Start to Finish
4 hours
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Start to Finish |
4 hours |
01.4 Planning the Course Project and Evaluation Report
This course centers around a Project that you, together with an offline teaching partner, create, administer and evaluate. This involves preparing and submitting a Project Report and conducting research on the implementation of the Project, summarized in an Evaluation Report. The Evaluation Report can be characterized as "action research lite," a limited-focus research activity that encompasses aspects of action research. As such, its purpose is practical: to inform you and others regarding the effectiveness of your Project.
The Project Report and its companion Evaluation Report are completed in stages throughout the course, beginning with this activity. The complete Project Report is due at the end of Week 10 and the Evaluation Report is due on the last day of class. Whereas the Project Report describes your Project in sufficient detail so that other educators may use it, the Evaluation Report acts as an appendix that describes what happened as a result of using or running your Project.
Project Teams and Offline Project Partners
The 21st Century Information Fluency Program was designed to help middle and high school educators provide more productive Internet experiences for their students. We have found, through years of research and workshops, that the most effective way to do this is to work with school librarians. Librarians will learn how best to use the tools and strategies we have created to access, evaluate and use Internet information in fluent ways. In turn, librarians are expected to share this knowledge and these skills with the teachers in their buildings and districts.
We ask that each student registered for this online course collaborate as part of a librarian--teacher team. A team may have more than 2 partners. If you are a librarian, work with a teacher of any subject; if you are a teacher, work with a librarian. Other possibilities for partners may be considered as well. Together, you will develop a lesson, unit, curriculum, web site or professional development experience. We want you to complete this course with a practical application in hand, a tangible product that delivers real-world results.
(Please note: Elementary educators may also benefit from this course, and curriculum examples at the elementary level may be found on our website in the Lesson Repository. However, the materials that the 21CIF team currently develops are aimed at middle and high school levels.)
Hopefully you have been thinking about who to work with and possibly which area of information literacy may be most appropriate for your audience. If not, now is the time to choose. For more information and other options for offline Project Partners, click here.
Please take some time now to solicit the collaboration of at least one teacher or librarian
in your building; small committees are also fine. If more than one person from
a school district is taking this course, it is recommended that you work together.
Project Selection
The most successful Projects in this course tend to start with the lesson, unit or curriculum the partner team feels is most in need of change. As the course proceeds, a Project Report takes shape that describes the Project in sufficient detail so that another educator could replicate it at his or her school.
Decide what curriculum need (or topic) you will be working on and the results you want your final
product to deliver.
Keep in mind that the Project you want to develop may be affected by what you intend to assess. At this point, review suggestions for assessment that include:
Evaluation Decisions
Possibilities for assessment should be integrated into your Project from its inception.
In addition to our suggestions for assessment, a number of links are provided to various Action Research sites. In the context of this course, action research provides a model for collecting and interpreting data in a meaningful way to practitioners. As such, there is no need to make it complicated. As you read, look for ideas that will contribute to the evaluation of your project.
Lab Course Action Research Database (Reports produced in this course)
Thanks to the efforts of students in this course, numerous Reports are indexed that illustrate what can be done with this activity.Classroom Action Research: Madison (WI) Schools
A working definition of Action Research, what it is and is not, the role of teachers as researcher, effects of action research, examples of completed projects, resource materials.Action Research at Queens University
Enormous amount of action research material including numberous examples of action research reports, professional papers presented at university and professional conferences, and an extensive list of action research web sites.Action Research Exchange
An online journal dedicated to sharing current action research to assist educators as they plan, ponder, and practice.What is Action Research and how can I use it?
Definitions, examples and action research links at the elementary level.About.com
A home page with numberous interesting resources for educators. In the search box, enter "teacher as researcher" and you will be given numerous websites supporting action research methodology. (Todnem, 1999)American Association of School Librarians
An example of a finished action research project conducted by a library media specialist, "Turning Data into Dollars: The Baltimore School Library Renaissance Story".
Project and Evaluation Reporting
The major written piece of the course is the Project Report. It contains all the information another educator needs to implement your Project. Refer to the table below for components of the Project Report. The Evaluation Report, by contrast, is action research-oriented, using your Project as its focus. The goal of action research is to help facilitate the improvement of the project you develop.
Stay focused on what is of value to you in improving your craft as you address the following categories.
At this time, complete the following items (highlighted) for the Project Report (the middle column).
Item |
Project ReportDue at this time |
Evaluation ReportDue at the end of the course |
| Basic Information |
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Include all the Basic Information from the Project Report |
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Abstract |
Three to five sentences describing the essence of the Project you wish to pursue and a thumbnail sketch of the findings or results anticipated. |
Include the Abstract from the Project Report (You will add the actual findings at the end of the course--see Findings, below.) |
|
Purpose or Background |
Two or more paragraphs describing the recent history which helps the reader understand the context for your proposal. (For example, what motivates this study? What is the need observed in students? What strategies has the teacher attempted recently and how well were these working?) It helps to write a short description of the characteristics of the selected students or audience. For activity 2.1 you will develop a Problem Statement that will be included here when you write up Project Report 6.1) |
Include a short description of the characteristics of the selected students or audience. (You will add a description of the the actual organizational elements (time, space, resources, groupings) that were attempted and how well they worked at the end of the course) |
|
Research Theoretical Background |
This is an optional but highly recommended section. It is three or more paragraphs describing the support in professional readings for the plan of action you undertook. (You will begin to develop this section during the course under the heading 2.2 Readings and subsequent Internet searches.) |
In your discussion of findings, the best approach is to analyze your findings in light of relevant research. What do your findings add to existing knowledge on the topic? |
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The Study |
This is one of the lengthier sections, consisting of six or more paragraphs describing the intervention, plan of action, or instructional design of your Project. It is important to include information about the timeframe required, materials needed and sufficient description of your strategies that the reader understands your work. (You will develop this section during the course under the heading of 6.1 Project Report 1 and update it as necessary in 9.1 Project Report 2 ) |
Describe any variations to your plan in 12.1 Evaluation Report.
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Assessment |
This section consists of three or more paragraphs describing your assessment approach. This includes the area(s) of impact you intend to assess as well as the assessment instruments or tools you will use. Further, it is important to include the frequency of assessment and your description of the target group of students. Remember: what you want to assess may impact the type of Project you develop. Suggestions for assessment are provided that include: evidence of change over time (learning), evidence of understanding (knowledge) and evidence of satisfaction/dispositions. (While ideas for this section need to be included from the beginning of the Project, a detailed assessment plan is not due until Week 9 of the course under the heading 09.1 Project Report.) |
Describe what was assessed and the process that was used in 12.1 Evaluation Report
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Findings |
The section is also known as data-display. This is the section where you display your results in graphic form (tables, charts, figures, diagrams) and add several paragraphs of narrative describing the results to the reader. (You will develop this section during Weeks 11 and 12, based on observations when you teach the lesson with your project partner.) |
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Implications |
In this section you describe the meaning you place on the results. Interpret the results with respect to the original purpose and in light of the background you shared. (You will develop this section during Week 12 under the heading of 12.1 Evaluation Report.) |
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References |
This is an annotated list of related references (Internet and print sources) cited in APA or another commonly accepted form. (You will develop this section by completing activities 5.2 Citations and 8.3 Citations.) |
(adapted from Todnem, 1999)
Save a copy of your work as "Lastnamefirstname_Project.rtf" to Doc Sharing. Be sure your paper includes all the information indicated above in Basic Information, Abstract, Purpose or Background.
Important: Save this document in Rich Text Format (.rtf) All word processors include this feature. Reports may be published as examples; your name will be included for intellectual property purposes. By taking this course, you grant IMSA permission to use your contributions for educational and public relation intitiatives. If you do not agree with this policy, please contact us, and we will refrain from publishing your work. For a longer explanation of this policy, see the copyright section of Course Information..
Keep your original document in a safe place. You will be adding other required information to it throughout the course.
To view a sample of a Project Report that that satsifies the requirements at this time, click here.