Post 1 of 2 for 3.15.2022 battacharya

3/8/2022

Thinking ahead to your ethnography/case study

Hello to you All--

I've gotten a few nervous texts about what to post for this week, so I'm addressing that here. This week, I've included in the reading for the week selections from Battacharya's guide to conducting qualitative research. As I said in class, I'm not asking you to read this with the care that you might read other material for our class. I've included this reading so that folks have something to support their work on the upcoming ethnography/case study assignment. I don't know how familiar you all are with this kind of research, and Battacharya offers a good overview and both practical and theoretical guidance.

WHAT TO POST: This is not a super formal post. I'm asking you to think and write about what you might do for the ethnography/case study assignment. As you write about, you can include what you feel like you are learning about how to do this work from the reading. You can also ask me questions. I can collect those questions and answer them in class when we meet on the 15th (provided you post with enough time before class for me to do that).

Your post doesn't need to be long and shouldn't be more than 300 words max. You don't have to know for sure what you are going to do. You can have a few ideas. When useful, I can give some feedback to you in this space and in class to help you to do your best work.

YOU AREN'T REQUIRED TO RESPOND TO YOUR CLASSMATES: But if you have a suggestion that might help a classmate, why not respond?

Hope this helps you to focus your response in productive ways.

10 Comments

Sarah Bond

3/10/2022 05:12:25 am

I'm posting early in case I'm way off track!
I hope to conduct a case study of two of my Grade 8 ELA classes at King Philip Middle School. Each class includes a diverse learning population. Since our reading on “Error and Expectations” specifically, I have been reformulating my approach to feedback, experimenting with how best to offer meaningful comments that inspire revision. I have also been incorporating time into the classroom for students to revise, respond to feedback, ask questions, and even resubmit their work. I have not, however, recorded any data about the kinds of changes this has brought about, if any, in the way my students feel about their writing and in their actual success.
I am most interested in how teacher feedback, primarily feedback given during the writing process, informs student confidence and stamina. Students will be given an in-class writing assignment (we will have planned/brainstormed in advance and they have the option to continue writing on their own at home). For one class, I will offer only positive feedback during the writing period to encourage idea development and personal voice. For a different class, I will actively redirect student writing with both positive and critical feedback as they’re writing. Once students receive back their essays, they will be given formal feedback as well as an opportunity to revise. Using a reflection question and brief questionnaire, I will observe which method of feedback most impacted student confidence in approaching the prompt, as well as stamina in completing a revision.

Alyssa Campbell

3/10/2022 07:01:49 pm

I plan on maybe doing a case study of my homeroom class. I want to examine what happens with an individual writing assignment versus one where they are paired with someone else. I am not entirely sure how I want to set this up yet, but I do know that I want them to do the independent writing first and the paired writing second, because I think that otherwise they would be burnt out by the time they got to the independent writing (and they tend to like partner work better anyways).

Alternatively, I am interested in doing a case study with my homeroom, but instead of the two methods of writing, I want to see the outcomes when I give feedback as they work versus when I give no feedback until after they have submitted it to me.

I'm not sure which one I want to do, though I will be honest that I am leaning more toward the feedback/no feedback one right now.

Maura Geoghegan

3/13/2022 01:09:43 pm

I’m planning on observing a colleagues’ class that is working on writing. I actually already observed his English 11 Honors class last Friday, and I was originally planning on observing a second colleagues’ English 11A class on Monday to compare how the students at different levels approach a writing assignment. However, I’m thinking that I might observe the same 11H class on Monday because they will be using their feedback from their previous paper to inform their revision of their current paper before submitting a final draft. I thought this was interesting since it connects to some of the things we’ve been discussing in class the past few weeks. I was thinking I could then also interview 2-3 students in the class to get their thoughts on approaching writing and revising, the different strategies they’ve used throughout the year so far, and what has been most helpful to them as writers. During the drafting process, the teacher also used one-on-one conferences to check in with students, answer specific questions they had, and give feedback on their writing. I’d like to hear what the students think about having writing conferences and being intentional about using previous feedback to inform their current writing. I think I’m leaning towards sticking with just the 11H class so I can also interview a few students, but I think it would be interesting to compare an 11H class to an 11A class when it comes to writing.

Ashley Merola

3/14/2022 06:50:48 am

For my ethnography project, I am planning on observing my colleague’s AP English Literature and Composition class this week. Her students will be completing an in-class writing assignment (a “Q3”) as part of their preparation for the exam in May. While they are aware of the question format, they will not know what the precise prompt will be until the day of the assessment (meaning they will not have time prior to brainstorm, outline, draft, or revise). I might also interview one or two students about these conditions at some point after my observation, depending on the data I collect. Regardless, the reason why I chose this class is because I teach twelfth-grade composition courses as well, and I am interested in seeing how their approaches and attitudes toward short-term writing compare to those of my students at the college level. I was also inspired by the concept of insider/outsider research while reading Battacharya's chapter, since I am not a teacher who has access to the culture of an AP classroom. My tentative goal will therefore be to analyze how a writing assessment modeled after a standardized test and administered in a timed setting relates to the theories we have studied about process pedagogy and writer’s anxiety.

Shauna Cascarella-Briggs

3/14/2022 01:16:32 pm

For my ethnography project I plan on combining all three types into my work. I am going to be observing my colleague teaching persuasive writing with a group of honors juniors, and then observing my own CP juniors in working through a similar assignment. Additionally I would like to focus more closely on a case study of two of my students (mostly because I already have permission to interview them). These two are L2 learners who have only recently moved to the US within this past school year. They are both highly dedicated and motivated to learning the spoken and written word in the English language, making them excellent subjects for this assignment.

Olivia Limoncelli

3/14/2022 03:36:40 pm

For my case study, I plan on observing and interviewing two of my 8th grade ELA students at South~West Middle School. I have chosen two very different students already and I would like to interview them on their writing process as well as their emotions/anxiety around writing. After reading this past section from Clarke, I want to also interview students on their writing process as well as “writer’s block”. I plan to use some of the self-assessment charts mentioned (Clarke, p 57). I am thinking of doing this surrounding the MCAS prep we will be completing and I want them to look closely at the rubric used to evaluate their writing and understanding. Nancy Sommers also interviewed students on their revision process and I would like to incorporate this as well.

Kayleigh Holt

3/14/2022 05:58:43 pm

For my ethnography project my current idea is to conduct an auto-ethnographic observation of the students in my homeroom, 8th grade ELA group. I am planning to focus on our upcoming writing piece that the students will begin this coming Friday. We are reading the story “The Monkey’s Paw” this week and the final activity is a writing piece where the students will be able to choose which prompt they answer from among three options. All of the prompts are within the realm of creative writing and give the students a lot of freedom with which direction they would like their pieces to go.

To enhance my observations, I would like to also conduct three short interviews with individual students. Ideally I would like to interview a student who chose the first prompt, one who selected the second prompt, and a third who chose the last prompt. It would be interesting to hear the students’ thought processes as to why they selected the prompts that they did, as well as their creative processes in how they approached their writing. I’m unsure if it will be feasible to complete the interviews in addition to full class observation, but if the individual interviews prove to be not possible I was thinking I could have the students answer a quick google form survey after completing their writing. This survey would provide me with another source of data for the case study, as well as allowing the students a chance to reflect on their own writing process.

Matthew Cutter

3/15/2022 09:03:32 am

I've already observed a colleague's class. He is the head of the history department, which also does quite a bit of writing. I figured it would be interesting to see how other disciplines tackle writing in the classroom, and I knew whatever he'd be doing would be useful to me. I want to take a look at how he incorporates writing in a variety of different ways, and then how he assesses that writing.

I'm also interested in the overall vibe of the class and student buy-in. I'd like to see what strategies he uses to include ALL students in every activity. I'm also interested in seeing what, if any, differentiation happens to make the assignments accessible.

Melissa Batty

3/15/2022 09:05:42 am

As someone who was an Anthropology minor as an undergraduate, I am extremely excited to perform an ethnography for our class. I am hoping to observe an academic space in higher education. I realize that I will be performing the ethnography from an etic, outsider space –– I am not part of the culture, and the ethnography will be from my perspective. If we had more time, I would conduct a critical ethnography where I would ask students to identify how they view themselves racially and if they feel that the writing pedagogy within their class seemed objective and inclusive, or if they feel disconnected from the assignments based on their racial background. I would be looking to see if they felt “Othered” by what they viewed as institutional objectives inherent within their classroom.
As it stands now, I will be performing a realist ethnography, where I enter the classroom has a neutral observer. In that role I will be looking at how the educator responds to student concerns and questions revolving around their writing assignments. I am also interested in how students respond to educator feedback –– do they personalize it as criticism, do they engage in critical discourse with an understanding that it will assist their skill building as it pertains to writing, do they disengage and become disinterested in the process altogether. I will also observe assessment practices and determine if the educator creates and anti-racist environment, a space where the student’s process and thoughts are seen as pertinent to their overall performance and growth as writers. I am interested in any feedback that my peers may recommend moving forward with my ethnography and if they have additional suggestions for observations.

Brian Seibert

3/15/2022 12:00:38 pm

I have a couple of ideas for my ethnography project. The first one is observing a 7th grade ELA teacher’s class. Most of the ELA teachers in my school right now are piloting a unit from several potential curricula that we will be adopting next year. This teacher is currently piloting the same company’s materials as I am. I want to focus on some of the strategies used and modified, how they compare to mine, and how strategies and materials contribute to reading and writing.

If I am unable to figure out the logistics to observe my colleague, I would like to just focus on one or more of my classes. I am not completely sure exactly what I want to focus on if that happens. We are not close to any lengthy writing assignment, so I wouldn’t be looking at the writing process or revision. It would more likely be geared toward reading comprehension. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Post 1 of 2 for 3.15.2022 battacharya

Thinking ahead to your ethnography/case study

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