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FRIT 7230 Learner Analysis Assignment Delta W. Casey Georgia Southern University

2 Introduction The ten students identified in this analysis attend a public school in Columbia County, a suburb located just outside of Augusta, Georgia. These students are currently enrolled in the eighth grade at Greenbrier Middle School. The students participate in four academic subjects and two career connections classes daily. The goal of this class project is for the students to produce a research paper that contains the components outlined in ELA8W2 and ELA8W3 (listed below). ELA8W2. The student demonstrates competence in a variety of genres: The student produces a piece of writing drawn from research that: a. Poses relevant and tightly drawn questions about the topic. b. Engages the reader by establishing a context. c. Conveys clear and accurate perspectives on the subject. d. States a thesis. e. Records important ideas, concepts, and direct quotations from significant information sources, and paraphrases and summarizes all perspectives on the topic, as appropriate. f. Uses a variety of primary and secondary sources and distinguishes the nature and value of each. g. Organizes and displays information on charts, maps, and graphs. h. Provides a sense of closure to the writing. i. Documents resources (bibliography, footnotes, endnotes, etc.).

ELA8W3. The student uses research and technology to support writing; the student a. Plans and conducts multiple-step information searches by using computer networks and modems. b. Achieves an effective balance between researched information and original ideas. c. Avoids plagiarism.

3 Demographics The ten students chosen for this learner analysis are all eighth grade students. Based on results from CRCT scores, Infinite Campus database, and Individualized Education Plans (IEP), two of these students are classified as high ability learners, four are classified as average learners, three are identified as having a learning disability, and one student is identified as a slow learner and is on level two of the academic Response to Intervention (RTI) process. The ethnic breakdown is as follows: three students are African American, one student is Asian American, five students are Caucasian, and one student is Native American. Three of these ten students receive free or reduced lunches. Entry Skills and Prior Knowledge Based on the results of the spring 2010 CRCT, the students met the standard for media literacy. The report indicated there were eighteen questions that included media literacy skills. The results for each student are as follows:
Student CF SC JB BM* MB* AM DW CA* AC RH # correct 16 17 11 8 13 14 14 7 17 14 Total 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18

*IEP- learning disabled

Academic Motivation Based on my experience after working with these ten students for the last seven months, I have identified these ten students as motivated to learn how to conduct research and reflect that research in a written report. One major motivating factor is the recent scheduling of classes for the ninth grade by our feeder high school. All ten of these students were required to attend conferences with the guidance department where they were given a glimpse of the requirements for ninth grade classes. After these conferences, the students realized the necessity of being able to conduct research and report on it. To further validate the students motivation to learn research skills, I conducted a survey analyzing their motivation to learn. Based on the six question survey, the results indicate the students are motivated to learn the skills for research. They also acknowledged the importance of being able to conduct research and write a report. The highest students can score on the motivation test is 30.

Student CF SC JB BM* MB* AM DW CA* AC RH

score 25 22 21 21 20 24 23 20 24 24

The ARCS Model of Motivational Design Attention: The primary attention strategy that will be employed to arouse and sustain student interest will be variability. The teacher will include a range of learning methods and forms of media to hook students into the process of conducting research. Tomlinson (1999) identifies the importance of students being able to connect to what they are learning. Relevance: The students will be informed of goals and objectives for the learning unit. In addition, the students will be able to display their knowledge of the information based on their learning preferences. This will lead to enhanced confidence in learning for these students. According to Smith (1997), students need model examples to guide their learning. The students will be provided examples of quality products that meet the standards as outlined in the project. Because the students will be provided exemplary models of what is expected, this will help ease the concerns of the students involved in the project. Because students learn at different levels, the outcome will be different based on each students ability, interest and learning profile. Confidence: The students will have multiple opportunities for practicing the skills learned through the process of conducting research and will be provided feedback from the teacher before they are expected to create their final research product. The students that require additional time will be allowed to work at their pace. All students will be given a chance to redo the work as needed to meet the goals of the project.

6 Satisfaction: The teacher will maintain equity by providing a prescriptive response to the final products based on the criteria established for the project. The students will be acknowledged for meeting the guidelines and redirected if more attention to detail is needed by the student. According to Richards (2008), teachers must provide constructive feedback to eliminate frustration among students.

Learner Characteristics To determine the various learning styles of this group, the teacher administered a Multiple Intelligences Survey based on Howard Gardners Multiple Intelligences Model. Smith (2008) identified specific learning styles based on Gardners Multiple Intelligences Model. The results of the survey administered to the group of students indicated that their learning styles vary. Student CF SC JB BM MB AM DW AC RH CA Two Strongest Multiple Intelligences Bodily- Kinesthetic/Interpersonal Linguistic/ Musical Bodily- Kinesthetic/Interpersonal Linguistic/ Interpersonal Bodily- Kinesthetic/ Intrapersonal Bodily- Kinesthetic/Interpersonal Linguistic/ Interpersonal Musical/ Bodily- Kinesthetic Musical/ Bodily- Kinesthetic Logical- Mathematical/ Intrapersonal

7 In addition to a variety of learning styles, the teacher must take into consideration the cultural background of the students. The ten students involved are from a variety of cultural backgrounds. This information on ethnic diversity reported by the students was taken from the CRCT answer documents. According to Ladson-Billings (1995), Culturally diverse students must experience success. In order to do this, students must develop their academic skills. The way those skills are developed may vary, but all students need literacy, numeracy, technological, social, and political skills in order to be active participants in a democracy (p.160). Research by Sandhu (1994) found that effective teachers are culturally sensitive to the topic being researched. For this very reason, the teacher chose a topic that is required by the state curriculum. The students will be conducting research about the holocaust. This topic lends itself to teaching tolerance because the holocaust began as a result of ethnic prejudice. The teacher will provide the students opportunities to research the topic and find information from a variety of sources. This will afford the students the chance to see relevant information from many viewpoints that allowed the atrocities to happen. According to the Center for Research, Diversity and Excellence (2010), Students that come from diverse backgrounds need to be given opportunities to be challenged by activities. Furthermore, teachers of students with varying ethnic background should design instructional tasks that advance student understanding to more complex levels and present challenging standards for student performance. This project will require complex levels of inquiry and promote the use of research skills.

Accommodations Individuals with Disabilities Education Act require that accommodations be written into the students IEP. The three students identified as having special needs will be accommodated in the following areas:

8 The students will be given additional time to complete assignments. The students will be given a personal copy of all notes, power point presentations, and any additional work that is required to be copied. The students requirements will be broken down into manageable chunks, so as not to overwhelm the student (LDAT, 2010). When conducting research from books, the students will be given a limited number of books to retrieve information. When conducting research from on-line databases the students will be given a choice of two or three databases to choose from. The requirement for notecards and amount of material in the final product will be modified. If necessary, the student will be allowed to verbally record the information or rely on the SPED to transcribe the information (LDAT, 2010). The students will be provided graphic organizers to aide their organization of ideas. According to Hallenback (2002), adolescent self-perception improves when students are given graphic organizers to organize their writing. The students will be allowed to use the computer to type instead of writing by hand. The students will be presented with a visual organizer identifying the specific components.

References Center for Research on Education, Diversity and Excellence (2010) Five standards for effective pedagogy. Retrieved from: http://www.tolerance.org/sites/tolerance.org.tdsi/files/ assets/general/crede_five_standards.pdf Hallenbeck, M. J. (2002). Taking charge: Adolescents with learning disabilities assume responsibility for their own writing. Learning Disabilities Quarterly, 25, 227-246 .

Ladson-Billings, G. (1995) . But that's just good teaching! The case for culturally relevant pedagogy. Theory into Practice, 34 . Retrieved from http://www.tolerance.org/sites/tolerance.org.tdsi/files/ assets/general/Ladson-Billings_PDF.pdf

Richards, R. (2008). The writing road: Reinvigorating your students enthusiasm for learning. Retrieved from: http://www.ldonline.org/article/The_Writing_Road%3A_Reinvigorate_ Your_Students%27_Enthusiasm_for_Writing

Sandhu, D. S. (1994). Cultural diversity in classrooms: What teachers need to know. (ERIC Digest No.ED370911) http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/detail?accno=ED370911

Smith, M. K. (2002, 2008) 'Howard Gardner and multiple intelligences', the encyclopedia of informal education, Retrieved from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/gardner.htm.

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Smith, R. V. (1997) Motivation in instructional design. (ERIC Digest No. ED409895). Retrieved from http://www.ericdigests.org/1998-1/motivation.htm

The Learning Disabilities Association of Texas (2010). Classroom modifications and accommodations for students with learning disabilities. Retrieved from: http://www.ldat.org/ld_ info/ accommodations.html

Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). The Differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Appendices Multiple Intelligences Survey http://www.businessballs.com/freepdfmaterials/free_multiple_intelligences_test_young_people.pdf Student Motivation Survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TZPZKKD Student Data 2010 Criterion Reference Competency Tests

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