David+Keith+Shellenhamer

 This space will provide various strategies about how to elicit student feedback in education in order to address where gaps exist in a particular department. My concern was specifically in the physical education department in my district. As a physical education teacher, it is often hard to compile a lot of quantitative data, and therefore must look for sources of qualitative data to see where gaps in student learning exist. This space will give teachers strategies and options in how to compile this qualitative data by focusing on various methods of collecting feedback from students. Some of the suggested feedback is written for other disciplines, but can be easily transferred to physical education. Many of these strategies give educators the leeway to adapt feedback the most efficient way for their department or classroom.
 * HOW TO ELICIT STUDENT FEEDBACK IN THE CLASSROOM **



I thought this image was very useful in the point I am trying to convey about collecting student feedback. It is important that the educator has various ways to collect student feedback that works best for them in their discipline. However, collection is only one part of the feedback cycle, as we must figure out what to do with it next. The cycle illustrates this fact, as educators must continually monitor, make decisions, and eventually publicize the data. The student feedback cycle is critical in all disciplines to address where gaps exist in student learning.

**__ JOURNALS AND EXIT SLIPS __** Graham, George, Holt, Shirley Ann, & Parker, Melissa. (2004). Assessing Student Learning. Children Moving, 6th Ed. 194-203. http://cgi.ebay.com/Children-Moving-Graham-6e-Teaching-Physical-Education_W0QQitemZ230303193936QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20081024?IMSfp=TL081024106003r27365#stockphoto

The authors design several measures for collecting student feedback in the form of assessments. They make note that teachers must make sure they the feedback directly relates to teaching practices and have a goal in mind. One option is exit or entrance slips that are short written notes to assess cognitive and affective goals. The slips contain a few questions about specific learning cues of the lesson just taught. An example might be “Bob is not a very good thrower, list some cues that might help him become a better thrower”. To save time, teachers can determine the major purpose of the journal of exit slip, and decide on a format for writing such as answering a specific question to answer. An example is provided on pg. 200 (figure 14.2) of the book.

In a student journal, students can write down and reflect on “feelings, growth, frustrations, joys, and successes regarding physical activity and physical education. The purpose is to get students to write freely and honestly to collect feedback about their feelings in the class. Teachers can save time in and out of class by limiting journals to only two or three classes at a time. Examples are provided on pp.201-202 (figure 14.4 and 14.5) of the book.

The reason why this reading is so helpful is that it provides a teacher with a variety of options in how to collect student feedback. It also provides many examples and even gives teachers options in how to manage their time better to use these feedback methods more effectively. This source will help our department to collect data about students attitudes, feelings, and collaborate to plan more effective teaching strategies to address the problems.

 __**PHYSICAL EDUCATION SURVEYS**__

Couturier, Lynn E., Chepko, Steveda, & Coughlin, Mary Ann. Student Voices--What Middle and High School Students Have to Say about Physical Education. Physical Educator; Winter2005, Vol. 62 Issue 4, p170-177, 8p, 1 chart.

The authors described research between a local urban school district and the faculty of a partnering college which aimed to elicit student feedback on physical education classes at the districts’ middle schools and high schools. They developed surveys to gain perspective into why students would want to participate, not participate, and there overall feelings about Physical Education. The survey also included demographic information which was crucial to the districts diverse population. Teachers took part in various meetings where the members mutually agreed upon the areas of interest mentioned above. Additionally, individual teacher concerns which reflected their interactions with students were crucial elements in the survey.

The surveys were distributed about 5000 students of various demographics and at both the middle school and high school level. It yielded critical results in each of the areas the survey set out to address. Additionally, many new items were discovered that were not previously addressed by the educators. The data discovered different preferences in activities as well as in concerns at the middle school and high school levels. The research allowed the educators at the various schools to develop curriculum and activities based upon student responses.

This source provides another measure of how to elicit student feedback specifically in a physical education class. Teachers in the field can determine what kind of survey they might want to use, how to set it up, and what procedures they need to follow. It also provides key insight into what type of questions to ask, and how to analyze the data once it is gathered. As a physical educator myself, our department’s need is to develop surveys like this one to collect and analyze our students data. The surveys can help spur a professional discussion in our department in how to address the gaps between student learning in our various schools.

__ __
 * QUICK AND EASY FEEDBACK STRATEGIES **

http://www.itl.usyd.edu.au/feedback/gatherstufeed.htm  Gathering your own Student Feedback. University of Sydney.  Sometimes, an easy and quick method to collect feedback from students in any field of education is to ask them directly. Questions can be short statements that directly relate to what area you want to gather feedback on. A critical learning statement asks student to write down any points that they have clearly learned in class and any points they are unclear of in class. These types of statements provide quick feedback that can be acted upon quickly by educators. Teachers can also gain valuable feedback by conducting structured group interviews and focus group interviews. A small group or class can respond to predetermined questions and a written report is documented by the teacher. A focus group is performed the same way, except a smaller portion of the class is asked to participate. A teacher should make sure they collect around a 60% response rate on a particular method to ensure it is representative of the population of students. Teachers can also use a statistical report to break each individual question they used on a questionnaire and interpret the results.  This source helps teachers come up with quick and easy ways to make sure their students understand in the classroom. It shows them how to set up statements, interviews, and various groups so that they can easily adapt them to meet their individual classroom need.  My departments’ needs can be addressed by using some of these methods to collect student data. Once data is gathered, we can discuss the results as a professional group and reflect on ways to address student struggles and gaps in learning.  __** PHYSICAL EDUCATION ASSESSMENTS **__     Downloaded from     http://www.pecentral.org/assessment/assessment.html  Jefferies, Stephen, Jefferies, Toni and Mustain, Wendy. Why Assess in Physical Education? // Assessment Ideas 1997. //       The authors discuss “different assessment methods” including qualitative types which are a useful measure of learning and improvement. Physical educators can ask students to work in groups to create a school newspaper article discussing how to perform a motor skill. Students can also create a form, checklist or rubric to assess a classmates’ performance in a certain skill. This form or checklist would be explained in a summary discussing the skill they chose to assess. Students can also create a wide variety of assessment ideas including illustrations about a skill or concept, teaching a skill or concept to a younger, or less skilled student, and creating a physical education game that teaches a similar skill or strategy that we have worked on in class. All of these forms of qualitative assessment must be continuous to allow for the most collection of data. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 130%; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif"> This source displays the various methods of collecting qualitative data and allows teachers to be creative in the way they want to assess. Reading the article can give a teacher numerous ideas in how to get the most data out of students in their classrooms in a number of ways. Our need as a physical education department is collaborating to discuss the various needs of our student, and we need to collect data to back up our claims. Having schools use various data collecting techniques will allow our staff to have enlightened discussions about what our students can and cannot perform in class.

__WALK THROUGHS__



Barnes, Francis V. & Miller, Marilyn (2001). Data Analysis by Walking Around - using student data in school administration//. School Administrator. //           The authors wanted to gain insight into improving student achievement and become more consistent with their districts mission statement. To do so, they conducted "walk throughs” in their schools, collecting information by having brief conversations with students. Initially, walk-throughs” were informal, but eventually relied on teacher driven questions in the form of interviews. The authors received rich knowledge on what areas' students felt comfortable with, and what areas needed more attention. “Walk throughs” were conducted in the fall to get baseline data, and the spring to track student progress. Before questions are developed and a "walk-through" can take place, districts and schools must clearly define what students are expected to learn. Using the questions mutually agreed upon by teachers, interviews typically take about 15 minutes and meet students educational level. Student responses are compiled and summarized the same day by a "walk-through team" who also shares the information with the faculty. The data also is used to create instructional strategies for individual students, groups of students or professional development. This source allows educators of any discipline to plan and enact an effective way to collect student feedback. It provides the teacher with the set-up, procedures, and follow-up techniques they need to implement the strategy. The walk-through procedure is helpful for not only schools, but for individual teachers to analyze and reflect on the results to improve student learning. In my department, a major need to develop a strategy like this one is prevalent. We can use the data to compare from school to school and grade to grade what the individual needs of our students are and how to improve upon them.

**__EXIT POLLS AND CHECKS FOR UNDERSTANDING__** Graham, George. (2008). Teaching Children Physical Education, 3rd Edition. //Informal Cognitive and Attitude Assessments. //pp. 205-209. http://www.humankinetics.com/teachingchildrenphysicaleducation/index.cfm.



<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"> The author addresses the fact that physical education teachers need to informally assess students to see if they are grasping critical concepts. He discusses and provides examples of a few ways to elicit student feedback informally during the course of the class. “Checking for Understanding” can be used at the end or closure part of the lesson to ask students to show understanding of a particular component or concept you have taught. An example might be “show me how your knees should look after you land from a jump”. By quickly surveying the class and individual students, teachers can get a grasp on if the majority of students have understood the concepts being taught.

An exit poll provides a teacher with how students feel about a particular skill or concept being taught in the class. A simple “smiley”, “neutral”, and “frowny” face can represent student feelings in these particular areas. As students leave the gym, they can pick a face that best represents their feelings about an area you would like to address and place it in a ballet box. A sample question might be “How do you feel about your ability to strike a ball with a bat’? More examples are provided on pg. 207 and 208 of the book. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA"> <span style="FONT-SIZE: 110%; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">This source gives a physical educator critical ideas in how to collect feedback from students during the course of the class. The feedback provided by the book is quick, and easy to use and gives educators a source of how students are understanding and feeling about concepts in their class. For my departments need, this information is critical for collecting more data about what areas a majority of the students are struggling and succeeding in. The data we collect from using the strategies explained by this source can aid us in discussing and implementing various instruction to address student needs.