Finding three new research articles this week seemed to flow much more smoothly than in past weeks. The search phrases and authors finally came together and I feel that I found some really significant research to reference and authors/researchers that are also important. One study focused on recording students while they verbalized the thoughts while troubleshooting fixing a small engine. While the subject matter is quite different, the metacognitive strategies that were used and studied did reinforce my hypothesis. The way the researchers categorized the statements made by the students as positive and negative gave me some great ideas as to how to scaffold the way my students speak during their recordings. I also saw a great way to record, analyze and present qualitative data. This study relates to my driving question because it investigates how using verbalization strategies can improve understanding of a topic.
Another study I found from 1986 shows the relationship between students using verbalization to talk themselves through division problems. In this study, a teacher recorded a student, one on one while they were solving a problem and then prompted the student when they either got stuck in the problem or when they made an error. This method is interesting, and I would love to be able to record and work with students like this on a one to one basis for my study, but I am focusing more on the students listening to themselves speak and then improve their recording. In another study from 2005, the researchers observed a classroom setting where the students were asked to communicate with each other on the strategies they used to solve math problems. This type of research, analyzing how students vocalize their understanding of the material and problems shows a clear path and positive correlation between students speaking in math with their understanding of the content and further enforces my driving question as an important and worthwhile investigation.
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So what, who cares?
Many students are below proficiency in math, scoring far below their grade level because of their inability to read, comprehend, and then use the correct strategies to solve a math word problem. This study will explore what other studies have not, students will use vocalization while recording one's own voice, listen to that recording and improving their explanation to test the accuracy with which they comprehend and can apply the correct methods to solve future problems. One study focused on recording students as they troubleshooted the faults in a small engine titled, A Descriptive Interpretive Analysis of Students' Oral Verbalization during the Use of Think-Aloud Pair Problem Solving While Troubleshooting, that focused on student’s ability to talk through the problem. The recordings were measured and correlated the negative statements and positive statements during troubleshooting and how that connected with the outcome of successfully fixing the error in the engine. (Pate & Miller 2011) The results show that students who successfully fixed the error also made more meta-cognitive thought statements during the think aloud pair problem solving activity. Methodology The study will analyze student’s pre test scores and post test scores assessing accuracy of solving word problems in math, and analyze the existing results of the district implemented Math Inventory Assessment. Both the control group and test group will be introduced to the specific vocabulary used in that unit by watching a Flocabulary video then completing word cards in which they write a sentence using the vocabulary word. Both groups will be given direct instruction on how to solve word problems. Students will take guided notes, then students in the control group will work individually to solve word problems and check their accuracy with the teacher while the test group will use the software program Voicethread to solve the same word problems. Students will be given a word bank of the vocabulary they need to include in their description and the test group will be instructed to “use as many practice recordings as you need to, in order to create a final copy that you are satisfied with and that shows your best work”. The pre test and post test scores of both groups will be compared and analyzed to see if verbalization and recording oneself while solving math word problems is an effective teaching/learning strategy. Reference: Pate, M. L., & Miller, G. (2011). A Descriptive Interpretive Analysis of Students’ Oral Verbalization during the Use of Think-Aloud Pair Problem Solving While Troubleshooting. Journal of Agricultural Education, 52(1), 107–119. Retrieved from https://erms.tourolib.org/url/http://0-search.ebscohost.com.library.touro.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ955680&site=ehost-live |