Student Voice Research Projects

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Student Voice Research Projects
Researching Oral Responses across our school

• How do Learning Objectives and Success Criteria
  improve our learning?

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Stage One

• Two years ago we investigated and researched the
  use of oral feedback in lessons, with the aim of
  producing a whole school Oral Feedback Policy

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Why we chose this project

• Many students are worried by answering and
  talking in class
• Too few opportunities to collaborate in lessons

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Discussions on what is meant by Oral Feedback

• Is it useful in helping us to learn better?
• Types used most frequently?
• Purposes?
• Problems?
• Are there any improvements needed?

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Barriers to Oral Feedback

• We found that there are a number of reasons why
  Oral Feedback is not always successful

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Most common teacher Responses

• We observed ten lessons across the curriculum in
  pairs
• Most common teacher responses included
• Responses to the whole class
• Providing information
• Responses in the form of questions
• Correcting errors
• Discussing whether answers are right or wrong and
  why
• Using wrong or partially correct answers to
  prompt responses

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Least Frequently Observed Responses

• Giving wait time before and after a student
  response
• Modelling
• Plenaries and summarising the learning
• As a starter and linked to learning objectives /
  outcomes
• Responses to groups or pairs

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Least Frequent Student Responses

• Students willing to take risks and being prepared
  to give the first stages of an idea
• Wait time before a response
• Students building on and responding to what
  others have said
• Well developed responses
• Students willing to challenge other students
  ideas in a constructive way
• Responses occurring as a result of collaboration

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• Our findings suggested that talk was not being
  used as well as it could be
• During our project Ofsted arrived and graded our
  work outstanding, and their finding agreed with
  ours

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• But that was just the start. We also produced a
  whole school Oral Response Policy which is now
  part of teaching and Learning Policy at our school

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Whole School Oral Response Policy

• Opportunity for constructive, shared talk
• Student must know aim of talk time which must be
  linked to learning objective
• More risk taking encouraged

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Whole School Oral Response Policy

• Build on and develop ideas
• Short / one word answers kept to a minimum
• Learning objectives should be shared
• Questions need to develop thinking

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Whole School Oral Response Policy.

• Students should be encouraged to develop
  responses in more detail
• Mini plenaries
• Opportunity to ask questions

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Whole school Oral Response Policy

• Subject vocabulary should be used
• Students need to develop how to talk use key
  phrases
• Thinking time is important and valuable

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Whole school Oral Response Policy

• Wait time before and after responses
• Teacher feedback to be included wherever possible
• Modelling
• Challenge thinking
• Starters and plenaries
• Clear boundaries students need to feel secure

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Stage Two Learning Objectives

• Our next project involved researching into
  whether the use of Learning Objectives and
  Success Criteria aid our learning. We did this by
  interviewing students across the school and
  observing many lessons.

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Our Research

• Twenty four students from years 8-10 took part in
  this project
• They conducted interviews with students across
  the whole school and observed lessons
• The information obtained was then thoroughly
  discussed and analysed in group sessions
• We feel confident that our conclusions represent
  the feelings of Crestwood students

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Learning Objectives

• Learning objectives are extremely useful but they
  need to be explained and referred back to
• In some subjects they are mostly verbal rather
  than written

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Learning Objectives

• It is more useful to have Learning Objectives
  displayed throughout the lesson so that you can
  look at them and you can check your work and ask
  yourself, have I understood this?

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Learning Objectives

• It is good when the teacher stops and refers back
  to the learning objective
• It helps when the teacher asks if we have
  understood something and takes time to make sure,
  because sometimes a pupil may not feel like
  admitting it. If the teacher goes over it anyway
  it is good because you dont have to admit that
  you dont understand

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Do Learning Objectives help you to
learn in lessons?

• They need to be copied into books
• They need to be thoroughly explained
• They need to be displayed on the board straight
  away
• They need to be referred to and not ignored

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Do Learning Objectives help you to
learn in lessons?

• Some students dont understand what a Learning
  Objective is and how it applies to them
• Limit the number of Objectives
• Highlight key words
• Teacher refers back to Learning Objective
• Sometimes teachers write a task instead of an
  objective
• Without a Learning Objective there can be
  confusion

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Do Learning Objectives help you
to learn in lessons?

• The Learning Objective should be linked to a
  Success Criteria, which should explain how to
  achieve the Learning Objective
• Occasionally students are able to create the
  Learning Objective with the teacher and this
  really makes us think

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Success Criteria

• When these are used do they help us to make
  better progress?
• All our information is based on interviews,
  lesson observations and in-depth discussions

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Does a success criteria help us to make
progress?

• You know exactly what you have to do
• They give you confidence
• They help you break down a task
• They give you a real sense of purpose
• It is harder without one
• It gives you a check list

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Does a success criteria help us to make better
progress?

• Without one, you are more unsure of yourself
• They give you confidence in exams and you know
  the grade you are working at
• It is helpful to mark your own work using one
  you know how to improve
• Having examples of work at various standards
  improves confidence in lots of ways

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What are the best ways to have these
in lessons?

• Success Criteria work better when the teacher
  creates them during the lesson with the class
• We can help each other when we have a Success
  Criteria
• Younger children like Two Stars and a Wish and
  a Success Criteria helps with this
• It is really good when your piece is looked at by
  the whole class
• Having no Success Criteria holds us back
• When we have a Success Criteria our grades are
  better
• A Success Criteria helps you to set targets
• Having a Success Criteria for exam questions is
  really useful

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What are the best ways to have these in lessons?

• Shared with us at the beginning of lessons
• Linked to the Learning Objective
• Building the Success Criteria up over a period of
  lessons
• Mini-plenaries help us refocus

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What ways can Success Criteria be given
that is less helpful to learning?

• When a teacher gives out a sheet without
  explaining it we may not understand all criteria
  we are trying to achieve
• When a list of criteria is read out - as students
  easily forget
• If it is on PowerPoint but not on a sheet as well
• Success Criteria photocopied out of the exam
  syllabus
• When it is too long with too much to take in at
  once
• When it is just the teacher saying, this is what
  you have to do to get a better mark

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Recommendations for year 7

• Year 7 students, having just come up from junior
  schools, found answering our questions difficult
• They should be given lessons in how Learning
  Objectives and Success Criteria help them to
  learn
• Assemblies should be given by student researchers
  to develop understanding across the school
• Year 7 Student Conference led by student
  researchers

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Problems encountered with this type of action
research

• Time consuming
• Very hard work
• Total commitment and enthusiasm
• Lots of in-depth discussion and analysis
• Knowing what questions to ask and how to obtain
  information
• Involving as many students as possible
• Missing lessons
• Processing the information having obtained it

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Our conclusions

• Although in some subjects Success Criteria and
  samples of work are used this is not happening
  across the school when it does happen, our
  learning is better and we have more confidence
• Learning Objectives are being displayed, but need
  to have more time spent on them and need to be
  written down in students books so it is possible
  to look back at them
• All children need to understand how and why the
  use of Learning Objectives and Success Criteria
  help them make better progress

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Thank-you.We are happy to answer questions.