011,

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