I was able to launch my first round of research beginning the third week of February with the traditional method approach. Like stated in my last post, I wanted to get the research portion of this study launched quickly because of the potential to derail the project from various uncontrollable forces working against me and the necessity of needing students in person. This first week of research had Presidents' Day working against Cohort A and, sure enough, a snowy virtual learning day working against Cohort B. This post outlines my observations while going through the first round of pre-testing, teaching, and post-testing the traditional vocabulary unit.
I was able to get my total number of turned in permission slips up to the max (37) the week of handing them out. However, that number ended up dropping to 33 after the first round of teaching and testing due to student's being absent on a pre- or post-testing day, which means I need to drop them from official record because they won't have data for part of the study.
Pre-testing
Because of Presidents' Day, students in Cohort A were pre-tested on the Tuesday following the holiday, and Cohort B students were tested Wednesday because of the looming (then confirmed) snowy virtual learning day. All students in my classes took the pre-test, but again, only students with signed consent slips had their information recorded officially for the purpose of this study. Students on my active roster range from 9th to 11th grade, but their reactions to the words were all the same and a little comical. Reactions to the pre-test were across the board:
Some looked at me like I was crazy
Some literally nervous-laughed at the paper because they had no idea what was on it
Some looked at me like the words were in a completely different language they've never heard of before
Some struggled to try to pronounce the words to try to help themselves figure out what they were reading
Some were trying to concentrate on the words so hard, it was as if I could see their brain working in their head and could physically see their neck/shoulder muscles tense
Some had a look of complete terror while mentally calculating how their grade was going to drop from a bad score
Even with all of the discomfort caused, I explained to students why pre-testing is important not only for this specific study, but also why teachers might use it in general. I also explained I would share their results with them after each round of pre- and post-testing because most students are interested in this knowing their information is part of a larger study. Students are usually intrigued by their results and want to beat their pre-test score when they post-test, or even beat their peers, thus creating a competition. I'll even have students who want to beat their score (which is the goal) when they take part in the various waves of CDT testing. But thankfully after many times of reassurance, talking about the purpose of a pre-/post-test system, and confirming that these grades will never go in the official grade book (I even told them they can check at anytime), their shoulder muscles relaxed and papers started coming in.
Teaching
In this study, the "traditional method" is defined as is defined as vocabulary words given as word, part of speech, definition, and example(s). No pictures, no frill, just vocabulary. Looking at their faces while I was talking about the words, students seemed bored. Some of them seemed distracted because they didn't have anything really to hold their attention in terms of something to look at. I didn't give them any other information than what I defined as "traditional" for this unit. Definitions and examples of the unit words were taken from the Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary website. I chose this website for definitions because they are more learner friendly definitions and examples of the words compared to the actual Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. I didn't think it was fair to asses students on definitions they might not even understand to begin with, so using the Learner's Dictionary version of Merriam-Webster's seemed more appropriate. For example:
Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary definition of "supercilious":
"having or showing the proud and unpleasant attitude of people who think that they are better or more important than other people"
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary definition of "supercilious":
"cooly and patronizingly haughty"
The Merriam-Webster's Dictionary definition of supercilious, like many other words used in this study, would just confuse students. I would have to define words within the definition to make the definition understandable, which would just make a confusing definition nightmare for everyone involved.
Post-testing
Both participants and non-participants took place in the post-test as well. In general, students seemed a little calmer because they had see this exact test before. However, there were still some reactions to the post-test worth noting:
Some still looked completely lost
Some looked guilty like they should have studied for something and didn't
Some said the words seemed more familiar this time around, but they still didn't either know what they meant or how to use it in a sentence
Some seemed tense because they knew now that they have heard the words and definitions, but just couldn't put it together
Some of their reactions were on par with what I expected. I had a feeling they would feel lost and unprepared for a post-test based on how the information was taught to them through the traditional method. In glancing over both cohort's post-tests, they really didn't seem much different than their pre-tests. Most scored about the same, a few showed an improvement, and some even performed worse than they did on their pre-test.
In my next post, I will discuss my observations from how the VR teaching method unit went with students, the similarities, and differences. Students keep seeing their headsets in the bookshelf waiting to be used, so I am hopeful they will enjoy finally being able to use the headsets. I continue to look forward to sharing my research through this internship journey. Feel free to contact me through the comments, this site, or email me at mtyson2@ycp.edu.
References
Supercilious. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2021, from https://learnersdictionary. com/
Supercilious. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/