Introduction and Overview of Research Plan:

At this point in the quarter, patience is thin. It is getting harder and harder to calmly, and civilly reply to students when they ask where an assignment is posted, when something is due, or email me about their projects because ‘they don’t know where to turn it in’– even though we are two months into the quarter, and I have explained the details of the class multiple times. This thinly contained frustration got me wondering if there was a way I could help my students retain information and directions instead of me merely bemoaning the fact that my students don’t listen.

For my pedagogical experiment, I will explore and identify previous research done on how to increase comprehension in terms of direction oriented details. The sources later identified in the proposal serve to support the methods I implement into my syllabus for conveying information to my students. By testing out other previously researched methods  in my classroom, I hope to identify which method aligns best with my preferred classroom environment and teaching style.

The Official Research Question:

Is there a more productive way to give my students information, and can it decrease the amount of times students spend seeking  answers previously given to them when they could have comprehended and retained that information the first time it was given? Furthermore, is there a way I can get my students to utilize the resources that I give them (Canvas or my syllabus) first instead of relying solely on me to tell them the answers. It is not fair for me to critique my students if I am not first willing to critique myself, which is why I seek a better way I can be relying information to my students.

Scholarly Discourse and Sources:

The sources I consulted revolve around the study of student retention and memory through engagement with the class, and aided my decisions in choosing my three planned methods for each section of the quarter. It is important to note that I am utilizing sources that address a variety of disciplines in the classroom. They are not studies all explicitly designed for composition classes. I purposely do this in attempts to bring methods from other disciplines into my composition classroom

Fernald, Peter S. “The Monte Carlo Quiz: Encouraging Punctual Completion and Deep Processing of Assigned Readings.” College Teaching, vol. 52, no. 3, 2004, pp. 95–99. JSTOR.

Simonson, Shawn R. “Modifying the Monte Carlo Quiz to Increase Student Motivation, Participation, and Content Retention.” College Teaching, vol. 65, no. 4, Oct. 2017, pp. 158–63. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/87567555.2017.1304351.

Fernald and Simonson’s papers work in conjunction. Peter Fernald is a professor of psychology who invented the Monte Carlo Quiz (MCQ), and Shawn Simonson created a modification of the MCQ that can be incorporated in other classrooms beyond psychology. A basic breakdown: “the Monte Carlo Quiz (MCQ), a single item quiz, is so named because chance, with the roll of a die, determines (a) whether the quiz is administered; (b) the specific article, chapter, or section of the assigned reading that the quiz covers; and (c) the particular question that makes up the quiz. The MCQ encourages both punctual completion and deep processing of assigned readings and is easy to implement” (Fernald 95). Simonson expands the idea of the MCQ, and incorporates a “Minute Paper” that requires the students in pairs to create the questions for next class session’s  quiz based off the Minute Paper prompts such as “What is the most significant thing you learned today?” and What question is uppermost in your mind at the end of today’s class?” (Simonson 159). I use pieces of the MCQ along with the modifications from Simonson to create my first method of conveying information.

Overstreet, Michael, and Alice Healy. “Item and Order Information in Semantic Memory: Students’ Retention of the ‘CU Fight Song’ Lyrics.” Memory & Cognition, vol. 39, no. 2, Feb. 2011, pp. 251–59. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3758/s13421-010-0018-3.

Overstreet and Healy’s article on semantic memory addresses how we list items affects one’s memory. Essentially, the first and the last items on a list tend to be the ones we remember the most often. I use this source for my second method.

Januário, Nuno, et al. “Student Retention of the Information Transmitted by the Teacher in Physical Education Classes Depending on the Characteristics of the Information Infancia y Aprendizaje, vol. 38, no. 1, Feb. 2015, pp. 212–42. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/02103702.2014.996405.

This article was very useful to me because it explored how physical movement of the teacher influences how information is retained. I move around my classroom quite often, and while this article does not directly affect one of my information methods, I will take into consideration how my physical movement in the classroom affects my students’ retention of the information I give them.

Jacquemin, Stephen J., et al. “Twitter in the Higher Education Classroom: A Student and Faculty Assessment of Use and Perception.” Journal of College Science Teaching, vol. 43, no. 6, 2014, pp. 22–27.

This article addresses social media, particularly Twitter, and it’s potential in the classroom. It is addressed towards graduate and undergraduate level science courses, but the data collected is still valuable to me in my ENG 101 classroom. Faculty, undergraduate and graduate students were surveyed on their options of usefulness of Twitter in the classroom. The results showed that there is room to reevaluate how social media can be used in a positive manner in a college course. I wish to explore how it positively can be used in my third method for giving information.

 

Three Planned Methods for Replaying Information:

Information is defined in this study as  assignments/project due dates, project prompt parameters, and general logistical announcements given either in the beginning or end of the class period.

Method 1: Monte Carlo Quiz Adaption

This will be a modified Monte Carlo Quiz similar to the proposed version by Simonson. Students will create a Minute Paper at the end of each class in pairs. Their prompt will be the same as the questions given in Simonson’s modification with the additional question of “What important assignment, or project is due this week, and what is one important aspect of that project?” Students’ Minute Paper responses will then be used to generate the MCQ questions to be given at the beginning of the next class. I will always pick at least one question concerning class assignments/projects, and select 5 more from the other questions. At the beginning of next class a 6 sided die will be rolled to determine how many other questions (up to five more)  will be asked besides the assignment question. The assignment/project question is meant to bring that information repeated to their attention in a manner that is not me telling them. Likewise, the other questions keep key concepts and discussion in the forefront of the class’ minds. Scores of the tests will be kept, and the highest overall quiz score percentage at the end of this method section will earn an extension credit bonus.

Method 2: List on the Board

During the second portion of the quarter, information will be given via a list of due dates/homework that I will write on the whiteboard on the start of the class.  The list will remain on the board the entire class. I will make of point of highlighting it at the start of the class period. My list will utilize the “bow shaped serial position function” as explained in Overstreet and Healy’s article which states that the first and the last items in a list are most likely to be remembered. The due dates/assignments that are most pressing at that point in the quarter/week will have the first and last position in the list.

Method 3: Social Media Announcement Account

The final information method will be a class social media account (Instagram or Twitter) where I will post homework/project/due date announcements. Like the whiteboard list from the previous method, I will draw attention to it at the beginning of class.

 

Gathering Data/Methodology:

Counting Questions in Comparison

Each method for conveying information will have an allotted time in my syllabus where I give instructions and information solely using the allotted method. The syllabus schedule is split into thirds according to the three methods for conveying information. During that time I will record the number of times students ask the following questions (either verbally in person, or over email):

• When is the homework due?
• Where is “X” assignment posted?
• Where do I post “x” assignment?
• What is the homework?

Now, this is simple because the answer for all of these questions is “It’s on Canvas”, or the answer is on Canvas which I would have explained many times.

I am interested in analyzing  if the number of times this question is asked changes when I alter the method that  I give them this information.

Establishing a Control Group and Anticipating Variables through Surveys  

The data collected during my test  quarter will be compared to the previous quarter which will be treated as the control group where I will not adhere to any strict methodology for conveying information.  I understand there is a difference between students retaining information that I gave them outright, and students learning to utilize their resources through a naturally occurring classroom-maturity  over time (ie: checking Canvas first before asking me, or learning to pay closer attention in class). I define “classroom-maturity” for this research as preparedness for class and college-like settings, NOT social maturity.

This difference, well present, may not be overtly trackable within the data gathered for this experiment. That is to say, I may not be able to tease apart the areas where students retained the information of “The answer you seek, you will find on Canvas” and therefore their questions are answered through that method, or if they are remembering and retaining when I told them the answer the first. As for students maturing over the course of the quarter, I plan to track their self-assessed maturity through a pre, mid and post course survey. The first day of class they will take the survey that will ask them questions directed towards their preparedness for the class and college in general. Again, I recognize and acknowledge the fact that these variables will be difficult to track or account for within the experiment. By administering a survey, I hope to at least give a numerical classification to what I term “the classroom-maturity factor” that can aid in the tracking of data throughout the research process. For survey questions, see Appendix B.

 

Exit Interview with Students

At the end of the quarter I will ask for volunteers to participate in an exit interview that will be given at the same time as their end of quarter conferences. The interviews will focus on students’ reactions to the different types of methods, their personal preferences of methods, and give them space to give individual feedback. This will also allow me to cross reference their interview responses to how they evaluate their school-maturity over the quarter through the surveys. For interview questions, see Appendix C.

Class Schedule and Syllabus

As said before, the quarter will be broken up into three method sections that correlate to the class curriculum units.

Unit 1, Weeks 1-3, Method 1:

• Day 1:
  • Explain Monte Carlo Quiz format and Partner Minute Papers
  • Give Pre-survey on classroom maturity  

Unit 2, Weeks 4-6, Method 2:

• Monday, January 28th
  • Begin Method 2
• Week 5, February 6th
  • Give midterm classroom maturity survey

Unit 3, Weeks 7-10, Method 3:

• Monday, February 18th
  • Begin Method 3
• Monday, March 11th
  • Ask for participants in exit interviews during conferences
• Friday, March 15th
  • Give end of quarter classroom maturity survey

 

Appendix A: Informed Consent Form

Information Methods Exit Interview

You are invited to join a research study about retention of given information and directions. In this study, I am gathering data on how different methods for giving information affect students’ retention of that information. Three different methods for giving information were used in this class throughout the quarter. This interview is meant as a time to give you (the student) time to reflect on each method’s effectiveness..

WHAT IS INVOLVED IN THE STUDY? If you decide to participate, you will be asked to answer a few questions on your personal experience in the class concerning how information was given, and how you retained that information. I estimate  this will take you 10 minutes. All responses to interview questions will be recorded digitally on a Google Doc.

You can stop participating at any time. If you stop you will not lose any benefits for participating.

RISKS: This study involves no foreseen risks, however I concede that there may be other risks that I cannot predict..

CONFIDENTIALITY:  All responses during the interview will be confidential, and all names will be redacted from the records. If I use direct quotes from the interview, all quotes will remain anonymous.

Thank you for participating!

Appendix B: School Maturity Survey

1. On a scale from 1-10 (1 not at all to 10 extremely prepared) how prepared do you feel to be a successful college student?
2. On a scale from 1-10 (1 never to 10 always) how often do you arrive to class with your homework complete (assigned readings included)
3. On a scale from 1-10 (1 never to 10 always) how often do you arrive to class knowing due dates of assignments, homework, and/or projects?
4. On a scale from 1-10 (1 never to 10 always) how often do you arrive to class understanding the class expectations for that day?
5. How often do you forget about daily homework assignments?
   1. Almost every day
   2. At least once a week
   3. Once or twice a month
   4. Almost never
6. When you don’t know what the homework is/when a project is due/where information is, where do you seek out this information?
   1. My personal planner
   2. Asking my instructor
   3. Asking a classmate
   4. Checking Canvas
   5. I don’t seek out the answer
   6. Other

 

Appendix C: Interview Questions

1. How do keep track of due dates and class assignments?
2. Think back on the ways I gave you information throughout  the quarter. Which method stood out to you the most? Which one was the  most striking/weird/different from other classes?
3. What method did you like the best? Which one was the most effective for you? Which one was the least effective? Why do you think that was?
4. Are there any other comments you would like to make concerning how information was given to you in the class/how you retained that information?