Results
While it can often be difficult to measure the success of any project trying to increase student engagement, I feel like I noticed changes within my classroom immediately after I implemented the interactive notebooks. Students seemed excited to create them but also surprised at the total shift from what they were used to in their past Social Studies classrooms. Increasing student engagement through inquiry based learning has been a daunting task in many ways that led to constant changes in instruction, researching vital primary sources, and developing document based questions. Teaching historical thinking isn't easy but the evidence that I have gathered has helped convince me that it is improve student engagement in my classroom.
Evidence
Student Voice Survey

Determining a way to measure student engagement is extremely difficult and is often done through teacher observations and student surveys. A piece of evidence I used was the results of the Student Voice Survey given by the Kentucky Department of Education to students on an annual basis to determine student views on their teachers. The survey has 25 questions divided into various domains: support, transparency, understand, discipline, engagement, nurturing, and trust. Since my goal was to improve student engagement I focused on questions 16-18. I compared my results from the past 2 years teaching 8th grade to this school year. In the 2014-2015 school year, I solely taught from the textbook provided and my Student Voice survey results for engagement were at an embarrassing 46%. In the 2015-2016 school year, I began to use more primary sources but predominantly relied on the textbook. My results from that school year in the area of engagement were 59%. An increase but not much difference. This past school year, 2016-2017, with full implementation of the interactive notebooks, more primary sources and no textbook resulted in a result of 81% student engagement. Beyond being excited about these results, it further proves that the implementation of the interactive notebook and tossing out the textbook has greatly improved student engagement in my class. In short, it works!
Student Perception Survey

I wanted to seek further evidence that the changes I was implementing in my classroom were truly beneficial to my students so I sought out research on Student Perception Surveys. The most prominent and effective survey I found was the Tripod Project survey, which was designed and developed by Harvard researcher, Ron Ferguson, and supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Tripod survey was originally administered to over 300,000 students across the world and deemed to be a reliable measure of teacher effectiveness. It is centered on seven basic constructs called the "Seven C's" are designed to measure teaching practices in seven areas: caring, controlling, consolidating, captivating, clarifying, conferring, and challenging. All of these factors would help me to determine the effectiveness of my classroom practices to determine student perceptions of the class and student engagement. The results of this survey were over 85% of students felt they were interested in the lessons, were learning something everyday and enjoyed the activities we did in class. This is further evidence that students like inquiry based learning because it allows them creativity and helps them develop critical thinking skills.
Student Responses |
While these surveys were revealing I wanted genuine responses from students on the changes made to our classroom this year so I asked 3 simple questions:
1. What are your feelings about not using a History textbook for class this school year?
2. What are your feelings about the interactive notebook we used for class this school year?
3. What improvements do you suggest for next year's classes.
1. What are your feelings about not using a History textbook for class this school year?
2. What are your feelings about the interactive notebook we used for class this school year?
3. What improvements do you suggest for next year's classes.
Overall all of my students liked not using the history textbook this year and most students said they really enjoyed using the interactive notebooks for a variety of reasons. Students felt the notebooks kept them better organized and allowed for them to develop critical thinking skills through practicing reading primary sources throughout the year.
Next CTEPS
My next CTEPS (Classroom Teachers Enacting Positive Solutions) move will be to share these experiences and findings with colleagues in hopes of enlightening them to the needs of 21st century students. I plan to do this by leading a professional development for my Social Studies department at the beginning of the next school year to show them the benefits of implementing interactive notebooks as well as the importance of inquiry based learning in the classroom. I wish to share my journey this school year and encourage other teachers to try to "Think Outside the Book."
Currently, the only measurement we have available to measure student engagement is through the Student Voice Survey. I would like to have our school use the Tripod Surveys as a tool to better improve teaching practices and develop an improved learning environment. Though our school has limited computer access, these surveys could be vital to improving our instruction at school and improving student engagement throughout every content area. I plan on discussing with the administrators in our building the need for teachers to be able to gauge the learning of their students on a continual basis and the need for student feedback to improve teaching. Currently, the only measurement we have available is through the Student Voice Survey
Currently, the only measurement we have available to measure student engagement is through the Student Voice Survey. I would like to have our school use the Tripod Surveys as a tool to better improve teaching practices and develop an improved learning environment. Though our school has limited computer access, these surveys could be vital to improving our instruction at school and improving student engagement throughout every content area. I plan on discussing with the administrators in our building the need for teachers to be able to gauge the learning of their students on a continual basis and the need for student feedback to improve teaching. Currently, the only measurement we have available is through the Student Voice Survey