Willis Capstone B Assignment

1
Running Head: PEER DISCUSSIONS
Effects Of Guided Peer Discussions On Student Learning In Mathematics

Marie Willis
Margaret Crawford
2
Abstract
This paper is to describe the Action Research project that I am applying to conduct as part of the
requirements in the Marygrove College Masters In The Art Of Education program. I will be
working with students, ages 7-8 years old, in my second grade classroom at Cherry Knoll
Elementary School. My project is titled “Effects Of Guided Peer Discussions On Student
Learning In Mathematics” with the research question, “What is the effects of guided peer
discussion on student quiz and fluency checks?”. This study will be conducted from August 1st,
2018, until October 12, 2018. My purpose of this study is to see if guided peer discussions help
students increase their understanding of mathematical concepts.

3
Introduction
I am a 2nd grade teacher at Cherry Knoll Elementary school. We have between 400-450
students. Our numbers change during the year, as many students in area move a lot. This is my
seventh year as an educator. I have spent my time teaching in lower elementary classrooms, with
one year as a lower elementary Reading Interventionist. I attended Northern Michigan
University and majored in Elementary Education- Language Arts. As an educator, I feel more
confident in teaching language art lessons than lessons in mathematics. I would like to improve
at teaching mathematics so I plan to study the effects of guided student discussion on learning in
mathematics. My goal with my Action Research Project was to find out if more student
discussions will show an increase in student learning.
My current school, Cherry Knoll Elementary is in a very affluent, northern Michigan
tourist town. The school’s students are predominantly Caucasian, with some students of
Hispanic, Asian, South American and African-American ethnicities. A small percentage of
students receive ESL services. The students at my school are primarily from middle and upper
socio-economic classes, with a portion who qualify for free or reduced lunch. This percentage
changes year to year, which also changes our Title One status from year to year. One unique
characteristic of our school is our initiate for health. Our students have three recesses a day, we
do not use food incentives, and we encourage walks and movement breaks. These are all
characteristics of the elementary school in which I conducted my research in.
I conducted my action research project with 27 students. The demographics are the same
as described above. In my current classroom, 15% of my students are performing and well
below grade level on end of unit math assessments. 17 of my students are female, 12 are male.
Four of my students receive special education services, and six students have a 504 plan.
4
Before I began my action research project, it was important to identify what I already
know about my research topic (Sangor, 1992). What I already know, or think I know, will
brought up biases I have towards this issue. I already believe that guided conversations will
foster student engagement, improve student participation, build trust, and help students to solve
higher-order thinking questions. When I began I anticipated really having to take a step back,
look closely at what the data is really telling me.
Researches are bound by a code of ethics to help protect students (“Teacher As
Researcher”, 2013). When doing my action research project, there are many ethical
considerations I kept in mind. For example, it is very important that the students privacy
autonomy be protected (“Teacher As Researcher”, 2013). I had to not identify my students when
reporting my data. Also, when doing research it was important that students were not faced with
a loss of self-esteem (Teacher As Researcher”, 2013). In my action research project, I had to be
careful that students do not feel bad about themselves because of low scores, that students were
not saying negative comments about one another, and that individuals were not corrected in front
of the class. Getting voluntary informed consent from parents was important (“Teacher As
Researcher”, 2013). I had to clearly explain to the parents of my students what I was doing, and
specify that their child did not have to participate. These are all important factors to consider in
order to conduct an action research project in an ethical way.
In the elementary education community, much time and resources have been put into the
teaching of reading. Though this is important, the teaching of mathematics has not been
highlighted as strongly. I would argue that most elementary educators are more confident,
thoughtful, and research-based in their teaching of reading and language arts. In comparison, I
find that elementary educators rely on old, traditional methods for teaching mathematics. Instead
5
of using research-based methods for deep problem solving skills, many educators still teach math
the way we learned math--with memorization.
I did an Action Research Project on the effects of guided student conversation on student
learning in mathematics. Action research is when the researcher is participating in research of an
element in which he/she is involved in and research will aid him/her to be more successful
(Sangor, 1992). In addition, action research acknowledges and embraces the complications that
occur in normal classroom life (Mills, 2014). This project was done in my classroom which I
work in each day. I will be applying my findings with my students on a daily basis. Through my
research, I have found that the traditional way of teaching mathematics does not help students
learn how to solve mathematical problems in other contexts than math class (Seeley,
2017). Students need to be learning critical thinking and problem solving skills (Seeley, 2017).
I have looked at several articles that explore conversations with students, what those
conversations should consist of, discourse-rich classrooms, and misconceptions that teachers
have about what a discussion with students should be.
With my students and their needs in mind, I have studied research done by others. I
looked for research that relates to mathematics, conversations in mathematics, and understanding
mathematic concepts. The literature I found shows what others before me have discovered.
6
Literature Review
What Traditionally, Teachers Think Math Should Be
Traditionally, mathematics was taught by showing students what to do and having them
replicate it. In his article, Changing the way to Teach Maths: Preservice Primary Teachers’
Reflections on using Exploratory Talk in Teaching Mathematics, Murphy studies the reflections
of 21 primary preservice teachers following a microteaching experience that focuses on the use
of talk and collaborative group work as part of a special education program (Murphy, 2016). The
teachers’ reflections mentioned tensions between collaborative talk and mathematics content
(Murphy, 2016). Murphy says the tensions suggests the resistance to change the practice of
novice teachers may not be due to a conceptualization of teaching mathematics, but also to
awareness of student mathematical thinking as “knowing-to.” In the article Turning Teaching
Upside Down, Seeley states that this method leads to adults that do not know how to solve
problems that look different than those in their a math book (Seeley, 2017).
Math Should Be Critical Thinking
Akman and Alagaz write In their article, Relation between Metacognitive Awareness and
Participation to Class Discussion of University Students, their view of learning not being
teacher-centered (Akman and Alagoz, 2018). They share that inquiry should be “based on
cognitive approach, student-centered, question and inquiry-based, free of memorization and
focused on high-level cognitive skills” (Akman and Alagoz, 2018.) Akman and Alagoz found
that learning is best when it is not teacher-centered (2018). In their article, Mathematical
teaching strategies: Pathways to critical thinking and metacognition, Su, Ricci, and Mntsakanian
indicate the necessity of students applying critical thinking skills and they give examples of how
7
critical thinking, creativity, and flexibility in finding ways to help students better understand the
concepts of number sense (2016). This article states that a teacher should emphasizes reasoning,
and that logic and validity give students access to mathematics as “an effective way of practicing
critical thinking” (Su, Ricci and Mnatsakanian, 2016).
Discussion
Heck, Starling, Sztajn, Taylor and Trocki (2015) in their article “Launching A Discourse-
Rich Mathematics Lesson” discusses the importance of fostering opportunities for students to
make connections, analyze situations, and create and argue solutions with one another. Their
article talks about how purposeful discourse promotes these behaviors, and it can be done in
mathematics. The article looks at the launch phase of a lesson and explains three different think-
aloud strategies that involve discussions. Another method, suggest by Seeley, is an “upside-
down” method of teaching math. The teacher gives students a problem, and has them work in
groups to come up with a way to solve it (Seeley, 2017).
Mancy and Smith (2018) in their article Exploring the relationship between
metacognitive and collaborative talk during group mathematical problem-solving – what do we
mean by collaborative metacognition? want to better understand the relationship between
collaborative talk and metacognitive talk during group mathematical problem solving (Mandy
and Smith, 2018). They videotaped primary students, ages 9 to 10, in a naturalistic classroom
setting during group mathematical problem-solving (Mancy and Smith, 2018). Student talk was
coded for metacognitive, cognitive, social, and collaborative content (Mancy and Smith,
2018). They found that metacognitive talk was more was more likely to meet the criteria for
collaborative than cognitive talk was (Mancy and Smith). In the article, they state that their
8
results suggest that collaborative metacognition arises from combined individual and group
processes (Mancy and Smith, 2018).
In their article, Impacts of a Discussion-based Academic Language Program on
Classroom Interactions in 4th through 7th Grades, LaRusso, Jones, Kim, Donovan and Snow
(2016) researched the potential of high quality classroom interactions for promoting children’s
academic success. The article presents an exploratory analysis of treatment-control differences
in the quality of classroom interactions in 4th through 7th grade urban classrooms (LaRusso,
Jones, Kim, Donovan and Snow, 2016).
Teacher Misconceptions
However, in his article, The Distortion of Discussion, Backer gives a strong
misconception about discussion (2018). Backer looks at what the word “discussion” means in
relation to how it is being used in classrooms. Backer states that a discussion should be “a kind
of international pattern in educational contexts and connotes participation, dialogue, openness,
equality and freedom, as well as other values associated with democracy” (2018). He says that
instead, the educator speaks at length and questions foster a more controlled, unequal recitation
of information occurs (Backer, 2018). Backer gives suggestions for facilitation practices and
calls for greater emphasis on the form of interaction, not the content.
Joyce-Gibbons (2015) looks at the behaviors or two teachers prior to deciding to initiate a
mini-plenary. In his article, Joyce-Gibbons looks at the role technology and classroom conditions
play into this decision. He looks at the impact of mini-plenary on student learning and discusses
what the initiation of mini-plenary can signify “current theoretical framing of classroom
orchestration and teacher–student interaction” (Joyce-Gibbons, 2015).

9
The study in this article Code-Switching Explorations in Teaching Early Number Sense
focuses on code switching- the mixing of words from two languages- by teachers as they switch
from the language of instruction, to the language of mathematics (Sanchez, Gabriel, Anderson,
and Turnbull, 2018). They did a case study on three early years’ teachers math talk. The study
found that that the teachers code switch to the mathematics register when they talked about
numbers, number words and counting, to revoice students’ ideas, to explain students’ and
teachers’ actions, to provide new math information, and when they choose between two terms
that belonged to the math register (Sanchez, Gabriel, Anderson, and Turnbull, 2018). The article
also discusses that educators avoid the using the mathematics’ register and relied instead on what
the educators called “familiar language” (Sanchez, Gabriel, Anderson, and Turnbull, 2018).
10
Research Process
Data Collection Matrix
Research Question Data Source
1 2 3 4
What are the Parent Survey: Student Survey Story Problem Quick Quiz
effects of guided Quiz
communication on Student Attitudes Student Attitudes Student Addition
student learning in Towards Math Towards Math Student ability to Fluency
mathematics describe how they
Effects of Effects of students solve a math
students in in mathematics problem.
mathematics
Student
mathematical
comprehension.
The research question I used was “What are the effects of guided communication on
student learning in mathematics?” I focused not only on peer discussions in mathematics, but
guided peer discussions. I lead my students through math talks, mathematical thinking
questions, and higher-order problem solving questions during the math lessons. I also taught
students how to talk to one another, listen to the answer of a peer, and how to share their own
ideas in an educated way. I looked at how the guided student peer discussions effect on student
quizzes and fluency checks.
Google forms is a great online tool to use for collecting qualitative data. It is beneficial as
researchers learn things that they normally would not notice, ask about, or know (Sarah A.,
2011). When using a Google form, I set up a form to survey parents and students. What I would
11
find is not immediately available through simple observation (Sangor, 1992). But through a
survey, I could find out what people know, believe or feel about mathematics (Sangor, 1992).
Also, Google forms allow for the maker of the form to set it up so that the individual filling out
the form is anonymous. Some researchers believe that the freedom to speak anonymously
encourages honesty, some researchers believe this only encourages irresponsible answers
(Sangor, 1992). I believe that in my setting, my classroom parents will not take advantage of the
confidentiality, and would appreciate it. They may feel that I knew what survey was theirs, that I
may be offended. For my students, I believe that it is also okay for their survey responses to be
anonymous, as some of them may put kinder messages if I knew it was from them. For example,
a student may write “I love my teacher!”, thinking that it would earn them favor. Lastly, I
believe that Google forms are a great tool for online written surveys is because the site will put
all the surveys in a Google form for the creator, allowing the creator to easily see the various
answer for each question quickly. This allowed me to spend less time with clerical work of
putting the survey answers together, and more time spent on analyzing the information.
When using the Google forms, I plan on surveyed the students’ parents. I wanted to survey
the students’ parents at the beginning of the control part of the action research project, at the
beginning of when the guided peer discussion portion of the research project begins, and at the
end of the action research project. Using Google forms as a written survey has validity as it
gives me the information I seek. Also, it showed the thoughts and feelings of the parents and
students (Sangor, 1992). It also has reliability, because I surveyed all of the parents and all of
the students to gain information. Also, the parent questions told me if guided peer discussions
are causing students to talk about math at home. The survey for the students shared with me what
they learned in math. From that answer, I looked for the key words and depth of understanding
12
that the student has gained, or not gained, in class. I asked the parents the following questions
for each survey:
1. Does your child talk positively about math?
2. Does your child discuss math concepts at home?
3. Do you have any thoughts about your child’s math class that you would like the teacher
to know?
Polls Everywhere is another online website where I surveyed users. I used this tool to
survey students three times during the Action Research Project. I surveyed them before the
project began, during the transition between teaching with the traditional style and the guided
peer discussion question, and the final time after the study was over. Polls Everywhere has
validity because it gave me the information I seek and students are anonymous so they are free to
answer their questions openly. On Polls Everywhere, I could create online surveys. Students
could log on to a given website and take the survey. Students were easily able to access the
survey. The questions I asked the students on each survey were as follows:
1. Do you like math?
2. Have you learned something new in math?
3. What have you learned in math?
4. What is your favorite part of math class?
5. What is your least favorite part of math class?
6. What is something you want to tell your teacher about math class?
13
Another online tool that I used in my research project is Survey Monkey. Survey monkey
is a website where users can design online surveys, collect responses, and analyze results. The
website is free, the surveys are customizable, and will analyze and organize the data for the
user. I think this online tool was beneficial to use with my students as a quantitative tool. I did
Quick Quizzes, to look at their skill of explaining how they would solve a word problem.
SurveyMonkey allows users to give written responses to questions. I could then later grade these
responses. Their responses are online, so it was not easily lost. I have made six short quizzes for
my students to take, where they wrote out how they would solve the problem. I gave the students
one quiz a week, for 6 weeks. They quizzes are short, as 2nd graders have a shorter attention
span. Survey Monkey shows validity in that it allowed me to really look at how students are
attempting to solve word problems, not just what answer they get. Sometimes students can get
the right answer, but they solved it wrong. My goal is that guided student peer discussions will
help students become better problem solvers. Having students write out how they would solve
each word problem helps me see their thinking. Using SurveyMonkey in this way also has
reliability. I can actually see the words of the individual. Also, giving these quizzes more than a
few times gives me a larger pool of scores, not just one score. Additionally, I was able to see not
only if a student got a problem wrong, but why they got that problem wrong.
The quiz questions would be as follows:
Quiz One
1. At halftime, Tasha’s soccer team scored 2 goals. Then they scored more points. At the
end of the game they had 5 points. How many more points did Tasha’s team score?
14
2. Davy made some bookmarks to sell at the craft sale. Then he sold 7 bookmarks. After the
craft sale, Davy had 3 bookmarks left. How many bookmarks did Davy start with?
3. Pam invited 4 boys to her birthday party and 3 girls. Altogether, how many kids did Pam
invite to her birthday party?
Quiz Two
1. Kayla was helping her dad shop for groceries. She put some carrots in the cart. Her dad
put 8 carrots in the cart. Altogether, they had 10 carrots in the cart. How many carrots did
Kayla’s dad put in the cart?
2. Dan had 6 baseball cards. He gave 2 away to Joe. How many baseball cards did Dan have
left?
3. Ulrick invited 11 friends over to plant a garden. Some friends could come. 5 friends
could not come. How many friends could come plant a garden with Ulrick?
Quiz Three
1. Lucy’s baseball team scored some runs in the first inning. In the 2nd inning, they scored
7 runs. Altogether, they scored 9 runs. How many runs did Lucy’s team score in the first
inning?
2. Jose and Ben went kayaking. They saw some ducks, and 6 geese. Altogether they saw 9
birds. How many ducks did Jose and Ben see while kayaking?
3. Kiki and Lola were helping the gym teacher set up for Field Day. Kiki set up 5 games.
Lola set up 2 games. How many games did they both set up?
Quiz Four
1. Tony likes to ride his bike. On Monday he rode 4 miles. On Tuesday he rode some more
miles. Altogether, Tony rode 6 miles. How many miles did Tony ride on Tuesday?
15
2. Gus baked some cupcakes with white frosting. He baked 6 cupcakes with strawberry
frosting. Altogether, he baked 8 cupcakes. How many cupcakes did Gus bake with white
frosting?
3. Allie had a birthday party. She invited 9 friends. Only 3 could make it. How many friends
could not make Allie’s birthday party?
Quiz Five
1. Raul works for a pizza delivery company. On Sunday he delivered 6 pepperoni pizzas
and 2 cheese pizzas. How many pizzas did Raul deliver that day?
2. Sydney invited 6 friends to her birthday party. Some could come. 2 could not come .How
many friends could not come to Sydney’s birthday party?
3. Max planted a flower garden. He planted some daisies, and 8 sunflowers. Altogether he
planted 12 flowers. How many daisies did Max plant?
Quiz Six
1. For snack, 3 students had apples. The rest had bananas. Altogether, there were 5 students.
How many students ate bananas?
2. Jeff’s hockey team scored 3 goals in the first half. They scored 2 goals in the second half.
Altogether, how many goals did Jeff’s hockey team score in the game?
3. Rosa make pies for a bake sale. She made 2 apple pies and the rest pumpkin pies.
Altogether she made 4 pies. How many pumpkin pies did Rosa make?
16
The rubric for each quiz would be as follows:
Score
4 All of level 3, plus included how to check your answer.
3 Included all steps in solving the problem, steps were in order, used words from the story
problem and steps were correct.
2 Included most steps in solving the problem, some steps were out of order, some steps were
not correct.
1 No answer, missing most steps to solve the problem, not correct steps.
I discovered QuizEgg online and am planning to use this online resource for data
collection in my action research project. I worked with 2nd grade students and QuizzEgg is easy
enough for them to use. QuizEgg is an online quiz maker website where users can make basic
quizzes. QuizEgg has different question types available and you can get reports on individual
students. The website will grade the quiz for you and export reports to excel. Teacher made tests
are one of the most common forms of quantitative data collection, along with unit tests (Mills,
2014). I have designed weekly quizzes, or Fluency Checks, to give my students and they can
took it on QuizEgg. QuizEgg graded their scores for me to record and track. It was easier for me
to have their quizzes graded, than to grade them myself. Also, QuizEgg's ability to run reports on
individual students will helped me track the score of each student. This saved me a lot of time so
that I can spend more time analyzing data. Also, I did not run the risk of losing quizzes. I gave 6
quizzes, once a week, to watch the progress of the students. They are short, as 2nd graders have a
short attention span and too much testing is not helpful for them. QuizEgg shows validity in that
my goal is to see how students are doing in their understanding of math concepts. These quizzes
have problems in three different types of adding and subtracting equations, taken directly from
the curriculum that I will be teaching from. Using QuizEgg is a reliable tool for data collection
17
because I cold use it to get qualitative data from all the individuals more than one time. The
quiz questions I used are as follows:
Quiz 1
1. 6+4= A.10, B. 2, C.9
2. 18-9= A.9, B.10,C. 27
3. 6+_=15 A.10, B.21, C.15
4. 8-_=12 A. 4, B. 10, C. 20
5. _+5=7 A. 12, B. 2, C. 5
Quiz 2
1. 5+8= A.3, B.13,C. 8
2. 17-8= A.10, B.21, C.8
3. 2+9= A.11,B. 7, C.6
4. 10-_=6 A. 2, B. 4, C. 8
5. _-4=2 A. 10, B. 1, C. 6
Quiz 3
1. 15-_=8 A.9, B.6, C.7
2. 13-6=__ A.7,B. 2,C. 19
3. 5+_= 11 A.5, B.6, C.16
4. 8-4= A. 4, B. 12, C. 14
5. 9-1= A. 8, B. 10, C. 9
Quiz 4
1. 6+_=10 A.2, B.4, C.16
2. 80+10= A.90, B.70, C.60

18
3. 2+8= A.5,B. 6, C.10
4. 5-1= A. 6, B. 7, C. 4
5. 9+_=2 A. 2, B.11, C. 7
Quiz 5
1. 7+9= A.16, B.15, C.2
2. 14-_=9 A.20, B.5, C.23
3. 7+_=19 A.21, B.10, C.12
4. 8-5=__ A. 2, B. 3, C. 13
5. 10-4=__ A. 6, B. 14, C. 13
Quiz 6
1. 9+4= A.5, B.6, C.13
2. 17-9= A.26, B.8, C.7
3. 8+_=15 A.8, B.7, C.23
4. _+3=11 A. 7, B. 8, C. 13
5. 8-2=__ A. 5, B. 6, C. 10
19
Triangulation Of Data
To assess the effects of guided peer discussions on students in mathematics, I used
several online tools to gain data. From these tools, I found many effects that I had expected, and
some that I had not expected. Some of the tools showed me the same effects. Some tools gave
me insight to different effects. Each tool was helpful in giving me a fuller picture of how guided
peer discussion affects students learning in mathematics.
The first online tool I used was Google Forms to do a parent survey. I looked to find
evidence of what effect guided peer conversations had on student learning in mathematics. I
noticed that students became more vocal about their thoughts on mathematics at home, whether
positive or negative. I also found out that guided peer discussions helped students to use more
accurate mathematical language, communicate their math learning clearly and communicate
examples of their math computations to their parents. Finally, I discovered through the parent
survey the student excitement for mathematics increased significantly after students began
learning with the guided peer discussion method.
Just as I used Google Forms to survey parents, I used another online tool to survey
students. This tool was PollsEverywhere. On PollsEverywhere, I looked for evidence that was
similar to the parent surveys, but this time I looked to see what the student shad to say.
Through a student survey on Polls Everywhere, I found several ways that guided peer
discussion affect student learning in mathematics. One thing that i discovered was that guided
peer discussion significantly increased the number of students who enjoyed mathematics. I also
discovered that the students focused more on the computations, methods, and strategies related to
math instead of behavior expectations, writing utensils, and social dynamics. Another notice that
I had was that students used more mathematical and precise language when talking about math.
20
They used more language that I had had them use in peer discussions. Students were also able to
describe why they liked or did not like math with clear reasons. Finally, I learned that level of
enjoying math went from liking math, to many students describing math as being “awesome”.
Then, when I switched to teaching with the guided peer discussion the number of
students who liked math went up significantly. That number continued to rise. I also found that
during the time of control, when students were asked if they learned something new in math they
answered “yes” or “no”. When students were taught with the guided peer discussion method
more students answered with something that they learned. As the weeks of learning with guided
peer discussion went on, more and more students answered with a specific model or strategy that
they learned in math class. Another thing I discovered is that during the period of being taught
with the guided peer discussion method, students were able to focus more on the math content.
They were also able to include parts of the math content in answers. Finally, students went from
sharing that they liked math, to sharing that math was awesome.
The above were the online tools that I used to gain qualitative data about the effects of
guided peer discussion on students in mathematics. I found valuable information that will help
me as an educator. Along with the qualitative data, I also used several online tools to gain some
qualitative data.
SurveyMonkey was the first tool I looked at for qualitative data. I learned that guided
peer discussion helps students with specific language to use when answering questions about
math. I also learned that it helps students better clearly communicate their answers and math
thinking. The more students learned with guided peer discussion, the more they described how
they solved a math problem with steps, instead of general answers about the method they used to
21
compute answers. For example, a student would talk about what numbers they added or
subtracted together, instead of saying they used their fingers or their brain.
SurveyMonkey gave me valuable data and information on how student comprehension
was affected by guided peer discussions. These findings I will pair with the data I gained from
the next tool, Quiz Egg.
Quiz Egg was a helpful tool for me to assess student math fluency. From this tool, I
learned that there was not a significant difference in student growth with math fluency. The
students grew at a similar rate between the control period, and the period when they learned with
guided peer discussions.
These data tools were very impactful. They each gave me different perspectives about
the effects that students had in mathematics because of guided peer discussions. Some tools
gave me data on student attitudes. Other data tools gave me data on student fluency and
comprehension skills. Each data tool was helpful in assessing what effects guided peer
discussion has on students.

22
Data Analysis
The data I gained from my Action Research Project gave me a lot of information. I
looked at this information carefully to discover patterns and trends. Carefully, I looked to see
what this data told me about student learning in mathematics and how guided peer discussions
affected the students.
Quiz Egg Fluency Check

120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6
Mean 50.3 54.3 58.5 80 82 86.4
Median 50 50 50 80 100 100
Mode 40 50 40 100 100 100
Mean Median Mode Linear (Mean)
Quiz Egg Data
20 40 50 80 100
Week 1 5 9 7 5 2
Week 2 6 6 8 2 6
Week 3 4 8 6 3 7
Week 4 1 3 2 10 12
Week 5 2 0 4 7 15
Week 6 1 0 2 10 15
In Quiz Egg, I noticed that the mean of student scores continued to increase. In Week
One it began at 50.3 % and it continued to rise to eventually reaching 86.4 % in Week 6. The
mean stayed in the 50’s for the first three weeks. After I began teaching with the guided peer
23
discussion method, the mean of student scores went from Week 3’s 58.5% to Week 4’s
80%. The mean continued to increase, but not as drastically as from Week 3 and Week 4. It
looks as though the students were learning during the first three weeks. However, after I began
teaching with the guided peer discussion method the students fluency increased.
The median of student scores stayed at 50% for the first three weeks. From Week 3 to
Week 4 the median rose by 30%. The median continued to rise from Week 4 to Week 5 by
20%. The median stayed at 100% for Week 4 and Week 5.
The mode of student scores was either 40 or 50 in the first three weeks. Like the mean
and median, the mode significantly increased in Week 4. The mode was then 100% and stayed
there for weeks 5 and 6.
I also noticed that the amount of students who scored 20% or 40% decreased from Week
1 to Week 6. There is a significant difference between week’s 1, 2 and 3 and weeks 4, 5, and 6.
There are 15 scores of 20% in weeks 1, 2, and 3. In weeks 4, 5 and 6 there are only 4 scores of
20%. In weeks 1, 2 and 3 there are 23 scores of 40%. Then in weeks 4, 5, and 6 there are only 3
scores of 40%.
Another important discovery in the Quiz Egg Data chart is that the amount of students
who score 100% increases between weeks 1, 2 and 3, and weeks 4, 5, and 6. In weeks 1, 2, and
3 there are 15 scores of 100%. In weeks 4, 5 and 6 there are 42 scores of 100%.
24
Survey Monkey Rubric 1
Score
3 Included all steps in solving the problem, steps were in order, used words from the story
problem and steps were correct.
2 Included most steps in solving the problem, some steps were out of order, some steps were
not correct.
1 No answer, missing most steps to solve the problem, not correct steps.
Survey Monkey Word Problem

1.2
1.15
1.1
1.05
0.95
0.9
Mean 1.13 1.17 1.1 1.1 1.17 1.06
Median 1 1 1 1 1 1
Mode 1 1 1 1 1 1
Survey Monkey Word Problem Data
1 2 3 4
Week 1 24 3 1 0
Week 2 23 4 1 0
Week 3 25 2 1 0
Week 4 24 4 0 0
Week 5 23 4 1 0
Week 6 24 3 1 0
25
The Survey Monkey data shown to be not as useful as the QuizEgg data. I had asked
students to write out the steps that they would do to solve the world problem. Only one student
did this. When using the original rubric I had created for this assessment, I found that the median
and mode stayed at 1 for weeks 1 through 6. There was no change in relation to learning during
the control period, and learning with the guided peer discussion method. I also found that the
mean stayed at 1, but did fluctuate slightly in between 1.06 and 1.17 during the six week
period. I did not feel that this was significant enough to tell me valuable information. I believe
that my original rubric did not authentically assess what the students were learning. I was having
the students show their learning of mathematics not through mathematics, but through a written
explanation. This is a different skill that second graders have not yet mastered. I overestimated
what the students should be expected to do in terms of writing about their math, and chose an
assessment that did not assess their mathematical skills.
Survey Monkey Rubric 2
Score
3 All 3 problems are correct.
2 Two problems are correct
1 One or no answers correct..

26
Survey Monkey Correct Right

0 1 2 3 Linear (3)
30
25 24
25 22 23
20
15 13 12
10 10
10
4 4 4
5 2 3 1 1 2 3 2
0 0 1 0 1 1
0
0 22 23 25 24 10 12
1 2 0 0 0 13 4
2 3 4 1 1 1 10
3 1 1 2 3 4 2
Mean Median Mode

Week 1 .39 0 0
Week 2 .39 0 0
Week 3 .25 0 0
Week 4 .36 0 0
Week 5 .96 1 1
Week 6 1.07 1 0
I decided to assess the Quiz Egg based on the amount of story problems correct rather
than the rubric score. In the first quiz, 22 students got all of the word problems wrong. I noticed
that these responses included a number, or responses such as “nothing”, “fingers” and “in my
head”. In Week 2 the number of students who wrote similar answers and got zero answers
correct rose to 23 students. In Week 3 it rose to 25 students. This makes me question if the
students took the assessment seriously, if they discussed making emoji answers, or if they
wanted to be funny. After I began teaching with the peer discussion method, I noticed that the
number of students who got all of the questions wrong dropped by 1 student to 24 in Week 4. In
Week 5, after the students had two weeks of lessons with guided peer discussion, the number of
27
students who got all of the questions wrong went up to 12 students. I noticed that there were
students who still put answers such as smiley faces and responses such as “nothing” and “I don’t
know”. When comparing the number of students who got all of the questions wrong during the
control period was higher than compared to during the period of learning with guided peer
discussion.
I noticed that there was not a lot of change in the amount of students who got all of the
questions correct. In Week 5, four students got all of the questions correct. During Week 4 three
students got all of the questions correct. The other weeks only had 3, 2 or 1 students getting all
of the questions correct. In contrast, the amount of students who got 2 questions correct did
fluctuate a lot. During the first week, two students got one question correct. After that, during
weeks 2, 3 and 4 zero students got one question correct. However, during Week 5 13 students
got one question correct. This is a significant change. I also notice that the amount of students
who got 1 question corect decreased to 4 students in Week 6. I also see that from Week 5 to
Week 6, the amount of students who got 4 questions correct went up from 1 student to 10
students. As the weeks went on, the data shows that more students were getting more questions
correct.
The mode of the answers correct was at zero all through the study, except Week 5. Week
5 had a mode of 1. The median of weeks 1 through 4 was zero except for weeks 5 and 6. Week
5 and 6 had a median of 1. The median stayed at .39 for weeks 1 and 2. It dropped in Week 3 to
0.25, then rose again in Week 4 to 0.36. In Week 5 the median rose significantly to 0.96. It rose
again in Week 6 to 1.07. It seems that the amount of students who got zero questions correct
kept the average down. However, after the guided peer discussion method was used it rose.
28
In addition to the quantitative data described above I also collected qualitative. The
qualitative data showed me valuable information that was not seen in the quantitative data. This
information is described below.
The parent survey done through Google Forms showed me valuable information. Parents
shared that the guided peer discussion helped students focus more on mathematical concepts. It
also showed that the students were better able to ask for help, used precise language, and were
better able to explain their mathematical thinking.
The parents gave me a lot of feedback of how they see a positive change in their child
during the period I taught with the guided peer discussion method. I believe that the parent
survey showed me that students began to like math more from being able to talk about their math
thinking in class. Parents shared that their child began to become more excited about math
during the period I talked with the guided peer discussion method. One parent stated, “It has
been a joy to watch my child who thought he was not smart talk about how excited he is to learn
new things in math. He said he likes being able to talk to his partner in math because if he needs
help his partner can help him.” Another parent shared, “My child is now saying that math is
awesome. He is asking for worksheets.” The parents also shared that they saw improvements in
their child’s ability to talk about math. One parent shared that her daughter began using more
mathematical words and began referring to different addition methods by name. She said, “I was
surprised that (name omitted) could name the addition methods you taught in class. She showed
me what they were. I am very impressed”. I also believe that this shows me that students are
talking about math and using more more precise math language outside of the math classroom.
Since they have practice using math vocabulary, it is becoming part of their vocabulary
29
Through the parent survey, I also got negative comments about math. I believe that since
the guided peer discussion method requires all students to participate, some students did not like
it. They became cranky because they could not just sit there. Some parents mentioned that their
child does not talk about math unless asked. Other parents said that their child thought that math
was “boring” and the new method was “dumb”. One parent shared, “I understand that you are
trying something new in math. My child is anxious. It is important that you keep the volume of
the classroom at an appropriate level so that my child is not anxious.” I think that the volume or
loudness of the discussions could affect students who are anxious, or feel uncomfortable with
noise.
The third theme that I discovered with the parent survey was that parents were asking for
more help for their child. Parents wanted resources they could do at home. One parent stated,
“You said my child is behind grade level per the NWEA Math assessment. Please send home
more math work, even online, so I can help my child catch up.” Parents also wanted more
explanation of the math concept. They asked for explanations of what I am teaching in class, as
it is different than how they learned. For example, I got feedback stating, “You send home
weekly emails about what student are learning in class but this is not enough. We need detailed
explanations on the concepts of this new math.” and “I do not understand how my daughter is
going double digit addition. Are there parent resources to help me?”. I found that parents
wanted resources regardless of if I taught with the traditional method or the guided peer
discussion method. I found that their desire for more resources tied more to the concept we were
learning in class and the parent’s familiarity with it. I am not sure if the time of year, or
closeness to standardized testing affected their desire for more resources.

30
I saw a theme of students focusing on non-math issues during math class. For example,
on parent commented “My child cannot hear where she is sitting. She used to sit in the front and
you moved her closer to her friends. She says that she cannot hear and her friends distract
her. Why did you do this? Please move her away from her friends so she can hear.” Another
parent commented, “(Name omitted says that (name omitted) interrupts class every day and you
have to stop teaching.” There were also comments about students picking on other students, and
students taking away someone’s dry-erase markers. Some parents commented on their child
being nervous in math class and asking, “Is it possible for my child to eat a snack during math? I
think he is hungry at that time.” After I began teaching with the guided peer discussion method I
saw a decrease in parents commenting about non math learning related issues. I believe this is
because their child was more engaged in the lessons, and those concerns were not concerns
anymore. I also think that as the students got more comfortable with math and the guided peer
discussion method, the students focused more on learning and less on telling their parents on
other students.
Another data source I looked at was a student survey done with
PollsEverywhere. Students answered questions in writing such as if they liked math, what they
learned, and what they want to tell the teacher about math class. From this data source, I found a
large increase in students liking math. I also found that students had stronger feelings about
math. This data source showed me that the students had less negative things to say about math
class. The student surveys showed that the students were better able to ask for help and use
precise words. I also noticed that students were better able to describe their mathematical
thinking.
31
From the student survey, I saw a large theme about a positive attitude towards math. I
noticed more positive comments, and stronger feelings towards math as I used the guided peer
discussion method more. Students described math as being “awesome” and “so much fun” when
described what they thought about math. One child said, “it is not boring anymore”. I believe
that the students thought that math was more fun with the guided peer discussion method
because they are more engaged, they can talk instead of sit quietly, and they get to do more
math. One student even said, ‘I do not like it when you do the math on the board and we just
watch. I like when we can do the math, too.” Another thing the students shared with me at the
end of the study were signs that they were doing math at home. One student said, “I do math at
home.”
I did see a theme of a negative attitude towards math in the student survey. I noticed
comments such as “boring” when asked what the students thought about math. When I asked
what their favorite part about math was, a few students said, “nothing” at times. I noticed a
decrease in this as time went on. I think that the decrease was because students began to
understand concepts more. I think that some of the students who said math was boring are ones
who have difficulties with math, are students who have social issues, or may feel uncomfortable
talking with other students. Also, I think that there are some students who do not like to
participate in school and do not like having to participate. One student wrote, “You make us talk
#boo”.
A theme that I thought was very insightful was the amount of students who asked for
help. I thought it was interesting that many students wanted help. One student wrote, “I don’t
know what to write on my board so I just copy what you put on the board.”. Two other students
wrote, “Math is hard. Help” and “How are you so good at math? I want to do be, too.” I think
32
that these students recognizes that they struggle and have an urgency to do better. Another
student wrote, “Don’t go higher past 100. I don’t know those numbers”. This was said in Week
6 of the study. I think it is interesting that this student was able to identify what it was that
he/she did not understand. I believe that the guided peer discussion method helped the student
focus on concepts and identify what it was that he/she did not understand.
The last theme that I recognized from student surveys was a focus on non-math concerns
during the math lesson. In the beginning of the study, a few students were telling on friends in
the survey. One student said, “(name omitted) takes my dry-erase marker”. After I began using
the guided peer discussion method, I saw that telling on other students stopped. I saw more
excitement about math and themes of math being positive to them. I think more students were
excited about math because it started to make more sense, and they could do more. Students
who struggled with certain concepts were able to understand it, and apply what they knew to new
equations.
Each data source provided me with valuable information. Each source gave me insight
and perspective on different aspects of how guided peer discussions affect students in
mathematics. Taking the information I gathered, I have developed a plan for myself and for my
school.
33
Findings
I found many things when looking at the data from my Action Research Project. I looked
at both the quantitative and qualitative data. I looked for ideas that matched my findings in the
literature review and ideas that did not match my findings in the literature review. I shared my
findings from my Action Research Project with my Professional Learning Community at my
school.
There are many similarities and differences between my findings, and the findings of
others in terms of positive thoughts that students have about math. First of all, both my findings
and the findings of others found that when students use critical thinking skills, they can be more
creative and flexible in finding better ways to understand number sense. Another similarity is
that we both found that students were doing math outside of the classroom. I had students were
doing math at home, and the literature I reviewed found that students could solve math problems
that did not look like the ones in their math class. A third similarity is that students
communicated their more clearly and precisely.
There are some differences between my findings and the findings of others in the math
community. I found an increase in student attitude and like of math as students learned more
through guided peer discussion. The other studies did not report student attitude. Another
difference we had is that the literature I reviewed reported an increase in metacognitive talk,
instead of cognitive talk. I did not find this.
Another theme I found was negative thoughts or attitudes towards math. I looked for
similarities between my findings and findings of others in my literature review. A small
similarity that I would was that there can be negative thoughts about math.
34
There are much more differences between the findings of others and my findings in
regards to negative student attitude towards math. I found that the students who struggled with
math had a negative attitude towards it. I also found that there was a significant decrease in the
negative attitudes towards math after students began learning in the guided peer discussion
method. Some students reported that math was no longer boring. My findings in my Literature
Review looked more at teacher preconceptions in math. The literature discussed more about
teacher and adults not having an in depth understanding of math concepts and how that affects
their teaching or solving of math problems.
Parents and students asking for help was another theme that I saw in my study. One
similarity between my findings and the findings of others was that students asked for help in
both. However, in the literature I reviewed I found that students were asking for help during
lessons. From my findings, I did not use an assessment to see if the students were asking for
help during the lessons. However, I did find that after I began using the guided peer discussion
method, the students were asking for help on a student survey after the lesson. One student said,
‘ I don’t know what to put on my board so I just copy what is on your board. I need help”.
There were other differences between my findings, and the findings of others that I
reviewed. I found that parents were asking for more resources and math work to help their child
become better at math. I found that parents wanted help for their child, regardless of what
method I taught. As students learned through the guided peer discussion method, I found that the
students began asking for more and more help. I did not find evidence of others discussing this
in literature I reviewed.
The last theme I found in my project was a focus on non-mathematical issues during
math class. I looked for similarities between my findings and the findings in my Literature
35
Review. I found that the works of others did not mention this. My findings differed from others
in that I found parents and students were focusing on non-math concerns such as student
behavior and who they were sitting next to. When I switched to guided peer discussion method,
I saw a decrease in students and parents reporting on these. I believe more students were
engaged.
I shared my findings with the Professional Learning Community at my school. I shared a
powerpoint presentation of more than 15 slides. I attendance was my building principal, more
than 3 general educators, special education teachers, and elective class teachers. The
presentation took approximately 15 minutes.
The findings in my research add to the findings of the research of others. I found many
similarities, and some differences. After sharing my findings with my Professional Learning
Community at my school, I hope that my colleagues will take the findings into account when
designing mathematic lesson plans.

36
Recommendation
The data I gained from my Action Research Project has given me valuable
information. It has showed me the effects guided peer discussions can have on students in
mathematics. I have identified many ways that I can prove my teaching with this information.
In my classroom, I would like to do several things as a result from my Action Research
Program. First of all, I would like to focus on guiding my students in deeper conversations.
Also, I would like to give my students stems that lead to higher-order thinking in student
conversations. I would also like to keep in mind the learning scale for that lesson, and think of
purposeful discourse that would help students grow to the next learning level. In addition, I
would like to relook at the articles and pieces of literature that I reviewed for the project. I
would like to further study these articles, and additional articles. Finally, I would like to do an
additional Action Research Project that observes the conversations between students to look for
evidence of conceptual understanding.

37
School-wide Improvement Plan
Improving student learning is not only important to consider for my classroom, but also
for my school. I would like to use the data from my Action Research Project to help improve the
student learning of mathematics in my school.
After doing this Action Research Project, I have some suggestions that my school could
do to improve student learning in mathematics. First of all, my school could form a voluntary
building level Math Cohort. This cohort could focus on gaining more professional development
on how to teach math concepts with research based strategies. This cohort could also do more
Action Research on guided peer discussions that focus on purposeful discourse in discussions. I
also suggest that my school offers a voluntary book club and voluntary math professional
development that focuses on research based math teaching strategies. My school has Math
Leaders assigned to each school. Teachers would benefit from more coaching and co-teaching
with the Math Leader. The last suggestion would be for the school to invest in math intervention
tools and begin a math intervention program. My district has district level assessments that
students are already taking. Teachers could use these assessments that students are already
taking as their data collection.
My district’s improvement plan is “The Blueprint” through MiExcel. My plan fits into
two statements included the The Blueprint which state “TCAPS delivers a rigorous and relevant
education for every student with a strong foundation and cutting edge opportunities.” and
Improved performance for all students.” My district is committed to a rigorous and relevant
education, which includes teaching students a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts.
My recommended action aligns with this goal as it involves teachers looking at better teaching
38
practices, learning these practices, and doing more Action Research to find better ways to teach
mathematics.
There are several potential barriers to implementing this plan. First of all, teachers at my
school are very involved in other programs, clubs, and initiatives. There may not be available
teachers to be a part of a cohort. Also, there are not funds or time available for teachers to be in
a cohort. This would be on the teacher’s own time. This could be overcome by asking for
teacher volunteers, or offering a stipend for teachers willing to be in the cohort. Another barrier
to my recommended action is teachers may not be educated in what an Action Research project
is, or have time to do one. This barrier could be overcome by myself teaching others how to do
an Action Research project. Also, Action Research projects could be tied into the SMART goals
that we already do. A voluntary book club could run into difficulties of findings monies for the
books and teachers having time to meet. This carrier could be solved by speaking with
administration for funding, finding free articles online, or finding books that staff members
already have. The book club could be done online, which would help with those who cannot
meet in person. It might be difficult for teachers to get coaching time or co-teaching time with
the Math Leader. This could be helped by explaining to administration what we would like the
Math Leader for and getting approval for her to have a guest teacher in her classroom. Also, we
could ask the district for more Math Leaders. Funding for optional professional development
may be difficult for buildings to pay for. We could look for professional development online
that is free, or articles that are free. The last barrier to my plan involves a math intervention
program. Funding for this is a huge barrier. Also, time in the classroom is a large barrier as
schools already have difficulties scheduling reading intervention and special education. Having
another interventionist would be helpful. Also, we could look for less expensive of free math
39
intervention programs that are research based. Also, our building could approach the PTO to
help with funding.
Making several manageable changes based on the data from my Action Research
Program can really help improve student learning. I can making improvements with the learning
of my students, and the learning of students in my school.
Sharing
I presented my findings on December 19th at a building staff meeting. The meeting was
attended by general education teachers, special education teachers, specials teachers, a reading
interventionist, long term substitute teachers, and the building administrator. This complied with
the criteria that my project is shared within a professional learning community consisting of at
least three other teachers and one person in a supervisory role. I shared my findings with a slide
presentation. It lasted approximately 15 minutes. My presentation consisted of my research
question, my Action Research Project, a Literature Review of the research I found, Data
Collection tools, my analysis, my findings, and my Action Plan. This is in compliance with the
criteria for sharing the presentation. At the end, staff and the building administrator had an
opportunity to ask further questions about the project.

40
Recommended Action
The data I gained from my Action Research Project has given me valuable
information. It has showed me the effects guided peer discussions can have on students in
mathematics. I have identified many ways that I can prove my teaching with this information.
In my classroom, I would like to do several things as a result from my Action Research
Program. First of all, I would like to focus on guiding my students in deeper conversations. I
would like to do this because I noticed that students were not discussing topics unless I guided
them to. Also, I would like to give my students stems that lead to higher-order thinking in
student conversations. Since I saw in increase in student comprehension, I believe that helping
students grow in this area is feasible. I would also like to keep in mind the learning scale for that
lesson, and think of purposeful discourse that would help students grow to the next learning
level. In addition, I would like to relook at the articles and pieces of literature that I reviewed for
the project. I would like to further study these articles, and additional articles. After having
done my Action Research Project, I may see the articles in new light. Or, I may gain another
idea of something to try. Finally, I would like to do an additional Action Research Project that
observes the conversations between students to look for evidence of conceptual understanding.
After carefully looking for my research data I would like to make these changes in my
own classroom. I believe that these changes are manageable, and will help improve student
learning in mathematics in my classroom. I also believe that these changes will help students
become more excited and positive about math.

41
School-Wide Improvement Plan
After doing this Action Research Project, I have some suggestions that my school could
do to improve student learning in mathematics. First of all, my school could form a voluntary
building level Math Cohort. This cohort could focus on gaining more professional development
on how to teach math concepts with research based strategies. This cohort could also do more
Action Research on guided peer discussions that focus on purposeful discourse in discussions. I
believe that a cohort could help individual teachers learn the guided peer discussion method,
provide coaching opportunities, and teachers could learn from one another. I also suggest that
my school offers a voluntary book club and voluntary math professional development that
focuses on research based math teaching strategies. A book club or professional development
opportunity could help teachers improve in leading students to higher-order thinking skills in
conversations, and teach the teachers what the large math concepts are. My school has Math
Leaders assigned to each school. Teachers would benefit from more coaching and co-teaching
with the Math Leader. In my school, the Math Leaders attend a lot of math training. Gaining
from their expertise could really help teachers improve student learning. The last suggestion
would be for the school to invest in math intervention tools and begin a math intervention
program. My district has district level assessments that students are already taking. Teachers
could use these assessments that students are already taking as their data collection.
My district’s improvement plan is “The Blueprint” through MiExcel. My plan fits into
two statements included the The Blueprint which state “TCAPS delivers a rigorous and relevant
education for every student with a strong foundation and cutting edge opportunities.” and
Improved performance for all students.” My district is committed to a rigorous and relevant
education, which includes teaching students a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts.
My recommended action aligns with this goal as it involves teachers looking at better teaching
42
practices, learning these practices, and doing more Action Research to find better ways to teach
mathematics.
There are several potential barriers to implementing this plan. First of all, teachers at my
school are very involved in other programs, clubs, and initiatives. There may not be available
teachers to be a part of a cohort. Also, there are not funds or time available for teachers to be in
a cohort. This would be on the teacher’s own time. This could be overcome by asking for
teacher volunteers, or offering a stipend for teachers willing to be in the cohort. Another barrier
to my recommended action is teachers may not be educated in what an Action Research project
is, or have time to do one. This barrier could be overcome by myself teaching others how to do
an Action Research project. Also, Action Research projects could be tied into the SMART goals
that we already do. A voluntary book club could run into difficulties of findings monies for the
books and teachers having time to meet. This carrier could be solved by speaking with
administration for funding, finding free articles online, or finding books that staff members
already have. The book club could be done online, which would help with those who cannot
meet in person. It might be difficult for teachers to get coaching time or co-teaching time with
the Math Leader. This could be helped by explaining to administration what we would like the
Math Leader for and getting approval for her to have a guest teacher in her classroom. Also, we
could ask the district for more Math Leaders. Funding for optional professional development
may be difficult for buildings to pay for. We could look for professional development online
that is free, or articles that are free. The last barrier to my plan involves a math intervention
program. Funding for this is a huge barrier. Also, time in the classroom is a large barrier as
schools already have difficulties scheduling reading intervention and special education. Having
another interventionist would be helpful. Also, we could look for less expensive of free math
43
intervention programs that are research based. Also, our building could approach the PTO to
help with funding.
There are many changes and actions that my school and I can accomplish to help student
learning in mathematics with guided peer discussions. Some of these actions help bring teachers
together. Other actions provide learning and growth opportunities for the teachers. Different
opportunities have different barriers, but these barriers could be overcome with more support.
My desire is that my school and myself take actions that take into account the data I gained from
my Action Research Project.

44
Sharing
I presented my findings on December 19th at a building staff meeting. The meeting was
attended by general education teachers, special education teachers, specials teachers, a reading
interventionist, long term substitute teachers, and the building administrator. This complied with
the criteria that my project is shared within a professional learning community consisting of at
least three other teachers and one person in a supervisory role. I shared my findings with a slide
presentation. It lasted approximately 15 minutes. My presentation consisted of my research
question, my Action Research Project, a Literature Review of the research I found, Data
Collection tools, my analysis, my findings, and my Action Plan. This is in compliance with the
criteria for sharing the presentation. At the end, staff and the building administrator had an
opportunity to ask further questions about the project.

45
Reference
Akman, O., & Alagoz, B. (2018). Relation between metacognitive awareness and participation
to class discussion of university students. Universal Journal of Educational Research,
6(1), 11-24. Retrieved from eric.ed.gov doi:www.hrpub.org
Andrew Joyce-Gibbons (2016) Observe, interact and act: teachers’ initiation of mini-plenaries to
scaffold small-group collaboration, Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 26:1, 51-68,
DOI: 10.1080/1475939X.2016.1173089
Arias de Sanchez, G., Gabriel 1, M., Anderson, A., & Turnbull, M. (2018). Code-switching
explorations in teaching early number sense. Education Sciences, 8(38). Retrieved
from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1174980.pdf
Backer, David I. (2014). The Distortion of Discussion (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from
Colombia Universities Library. https://doi.org/10.7916/D8GX48QX
Julie M. Smith & Rebecca Mancy (2018) Exploring the relationship between metacognitive and
collaborative talk during group mathematical problem-solving – what do we mean by
collaborative metacognition?,Research in Mathematics Education, 20:1, 14-36, DOI:
10.1080/14794802.2017.1410215
LaRusso, M., Jones, S., Yeon Kim, H., Kim, J., Donovan, S., & Snow, C. (2016). Impacts of a
discussion-based zcademic language program on classroom interactions in 4th through
7th grades. Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness.
Mills, G. E. (2014). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher. New Jersey: Pearson.
Murphy, C. (2016). Changing the way to teach math: preservice primary teachers’ reflections
on using exploratory talk in teaching mathematics. Mathematics Teacher Education
and Development , 18(2), 29-47. Retrieved from
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1113962.pdf
46
Sagor, R. (1992). How to Conduct Collaborative Action Research. ASCD: Alexandria, Virginia
USA.
Sarah A. (2011, May 31). Qualitative VS Quantitative Research [Video file] Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddx9PshVWXI&feature=related
Seeley, C. (2017). Turning Teaching Upside Down. Educational Leadership, 75(2), 32-36.
Retrieved from
https://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080%2F1475939X.2016.1
173089 doi:ASCD
Su, H.F., Ricci, F.A., & Mnatsakanian, M. (2016). Mathematical teaching strategies: Pathways to
critical thinking and metacognition. Journal of Research in Education and Science
(IJRES), 2 (1), 190-200
Troci, A., Taylor, C., Starling, T., Sztajn, P., & Heck, D. (2015). Launching A Discourse-Rich
Mathematics Lesson. Teaching Children Mathematics, 21(5). Retrieved from
file:///C:/Users/WillisMa/Downloads/tcm2014-12-276a.pdf
47
Appendix A
Data Collection Matrix
Research Question Data Source
1 2 3 4
What are the Parent Survey: Student Survey Story Problem Quick Quiz
effects of guided Quiz
communication on Student Attitudes Student Attitudes Student Addition
student learning in Towards Math Towards Math Student ability to Fluency
mathematics describe how they
Effects of Effects of students solve a math
students in in mathematics problem.
mathematics
Student
mathematical
comprehension.
48
Appendix B
Google Form Parent Survey
Parent Survey-1
Parent Survey-2
49
Parent Survey 3
50
Appendix C
PollsEverywhere Student Survey
Student Survey 1
Student Survey 2
51
52
Student Survey 3
53
Appendix D
Survey Monkey
SurveyMonkey Quiz 1
54
SurveyMonkey Quiz 2
55
SurveyMonkey Quiz 3
56
SurveyMonkey Quiz 4
57
SurveyMonkey Quiz 5
58
SurveyMonkey Quiz 6
59
Appendix E
Quiz Egg
Week One Quiz

60
Week Two Quiz

61
62
Week Three Quiz

63
64
Week Four Quiz
65
Week Five Quiz

66
Week 6 Quiz
67
68
The Answer Key to the quizzes are below:

Quiz 1
6. A.10
7. A.9
8. B.9
9. C.4
10. B. 2
Quiz 2
6. B.11
7. C.9
8. A.11
9. B.4
10. C.6
Quiz 3
6. C.7
7. A.7
8. B.6
9. A.4
10. A.8
Quiz 4
6. B.4
7. A.90
8. C.10
9. C. 4
10. B.11
Quiz 5
6. A.16
7. B.5
8. C.12
9. B. 3
10. A.6
Quiz 6
6. C.13
7. B.8
69
8. A.7
9. B. 8
10. C. 6
70
Appendix F
Quiz Egg Data
Quiz Egg Fluency Check

120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Mean 50.3 54.3 58.5 80 82 86.4
Median 50 50 50 80 100 100
Mode 40 50 40 100 100 100
Quiz Egg Data
20 40 50 80 100
Week 1 5 9 7 5 2
Week 2 6 6 8 2 6
Week 3 4 8 6 3 7
Week 4 1 3 2 10 12
Week 5 2 0 4 7 15
Week 6 1 0 2 10 15
71
Appendix G
Survey Monkey Data
Survey Monkey Word Problem

1.2
1.15
1.1
1.05
0.95
0.9
Mean 1.13 1.17 1.1 1.1 1.17 1.06
Median 1 1 1 1 1 1
Mode 1 1 1 1 1 1
Survey Monkey Word Problem Data
1 2 3 4
Week 1 24 3 1 0
Week 2 23 4 1 0
Week 3 25 2 1 0
Week 4 24 4 0 0
Week 5 23 4 1 0
Week 6 24 3 1 0
72
Survey Monkey Correct Right

0 1 2 3 Linear (3)
30
25 24
25 22 23
20
15 13 12
10 10
10
4 4 4
5 2 3 1 1 2 3 2
0 0 1 0 1 1
0
0 22 23 25 24 10 12
1 2 0 0 0 13 4
2 3 4 1 1 1 10
3 1 1 2 3 4 2
Mean Median Mode

Week 1 .39 0 0
Week 2 .39 0 0
Week 3 .25 0 0
Week 4 .36 0 0
Week 5 .96 1 1
Week 6 1.07 1 0
73
Appendix H
Effects of Guided Peer Discussion on Students in Mathematics Powerpoint

74
75
76
77
78
79

Willis Capstone B Assignment

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Copyright

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Willis Capstone B Assignment

Caricato da

Copyright:

1

Running Head: PEER DISCUSSIONS

Effects Of Guided Peer Discussions On Student Learning In Mathematics

Elementary School. My project is titled “Effects Of Guided Peer Discussions On Student

students increase their understanding of mathematical concepts.

one year as a lower elementary Reading Interventionist. I attended Northern Michigan

discussions will show an increase in student learning.

My current school, Cherry Knoll Elementary is in a very affluent, northern Michigan

Hispanic, Asian, South American and African-American ethnicities. A small percentage of

characteristics of the elementary school in which I conducted my research in.

look closely at what the data is really telling me.

Researches are bound by a code of ethics to help protect students (“Teacher As

a loss of self-esteem (Teacher As Researcher”, 2013). In my action research project, I had to be

order to conduct an action research project in an ethical way.

the way we learned math--with memorization.

learning in mathematics. Action research is when the researcher is participating in research of an

have about what a discussion with students should be.

What Traditionally, Teachers Think Math Should Be

awareness of student mathematical thinking as “knowing-to.” In the article Turning Teaching

Math Should Be Critical Thinking

cognitive approach, student-centered, question and inquiry-based, free of memorization and

critical thinking” (Su, Ricci and Mnatsakanian, 2016).

groups to come up with a way to solve it (Seeley, 2017).

metacognitive and collaborative talk during group mathematical problem-solving – what do we

mean by collaborative metacognition? want to better understand the relationship between

processes (Mancy and Smith, 2018).

In their article, Impacts of a Discussion-based Academic Language Program on

academic success. The article presents an exploratory analysis of treatment-control differences

Jones, Kim, Donovan and Snow, 2016).

However, in his article, The Distortion of Discussion, Backer gives a strong

of international pattern in educational contexts and connotes participation, dialogue, openness,

orchestration and teacher–student interaction” (Joyce-Gibbons, 2015).

Data Collection Matrix

Research Question Data Source

quizzes and fluency checks.

for each survey:

1. Does your child talk positively about math?

2. Does your child discuss math concepts at home?

1. Do you like math?

2. Have you learned something new in math?

3. What have you learned in math?

4. What is your favorite part of math class?

5. What is your least favorite part of math class?

The quiz questions would be as follows:

invite to her birthday party?

Kayla’s dad put in the cart?

could not make Allie’s birthday party?

many friends could not come to Sydney’s birthday party?

planted 12 flowers. How many daisies did Max plant?

How many students ate bananas?

4 All of level 3, plus included how to check your answer.

quiz questions I used are as follows:

1. 6+4= A.10, B. 2, C.9

2. 18-9= A.9, B.10,C. 27

3. 6+_=15 A.10, B.21, C.15

1. 5+8= A.3, B.13,C. 8

2. 17-8= A.10, B.21, C.8

3. 2+9= A.11,B. 7, C.6

1. 15-_=8 A.9, B.6, C.7

2. 13-6=__ A.7,B. 2,C. 19

3. 5+_= 11 A.5, B.6, C.16

1. 6+_=10 A.2, B.4, C.16

2. 80+10= A.90, B.70, C.60

1. 7+9= A.16, B.15, C.2

2. 14-_=9 A.20, B.5, C.23

3. 7+_=19 A.21, B.10, C.12

1. 9+4= A.5, B.6, C.13