Student Number 31289885

Surname AxfordGiven name AshleighEmail Ashleigh.axford92@live.com

Unit Code       EDN470

Unit name       Action Learning for Reflective PractitionersEnrolment mode       ExternalDate       22.06.2016Assignment number       Assignment ThreeAssignment name       Professional and Action Learning ReportTutor       Rachel Dewry

Student’s Declaration: Except where indicated, the work I am submitting in this assignment is my own work and has

not been submitted for assessment in another unit.

This submission complies with Murdoch University's academic integrity commitments. I am aware that information about plagiarism and associated penalties can be found at http://www.murdoch.edu.au/teach/plagiarism/. If I have any doubts or queries about this, I am further aware that I can contact my Unit Coordinator prior to submitting the assignment.

I acknowledge that the assessor of this assignment may, for the purpose of assessing this assignment:o reproduce this assignment and provide a copy to another academic staff member; and/oro submit a copy of this assignment to a plagiarism-checking service. This web-based service

may retain a copy of this work for the sole purpose of subsequent plagiarism checking, but has a legal agreement with the University that it will not share or reproduce it in any form.

I have retained a copy of this assignment.

I will retain a copy of the notification of receipt of this assignment. If you have not received a receipt within three days, please check with your Unit Coordinator.

I am aware that I am making this declaration by submitting this document electronically and by using my Murdoch ID and password it is deemed equivalent to executing this declaration with my written signature.

Optional Comments to Tutor:E.g. If this is a group assignment, list group members here

     

Assignment 3 1

ELECTRONIC ASSIGNMENT COVERSHEET

EDN470 Action Learning for Reflective Practitioners Final Report ~ ePortfolio

3500 words-50 marks Wednesday 22nd June

Your Name: Ashleigh Axford Student No: 31289885

1) Weebly Address: http://ashleighedn470.weebly.com2) Your email address: Ashleigh.axford92@live.com

Mentor Teacher’s Name:Coleen Ryman

Report StructureRank

/10

Comment

The Report is well structured:- clear introduction- well justified rationale- clear aims, focus questions & strategies- adequate conclusion- professional presentation including

correct referencing in APA style.

Quality of Reflection Rank

/15

Comment

The reflective discussion:- considers ‘why’ you conducted your

research and also ‘how’ you used this approach

- makes links to own teaching philosophy and teaching experience

- demonstrates ability to act on reflections;- strongly related to the project’s aims and

linked to relevant literature- addresses research questions

Action Research Methodology Rank

/15

Comment

2

Teaching strategies are:

- implemented as part of Action Research

- strongly linked to the topic

- data collection is appropriate for the

action research cycle;

- data is analysed and critically evaluated;

- modification of teaching plans is based

on findings.

Provision of Evidence Rank /

10

Comment

The evidence provided:- Is authentic and varied- thoughtfully selected- explained in the report- respects confidentiality- permission forms- Appendices A-D are hyperlinked

General Comments: /50

Signature: Date:

3

EDN470 - Action Learning for Reflective Practitioners

Professional & Action Learning Project Report (ePortfolio presentation)

Tutor: Rachel Dewry

By: Ashleigh Axford

Word count total: 3715

Improving effective questioning during play based learning activities.

4

Contents Page

Introduction 6-7

Overview

Context

Professional teaching background

Student details

Rational 7-9

Purpose

Aims

Process 9-12

Reflective discussion 12-14

Conclusion 14

Implications for future teaching

References 15-16

Appendix 17-18

Appendix D: Professional & Action Learning Project 20 Hour Confirmation

5

Introduction

Overview

This Action research Project identifies techniques that can be used in the classroom to

ensure there is a sufficient amount of effective questioning during constructive play based

learning. The report demonstrates the implementation, analysis and reflection on my

teaching. At the launch of my Professional and Action Learning Project I conducted a

Project Rational and Plan for assignment one. This provided me with and comprehensive

basis for the development of my project and in the long run the writing of my final report.

Continuing on from assignment one I began implementing my strategies and collecting

evidence to develop my Professional and Action Learning Project Progress Report. In my

Process Report I analysed my preliminary findings on the data derived from cycle one to

allow me reflect and question my research in order to improve it (O’Connor & Diggins,

2002).

Context

The school I am conducting my action research project in is a public primary school located

in the suburb of Bibra Lake. (MySchool, 2016) Bibra Lake Primary School caters for

children from 4 to 12 years of age and has students from a variety of cultures. The school

promotes Australian values and provides a broad and inclusive curriculum. I am

undertaking my research in a Pre-Primary class. The class consists of 23 students, 10 girls

and 13 boys, 2 part time teachers and 1 education assistant.

Professional teaching background

During the past five year of my studies I have had the opportunities to further my teaching

knowledge and practice through several practicums. Through my university placements I

have been placed in years 2/3 all the way through so unfortunately have not had a wide

range of year levels. Through reflecting on past experiences I have found that activities and

lessons I have planned in previous placements have not been as hands on, interactive,

engaging and play based as I would have liked. As Saylor (2010) quotes "Play is an

important tool in our work with young people and adults. Nothing creates a safer space for

youth to stretch themselves, explore, grow, develop skills, learn, and build relationships

than the act of play. In play, you will see personalities and even values come out; you will

observe what students enjoy and what they don’t; and you’ll quickly get to know the

individuals in your group.” As a pre-service teacher I want to have the knowledge and

6

understanding to implement effective and constructive play based lessons and the

techniques to complete effective questioning to gain student’s knowledge during these

activities.

Student details

For the purpose of my Action Research Project I focused on the class as a whole. The Pre-

Primary class consists of 23 students, 10 boys and 13 girls. In the class there is two Chinese

students and one of them speak English as a second language (ESL) at home. Student’s

abilities range in the classroom, 1 student has been identified as at risk but does not have

an Individualized Education Plans (IEP) as yet, and 2 students have been identified as high

achievers and often need extended work.

Rational

Reason for this particular project

McNiff and Whitehead (2009) explain action research as a term that involves critically

thinking, analyzing and reflecting on a particular area in your practice, which needs to be

improved, and then taking time to promote the action to improve an aspect of your

practice. O’Connor and Diggins (2002) state “As a reflective practitioner, you think critically

about your practice and identify what you do well, your strengths and build on these and

what you do not so well, your weaknesses, to try to overcome these” (p. 9).

Through my reflective process I was able to see a common concern that I had in my

teaching practice and something that I wanted to improve on was including interactive,

engaging, hands on, constructive, play based learning activities, then when doing so using

the appropriate techniques to effectively question the students learning process. When

reflecting on previous practicums I realised that not only myself through my personal

lesson planning but my mentors were not including much in the way of play based lessons

for the students. When considering this thought I also deliberated on my personal values

and beliefs and came to see how important it is to have fun, interactive and engaging

actives in the classroom. As Bennett , Wood and Rogers suggest, “play is not the only means

by which the child comes to discover the world, but it is ‘supremely the activity which

brings them psychic equilibrium’ in the early years” (2001). McNiff and Whitehead, (2012)

discuss that action research differs from traditional research as it is designed to improve a

personal situation. This is why I concluded in my Project Plan and Rational that I wanted to

7

find ways to increase the amount of constructive and structured play based learning in the

classroom. Since completing activities within the class room I have since changed focus

area to be effectively using question during play based activities to gain a sense of students

knowledge and understanding. This is through personal experience I have realised I need

to use questioning during activities to discover if it is an effective lesson. “Teachers that are

able to question effectively at various levels within the cognitive domain, such as

knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation are better able

to discern the range and depth of children’s thinking.” (Moyer, P & Milowicz, E, 2002)

Through activities it is important for the educator to find time to talk and question with the

students while they are playing to continue to grow and expand the student’s learning

experience. As Moyer and Milowicz suggest, a good question may mean the difference

between constraining thinking and encouraging new ideas, and between recalling trivial

facts and constructing new meaning (2002). This shows the importance of the use of

correct questioning strategies and techniques. Not surprising, many teachers ask upward of 400

questions each and every school day. And approximately 80 percent of all the questions teachers

ask tend to be factual, literal, or knowledge-based questions. The result is a classroom in which

there is little creative thinking taking place, (Fredericks, A., 2005)

This project was developed to encourage me to reflect on the range of techniques I can use

to increase effective questioning during play based learning in the classroom and gain a

sense of students understanding. Through reflecting I will be able to increase my

knowledge and understanding on how I can incorporate these techniques to effectively

engage students to get the most out of each learning experience to enrich students’

opportunities for development.

Aims

Through reflection on my Rational and Plan and Process Report the following aims were

slightly amended throughout to relate to what I wanted to achieve through this project. The

aims focus on my teaching practice and improving what I am doing in relation to increasing

effective, engaging and stimulating play based lessons in the classroom to engage students

and increase their opportunities for development. Initially my main focus was simply

increasing play based learning in the classroom, in the Progress Report I focused on trying

to be more specific with constructive play based learning in the class and now I realise this

too is still too broad. For this cycle I concentrated on effective questioning during play

based activities to provide a sense of students understanding and knowledge. I decided to

focus on this more specific area through activities I had planned, they were all play based 8

and engaging though I was finding it difficult to keep the conversation going and get

responses from the students, being play based activities questioning was the only way I

was able to tell if the lesson were effective learning experiences or not. This change of focus

also reflects a change in my aims. They currently are:

1. The project will encourage me to reflect more deeply on the range of questioning

techniques I use during play based activities to gain an understanding of students

knowledge.

2. The project will develop my ability to correctly use the accurate questioning forms and

techniques to continue students learning and encourage growth and development,

encouraging them as students to also begin questioning.

3. The project will allow me to critically assess my use of questioning in play based

scenarios to further improve on my questioning skills.

4. It is my aim to incorporate play as much as possible into my daily lessons with an outcome

where children are confident and involved learners. (EYLF, 2013).

Process

Through this action research methodology I have amended my focus, made it more specific

and precise to what it is I need to improve on as a pre service teacher.

During cycle one I began to gather data, interpret it, act on it, evaluate it and see what

needed amending for the next cycle. Stinger (2008) believes, “gathering information from a

variety of sources will shed light on the issue being investigated.” (p. 54). During cycle one

I collected a number forms of evidence to ensure reasonable validity and reliability, as

Sagor (2000) believes action researchers should avoid relying on any single source of data.

The forms of evidence I collected included entries in my reflective journal, informal

conversations with critical friend, observation and note taking. I chose to complete these

forms of evidence as I believed it would allow me to gain the knowledge I would require to

complete my action research effectively within the class. This allowed me to learn

classroom routines, techniques used by educators and students personalities and ability

levels.

9

During cycle one I recorded my preliminary findings through my items of evidence. I found

that with in the classroom majority of the activities taking place throughout the day where

play based. Upon further investigation I uncovered that although many activities were play

based only few were structured and guided by either the teacher or education assistant.

The students more often than not were left to form and create their own learning by

working with peers. I also noticed that the educators in class focused on the one or two

children they were working with at a time, there was no one going around creating

conversations and discussions with the remnant students, there was no one trying to push

their imagination or create a deeper learning experience. Through observing this activity in

the class I was able to reflect on what worked well and identify what I could work on for

cycle two and three.

During cycle two and three I continued to write entries into my reflective journal, observe,

take notes and particularly have informal conversations with my critical friend, reflect on

my activities and seek written feedback on activities I had prepared for the students from

my mentor.

McNiff and Whitehead (2009), discuss that a critical friend can provide me with critical

feedback and possible modifications for my report. I choose to have informal discussions

with my mentor after my lessons to share my feelings, beliefs and values, past history and

current ideas, which can be seen as a method and a methodology of action research

(O’Hanlon, 2003). I found these conversations very helpful and useful for my action

research project. From having these conversations with my critical friend I was able to see

different perspectives on outcomes to my research (Arthur et al, 2012), and things I had

not noticed or thought of before (Brady & Kennedy, 2012). I also continued these

conversations with other students also completing their placements in other classes. The

opportunity to talk and share ideas with other Pre Service teacher’s helped me greatly in

improving my lessons and seeing what other ideas and views they practicum students have

to share. Whitehead, (2011) discusses the importance of talking with and sharing your

ideas with others helps you to develop and improve your practice, as well as develop a

realistic action plan.

By continuing to reflect in my journal I was able to be aware of my mistakes, progress and

10

areas of improvement, as well as gain new understanding and open up areas for future

inquiry.

During cycle two and three I received written lesson feedback from my mentor to see if she

believed my play based lessons to be effective learning experiences and whether or not I

used appropriate questioning techniques to encourage in-depth thinking. Hattie (2011)

believes “Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement”

(p.81). I began conducting small group activities to focus on the individuals. During the

lesson I noticed students were conversing amongst each other, teaching each other. I

decided to focus on Blanks Levels of Questioning (Blank, Rose & Berlin, 1978) because it

relates to the younger years. I began by asking some Level one questioning which required

the students to relate to the immediate environment and required concrete thinking, an

example of the questions I ask was ‘what colour is that dog?’, ‘do you like dogs?’, these were

very basic questions that all students were able to answer. I then progressed to level two

questioning which involved the students using some analysis such as classifying and

grouping object and describing and understanding functions. Examples of questions I asked

for this level were, ‘what colours are the dogs’, ‘are they big or little dogs?’. Majority of

students answered this level of questioning, so with a select few I continued to level three

questions. These required the students to use their own knowledge and make basic

predictions and make generalisations. Examples of questions I asked aimed at this level

was ‘what do you think would happen if the cat was nasty?’, ‘why do you think cats and

dogs don’t get along? (Avery, N. 2010). I recorded the students and what levels of

questioning they were able to complete in a checklist. This gave me the knowledge of what

stages each student was at and what levels of questioning I should use with them in further

activities to encourage growth and development.

A second lesson I completed was simply playing with play dough, I thought having a simple

activity would give me the opportunity to direct more of my attention to the levels and

efficiency of the questions I was asking the students. Some examples of the questions I

asked were ‘how can I make a snail/birds nest’, ‘now that we have flattened the play dough

what can we do next?’, ‘what would happen if we mix these two colours together?’ I took

notes on this activity.

On a number of occasions I realised that my questions were too broad and difficult for the

students to respond to. They often looked at me and just shook their shoulders or said, ‘I

don’t know’. Avery suggests a number of ways to simplify questions, these include, making

11

questions more concrete, relate questions to personal experiences, ask questions about

very recent events or present objects, use familiar vocabulary when asking questions and

keep using higher order thinking questions encouraging the students to problem solve

(2010).

Through these experiences I was able to identify the level students in the class were at,

discover the levels of questioning required to encourage growth and support students

learning and improve on my questioning techniques during play based activities,

Reflective Discussion

Throughout my three action research cycles I learnt about the processes of improvement

and reflection as I brought together my findings. Each cycle saw a change in my focus topic

and I am happy with the final result, I believe play based activities are important in all

classrooms and that questioning is one of the main techniques to gain a sense of

understanding in the early years, the more effective the question the better opportunity it

provides the students to further their thinking, be curious and wonder.

In cycle one I began with my focus topic being ‘increasing play based learning within the

classroom’, through investigation and observation in class I was aware that majority of the

day was concentrated around play based learning and that it did not need to be increased.

This saw me decide to change my focus topic as I began to notice that although there was

many play based activities taking place in the classroom only few were truly structured and

guided by an educator. This observation formed my new focus topic of ‘improving

structured play based lesson within the classroom’. As I concentrated on this topic I drew

my attention to creating and planning play based lessons that had a clear learning outcome

that I could structure and support so that students would have the best opportunities to

reach this learning goal. During these lessons I became conscious to the fact that students

may be taking part in the activities but I was not sure as to how to test or get proof that

they had gained an understanding of the activities goals and outlines.

It was this that led me to question how can I create a sense of their understanding? How

can I know if the learning outcome for this activity is being achieved? Then I realised

effective questioning is the key. I noticed that during the activities there was not much

question and answer happening during the casual conversations and uncovered that it is

12

my role as an educator to ensure the questions I ask students are relevant, encourage them

to further deepen their thinking and problem solving processes and inspire them to be

curious. I felt irritated with myself that I had not seen this as a goal from the very beginning

of my action research, but glad that I had discovered this thought in time to implement

changes to my final cycle.

I now was focusing on ‘how can I create effective questioning during play based activities to

gain a sense of students understanding and knowledge?’

I began my activities by going through Blanks levels of questioning with the students, the

conversations were informal and I often took notes on student’s responses, the children

had now spent some time with me and I believe began to feel comfortable with me, in turn

allowing them to feel safe. I discovered during my lessons that I got the most conversation

from the students when I was sitting at their level playing with them, they believed I was

on their level and seemed to feel comfortable and relaxed (photograph of this) . Another

scenario of this was when we set up a hospital area for the students to free play in, I

decided it would be a good idea to join them and become a patient myself. The children

thoroughly enjoyed this and I saw it as a prime opportunity to question student’ knowledge

of hospitals. (transcript). This was a fantastic opportunity to get to know students prior

knowledge of hospitals and what they were gaining during the activity. During these

lessons I asked various levels of questions to the students, trying to encourage them to

think further and deeper than the present and the obvious. I was required to also answer

any questions or queries that they might have had, respond to their curiosity and facilitate

their learning.

I am glad with the changed I have made over the time of my action research. Throughout

the three cycles I gathered evidence that allowed me to become aware that I was thinking

too broad. Holly (1987) states, “The first part in the cycle is to reflect on an event or

situation. Secondly, you later reflect on the journal entries themselves, from which you may

gain material for further reflection” (as cited in O’Connor and Diggins, 2002). I needed to

bring my focus down to a specific part of play based learning and concentrate on ways to

make questioning effective, encourage growth and the continuing of play to gain further

understanding. I needed to be aware of how effective activities were and the only way to

gain this information was to talk to and question the students to see what information they

had retained. The better the level and form of the question the higher the response and

13

level of thinking that was required. Effective questioning creates opportunities for an

effective thought process, to investigate, to be inquisitive, to problem solve and so on.

Conclusion:

Through the changes of my cycles I was able to amend and achieve my aims, I discovered

an effective way in which to gain an understanding of student’s retention of knowledge,

their prior knowledge and new information they had recently gained. I was able to increase

the amount of structured play based learning within the class and learn new techniques

and levels of questioning appropriate for early childhood years.

Through my new knowledge of questioning levels and techniques I was successfully able to

gain a sense of students’ knowledge and learning processes.

The lessons I planned allowed me the opportunity to work with students in small groups

and gave appropriate time and attention to each students allowing me to discover the level

of questioning appropriate for each individual through a checklist and personalise the

questions to suit each student’s requirements.

I gained a vast amount of new knowledge through literature, by searching the internet and

reading texts, I came across sites that gave me all the knowledge I needed to effectively

question students through Blank’s levels of questioning . My mentor teacher gave me

much needed feedback and assistance on lessons I completed giving me the opportunity to

identify my strengths and weaknesses and knowing how to improve for the future.

Implications for future teaching

Through this process and experience I have learnt that it is 100% necessary to know your

students, know their ability levels, interest, personalities etc. Because by having this

knowledge you are able to cater for students as individuals. When it comes to questioning

there are many different levels it is important not to ask questions that fly over the

students head, but are not too simple, just right so they are encouraged to think further.

I will include many play based activities in my future classes and will aim to have them as

structured as possible. My goal is to spend time with every student in play based scenarios

asking appropriate questions to gain a sense of their understanding and knowledge they

are taking from the activities I create for them.

14

Reference List

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2012). Programming and

Planning in Early Childhood Education Settings. (5th edition). South Melbourne, Cengage

Learning.

Australian government department of education, employment and workplace relations (2009)

belonging, being and becoming: the early years learning framework for Australia.

Canberra:commonwealth of Australia.

Htt

p :// docs .education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/belonging_being_and_becoming_the_earl

y_years_learning_framework_for_australia.pdf

Avery, N. (2010). Blanks Levels of Questioning – Stimulating Children’s Language

Development.

Retrieved from:

http://planningwithkids.com/2010/03/18/blanks-levels-of-questioning-stimulating-

children%E2%80%99s-language-development/

Bennett, N., Wood, L., & Rogers, S., (2001). Teaching Through Play – Teachers thinking and

classroom practice. Buckingham, Philadelphia: Open University Press.

Brady, L., & Kennedy, K. (2012). Assessment and Reporting Celebrating Student

Achievement. French Forest NSW: Pearson.

Fredericks, A. (2005) The Complete Idioms Guide to Success as a Teacher. USA: Penguin

Group

Hattie, J. (2001) The Power of Feedback. Retrieved From:

http://education.qld.gov.au/staff/development/performance/resources/readings/power-

feedback.pdf

15

Holly, M, (1987). Keeping a Personal-Professional Journal. Melbourne: Deakin University

McNiff, J., (2002). Action Research for Professional Development. Retrieved from:

http://www.Jeanmcniff.com/ar-booklet.asp

McNiff, J., & Whitehead., (2009). Doing and Writing Action Research. London: SAGE

Publication.

Moyer, P., & Milowicz, E., (2002). Learning to Question: Categories of Questioning used by

Pre Service Teachers. Vol 5. Issue 44. (pp 293-315)

My School, (2015). Bibra Lake Primary School: School Profile. Retrieved from:

https://www.myschool.edu.au/SchoolProfile/Index/100924/BibraLakePrimarySchool/

48684/2015

O’Connor, A., & Diggins, C. (2002). On Reflection: Reflective Practice for Early Childhood

Educators. Aotearoa, New Zealand: Open Mind Publishing

O’Hanlon, C., (2003). Educational Inclusion as Action Research. Retrieved from:

https://books.google.com.au/books?

id=eh5EBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA71&lpg=PA71&dq=action+research+evidence+

+informal+conversations&source=bl&ots=a-

Rieber, L., (1996). Seriously Considering Play: designing interactive learning environments

based on the blending of microworlds, stimulation and games. Educational Technology

Research of Development. Vol 44. Issue 2. (pp 43-58)

Saylor, A., (2010). Groups, Troops, Clubs and Classroom: The essential handbook for

working with youth.

Retrieved from:

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/play-based-strategies-engage-leaning-susan-ragsdale

Stringer, E. T. (2008). Action Research in Education: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.

16

Appendix

17

18