Sustainable Classroom Project - Case Study Introduction

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Overview | Project Background | Study Design | Report Format | Investigation Questions | Case Studies

Overview

Provided by the ESD 112 Educational Technology Support Center
Conducted by MLaCounte Services

The goal of the 2005-2006 Sustainable Classroom Project was to develop a replicable classroom model of technology integration that was sustainable and supported research-based instructional strategies. The technology tools selected for the project by the Educational Technology Support Center at Educational Service District 112 (ESD 112) in Vancouver, Washington, included interactive whiteboards, document cameras, projectors, and wireless response systems. These digital tools were chosen because they were highly visual, interactive technologies that were operable with a single classroom computer. The instructional strategies selected for the project were those identified in the book Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies by Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock (ASCD, 2001).

Ten technology-proficient teachers from school districts in Washington Educational Service District 112 (ESD 112) were selected to test the year-long project. The work of these teachers was studied throughout the school year under the direction of Dr. Marlene LaCounte (MLaCounte Services). The purpose of the research study was to examine in what ways selected digital tools could support and strengthen research-based instructional strategies.

Read the summary overviews of the experimental lessons:

Project Background

Teachers

Ten teachers from school districts in Washington Educational Service District #112 (E.S.D. 112) were selected to participate in a year-long project designed to investigate the above research question. The teachers were selected from three levels - primary (three second grade teachers), middle grades (four teachers of multiple subjects in grades 5-8), and high school (two social studies teachers and one mathematics teacher). The selected teachers possessed at least intermediate level technology literacy skills and were committed to devoting time outside of the regular school day to learn new skills and plan technology-rich lessons. In addition, they agreed to document and share their work. To provide a small level of anonymity, teachers who participated in the study selected pseudonyms and school districts were not identified by name.

Technology

In partnership with several technology companies, E.S.D. 112 provided each teacher with an interactive whiteboard, a document camera, projector, and wireless classroom response system. A classroom sound amplification system was installed in each teacher’s room, as well. The school districts involved provided a laptop computer (no more than one year old), software, high-speed Internet access, and technical support for all equipment. Three brands of interactive whiteboards and wireless response systems were used in the project – five teachers used SmartBoards with eInstruction’s CPS system; four teachers used Promethean’s ActivBoard and ActiVote systems, and one teacher used a Hitachi interactive panel with eInstruction’s CPS system. In the project report, these technologies were reported by their generic names (i.e. interactive whiteboards and wireless response systems). There was no attempt to relate teachers’ or students’ perceptions of the success of activities to the brand of the equipment used.

Professional Development

E.S.D. 112 provided professional development for teachers in using the new technologies and for implementing research-based instructional practices. The participating teachers attended technology training sessions at E.S.D. 112, and took part in an on-line study of the nine research-based instructional practices substantiated by Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock in their book, Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies (ASCD, 2001).

In addition to providing a forum for the teachers to study, reflect and collaborate, the online book study was used as a conduit for data gathering. The complete book study took 30 weeks, not including school breaks. It was organized according to chapters in the text, Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies.

During the first week, teachers read Chapter 1 of the text and learned to use Blackboard Academic Suite’s online study tools, such as online threaded discussions and the digital dropbox. Using these tools, they responded to two online questions and submitted their first journals.

The main body of the book study, Instructional Strategies 1-9 in Chapters 2-10 of the text, took 27 weeks to complete. The study of each instructional strategy extended over a three-week period. During the first week of each instructional strategy, teachers read the chapter and responded to online threaded discussion questions that were designed to stimulate their thinking about 1) how to use the strategy in their classrooms and 2) how to integrate the project technology with the instructional strategy. At the end of the week, teachers wrote their initial thoughts and feelings about the instructional strategy in Journal 1. For the second week, teachers developed experimental lessons for using the instructional strategy and technology in their classrooms. They submitted an Instructional Strategy Worksheet (ISW) that described their lesson topic, how they had previously taught that topic, and their plans for teaching the experimental lesson. In the third week of each strategy study, the teachers taught the experimental lesson and used the wireless response system to administer the student evaluation of the lesson. To complete the study of each strategy, teachers submitted Journal 2 in which they reflected on the lesson as it related to the instructional strategy and the project technology. Finally, they completed an online survey (Zoomerang) in which they analyzed the lesson.

During the final two weeks of the book study, teachers read Chapters 11 and 12 of the text, respectively. Each week they participated in threaded discussions with their peers and submitted a reflective journal.

Study Design

This study followed an ethnographic research model and used a case study reporting design. The investigator took a naturalistic-ecological perspective in that the goal was to understand the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the teacher and student participants as they occurred in their natural context, i.e. the classroom. Hence, scheduled time was spent observing and collecting data in non-interfering ways in the classrooms of each of the teachers involved in the study.

In addition to direct data accumulated by the researcher, processes were set up to gather descriptive, qualitative, and phenomenological information from the teachers themselves (see the above discussion of online book study). Information was collected on the processes in which the teachers engaged; the technology they used in relationship to selected instructional strategies; and, teacher and student responses to those processes, tools, and strategies.

Teacher participants were involved in the development of information gathering processes and the research instruments. Teachers were asked to keep journals of their thoughts, to engage in online threaded discussions with others in the project, to periodically respond to surveys, to provide documentation in the form of lesson plans, and to compare and contrast their lessons before and after training. Three times during the school year, teachers came together to discuss the project and share information. As a final point, the wireless response systems were used to gather information from students in the form of evaluative surveys about each instructional strategy tested and the equipment used.

Report Format

The information gathered during the Sustainable Classroom Project was reported in the form of an individual case study for each of the ten teachers involved in the Project. Each case study included biographical information about the teacher; descriptive information about his or her school district, classroom, and students; classroom photographs; and narrative descriptions of teachers thoughts, feelings, and activities as they progressively worked through the nine instructional strategies in the text Classroom Instruction that Works: Research-Based Strategies.

The narrative descriptions included the primary investigator’s selections and interpretations of documents submitted by teachers; teachers’ unedited words; onsite observation notes; and compiled numeric data from student evaluations. Throughout the study, and again at the end, teachers read and analyzed drafts of the case study documents and the final report to edit and correct, as needed, for fact and interpretation.

For the purpose of better capturing authentic feelings, the investigator asked teachers to write their journals in the form of letters to a trusted friend or colleague. Hence, they were written in informal English. For the most part, this informal language pattern was retained in the report in order to maintain the flavor and intensity of teachers’ responses.

Investigation Questions

The information gathered during the Sustainable Classroom Project was reported in the form of comprehensive individual case studies of teachers involved in the project. These case studies were compiled from the information submitted by teachers in their journals and lesson plans, onsite observation, and student evaluations when available.

These case studies may provide answers to questions of educators in a variety of roles, such as: