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Action Research Project Part B

Connor Lewis

Walden University

Dr. Samson Lyman

EDUC 6733 Action Research for Educators

November 15, 2020

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Action Research Project Part B

Students' academic performance on the Photoshop posttest has encouraged me to

collaborate with my PLC group and evaluate research that can provide insight into the potential

impact of student choice can have on learning within my classroom. The goal is to take the

research that exists and create a research question that will be tested in my instructional practice

using a specific research method. Conducting an action research project will enable me to see the

effect traditional research has when applied in the context of my classroom. It is also important

that moving forward, action research and collaboration become a frequent practice in my PLC

because of the positive effect it has had so far.

Giving students choice can lead to increased levels of engagement. According to

Lindeman (2018), giving students choice in the classroom can help create an authentic learning

experience that adds excitement and increases engagement. Gates (2016) claims enabling

students to choose what they create allows students to be more engaged and take their work more

seriously. It appears that giving students responsibility in the classroom regarding their learning

can be an effective way to increase their engagement towards the material. A study by Haleem

and Wahl-Alexander (2018) claims that student engagement increased when students were given

a choice and credit this to students having control in the learning activity to connect to their

interests. Giving students a choice provides educators with the ability to reach more students

since they differ in learning styles, interests, and other areas.

Another trend that is found when teachers give students a choice is an increase in

academic performance. According to Lee et al. (2015), students who are given a choice in their

online courses often demonstrate higher academic performance because students have autonomy

in what they learned. Also supporting the potential impact of student choice can have is Marshik
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et al. (2017), who claim that teachers who give students more autonomy had higher reading

achievement scores. According to Hudson (2018), students' ability to choose can encourage them

to be more motivated in what they learn and improve academic results. The studies suggest that

giving students autonomy can benefit students' academic performance by increasing students'

motivation towards the material.

Despite the various positive elements student choice can provide, research shows that

there are some potential challenges educators can face. According to Lindeman (2018), students

can lack the time management skills needed to handle student choice activities. Lindeman (2018)

also claims that students can become overwhelmed from autonomy and be afraid to fail;

however, they can overcome this with positive guidance and support from educators. Gates

(2016) claims that giving students a choice does not automatically create positive outcomes for

students, but it can help motivate more students. It appears that while student choice can be

beneficial, there are challenges that educators must face if they choose to implement choice in

their classrooms.

The various studies on student choice have encouraged me to conduct an action research

project that looks to see the impact of giving student choice on students' academic performance

in Photoshop. I have learned that student choice can support increased student engagement levels

because students have a choice in what they learn, which can result in more students being

engaged in the material (Lindeman, 2018; Marshik et al., 2017). I have also learned that student

choice can benefit academic achievement because students' motivation levels increase when they

choose what they do, which can lead to improved academic performance (Lee et al., 2015).

Identifying the relationships between various research studies has helped validate my interest in

implementing student choice in my classroom for an action research project. Using the various
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research of others has helped me form my own research question, which aims to determine what

degree might giving students a choice in what they create for an electronic portfolio over three

weeks affect students' Photoshop posttest scores?

The action research project I plan to conduct will use a quasiexperimental design method.

According to Mertler (2020) quasiexperimental design use pretests to create similar groups to

which data can be compared and variables controlled. My research will consist of taking a group

of students from my current semester course and comparing pretest data from a previous

semester (See Appendix C). Both groups have similar scores, which will help prevent the data

from being scewed. The purpose of the study is to determine the effect that student choice has on

students Photoshop posttest scores. The current semesters class will be given the ability to

choose the pictures they use for the various assignments completed in class. The previous

semester class did not have this opportunity when they moved through the curriculum. Giving

students a choice in what images they use will act as the independent variable for this research

method. After students have completed the same course assignemnts as the control group, I will

have students from the current semester take the posttest and compare students' scores between

the previous semester and the current semester. The independent variable of giving students a

choice in what image they use for each project will help evaluate the effect student choice has on

academic performance for the Photoshop posttest.

The goal I hope to accomplish by the end of the action research project is to inspire my

fellow PLC members to collaborate more. Working with my PLC so far has allowed me to see

the potential impact going over data with a group can provide. Working with my PLC has

enabled me to gain insight into information that I might not have gathered from the data alone.

According to Mandinach and Gummer (2016), going over data as a team can enable educators to
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discuss issues and problems that they can work to create solutions. Working as a group in the

early stages of the action research project has enabled our group to see the potential impact

collaboration can have. Moving forward, I believe action research will become a reoccurring

trend in our PLC and hope that it can provide more opportunities for our group to collaborate.

References
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Gates, L. (2016). Rethinking art education practice one choice at a time. Art Education, 69(2),

14-19.

Haleem, I., & Wahl-Alexander, Z. (2018). The Autonomous Curriculum: How Student Choice in

Physical Education Contributes to Engagement, Enjoyment and Learning. ASAHPERD,

28.

Hudson, A. M. (2018). The Response Of Middle School Special Education Students To

Differentiation Of Reading Instruction Based On Student Choice And Interest In The

Seventh Grade Academic Enrichment Classroom.

Illinois State Board of Education. (n.d.) McLean County USD5. Illinois Report Card.

https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/District.aspx?districtid=17064005026

Lee, E., Pate, J. A., & Cozart, D. (2015). Autonomy support for online

students. TechTrends, 59(4), 54-61.

Lindeman, K. (2018). Assessing the Benefits and Risks of Choice-Based Art Education in the

Modern-Day Classroom.

Mandinach, E. B., & Gummer, E. S. (2016). Data literacy for educators:  Making it count in

teacher preparation and practice. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Marshik, T., Ashton, P. T., & Algina, J. (2017). Teachers' and students' needs for autonomy,

competence, and relatedness as predictors of students' achievement. Social Psychology of

Education, 20(1), 39-67.

Mathison, C. J. (2019). Choice-Based Learning in the Art Room.

Mertler, C. A. (2020). Action research: Improving schools and empowering educators (6th ed.).

Sage.

Appendix A
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Chiddix Junior High School Photoshop Post Test Table

Appendix B

Unit 5 Photoshop Post Test Chart

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Appendix C

Photoshop Pretest Comparision

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