In my professional teaching context, both qualitative and quantitative data are valuable. It is essential to consider this mixed-methods approach in order to validate data results and arrive at comprehensive conclusions about teaching that can be used to influence policy makers.
Teaching secondary school music, the data that I collect is usually quantitative. After teaching a new concept, the students partake in some form of assessment, whether that is formative or summative. I collect their responses and see how they performed, in order to decide how to proceed with my lessons next. If the results from the students were collectively low, then there is most likely something I need to go back and review with the class. Quantitative data allows me to see which specific areas in the learning will require extra time and revision. It shows trends and patterns in students and will guide me to create appropriate instructional practices and make improvements.
I also collect qualitative data in my teaching but am using it mostly for observation purposes. I generally do not go through transcriptions of data and analyze it. In my classroom setting, I like to collect qualitative data through the form of a survey or exit ticket. I will use surveys at the end of units to collect individual student responses. Some questions I like to pose are, 1) What is one concept or activity we did during this unit that you enjoyed? 2) What is one concept or activity from the unit that you found challenging? 3) What is one concept from the unit that you would like to explore further? Lastly, I provide students a comment box where they can write me additional thoughts. I encourage them to let me know how I can make the learning more accessible for them. I used to create these forms on paper but lately have been using the Google Forms software, as it collects all responses into one Excel sheet that I can go through on my own time and make notes directly on the sheet.
To address my problem of practice and inquiry questions from Module 2, quantitative data sources could assist with this. Quantitative data would help to identify trends and patterns in the learning that students experienced when Literacy skills were introduced into the Music education curriculum. I would like to collect assessment and evaluation results from before, during, and after the learning experiences in order to compare data. The data collection needs to be ongoing and embedded into the classroom, so that results can be as timely and accurate as possible. As Aidley (2018) suggests, utilizing measures of central tendency such as the mean, median, and mode, would be helpful in identifying trends in student averages in my research study. For example, report cards are structured to show a student’s mark in the course in comparison to the overall class average. I plan to collect and analyze quantitative data after each assessment, during midterm reports, and final reports.
If I were to combine qualitative data collection into my research, I would involve students and staff. Students from Music classes in a semester (around 80 participants) would partake in online surveys that ask them to reflect on their learnings and what could be improved for next time. I would offer students the option to participate in focus groups. Focus groups would be approximately 5 students per group, and I would conduct one for each Music class in a semester, which is the equivalent of 15 students. Finally, I would have Music staff (just myself, in my professional context), my Arts department head, English curriculum teachers, and 1-2 administrators to complete a staff survey. This would be approximately 10 staff partaking in this research and data collection. Qualitative data collection would occur at the beginning, during, and end of the semester.
As Morris (2015) described, qualitative data can be subjective, as it considers individual perspectives and experiences. I would need to present my research and inquiry questions in an equitable and approachable way, so that participants feel comfortable to answer genuinely, so as to not skew data results. Every stakeholder who is involved in the Music and Literacy curriculum would have the opportunity to share their responses and experiences. The curriculum I design and the perspectives that I present would be representative of my students, while still being mindful and respectful of people’s backgrounds and experiences.
Using Excel to organize the quantitative data, I will collect student performance results throughout the semester and compare the results. For qualitative research, I will follow the 5 key stages that Morris (2015) stated to transcribe, analyze, and write up interviews. Once I have collected this data, analyzed its themes and interpreted it, I would like to present it in a PowerPoint format to present at PLC and staff meetings. The data that I collect is an ongoing process and this presentation would be one that is constantly being reviewed throughout the semester. Bringing the data to PLC’s and staff meetings would allow other teachers and administrators to participate in the research process, discuss next steps, and examine the trends in student performance. My hope is that by collaborating with teachers outside of my department, other teachers will feel encouraged to create their own research studies, or participate in research that aims to understand student performance and behaviour.
Some challenges that I can foresee with collecting and analyzing data are; miscommunication amongst stakeholders, insufficient funding for the project, inadequate time to complete all activities, and teachers not receiving the appropriate toolkits and resources. In order for data analysis to run smoothly, constant communication amongst all stakeholders needs to occur. Groothuijsen et al. (2020) explained the benefits of collaboration between stakeholders; it allows teachers to voice their concerns and researchers to address these concerns. Administrators should set a positive example and help with creating time during work hours to work on data analysis. Doing this will also minimize the misconception some educators have that education and research are entirely separate practices. Instructional training that models teaching and learning strategies should be provided for educators, as well as information sessions that explains what the research entails and its significance to all stakeholders. Support strategies must be provided for staff who are leading the research, so that they can work towards making a positive difference in student learning without experiencing burnout.
Through a combination of collecting qualitative and quantitative data, I will be able to collect feedback in collaborative formats, use it to influence my teaching practices, and come to newfound understandings. Data analysis may be a long and often taxing process, but the results are valuable, informative, and can help educators discover innovative teaching strategies to enhance student learning.
References
Aidley, D. (2018). Introducing quantitative methods: A practical guide. Red Globe. Chapter 6: Basic concepts of data description and analysis (pp. 155-190).
Groothuijsen, S. E. A., Bronkhorst, L. H., Prins, G. T., & Kuiper, W. (2020). Teacher-researchers’ quality concerns for practice-oriented educational research. Research Papers in Education, 35(6), 766-787.
Morris, A. (2015). A practical introduction to in-depth interviewing (pp.121-137). Sage. Chapter 8: Transcribing, analysing and writing up the interviews.
Richmond Hill, June 2016
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