Methods Overview

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Methods Overview
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Subjects
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Subjects

• Describe all characteristics relevant to your
  study
• Grade or Age
• Race/ethnicity
• Poverty
• LEP
• Ability

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Subjects Data

• Compare treatment groups
• Consider tables and graphs

A B
Gender 9 M, 7 F 8 M, 9 F
LEP 4 5
Low SES 7 9
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Subjects Ability

• Use CRCT data
• Use component scores total
• Use other measures
• Leave blanks until you get your class roster

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Subjects Assignment

• How were students assigned to each class or
  group?
• Consider issues of validity and discuss
  comparability of groups

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Teachers Other Participants

• Describe roles and credentials of teachers
• Veteran biology teacher
• Experienced paraprofessional
• Acknowledge
• Teacher-researcher
• Participant-observer

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Other Participants

• For systemic reform
• Show substantive collaboration
• Team teaching
• Teaching alternate treatments
• Teaching replicate treatments
• Observing, testing, recording
• Substantive consultation

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Intervention
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Treatments
Controlled Variables
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Treatments

• Elaborate on independent variables
• Describe all the characteristics
• relevant to your study
• Same for all treatments
• Different for each treatment

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Factors to Consider

• Resources (text, etc)
• Topic or skill taught
• Time in treatment
• (minutes, days, weeks)
• Grouping arrangement
• Instructional strategies

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Describing the Treatments

• Include management of -
• Time
• Students
• Resources
• Assessment and feedback
• Clearly distinguish between -
• Treatments
• New and old practice

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Final Comment on Treatments

• Treatment must be substantive and worthwhile
• This is Action Research
• Show me the action

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Instruments
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Data Collection Instruments

• Elaborate on dependent variables
• Use same order as RQ definitions
• Same order will be used in Results
• Describe one instrument/paragraph
• Address validity reliability

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Describing Instruments

• Who? - name
• What? format, content
• Where? location or source
• When is it used? With whom?
• How will it be scored, analyzed, interpreted?

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Types of Instruments
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Final Comments on Instruments

• Remember triangulation
• Collect lots of informal data to help you
  interpret results
• Consider disaggregated groups

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Questions?