College of the Canyons -- Title III
The Institute of Teaching and Learning
Instructional Innovation Classroom Research Proposal

Title:  DSP05R
Number Of Students: 70 students
Level of Stipend:  Level Two

In the space below (attach additional pages if necessary), present a statement of your proposed research project (approximately 500-1000 words), including a description of the scope and nature of your project, the design or the outline to be followed.  Include objectives, activities, timelines, evaluation methodology, and/or benchmarks that will provide progress measures for your project.  

My classroom research project will utilize and evaluate teaching methodology that I first learned to use during Micro Teaching 084, which I completed in the fall of 2003, where I learned how to “Evaluate the instructional effectiveness of the teaching methodology used during lesson presentations and apply appropriate feedback techniques” (see EDU 084 Syllabus).  An additional skill that I will utilize and evaluate that I learned during the Mirco Teaching class is how to “select and implement instructional technology effectively” (EDU 084 Syllabus).  My project will combine these teaching strategies.  

My research project is designed to address an issue of vital importance to all students, but especially those in an accelerated program such as PACE: student comprehension of major assignment instructions.   Students need to know what important assignments are asking of them and how the instructor will evaluate the end result of their efforts.  What I learned in EDU084 (detailed more fully below) is that clear objectives delivered clearly to students leads to greater comprehension, greater satisfaction with their performance, and a higher level of performance overall.  

By making use of the latest and best educational technology I will collect student data pertinent to evaluating and thus improving the effectiveness of the teaching techniques I learned in EDU084 and ultimately enhance my students’ learning opportunities.

I will conduct my research in two different eight week PACE English classes for a period of time of not less than six weeks, which is nearly equal to 80% of the semester.  One class is English 102 and one is English 91.  By contrasting my research in one class to the other, I will be able to make valid judgments regarding the effectiveness of the two teaching methodologies identified above and explained in detail below.

My research will focus on the use of mandatory online surveys to 1) evaluate the clarity of my major assignment directions and the student comprehension of the directions, and 2) evaluate the overall satisfaction and success with the learning experience itself.  

After presenting a major assignment, which I define as something worth as much as or more than 10% of a student’s semester grade—an essay, a midterm, a final, an online activity—I will employ a mandatory online student survey that the completion of will emphasize and explain key aspects of the lesson as it was presented in class and in handouts.  I will utilize this type survey over major assignment in only one class.  Once students from both classes have completed a major assignment and received their grades on it, I will issue another survey (to both classes) which evaluates overall student comprehension of the assignment.  I will also gather data related to the level of overall satisfaction they had in completing the assignment (was the assignment useful, educational, interesting, clearly understood?).

What teaching strategies/learning concepts/pedagogical theories/technology skills did you gain knowledge of through the Institute of Teaching and Learning courses that you will apply to your classroom research?

Micro Teaching 084 helped me discovery the importance of identifying for myself as well as my students what the learning objectives of a particular assignment are and how to improve upon my delivery of those objectives to students.  A major component of this concept involves a “check for understanding” device that reveals whether or not students have learned what was intended.  Examining the results of a “check for understanding” allows one to make improvement to the previous lesson and appropriately modify upcoming lessons to address areas of learning that students have clearly not yet comprehended.  Drawing upon another teaching component I learned in the course was practice selecting and using “instructional technology effectively.”  The check for understanding I plan to use in my research will be an online survey that students will complete.

What do you (as an instructor) hope to learn from your research?

I hope to show that students who more fully comprehend complex lesson instructions, including assessment techniques and criteria, the more satisfied they are with the overall educational experience, regardless of their grade on the project.  My research should prove that the use of a survey to reduce student confusion prior to engaging in the project is a valuable teaching methodology.


Anticipated Research Costs (if any)?  $ ____50________to be used for the purchase of sophisticated survey creation and data analysis software.