CHAPTER 3 THE METHODOLOGY 36
3.1 Introduction 36
This chapter explains methodology applied to this study. The method is a qualitative inquiry. It is a study that aims to explore how the English reading projects enhance students’ reading comprehension and collaborative learning in a high school setting. The participants contain 14 students. Two research questions were formulated:
(1) in what ways did project-based learning enhance Grade 11 students’ reading comprehension, and (2) in what ways did it create collaborative learning? My study contains 5 data: pre - post interviews, story re-telling evaluation, teacher teaching logs and student learning logs.
The subsection that follows showcase:
3.2 Study design
This research followed a qualitative design using a case study approach.
A case study approach provided real-life situations and a wealth of details to give contextual knowledge of the experience of the students as they attempted to improve their reading skills. This approach was also appropriate for this research because it used multiple forms of data collection, allowed for the study of a thorough analysis of numerous data, and provided an in-depth understanding of the effectiveness of the project work. Creswell (2007) stated that the case studies were descriptive, particularistic, and heuristic in design because of their focus on people, events, programs that required explicit details in order to understand the phenomenon. As Yin (2009) stated, a worthwhile case study was rigorous because it was useful, contained
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long-term observations of participants, utilized member checks, triangulated data, employed coding checks, was contextually complete, and related all data to the research questions.
3.3 Scope of the study
3.3.1 School background
The setting for the study was a high school in Bangkok, Thailand. There were 1,281 students and 62 teachers. The school had a title I designation for the predominant issue of poverty as 52% of the students were on the free lunch program, and 100 % of students were second language learners.
The school was a medium sized government high school in Thailand. This setting was chosen because it consisted of secondary level students, and it represented a typical high school setting of struggling readers according to site demographics. In 2014 the result of the exams the students performed showed that they had low marks in the reading comprehension section, though 80 % of students passed the reading test. The passing scores were a little higher than the passing criteria or 50%.
3.3.2 Participants
Students were planed into the reading project. The group of students participating in the case study was 14, grade 11 students. According to Yin (2008), the criteria for specific sample size for a case study was irrelevant. The sample consisted of 5 males and 9 females with the ages range from 16-17. Students formed group on their preferable. There were 7 pairs. Their ages ranged from sixteen to seventeen. All participants’ profiles are demonstrated based on each group’s project title. They are The Curse of Superman Group, The Illuminati Group, The Bloody Mary Ritual Group, The Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, The Germantown Mystery, The Jack the Ripper, and The Other Side Group.
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I used pre-interview questions to gain a holistic image of their needs, ways of learning, weaknesses, proficiency, opinions toward their English ability as well as their expectation.
Table 3.1 Participant profiles
Group/Name Gender /age
English Study (in years)
Major Self- proficiency
Strategy Reasons for participation
The Curse of Superman Group
1) Ji
2) Ak
17
16
11
11
Math- English
Math- English
Fair
Fair
Read English signs
Read English books, watch movies, talk to native speakers
Learn how to use a sentence and improve writing and reading
Learn vocabularies and their
pronunciations.
Learn English structure and how to use tenses in English
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Table 3.1 Participant profiles (cont.)
Group/Name Gender /age
English Study (in years)
Major Self- proficiency
Strategy Reasons for participation
The Illuminati Group
1) Rat
2) Tamp
16
16
11
11
Math- English
Math- English
Poor
Good
Learn English new words from dictionary, watch
movies
Play game on line in English version, watch movies
Learn more vocabularies and improve reading comprehension
Learn more difficult
vocabularies and know how to interpret story
The Bloody Mary Ritual Group
1) Than 16 11 Math-
English
Poor watch movies
Enhance reading skills and learn more vocabularies
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Table 3.1 Participant profiles (cont.)
Group/Name Gender /age
English Study (in years)
Major Self- proficiency
Strategy Reasons for participation
2) Ja 17 12 Math-
English
Fair Do nothing Does not expect much. Just learn some vocabularies The Harry
Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Group
1) Karn
2) Sea
16
16
10
10
Math- English
Math- English
Fair
Fair
Listen to English songs and read the lyrics, watch
movies
Watch movies and episodes
Learn more vocabularies, understand the story
Learn to translate, improve reading skill
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Table 3.1 Participant profiles (cont.)
Group/Name Gender /age
English Study (in years)
Major Self- proficiency
Strategy Reasons for participation
The
Germantown Mystery Group
1) Wara
2) Ree
16
17
10
11
Math- English
Math- English
Fair
Fair
Participate in class activities
Watch movies and episodes
Improve reading comprehension
Improve reading comprehension
The Jack the Ripper Group
1) Athi
2) Pat
16
17
10
11
Math- English
Math- English
Fair
Fair
Watch movies
Read from English textbooks
Improve reading skill, learn more vocabularies, know better on reading strategies
Able to understand English stories
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Table 3.1 Participant profiles (cont.)
Group/Name Gender /age
English Study (in years)
Major Self- proficiency
Strategy Reasons for participation
The Other Side Group
1) Wat
2) Gail
16
17
10
11
Math- English
Math- English
Poor
Fair
Look for new words on
dictionarie s,
Participate in class
activities
Talk to tourist and read English newspaper
Learn more vocabularies and idioms. Improve reading
comprehension
Enhance reading skill
Table 3.1 analyzes the data based on students’ enrolment and the first interview. Their personal backgrounds (e.g. ages, English grades, major, and number of years they has studied English) and ambitious were derived from the first evidence whereas reasons why they participated in my study, their self-rated proficiency, and strategies in learning the English language were taken from the pre-interview.
In terms of student backgrounds, all majored in the field of math and English. In this study, students formed their groups on their interests. I asked students
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to form group in pairs because according to Case (2008), there are certain speaking and reading skills that happen much more naturally and more often in pairs than in large groups. Also pair work cut down on embarrassment - the background noise of other pairs speaking to each other can make less much less embarrassed about speaking out. In this respect, Ribe and Vidal (1993) argue students can be ‘put into groups according to common interests, task preference and relationship with others’.
Each of my student group formed their group because they wanted to know how each story ending they picked. Based on the interview responses, a reading-oriented project seemed to enhance strong motivation and significant reason for students to join my reading project. Table 3.1 above reveals that students want to improve their reading comprehension skill and learn more vocabularies.
3.3.3 Instruments
This qualitative design use 5 instruments: pre - post interviews, story re- telling evaluation, teacher teaching logs and student learning logs.
Table 3.2 below illustrates the links envisaged between the research questions and instruments.
Table 3.2 Data instruments
Research Questions Type of instruments
1. In what way do the reading projects enhance Grade 11 student comprehension in this study?
1. Teacher’s journal 2. Pre – post interviews 3. Student learning logs 4. Story-retelling evaluation 2. In what way do reading projects
encourage collaborative learning?
1. Teacher’s journal 2. Pre – post interviews 3. Student learning logs
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Five method of data collection were incorporated in this study is explained as following:
1) Teacher’s journals
I based the ten entry journals on the ten-step process of implementing project-based teaching and learning. The objective of using this method were first, to store what is happening in class for critical refection of my own towards classroom management such as when giving comments and exchanging ideas with my students. Second, a teacher’s journal would allow me to make notes on students’
interactions, attitudes and problems during each class. Last, through my journal, I could always keep track of my own thinking, give space to generate teaching ideas, work out pedagogical problems, reflect on my successes and struggles in the classroom, and put past insights to work in planning future courses (Platt, 2011).
In keeping a journal, I took short notes on interactions and events in the classroom and wrote it up on every stage, putting each entry into five columns: the first column was to record project-based teaching and learning as well as the duration of time. The second column recorded teacher’s action, the third was devoted to participants’ actions, the fourth was for the whole class’ actions and the last column was for observation notes.
Direct observations were conducted in the classroom. Observations included a running of students’ response relating to the research question, as well as observation on the study habits. Observations ensured information was evaluated in context and I, as the observer, remained isolated from the teaching environment to reduce reflectivity which would diminish accurate observation (Yin, 2009).
According to Patton (1990) observation can lead to deeper understanding than interviews alone, because it provides knowledge of the context in which events occur, and may enable the researcher to see things that participants themselves are not aware of, or that they are unwilling to discuss.
2) Pre – Post interviews
Two interviews were conducted with each participant in this study.
Both interviews were conducted individually in my office. The length of time of the
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interview was approximately 15 minutes for each participant. The first interview was conducted during the first week of the study, and the second was done after the story re-telling presentation, at the end of the study.
I applied a semi-structured style of interview because according to Bernard (2006) semi-structured interviews can be prepared ahead of time. It allowed the interviewer to be prepared and appear competent during the interview. It allowed informants the freedom to express their views in their own terms. This type of interview provides reliable, comparable qualitative data.
I developed a series of open-ended questions (with prompts and probes) to reveal the views of my students by adjusting the questions from this study and from previous studies of Sanpatchayapong (2010). There were twelve questions in the first interview and twelve in the second (see Appendix B).
The first interview was designed to explore participants’
backgrounds in project-based learning and to elicit their perceptions of their own reading skills. The second interview was aimed to see whether their views had changed, what students had earned from project work, whether they could apply their English language background to doing project work, and also their perceptions of the value of project-based teaching and learning.
At both interviews, I checked my list for questions completed, and I conducted them in our mother tongue, the Thai language.
3) Students learning logs
I used a learning log as a data collection device for myself as a teacher and as a researcher. This learning log was structured on the line of de Bono in his CoRt thinking program in 1993 and has become a creative thinking strategy for people generally. In my classroom context, students used the PMI code to give their opinion towards learning. ‘P’ or ‘PLUS’ referred to something in the progress of learning that students found beneficial. ‘M’ is what they do not value, and ‘I’ refers to what interests them (De Bono, 1994).
This learning log was used to (1) ascertain students’ different points of view towards each stage, (2) compare with the teacher’s journal to see how they view their teacher’s and their own roles.
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These learning logs were collected for eight weeks: from the first week of the project to the eighth on each step.
4) Story retelling evaluation rubric
The story-retelling evaluation was made in order to capture the participants’ understanding of their stories while they were making the final oral presentations on the last step. This instrument aimed to measure how student comprehend their own reading. Each reading elements were divided into score of 0 to 2 (see Appendix 2).
I used the story re-telling evaluation form in order see how well students comprehended their own stories and sequence stories. The story re-telling forms were used to evaluate students’ reading comprehension on how they comprehend their own passage of the story. Students retold the stories key points in the order they happened.
3.4 Data collection
As a guideline for a teacher to organize the reading project, which is student- centered and driven by the need to create an end-product by using a project-based learning method, I followed these steps:
3.4.1 I studied the learning standards and indicators from The Basic Education Core Curriculum B.E. 2551, A.D. (2008) and followed expected outcome of the learning area of the foreign language for Grade 12 graduates.
3.4.2 Before starting the project, I interviewed students to get information about their background on project work. Then I applied a quasi-scale project using theory suggested by Ribe and Vidal (1993). The project was held for eight weeks (two hours a week) which totals sixteen hours as follows:
The ten steps of project work (Ribe & Vidal, 1993) are described step by step on order to sketch out a clear image of what happening at each step.
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Hours 1-2
STEP 1:
Creating a class atmosphere
Data collection:
Teacher’s journal and learning logs
Hours 3
STEP 2:
Getting the class interested
Data collection:
Teacher’s journal and learning logs
Hours 4
STEP 3:
Selecting the topic
Data collection:
Teacher’s journal and learning logs
Hours 5-6
STEP 4:
Creating a general outline of the project
Data collection:
Teacher’s journal and learning logs
Hours 7-10
STEP 5:
Doing basic research around the topic
Data collection:
Teacher’s journal and learning logs
Hours 11
STEP 6:
Reporting to the class
Data collection:
Teacher’s journal, learning logs
Hours 12
STEP 7:
Processing feedback
Data collection:
Teacher’s journal and learning logs
Hours 13
STEP 8:
Putting it all together
Data collection:
Teacher’s journal, learning logs
Hours 14-15
STEP 9:
Presenting the project
Data collection:
Teacher’s journal, learning logs, story-retelling evaluation forms
Hours 16
STEP 10:
Assessing and evaluating the project
Data collection:
Teacher’s journal, learning logs
Figure 3.1 Plan for implementation of project work Source: Ribe and Vidal, 1993
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The figure, detailed information of each step is explained below:
Step 1: Creating a class atmosphere
At this stage, I tried to create a warm, welcoming and pleasant atmosphere in the class. I instructed the students to get into groups of 4-6 students and told students to cut out a badge in the shape or color they want. Then students wrote 4-5 sentences containing personal information on the badge, e.g.
1) Name or nickname
2) The animal they admire most
3) The sport they enjoy
4) The name of an important person in their lives
5) The book they would take to a desert island
The students walked around for a few minutes and read information on the other students’ badges. The teacher played music during this stage. When the teacher stopped the music, each student asks questions to those around him or her about the information on their badges. This repeated several times. Later students and the teacher reported on what they had learned about the classmates they talked to and thus pooled all their information in the group. This step was aimed to encourage the students and the teachers to find out about other members of the group (See appendix 2).
Step 2: Getting the class interested
The aim of this stage was to elicit from the students the idea that will become the basic of the project. I organized an open discussion session to select the topics the students would like to work on by brainstorming. The teacher negotiated with the students.
This session involved the teacher and students in blackboard use, taking the chair and secretarial skills, turn-taking, note-taking, classifying and record keeping.
I showed the students the themes from four tasked books which are allowed to be used in class by Ministry of Education to be used in their class. The 7 relevant main themes among them were: 1) Person, 2) Travel and Trips, 3) Places, 4)
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Entertainment, 5) Health and Safety, 6) Selling and Buying, and 7) Environment and Science.
Step 3: Selecting the topic
This stage was to agree on a specific topic that interests everyone in class.
Students brainstormed and came up with a certain theme for the students to take further: Entertainment. This theme of the story was about leisure activities; TV programs; sports; movies; festivals; parties; mystery; music; and arts. Students finally negotiated a provision set of themes, sub themes and objectives for the project.
Step 4: Creating a general outline of the project
This stage was to negotiate the project structure, decide which aspects and areas to include, and plan the final product and to form groups and design areas of work to each member. I decided to have students worked in pairs because Skrzyński (2005) stated that working in pairs encourage students to cooperate and learn with one another. Pair work develops students' fluency. The students can use the language freely and express their opinions and thoughts without any restrictions. There were a total of 7 pairs (seven groups of two members).
At this stage, the project and should be organized accordingly. I as a teacher, established the task formally so that it aimed to enhance their reading comprehension.
My students and I started with a process of brainstorming in which a chair and secretary are selected for the duration of the project. Ideas were put forward by the secretary. The chair conducted the discussion, gave turns, and summaries. The students discussed, took notes, negotiated, made decisions, and summarized. In the end, each pair produced a draft proposal for their own area and how to present it to the rest of the class. Then each pair reported to class orally. Once the presentation has been made, each group took suggestions and comments to revise and modify their presentation.
Step 5: Doing basic research about the project
Each group worked on their chosen or allocated sub-theme. At this stage, group members assigned information-collecting and information-processing work to