Results
From the positive class: 15 students
Before test:
The results were very clear. The questions on the student’s previous knowledge were answered as best the students could answer them. Some students made silly mistakes which could be fixed by an hour revision. There are the results:
Q 1: 73% got it right.
Q 2: 33% got it right.
Q 3: 0 got it right.
Q 4: 0 got it right.
Q 5: 40% got it right.
On the questions we put in relation it the topics we were going to try to teach the class, not one student guessed the correct answer. This was to be expected as the students had never seen this chapter before.
After test:
There is a huge increase in the number of questions answered correctly. For the majority of the questions over 50% of the students got the correct answer, except in question six and seven where some students found it difficult to find the correct answers.
The two questions that we put in both the before and after test were answered much better in the after test. As I said earlier on one in the class got the correct answers to these questions in the before test. In the after test 73% or 11 of the students answered the first of the two questions correctly, the question was ‘’what is the insoluble solid left behind in filtration?’’ and 53% or 8 of the students got the second question correct, the question was ‘’what is a mixture?’’. This showed that the students did take in the information during the class. The students also learnt a lot of other information during the class which the results of the after test show. Here are the results:
Q 1: 80% got it right.
Q 2: 53% got it right.
Q 3: 53% got it right.
Q 4: 87% got it right.
Q 5: 80% got it right.
Q 6: 47% got it right.
Q 8: 73% got it right.
Q 9: 53% got it right.
Q 11: 60% got it right.
I personally think these are very good results.
Students’ personal opinions:
In the before test we gave the students choice questions for them to fill in. Here are the results:
‘’what do you prefer in class?’’
20%, or 3 students, prefer to read from the book in class.
33%, or 5 students, prefer to listen to others reading in class.
47%, or 7 students, prefer to watch a DVD with the information for the class on it.
From this I found that students are not so keen to read for themselves but are more willing to listen to others read or watch a DVD of the information being taught and they think they learn better this way.
The second question:
‘’What helps you study?’’
20%, or 3 students, chose listening to music is what helps them study.
0% of the students chose studying in groups.
73%, or 11 students, chose studying in silence at home.
7%, or 1 student, chose other. She went on to explain that she studies best at home in a comfortable place e.g. a couch or bed.
This showed that vast majority of the students study in a quiet place at home. I personally thought that a lot more students would have chosen, listening to music, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was quite refreshing to see how many students answered, in silence at home.
At the end of our class on our after test we asked the students what they thought of our class. The majority of which said ‘’GOOD’’ to be exact 67%, or10 students, said this. While others gave little comments. One student wrote that our posters helped her understand the information a little bit. Another said that it was interesting to have students as teachers and that she enjoyed the class. Another called the class ‘’FUN’’. Over all the students seemed to take something for the class and participated well at the time.
Focus group:
Our focus group was a group of six randomly selected students. We gave them a question sheet on which they could answer questions on their opinion of the class. As these students are randomly selected they are of different abilities. Each student in the class got a number between one and fifteen. The students selected for the focus group were numbers: 1, 2, and 8,11,12,13. When speaking of each student in the focus group I will call them by number.
Student number 1:
This student got all of her previous knowledge questions right. She prefers to read from books in class and studies best in silence at home. In the before test, of the two questions on the topics we would be teaching in our class she answered none of the questions correctly. In the after test of the same two questions she answered one correct. Over all, in the after test, she only got two wrong answers, and found the class was ‘’good’’.
From the focus group question sheet she answered:
Q 1: she did learn a lot in our class about the topics we were covering.
Q 2: she thought our teaching was ‘’good’’.
Q 3: she did enjoy the class.
Q 4: she did not think there was anything missing from our class, but also stated that she had ‘’never done chemistry before’’.
Student number 2:
This student got one of her previous knowledge questions right. She prefers to listen to others reading from books in class and studies best listening to music. In the before test, of the two questions on the topics we would be teaching in our class she answered none of the questions correctly. In the after test of the same two questions she answered none correct. Over all, in the after test, she only got four wrong answers, and found the class was ‘’alright’’.
From the focus group question sheet she answered:
Q 1: she ‘’sort of’’ learnt in our class about the topics we were covering.
Q 2: she thought our teaching was ‘’alright’’.
Q 3: she did ‘’not really’’ enjoy the class.
Q 4: she did not think there was anything missing from our class.
Student number 8:
This student got none of her previous knowledge questions right. She prefers to watch a DVD with the information on it in class and studies best (own opinion) ‘’sitting someplace comfortable e.g. a couch or bed’’. In the before test, of the two questions on the topics we would be teaching in our class she answered none of the questions correctly. In the after test of the same two questions she answered one correct. Over all, in the after test, she only got three wrong answers, and found the class was ‘’good’’ and that ‘’our posters helped us we used helped her understand our class’’.
From the focus group question sheet she answered:
Q 1: she did learn a lot in our class about the topics we were covering.
Q 2: she thought our teaching was ‘’good’’ and also said the ‘’the girl with the brown hair was more distinctive with her teaching but over all (the class) was brilliant’’.
Q 3: she did enjoy the class, saying ‘’it was interesting’’.
Q 4: she did not think there was anything missing from our class.
Student number 11:
This student got all of her previous knowledge questions right. She prefers to watch a DVD with the information on it in class and studies best in silence at home. In the before test, of the two questions on the topics we would be teaching in our class she answered none of the questions correctly. In the after test of the same two questions she answered one correct. Over all, in the after test, she only got three wrong answers, and found the class was ‘’good’’.
From the focus group question sheet she answered:
Q 1: she did learn a lot in our class about the topics we were covering.
Q 2: she thought our teaching was ‘’good’’.
Q 3: she did enjoy the class.
Q 4: she did not think there was anything missing from our class.
Student number 12:
This student got all of her previous knowledge questions right. She prefers to read from the book in class and studies best in silence at home. In the before test, of the two questions on the topics we would be teaching in our class she answered none of the questions correctly. In the after test of the same two questions she answered both correct. Over all, in the after test, she only got two wrong answers, and found the class was ‘’fun’’.
From the focus group question sheet she answered:
Q 1: she did learn a lot in our class about the topics we were covering.
Q 2: she thought our teaching was ‘’ok but not excellent’’.
Q 3: she did enjoy the class.
Q 4: she did not think there was anything missing from our class.
Student number 13:
This student got two of her previous knowledge questions right. She prefers to watch a DVD with the information on it in class and studies best in silence at home. In the before test, of the two questions on the topics we would be teaching in our class she answered none of the questions correctly. In the after test of the same two questions she answered both correct. Over all, in the after test, she only got two wrong answers, and found the class was ‘’ok, it was good and interesting’’.
From the focus group question sheet she answered: Q 1: she did learn a lot in our class about the topics we were covering. Q 2: she thought our teaching was ‘’enjoyable and easy to learn’’. Q 3: she did enjoy the class, saying ‘’it was good’’. Q 4: she did not think there was anything missing from our class, saying ‘’it was fine’’.
Over all there was a variety of opinions and views from the focus group. All of which were interesting to hear. The class were very good to us and cooperated well.
