An Action Research Exploration Integrating Student Choice and Arts

Activities in a Sixth Grade Classroom

April SwensonJoelle CapitanMohammed AlhabshanElizabeth Kunz

Action Research

Action Research

• The purpose of action research is to solve a problem or obtain information that will help to inform local practice

• Address an immediate problem

• Studies are most often conducted individually and are limited in their generalizability

• Rooted in the interests and needs of practitioners

Types of Action Research

• Practical- intended to address a problem within a classroom school or community

• Teacher Research- intended to help teachers improve pedagogy through reflective practices

• Participatory- intended to help groups empower their lives and bring about change in their school, community or society (often referred to as collaborative research).

Purpose & Prior Research

Purpose

• An action research study was created to explore how integrating the arts into social studies curriculum could increase students participation and motivation and therefore impact student achievement.

Prior Research

• Burstein, Hutton, & Curtis (2006) Students do not always see importance of Social Studies because teacher ’s focus primarily on literacy and math.

• Burton, Horowitz, & Abeles (2000) found significant relationships between rich in-school Arts programs and creative, cognitive, and personal competencies needed for academic success.

• Rabkin & Redmond, as cited in Cornett, (2003) Arts integration goes beyond the basics and test scores. Students become better thinkers, develop higher order skills, and deepen their inclination to learn.

• Haas & Sunal (2005) encourage using a constructivist approach emphasize using artifacts and role play to explore social studies content.

• Purnell and Gray (2004) Integrating the arts allows teachers to reach students needs by addressing multiple learning styles

Research Question & Rationale

Research Question

• Does integrating the arts into a social studies classroom increase student participation?

• Does increased participation and motivation lead to greater academic achievement?

Rationale

• Using a constructivist approach to learning the authors believe that the integration of the arts allows students to play a more active role in their learning, therefore providing students with a more positive learning experience.

Research Method and Context

Research Method & Context

•The research study used practical action research to explore a small population of four sixth grade classrooms taught by one teacher. The school is a part of a district that works in conjunction with a teacher preparation program in West Virginia University.

•The primary author and researcher, a member of the Benedum Collaborative, was an intern conducting student teaching. The secondary author is her University Mentor.

•Benedum Collaborative consists of 28 public schools, five school districts, West Virginia University’s college of Human Resources and Education, and the Eberly College of Arts and Science.

•Student population is 95% white, and about 22% receive free or reduced lunch

•Lessons were designed to integrate the arts and used a variety of teaching methods that incorporated The Theory of Multiple Intelligence. Each class was taught the same lesson.

•The researcher tailored her lesson plans to student’s response to projects and in class activities and examined their grades in a variety of assessments. This type of research is participatory action research because the students were able to dictate projects and the way they were completed by rating previous lessons, which brought about a small change in the classroom.

Methods of Data Collection

Sample:

•The subjects were a convenience sample involving four periods of sixth grade social studies classrooms taught by the primary author of the study.

Instrumentation:

• Researcher used a reflective journal to record observations.

•A rating scale (1-10) was provided to students to rate each lesson.

Procedures:

•The student’s rated 14 art lessons which were compared to 6 traditional lessons.

Data Analysis

• Results show that students liked the “arts” lessons better than the traditional lessons, according to student ratings.

• Student participation was rated higher with the “arts” lesson and in long term projects.

• Comparison between 14 art lessons and 6 traditional lessons provides a weak conclusion.

• Student grade averages were 90.6% before the study, 92.6% during the study, and 89% after the study. These results suggest student grades were higher during the implementation of the action research .

Conclusions

• The researcher (student teacher) enjoyed the project and gained a variety of skills.

• Giving students choice and mobility in classroom activities increased participation and involvement.

• Observational data showed students were more engaged during hands on activities as opposed to the traditional lecture format .

• Researcher believes that students retained more knowledge from arts integrated lessons vs. traditional lecture format.

• Researcher believes student feedback creates a more positive classroom community.

• The researcher recommends integrating “arts” into every classroom regardless of content or grade level.