Upcoming Data
Over the next couple of years, I'd like to continue to collect data on how self-directed learning can potentially be integrated further into school curriculum. In its most recent form, the proposed action research (my own self-directed learning) will span 3-4 years and be based on a gradual release model that slowly melds two stances: personalized learning and the PYP.
Phase 1: How does self-directed learning affect student attitudes and dispositions?
Phase 2: How can self-directed learning fulfill the requirements of the Essential Elements of the PYP?
Phase 3: How can self-directed learning replace (part, or all of) a school's Programme of Inquiry (PoI)?
The contents of this website already articulate the generalizations from Phase 1. Over the next year, albeit with a different set of students, I will attempt to collect data both on Phase 1 and Phase 2. The data from Phase 1 will be reduced and cleaned up a bit to make it easier for the students to complete the reflective surveys. However, the majority of the attitudes and dispositions will still be assessed.
The foundation of Phase 2 data will be based on quantitative survey data collected from the Google Form seen below. Each student will be given their own personalized copy of the form to track their inquiries over the course of the year. At this point in the research, self-directed learning will not replace units of inquiry. Rather, students will demonstrate an awareness and application of the five Essential Elements (knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action) through their self-directed, self-determined inquiries. The degree to which the data to be collected might or might not be practical is unknown at the moment. The resultant data could be completely pointless and insignificant, simply offering an overview of what and how students learned. Or, it could potentially point the PYP community to a significant realization: that students can, and conceivably should, be writing their own units of inquiry in self-directed ways--thereby replacing teachers as the self-determiners of personalized PoI's.
After students complete a self-directed inquiry next year (2016-17), they will be asked to complete the following form for two reasons: to reflect upon the knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action they are applied; and, to promote greater balance and exposure to concepts of interest--both known and unknown. The hope is that by creating this personalized tracking system, individual students will seek to achieve greater metacognitive awareness and balance in their inquiries, and therefore become more well-rounded learners.
Phase 1: How does self-directed learning affect student attitudes and dispositions?
Phase 2: How can self-directed learning fulfill the requirements of the Essential Elements of the PYP?
Phase 3: How can self-directed learning replace (part, or all of) a school's Programme of Inquiry (PoI)?
The contents of this website already articulate the generalizations from Phase 1. Over the next year, albeit with a different set of students, I will attempt to collect data both on Phase 1 and Phase 2. The data from Phase 1 will be reduced and cleaned up a bit to make it easier for the students to complete the reflective surveys. However, the majority of the attitudes and dispositions will still be assessed.
The foundation of Phase 2 data will be based on quantitative survey data collected from the Google Form seen below. Each student will be given their own personalized copy of the form to track their inquiries over the course of the year. At this point in the research, self-directed learning will not replace units of inquiry. Rather, students will demonstrate an awareness and application of the five Essential Elements (knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action) through their self-directed, self-determined inquiries. The degree to which the data to be collected might or might not be practical is unknown at the moment. The resultant data could be completely pointless and insignificant, simply offering an overview of what and how students learned. Or, it could potentially point the PYP community to a significant realization: that students can, and conceivably should, be writing their own units of inquiry in self-directed ways--thereby replacing teachers as the self-determiners of personalized PoI's.
After students complete a self-directed inquiry next year (2016-17), they will be asked to complete the following form for two reasons: to reflect upon the knowledge, concepts, skills, attitudes and action they are applied; and, to promote greater balance and exposure to concepts of interest--both known and unknown. The hope is that by creating this personalized tracking system, individual students will seek to achieve greater metacognitive awareness and balance in their inquiries, and therefore become more well-rounded learners.
