Action Research Plan

Introduction

As I reached the halfway point in my career as a high school French teacher, I found myself stagnating as an educator. I felt that my teaching methodology was effective, or at the very least adequate, but I knew that I was not taking advantage of the many tools that now exist to improve and enrich students’ learning experiences. When I first began to teach in 1998, my school did not have email, and my technology tools consisted of an overhead projector and a cassette/CD player. As I began the DLL program at Lamar University, my eyes were opened to the possibilities that technology tools can offer to teaching and learning, provided that they are implemented well with the appropriate planning. My interest in technology-enhanced education turned quickly to blended learning, and then to developing an in-class blended learning environment for my students. (Please visit my innovation plan for more details on how I am establishing this environment in my classroom.) The development of language skills – listening, speaking, reading, and writing – occurs at a different pace for different students. I realized through my research that an in-class blended learning environment could provide my students the opportunity to dedicate their learning time to the skills that they find the most challenging, while still having the benefits that come from face-to-face instruction.

Below you will find my action research plan. If you would like an abbreviated version, I invite you to review my action research plan outline.

Topic

This action research plan will begin by looking at the effect of blended learning on the development of speaking and writing skills for second year high school French students. There will also be a long-term component which will look at the effect of blended learning on Advanced Placement French Language and Culture examination results.

Purpose

In an increasingly global society, communication skills are essential. This study will determine if the blended learning model is more effective in helping students to develop speaking and writing skills than the traditional teaching model, thus helping them become global citizens.

Research Question

The fundamental research question of this study is two-fold:

What effect does the in-class blended learning model that I have developed for second year high school French students have on students’ speaking and writing skills?
How do students perceive the blended learning process?

Research Design and Methodology

This action research study will use an explanatory mixed methods design. I will compare the scores on speaking and writing performance assessments from students in this year’s pilot program with those of previous years’ students who experienced a more traditional teaching and learning approach. This will require using the same rubrics for the pilot group as I used in past years with the control group in order to maintain consistency with the data. I will also seek information on how students’ perceptions about blended learning correlate to their actual performance by using a Likert-type questionnaire and determining the mode value of the data collected.

Data To Be Collected

There will be both a short term and a long term element to this action research study. The largest portion of this study will be an analysis of comparative data between the control group who experienced a more traditional approach to language instruction and the experimental (or pilot) group, whose learning experiences took place in the in-class blended learning environment that I designed for them. To compare the speaking and writing skill development between the control group and the pilot group, the following data will be collected:

scores from speaking and writing performance assessments of students who experienced an in-class blended learning environment
scores from speaking and writing performance assessments of previous years’ students who did not experience a blended learning environment

It will require several years to complete the long term portion of this action research study. My French teacher colleague and I will look at the effect of the in-class blended learning environment over the course of the French program within our high school. The data to be collected for this longitudinal study include:

speaking and writing performance data from Advanced Placement French Language and Culture examination for students who experienced traditional learning experiences throughout their high school French courses
speaking and writing performance data from Advanced Placement French Language and Culture examination for students who experienced an in-class blended learning environment throughout their high school French courses

Finally, student perceptions are important, especially when teaching an elective course where the enrollment depends upon student interest and enthusiasm for the language, the culture, and the learning environment. Consequently, I will collecting data regarding students’ opinions:

information about students’ perceptions of blended learning for the purpose of developing speaking and writing skills at the mid-point and end of students’ second year of French
information about students’ perceptions of their overall blended learning experiences at the conclusion of the Advanced Placement French Language and Culture course.

Measurement Instruments

There will be two essential measurement tools for gathering the data in this action research study:

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to compare speaking and writing performance assessment scores of students who experienced blended learning and students who experienced traditional teaching and learning methodologies.
Likert-type scale to assess students’ perceptions of blended learning.

Literature Review

There is a significant amount of literature available on the topic of blended learning both within the United States and abroad. The vaste majority of the research points to the overall effectiveness and advantages of the blended learning environment compared to traditional teaching and learning experiences, provided that the former is planned and implemented well. These benefits are evident across all content areas. While there are some challenges to adopting this teaching and learning strategy, most data shows that the effort is well worth the time and resources. Please read my review of the literature for more information about why I believe that my action research will show that blended learning is a better choice for teaching world language skills.