I intend to focus on how implementing blended learning in the advanced middle school math classroom impacts learner engagement. My innovation plan is centered around utilizing blended learning to aid in potential learning gaps created by Senate Bill 2124, which requires school districts to automatically enroll the top 40% of 5th-grade into honors 6th-grade math, placing them on track to have Algebra 1 in the eighth grade. As an honors teacher, I have experience educating students who were “high achieving,” and with that still comes many different levels of understanding (as with general education). By placing more students in high-level classes, we will be creating more learning gaps. I believe it will be valuable to have personalized learning to fill these gaps and promote higher understanding. This topic has come about through many collaborative conversations with educators in my district (Mertler, 2023a).
My 5 Why Process:
What specific problem have you observed?
The new honors learning plan from the state challenges teachers. They will have gaps to fill in learning while maintaining advanced learning in the classroom.
Why does/doesn’t this happen?
Not all “high achieving” students are necessarily fit for honors math (which often consists of skipping a grade level of content).
Why does/doesn’t this happen?
Students learn at different paces and have differing levels of content understanding. They also experience pivotal growth from 5th through 8th grade, often leading to engagement issues.
Why does/doesn’t this happen?
Learning gaps are systematically an issue, as shortcuts are taken to teach the required content before STAAR testing. Often, without intention, educators create these gaps through teaching tricks that do not allow the students to develop the skills needed for the next grade level fully.
Why does/doesn’t this happen?
Time is often the biggest culprit in education, as we are often under a crunch of state testing and distinct activities. Blended learning can help students further understand what they need to succeed.
To research this question accurately, it is vital that my question is well-developed and has information to back it. This topic is neither too narrow nor too broad, allowing me to gather information to help with the problem (Mertler, 2023a). It is also vital to look forward to the data collected through the research question (Mertler, 2023b). For my research, I will focus on qualitative research methodologies, as my topic is broad, and in-depth studies about blended learning are available (Mertler, 2019, p. 89). My initial research will focus on the exploratory mixed-methods design, which starts with qualitative data and goes into quantitative data (Mertler, 2019, p. 107).
References:
Mertler, C. A. (2019). Action research: Improving schools and empowering educators (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Mertler, C. (2023a). Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators Video 3.1 [Video]. SAGE Publications. https://edge.sagepub.com/mertler6e1/student-resources/chapter-3/video-resources
Mertler, C. (2023b). Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators Video 4.1 [Video]. SAGE Publications.
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