Action Research Proposal – Introduction and Literature Review

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Last week you evaluated scholarly, peer-reviewed research to inform your own action research proposal. As we discussed last week, knowing what has been successful or unsuccessful in addressing the same or similar issues in early childhood education should inform how you approach your area of focus in designing your intervention and instruments.

The purpose of this week’s assignment is to synthesize the information you have on your topic to make informed decisions for your own intervention and instruments. This week, as noted in the content expectations below, you will generate the first two sections of your

Action Research Proposal (Links to an external site.)

Introduction and the Literature Review. You have already begun your work on your introduction in Week One and have begun your work in exploring the literature in Week Two. Informed by your Week One and Week Two assignments and instructor feedback/suggestions, you will revise and refine the content to generate your Introduction and Literature Review sections for your Action Research Proposal. Be sure to make any revisions suggested in Week One or Week Two by your instructor.

Next, you will work on your literature review section. The purpose of the literature review is to help you synthesize the information you gathered in Week Two to determine what types of strategies and interventions are currently being used by others who are interested in a similar area of focus and to make an informed decision about your own proposed intervention in your Action Research Proposal. Afterwards, you will state your own position about the intervention you will use in your own study and how the research informed your decision. Please be sure to carefully review the Instructor Guidance, the course Anchor Paper, and course readings for this week to inform the development of this assignment.

*Reminder to Students: Remember to save all copies of your work throughout the course as you will use each assignment as part of the Final Action Research Proposal. For many of the discussions and assignments, you are building on your work each week, so it is appropriate to use content from your discussions in your weekly assignments, generally expanding and extending concepts and sections as you progress from week to week. You will have the opportunity to make revisions to each section of your proposal based on instructor and peer feedback prior to your final version in the Final Action Research Proposal, so be sure to revisit the feedback you have received from your instructor and classmates each week to continuously refine your proposal throughout the course.

• Content Expectations
  The following content areas are required in this assignment.
  Introduction

  Context for the Proposed Study: In one paragraph, describe your current professional role and setting. If you are not working in early childhood education at this time, you can use a previous or future role that aligns with your career goals and interests.
  Purpose and Educational Significance: In one to two paragraphs, explain the purpose of your study and the student outcomes you want to influence. Further, discuss the literature or research that indicates why this is an important area to address in education.
  Explanation of Problem: In two paragraphs, explain a statement of the problem or situation that led to this interest or why you want to pursue this topic.
  Population: In one paragraph, describe the target population (age/grade, quantity of participants, students or adults). Explain why you have chosen this population for the study, including details about why this population is appropriate for this study.
  One Research Question: Develop one research question that aligns with your area of focus and clearly addresses what you hope to answer and influence in this proposed study. The question needs to be answerable and it must appropriately represent the population/participants you identified. Be sure to review the readings related to developing good research questions to inform the development of your questions.
  Locus of Control: In one paragraph, evaluate whether your idea is within your locus of control. If you are using a past experience or contrived topic because you are not currently working in ECE, please explain locus of control as related to your previous position or anticipated future position.

• Literature Review

  Research Summary 1: Choose one of the articles from your Literature Evaluation to explain the intervention, strategies, procedures, and instruments used in the chosen study that have been found to be productive in investigating your topic and area of focus. Explain how this research informs your area of focus.
  Research Summary 2: Choose one of the articles from your Literature Evaluation to explain the intervention, strategies, procedures, and instruments used in the chosen study that have been found to be productive in investigating your topic and area of focus. Explain how this research informs your area of focus.
  Application of Findings and Author’s Position: Based on your review of the literature, determine the intervention that you will use to address your area of focus to influence the situation you want to improve. Discuss why you feel this is the best approach for your particular action research study and why you believe it meets the needs you have outlined in your introduction. Explain any changes you will make to the intervention you identify from the literature,  based on your own classroom, school, center, or organizational needs.

• Research and Resource Expectations

  A minimum of four scholarly, peer-reviewed sources, in addition to the course textbook. Sources from your Literature Evaluation may be used.

• Writing and Formatting Expectations

  Title Page: Must include a separate title page with the following:

  Title of paper
  Student’s name
  Course name and number
  Instructor’s name
  Date submitted

  Academic Voice: Academic Voice is used (avoids casual language, limited use of “I” or first person, it is declarative).
  Purpose and Organization: Demonstrates logical progression of ideas.
  Syntax and Mechanics: Writing displays meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  APA Formatting: Papers are formatted properly and all sources are cited and referenced in APA style as outlined 

• Suggested Assignment Length

  This assignment should be approximately four double-spaced pages in length (not including title and reference pages).

2

Research Summary 1

Intervention:

Here you are going to give a broad summary of the entire article, using the author’s last names along with the (publication year). You can use a direct quote if you feel it necessary.

Strategies:

In this section, list all of the strategies used within the article #1.

Procedures:

In this section, list the procedure that was used to implement the study. Proving specific examples is helpful.

Instruments

What instruments were used in the study? How were they used and whom did they get used on to collect data?

Article information:

This article informs my action research proposal… here is where you need to connect your findings (article #1) to your problem to create a solution.

Research Summary 2:

Intervention:

Here you are going to give a broad summary of the entire article #2, using the author’s last names along with the (publication year). You can use a direct quote if you feel it necessary.

Procedure:

In this section, list the procedure that was used to implement the study from article #2. Proving specific examples is helpful.

Instruments:

What instruments were used in the study, from article #2? How were they used and whom did they get used on to collect data?

Article Information:

This article informs my action research proposal… here is where you need to connect your findings (article #2) to your problem to create a solution.

Application of Findings and Author’s Position:

This is where you need to use the solutions that you have found from both of the articles that you have researched. Then use those ideas to design a solution to your problem. Be sure to mention both articles to provided credit to your sources.

References

American Federation of Teachers. (n.d.). Building Parent-Teacher Relationships. In Reading

Rockets. Retrieved from https://www.readingrockets.org/article/building-parent-teacher-relationships

Dismuke, F., Parks, N., &Jablon, J. (2017, April). Deepening Families’ Understanding of

Children’s Learning in Centers. In NAEYC. Retrieved from https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/tyc/apr2017/deepening-families-understanding

Kocyigit, S. (2015). Family Involvement in Preschool Education: Rationale, Problems and

Solutions for the Participants. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 15(1), 141–157. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.proxylibrary.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1057469&site=eds-live&scope=site

Mariconda, B. (2003). Five Keys to Successful Parent-Teacher Communication. In Scholastic.

Retrieved from https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/five-keys-successful-parent-teacher-communication

Mills, G. E. (2014). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (5th ed.). Boston, MA:

Pearson Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu

Ozmen, F., Akuzum, C., Zincirli, M., &Selcuk, G. (2016). The Communication Barriers

between Teachers and Parents in Primary Schools. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, (66), 27–46. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-

library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1149130&site=eds-l

live&scope=site

Tran, Y. (2014). Addressing Reciprocity between Families and Schools: Why These Bridges Are

Instrumental for Students’ Academic Success. Improving Schools, 17(1), 18–29. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.proxylibrary.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1020017&site=eds-live&scope=site

Running head: Introduction and Literature Review 1

Introduction and Literature Review 8

The Motivation of Students Towards Science Learning

Annette Williams

ECE660: Action Research and Inquiry in Education

Instructor Dr. Krummick

January 27, 2020

INTRODUCTION

The future professional role would be an early childhood educator to teach both Science and English. This would educate students through lectures and hand-on learning with adherence to the curriculum. The setting would be the classroom whereby it would ensure that there is a happy environment for all students. It would be good to act as a role model and a mentor by encouraging students to learn and ensuring that they do not face challenges such as depression or discrimination which would inhibit their learning. This would ensure that interacting with students more often and learn about their families. Maintaining good relationships with their families and having frequent communication would be a good way to understand any challenges the students could be facing. The current experience is helping kindergarten students learn social studies while the previous experience in helping students complete their homework. Comment by Juliet Krummick: What goal do you want for yourself in the future?

The purpose of the study is to find various ways in which students could be motivated during the learning of science. The student outcomes that need influence are their knowledge and skills in science and their attitude towards learning the subject. This is because assessments have shown that some students lack sufficient knowledge in science. Students are expected to obtain a positive attitude toward science learning. The performance of students in science is also an area of interest to be influenced because it also determines whether or not the students are engaged in learning. They should achieve good grades to show that they understand the topics at hand. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Can we move this sentence after the next one? Then you will have like ideas together, about assessments and performance.

The fact that many students lose interest in learning science as they progress to higher levels means that they are not engaged enough during the initial years of science learning specifically in first grade. Decreased motivation leads to lower grades in science (Uhm et al, 2018). Teachers do not put much emphasis on the teaching of science because they dedicate most of their time to reading within the researcher’s school. Students, therefore, lose interest in learning science because they are not fully engaged in learning by their teachers. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Shows? We don’t know the correlation for sure.

Teachers should ensure that they motivate students to learn. The provision of autonomy support to students enhances their motivation in learning. Student-teacher relationships are important in optimizing student motivation. “Educators and parents value motivation in school for its own sake as well as for its long-term contribution to child’s learnings and esteem” (Skinner et al, 2013). Motivated students show interest in learning, are enthusiastic, curious, involved and are likely to cope with setbacks and challenges. These students can stay in school for longer and learn more, therefore, they are more likely to perform well than the unmotivated students. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Page number needed here following the year in this citation.

The target population is first-grade students because it is where science learning begins. Students who are motivated to learn science in their first grade will gain interest in the subject even as they progress to higher levels of learning. If students are not motivated to learn science in their first grade, they are likely to drop it later since they may find the subject boring. Comment by Juliet Krummick: The population is the people involved with your study. There are no explanation as to why they are used, this is not needed. Only explain your students in great detail. How many are there, what are the ages, boy/girl, demographics, anything and everything you can do to explain what and who your population is. You, the teacher, would allow be a participant. You need to be explained as well, education, experience, anything that would help your reader better understand who is involved in this study.

Research Question
What are some of the ways to increase the motivation of first graders towards learning in early elementary in the area of science?
The idea is within the locus of control since early childhood educators can fully engage the first-grade students to learn science. The locus of control is the degree to which teachers feel that they have control over their students and the classroom. Early childhood educators must ensure that students’ motivation level in the specific subjects they are learning is increased. Comment by Juliet Krummick: This is not correct information. You need to discuss these ideas… You have control over the size of the population. You have control over the amount of information that you provide to families. You have the right to not use information that you find. You have control over how many strategies are used at once, you have control over how the information is documented

LITERATURE REVIEW

Intervention

According to Gerstner (2017), there is a correlation between the intrinsic motivation of students and their academic performance in science. This conclusion was made after elementary students in grades 4-6 were involved in the study. The strategies used were conducting self-report surveys and interviews. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Do you mean instruments? Strategies are what was used to improve the learning or collecting. For example, the strategy of presenting science awards for high science scores on tests was used to improve intrinsic motivation.

Instruments

Instruments such as student report cards, face-to-face teacher interviews, and the self-report survey would be productive in investigating the area of focus. The student report cards would be used to examine the performance of students in science (Gerstner, 2017). The self-report survey would be useful in measuring the students’ level of motivation. The specific instrument to be used would be the Children’s Academic Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (CAIMI). Students would be given consent forms to be answered by their parents. These would be used to obtain permission for participation in the study.

Procedures

The CAIMI would be given out to first-grade students to understand their motivation level towards studies. Before giving out the CAIMI to the students, it would be necessary to inform them that it is not a test, but a way of determining the connection between motivation and performance. The students would have to be informed that they can give various answers since there would not be a specific correct answer to the study questions. However, they would be required to answer them honestly.

Face-to-face teacher interviews would have several interview questions to be answered by the teachers about motivation. The questions would be open-ended to allow interviewees to answer them freely and give more explanation. Teachers would be asked to explain what motivation means to them, the challenges in motivating students and the attributes of motivated students. Comment by Juliet Krummick: This paragraph has more information about the instruments. I would move it up to the instrument section.

Comment by Juliet Krummick: The area you should add is strategies. List what strategies were used to complete the learning or the assessments in this article that you read.

Article information

The study influences the area of focus in this research since it suggests several ways of increasing the level of motivation to learn science such as creating a classroom environment that is conducive to learning, having a variety of reward systems in place, giving students a choice and having a growth mindset. The teachers interviewed acknowledge setting goals as a great way of ensuring that students are motivated to study. “When a student sets a goal, it is something they want to do. The student has bought into the goal at their level” (Gerstner, 2017). Elementary students would also benefit from setting goals.

Research Summary 2

Intervention

According to Cetin-Dindar (2016), “science educators should emphasize more on the connectedness of science at school to real-life for motivating students to learn science”. The study was conducted to examine the relationship between students’ motivation towards science learning and the constructivist learning environment. The study would also investigate the effect of students’ self-efficacy on their motivation level. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Where does this quote end? I’m assuming it is the entire paragraph? This would be considered a long quotation and will look differently. Check this out:https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_the_basics.html Comment by Juliet Krummick: Great place for a direct quote. Be sure to include a page number or paragraph number within a citation following the quotation marks to provide reference as to where this quote was found. Comment by Juliet Krummick: investigated Comment by Juliet Krummick: You will need to include a page number or paragraph number within parenthesis at the end of the quote.

The strategies used in the research we’re conducting a constructivist learning environment survey and administering a science motivation questionnaire. The dimensions of the survey included shared control, student negotiation, critical voice, and personal relevance. The procedure was to administer the questionnaire and the survey. 243 elementary school students were to give answers based on a scale in the survey. “Three different grade level students participated in the study (Table 1); the number of sixth graders was 115 (47.3%), seventh graders were 57 (23.5%), and eighth graders were 71 (29.2%)” (Cetin-Dindar, 2016). Students would answer questions such as whether or not they learn about the world outside their schools during science lessons. Comment by Juliet Krummick: You need to explain here that 3 science teachers teaching the same curriculum to the group of students was the basis for this study. The idea was to determine if there was a connection between applying science to everyday life and motivation towards science was connected. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Yes, the article does state that this study included elementary school students; however, they are in grades 6-8, which is middle school aged here. I would definitely mention the grade levels and that this study was conducted in a Turkish school. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Does this matter to your description? I don’t feel that this is helpful. The particular questions about everyday science application, on page 5 or 237 (of the journal) would be perfect here to support that out of class science connection. Comment by Juliet Krummick: add a page number or paragraph number following the year within the citation for this direct quote.

Instruments such asscience motivation questionnaires and a constructivist learning environment survey would be productive in the investigation of the area of focus. The science motivation questionnaire would be useful in determining the level of motivation of students towards science learning while the constructivist learning environment survey would be used to determine whether students would be motivated to learn science in a constructivist learning environment (Cetin-Dindar, 2016).

This research informs the area of focus in that it recommends a method of improving motivation of students towards science learning which would be emphasizing the connectedness of science to real-life issues. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Let’s start a new paragraph here. What else can you tell us about each instrument and the results that were collected?

The intervention that will be used in the area of focus is emphasizing the connectedness of science and real-life issues to increase the motivation of students. When students connect science to real-life issues, they find it easy to learn the subject. Students will feel more engaged if their real-life issues are connected to science learning. The change that will be made is allowing students to have discussions and debates to ensure that they can connect their real-life issues to science learning.

Findings… Comment by Juliet Krummick: Here you need a paragraph about the two articles and how they were similar or different, be sure to cite both here.

Application Comment by Juliet Krummick: Here you want to identify what you learned and how it will influence your ideas for your own study. This is extremely important since it will set the stage for your study.

Comment by Juliet Krummick: Added a page break so that your reference page will also be on the next clean page.

REFERENCES

Cetin-Dindar, A. (2016). Student Motivation in Constructivist Learning Environment. Eurasia

Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 12(2).

Gerstner, G. M. (2017). Motivation: The Value of Developing Intrinsic Motivation in Elementary School Students in Grades Four Through Six (Doctoral dissertation, Concordia University Irvine).

Skinner, E. A., & Belmont, M. J. (2013). Motivation in the classroom: Reciprocal effects of Comment by Juliet Krummick: The top line is left justified and then all other lines are tabbed in. You have center justification instead. I fixed this one and the top one for you. You try to fix the other two.
teacher behavior and student engagement across the school year. Journal of educational psychology, 85(4), 571.

Uhm, J., & Bae, J. (2018). The Effects of Utilizing Discussions and Debates in Science Laboratory Classes on Science Learning Motivation, Science Process Skills, and Science Academic Achievement. Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education, 37(2), 110-125.