Action Research

DESCRIBING INSTRUCTIONAL PRACTICE IMPACT ON CULTIVATING GLOBAL AWARENESS IN SECONDARY STUDENTS

Teachers are always looking for ways to improve their classrooms to make the most effective learning environment possible for their students.  One strategy for this is Action research.  This involves identifying a problem within the classroom, trying various solutions, and determining which had the best results.

For my personal Action Research during my student teaching, I wanted to GO BIG OR GO HOME!  So I decided to take a look at secondary student's global perspectives in agriculture.  I wanted to know where their passions lied, if they had any. First, I needed to figure out if the students had any passion for global agriculture.  I discovered through an initial survey and knowledge test that it was very low.  Their knowledge about global agriculture was low and their passions for it was low.

So I incorporated a 4 week instructional unit on global agriculture.  I decided to incorporate several teaching strategies within the curriculum to see if instructional practices would be enough to increase their knowledge and passion of global agriculture.  This would be determined by a repeat of the same survey and knowledge test.

Then I wanted to know if personal connections to students of a similar age from another country would have a different impact on the students.  This would be determined by a final repetition of the same survey.

What I discovered that while the 4 week instructional unit greatly increased the students level of global knowledge, by 80%, there was no significant change in the classes passion for global agriculture.  They are still considered to be globally unaware.  

Unfortunately the communication contact that was supposed to be maintained after my departure from Penns Manor High School In Pennsylvania to Mopan Technical High School in Belize diminished.  So I was not able to complete the second half of the research.  I can conclude however, that as a teacher, if I am interested in increasing secondary students global awareness and passion in agriculture, pure instruction is not enough.  They need something more, something greater.  I believe the contact with other students is the key.