action research
analysis &
recommendations
The data I gathered from the student survey tells me that I should probably zero-in on using the "top-5" favorite learning activities when planning lessons for next school year. Observations that I make early-on should give me an indication as to whether these "top-5" activities are working to promote engagement & reduce student apathy in the classroom. I would not recommend incorporating Powerpoint presentations into my lessons, as this was the students' least favorite learning activity. Powerpoint can all too often turn into "Death by Powerpoint", especially when too many "wordy" slides are used. Another recommendation of mine would be to try out the new style of Kahoot known as jumble Kahoot. I would also recommend to continue using the quiz-style Kahoot, as Kahoot was my students' favorite learning activity and it is a sure way to get all of your students to use their phones & laptops in an educational way (as they should be used in the classroom!)
I would definitely recommend doing a pig dissection demonstration when giving the lesson on body systems. It's a great way to make a real-world connection to this particular topic & can be done as a "Pig Under the Projector". This would allow those students who get "grossed out" easily to see the dissection without having to stand over the pig or touch the pig. Having every student dissect their own pig would be much too costly for most school budgets & I also don't believe that all 9th grade students are responsible enough to do their own dissection. With a "Pig Under the Projector", you can call on the responsible students who wish to come up to the pig to make cuts & identify organs. I was please to learn that you don't have to order in bulk supply when making purchases from Carolina Biological Supply. You can order just one $15 pig and this cost can be further divided among your other Biology team members if they also desire to use the pig for a "Pig Under the Projector" demonstration in their classroom.
It should be noted that many students seemed bothered or "turned off" by the smell of formaldehyde, which the fetal pigs were bathed in. When I received my shipment of fetal pigs, I did immediately rinse them off under cold tap water, but only did so for a few minutes. I didn't notice a strong smell of formaldehyde after rinsing them, but my students did. I suppose I've just grown accustomed to the smell of formaldehyde with all the dissections I've done over they years, whereas my students have not. I do believe more of my students would have been interested in doing the pig dissection had they not been so bothered by the smell of formaldehyde, which is why I re-rinsed the pigs in cold water for 30-40 minutes, after the first week of the dissection.
I plan on leaving the slides I used with the classroom microscopes. The students did periodically ask throughout the year if we were ever going to use the microscopes, which is why I decided to purchase a few slides for my action research. The slides were fairly inexpensive--only a few dollars per slide--and they were a great way for students to observe real cells in a close-up & personal way. Definitely consider setting up a microscope in the classroom with these slides when giving the lesson on the Cell Cycle. Learning how to use a microscope is a great way of getting students into the practice of behaving like a true scientist!
Conclusion
At the onset of my action research, I was hoping to see a greater student interest than I observed for the pig dissection & microscope slides. Student interest turned out to be somewhat lackluster and I do believe that the required time-consuming & intensive STAAR review did preclude me from doing all that I had initially planned to do with regard to my action research. In all likelihood, many students were probably not able to stay after school due to transportation issues or other after-school commitments they might have had. However, I do believe that I was able to gather enough data after-school for 2 weeks to conclude: offering students more choice in their learning & planning activities to connect their learning to the real-world will help to make Biology more interesting and reduce student apathy.
I would definitely recommend doing a pig dissection demonstration when giving the lesson on body systems. It's a great way to make a real-world connection to this particular topic & can be done as a "Pig Under the Projector". This would allow those students who get "grossed out" easily to see the dissection without having to stand over the pig or touch the pig. Having every student dissect their own pig would be much too costly for most school budgets & I also don't believe that all 9th grade students are responsible enough to do their own dissection. With a "Pig Under the Projector", you can call on the responsible students who wish to come up to the pig to make cuts & identify organs. I was please to learn that you don't have to order in bulk supply when making purchases from Carolina Biological Supply. You can order just one $15 pig and this cost can be further divided among your other Biology team members if they also desire to use the pig for a "Pig Under the Projector" demonstration in their classroom.
It should be noted that many students seemed bothered or "turned off" by the smell of formaldehyde, which the fetal pigs were bathed in. When I received my shipment of fetal pigs, I did immediately rinse them off under cold tap water, but only did so for a few minutes. I didn't notice a strong smell of formaldehyde after rinsing them, but my students did. I suppose I've just grown accustomed to the smell of formaldehyde with all the dissections I've done over they years, whereas my students have not. I do believe more of my students would have been interested in doing the pig dissection had they not been so bothered by the smell of formaldehyde, which is why I re-rinsed the pigs in cold water for 30-40 minutes, after the first week of the dissection.
I plan on leaving the slides I used with the classroom microscopes. The students did periodically ask throughout the year if we were ever going to use the microscopes, which is why I decided to purchase a few slides for my action research. The slides were fairly inexpensive--only a few dollars per slide--and they were a great way for students to observe real cells in a close-up & personal way. Definitely consider setting up a microscope in the classroom with these slides when giving the lesson on the Cell Cycle. Learning how to use a microscope is a great way of getting students into the practice of behaving like a true scientist!
Conclusion
At the onset of my action research, I was hoping to see a greater student interest than I observed for the pig dissection & microscope slides. Student interest turned out to be somewhat lackluster and I do believe that the required time-consuming & intensive STAAR review did preclude me from doing all that I had initially planned to do with regard to my action research. In all likelihood, many students were probably not able to stay after school due to transportation issues or other after-school commitments they might have had. However, I do believe that I was able to gather enough data after-school for 2 weeks to conclude: offering students more choice in their learning & planning activities to connect their learning to the real-world will help to make Biology more interesting and reduce student apathy.
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