Action Research

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Action Research my journey

• Palava
• http//palava.wikispaces.com/

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Science revision - what is it in practice?
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What is action research?

• Action Research focuses on the teachers, and how
  they change as a result of undertaking some
  actions in their classroom.
• Such research is inevitably qualitative,
  nevertheless, this research can reveal valuable
  insights into the roles of the teacher, a major
  factor in influencing what the learners
  experience in the classrooms.

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Some of our interests

• Effective use of exercise books
• Revision strategies and intervention
• Modelling
• Cognitive dissonance

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• Action Research can include evidence taken from
  traditional quasi-experimental methods e.g.
  administering tests or questionnaire.
• However, the focus is on the teacher, and so
  there is less reason for gaining learner consent
  since the learners are only providing reasons for
  teacher-change.

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Overview how do pupils revise?

• I wanted to know how pupils were preparing for
  exams
• and what I could do to facilitate their revision
• and improve their exam performance.

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Starting point.

• It was obvious on book return day that the
  majority of pupils had not appeared to have ever
  referred to their textbooks
• It appeared that pupils favoured revision
  guides and did not refer back to their class
  notes.

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So how do you revise?

• Asked KS4 pupils
• Year 11 pupils who had just prepared for Mock
  Examinations (2008 cohort)
• Year 10 pupils who had just sat module
  examination. (2008 cohort)
• Followed up data now they have sat GCSEs, then
  AS exams and this year A2 exams

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Simple questionnaire .
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• The findings

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2008 Cohort 1st year new GCSE specs
Phew they're revising!
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Surprises?

• Significant majority of pupils worked through
  their workbook independently
• More using exercise books than previously thought

How did my practice change?
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What do you use most?
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So what have we done?

• Developed a range of tasks to help pupils when
  using their revision guides
• E.g. Choose a diagram from any page of your
  revision guide and then describe it in words

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Increasing the A-A pass rate through active
learning

• How have I changed my practice?

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Pupils Wanted More

• Games
• Instant feedback
• More mocks

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Follow up questionnaires

• Year 11 (2009)
• Current AS cohort

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Any changes?
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Any changes?
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AGS vs NonAGS
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At A-level now?
End of AS course
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The journey?
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KS3?
More able / less able?
Effective revision?
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Is it making a difference?
A-C A-A
2004 96 66
2009 100 90
Post 16 Option Uptake
Biology Chemistry Physics
2004 26 29 14
2009 44 45 23
2010 46 46 25
pupils choosing subjects