The Start of Data Collection: Survey and Conference

Student Survey and Class Conference

To begin my data collection, I had students in each class complete a survey for their warm up and held a student conference on the same day. I wanted to find out if the student responses corresponded with my research on engaging class activities. I also wanted the students to help me develop new activities to use in class that they would enjoy. Following are the questions I asked for both the survey and conference:

• What types of activities do you enjoy doing in class?
• Why do you enjoy them?
• Describe a memorable class where you connected with the material.
• If you were to design a class activity, what would it look like? Would students be in groups or alone?
• What would be your dream activity for government this year?
• What would make it exciting for you? Working with others? Topic? Method?

For the surveys, I did not provide prompts. For the conference, I both took notes and recorded the class discussion.

To review, my research question states: How can I maximize the civic engagement of my 12th-grade government students upon their graduation in time to vote in the 2020 election? In addition, here is a summary of the findings of my research on engaging activities for government classrooms:

· Project-based learning

· Engagement First

· Active learning techniques — Role plays; Political simulations; Debates about political issues; Mock elections; Peer-to-peer discussions

· Choice — student involvement in the curricular decision making process to increase student autonomy

· Open classroom climate — discussion of current events and political issues in a safe environment

After analyzing the surveys and the conference data, I was pleased to find that my research correlated with student ideas:

• Projects, especially group projects
• Debates
• Role plays
• Current events discussions
• Solving real-world conflicts (political simulations)

Furthermore, students made additional valuable suggestions that I will incorporate into future lesson plans:

• Art/drawing projects
• Video projects
• Mock trial on a current issue or event

It has been exciting to start collecting data and confirming my research findings. It is also rewarding to collaborate with students on activities and increase their self-efficacy through the planning of classes. I feel they are becoming more empowered in their learning and focus on government class. Continue to join me on my journey on this Medium blog and also on Twitter, hashtags #setlab, #educationscientist, and #changebydesign.