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Methods

Data Collection Tools

The goal of my research was to see what happened when I replaced a traditional numerical
based grading system with a qualitative system focused on reflections in eight Core Growth
Areas. My research question was quite open and I wanted data collection methods to be
able to capture the many ways that my students responded to the system. That being said, I
focused my attention on student motivation for learning, engagement, stress, and self-
esteem. Data collection for my action research included multiple formats spread
throughout the semester. These included self reflections, exit cards and surveys, focus
groups and interviews, and observations.


Personal Growth Tracking Form (Self-Reflections).

The main tool that I used for assessing growth in the eight Core Growth Areas was the
Personal Growth Tracking Form (see appendix C). On average, the students completed the
form once every two weeks. The form first asked students to allocate a given amount of
points to a bar chart containing the eight Core Growth Areas. Since students were limited on
how many points they could assign, they had to think carefully about where their most
significant growth had been. To assist in this process, the students and I co-created a rubric
at the beginning of the semester that defined clearly each of the growth areas. In the next
section of the form, students identified growth areas they had actively been working on and
they provided evidence from their work to support their claims. Finally, the form asked
students to briefly comment on their performance in class in general. A detailed discussion
on how this form was created, criteria defined, and revisions made, can be found in the
findings chapters.

Each Personal Growth Tracking Form went home to parents accompanied by a brief
comment from me. Space was available for them to comment, ask questions, and express
any concerns they may have had. This system allowed open communication between me
and parents. Although parent communication was not a focus of my action research, I was
able to use the parent comments as data to support some of my findings.


Exit cards and survey.

The purpose of exit cards and the survey was to gauge general opinions of the Core Growth
Areas from the entire population that I was studying. At the beginning of the semester I
provided a survey to students to learn about their prior experience with grades, as well as
to understand what motivates them (See appendix A). Exit cards were used throughout the
semester to gain quick intermittent feedback on how students were feeling about the class
and the new assessment system. The exit cards posed such questions as:

How well do you think you are performing in this class?
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Rate your level of motivation in this class.
What do you like about the new assessment system? What changes would you make
to it?

I used exit cards extensively during my research and they allowed me to quickly and
efficiently calibrate myself with my students. The data was extremely helpful with refining
the assessment system and modifying it to fit the students needs.


Focus groups and interviews.

Focus groups with students occurred two times during the semester. Data I collected from
the Personal Growth Tracking Forms, observations, surveys, and exit cards helped inform
the discussion of the focus groups. Questions I had about the data were posed to the focus
group students with the hope that they would provide some clarity and extra detail. Focus
groups turned out to be the most valuable form of data collection during my action
research. The insights that the focus students provided help me greatly with sifting through
the large amounts of data that I was collecting and adding meaning to it. I was also able to
talk to the focus group students about the direction of my research, and they helped me
with determining next steps and changes to the assessment system throughout the
semester. The assistance they provided in analyzing data and refining the system meant
that the focus group students became co-researchers in my study.

In addition to focus groups, I held sporadic interviews with individual students throughout
the semester. These interviews allowed me to quickly collect data on students of interest,
especially my case study students. At the end of the semester I held final interviews with
every student. These end of semester conversations allowed me to negotiate final grades
with each student, as well as to hear the general experience every student had had with the
Core Growth Areas. In addition to collecting data on every student, I found that two
students especially stood out as interesting cases. I interviewed these two students in more
depth than the other students. My experiences with these two case studies can be found in
chapter four of my findings.


Observations

Informal observations happened continuously throughout the semester. If something
struck me from class or a piece off student work stood out to me, I would record it in my
journal. A lot of what I discuss in this report are my own experiences and my own reactions
to using the Core Growth Areas. Although I acknowledge that my own experience is
subjective, I have attempted to be as honest as possible and to share what I saw without
any distortions.



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Data Analysis

When analyzing the data that I collected, I focused in on three areas:

1. The process of creating and implementing the assessment system.
2. How students responded and were affected by the system.
3. Student growth in the Core Growth Areas.

The data collection tools described above were used to gain insight into some or all of these
areas. Below I will describe in more detail how I handled the different forms of data in
order to make discoveries in each area.


1. The process of creating and implementing the assessment system.

The process of creating and defining the Core Growth Areas was recorded mainly through
observations. I took pictures during activities and recorded my thoughts in journals. It was
important for me to record every detail of the process so that it could be clearly
communicated in this report. The students Personal Growth Tracking Forms were kept
throughout the semester and I recorded what I was seeing with respect to depth and
thoughtfulness of reflections. I saved quotes that stood out to me and that represented the
trends I was noticing. When making changes to the Personal Growth Tracking Form, I relied
heavily on the focus groups and individual interviews. I transcribed interviews and
grouped responses into themes which made it much easier to set next steps.


2. How students responded and were affected by the system.

Exit cards and the beginning of semester survey were used extensively when exploring this
area. Free response type questions were grouped into themes that I discovered when
looking at the data. These themes and any quantitative data from exit cards or the survey
were recorded into a spreadsheet. This allowed for easy manipulation and calculation of
the data, as well as the ability to graph the data to visually interpret the distribution of
response types. I also recorded specific quotes of interest into the spreadsheet.

I also learned a lot about how students were reacting to the Core Growth Areas through the
student interviews and focus groups. As I mentioned above, I transcribed all interviews and
I wrote quick notes next to each quote; questions I had, themes I was noting, etc.
Throughout the process, there were many themes that stood out to metoo many to fit
into this reportso my findings focus only on the major trends.


3. Student growth in the Core Growth Areas.*

The Personal Growth Tracking Forms were designed with the purpose of tracking growth
and were therefore the main tool to analyze this area. I analyzed most of this data at the
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end of the semester. I assigned students the task to summarize their growth from the
Personal Growth Tracking Forms in an infographic. These infographics gave me a quick
summary of how each student had grown without me needing to sift through every single
reflection form. Although I looked at data from all students, my findings look primarily at
the growth of the case study students. For those students I used the end of semester
interviews to talk about their personal growth. I recorded quotes that stood out to me in a
journal.

* It is important to note that although my research was about implementing an assessment
system focusing on the eight Core Growth Areas, student growth in those areas was not the
focus of my data analysis. The process of using the system and its effects on student
engagement, motivation, self-esteem, and stress was most important to me and is the focus
of my findings.


Timeline

August
Defined Core Growth Areas with students
Beginning of semester survey
Began weekly reflections with Personal Growth Tracking Form
Exit Cards & observations
September
Focus Group 1
Exit Cards
October
Revised Personal Growth Tracking Form based on focus group and exit card
data
Individual interviews with focus students began
Exit Cards
November
Revised Personal Growth Tracking Form based on observations and exit card
data
Focus Group 2
Exit Cards
December
End of semester interviews
Exit Cards