Psychology Expert Needed

Area of Proposal

Fill in Pertinent Information in This Column

1. Introduction

1. Introduction

Introduce the study and summarize the existing research sufficiently that your readers will understand the basis for your study.

In this research study, the effectiveness of project-based learning and motivation on students with learning difficulties/disabilities will be explored.

Students with learning difficulties who are challenged with various cognitive and psycho-emotional issues may also entail self-regulation, working memory limitation, attention and concentration difficulties, problems in applying new concepts, and/or language based difficulties, etc. (Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010). With various difficulties some students may have a diagnosed disorder i.e. ADHD, learning impairment, ODD, Anxiety, etc. In addition, for other students who are at risk to fail academically due to various circumstances i.e. dysfunctional home environment, limited resources, etc. they may also need the extra support to strive in a learning environment that is motivational and stimulating (Lovelace, Gibson & Tabb, 2013). For students who are identified with special needs and need the support to academically perform effectively, the classroom setting/environment is considered when developing the Individual Education Program/Plan (IEP). It is important to consider the appropriate placement for the student that will help him/her thrive both academically and emotionally (Council, 2018).

For this research, the Project-based Learning (PBL) setting incorporates the methods and philosophy where students are interactive and have a hands on approach. They are able to study in depth topics and express ideas, questions, predicts and interests and experience the activities. When doing so, the student is able to communicate effectively, create and develop practical thinking to further explore and make decisions (Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010). The learning method is both meaningful, and creates a sense of self-direction as well as motivation, which helps the students to develop better self-esteem and attitudes of attending school.

2. Research Question(s)

2. Research Question(s)

List each research question, in clear and specific terms, for this study.

1) How does a student with disabilities benefit socially/emotionally and academically from learning in an PBL setting?

2) How does learning in a PBL setting improve the students with disabilities to be motivated and gain a positive attitude about learning?

3) What are the effects of students with disabilities who learn in a mainstream/traditional method of teaching?

4) What are teacher’s perceptions of a PBL and does it affect the student’s motivation to learn?

Describe how your research questions deal with:

· Descriptions (for example, of a phenomenon of interest),

In this study, the phenomenon of interest is predicting that there are positive effects with academic performance and attitudes for students with disabilities who are placed in a PBL setting versus a traditional setting. The research will also analyze the perception of the teachers involved with PBL and how does the teacher’s participation and attitude impact the students.

Research questions numbers 1 and 2 deals with the correlation of students with disabilities academic impact and attitudes towards self-efficacy in a learning setting with teaching methods based on a PBL model. In contrast, research question number 3 deals with the correlation of students with disabilities placed in an alternative setting other than a PBL and how the students are effected in this setting. Research question number 4 deals with the phenomenon of interest if the influences of the teacher’s view of PBL impacts the functionality of motivation and attitudes of the students.

· Relationships or correlations (for example, how highly related are two variables to each other), or

It’s high related correlation that PBL improve performances both academically and emotionally. The relationship among the dependent variables predict a positive improvement in academic performance, self-efficacy in learning as result gain better self-confidence, motivation and attitude to learn, social skills, and problem solving skills as a result of being taught in PBL method.

· Differences (for example, how are participants who complete the treatment different from those who don’t?)

Differences in means scores will be analyzed with a pre and post test score. A before and after of learning difficulties that pertains to the student’s knowledge, attitude, and group work will be reviewed when students whom are enrolled in a PBL classroom are identified. The comparison of scores prior to starting and the completion of the PBL ending will show if there is an increase and improvement in those areas, a decrease, or remain to have no difference when enrolled in the PBL setting.

3. Hypotheses

3. Hypotheses

List each hypothesis you will test for this study. Be sure that each hypothesis is clear, specific, and testable. Be sure that each hypothesis flows logically from the literature and background information provided already.

1) A student with disabilities will benefit socially/emotionally and academically from learning in a Project Base Learning setting.

2) Learning in a Project Base Learning setting will improve students with disabilities to be motivated and gain a positive attitude about learning.

3) The effects of students with disabilities who learn in a mainstream/traditional method of teaching differ from students who learn from a Project Base Learning setting.

4) Teacher’s perceptions of a Project Base Learning have affects with student’s motivation to learn.

4. Quantitative Approach

4. Quantitative Approach

· Specify the quantitative approach (e.g., correlational research, quasi-experimental, experimental) being proposed for this study

Using a quasi-experimental, the experimental research is not randomly assigned. In this quasi-experimental research, in order to establish the differences, a before and after the implementation of the PBL and the student’s learning difficulties and a pre and post-test rating scores will be analyzed. The student’s knowledge score, attitudes towards self-efficacy and group work, traditional teaching and PBL teaching will also be analyzed.

· Provide a rationale for this approach over other possible quantitative approaches- explain why this is the best way to test your hypotheses. Use references and cite appropriately.

By conducting a pre and post-test rating scores and analyzing the mean scores and standard deviations will help show whether or not the students with learning difficulties scores are significant after the completion of the PBL method ended (Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010).The data will provide information that will support to accept the null hypothesis or accept the alternative hypothesis.

5. Variables

5. Variables

· What are the variables of interest for this study? Provide a specific conceptual definition here.

The variables included in this study are 1) student’s academic performance, 2) student’s self-efficacy in learning, 3) student’s improvement with social skills and problem solving skills, 4) Teacher’s perception in teaching methods i.e. traditional teaching versus experiential learning.

Conceptual Definition:

1) The student’s academic performance entails how the student’s function intellectually in a PBL learning environment. As part of the learning domains, academic performance and achievement specifically targets the cognitive domain and the student’s knowledge of the given task.

2) The student’s self-efficacy is in important part of the student’s emotional well-being (Council, 2018). Self-efficacy is a critical part of how a student think and feel about themselves in order to accomplish a goal presented. Self-efficacy can lead to higher self-esteem and confidence (Council, 2018). The concept of self-efficacy stems from the social cognitive theory from psychologist Albert Bandura who stresses the role of social experiences (Hwang, Hung & Chen, 2014). As part of the learning domain, the affective domain targets the student’s attitude about learning in a PBL learning environment.

3) The student’s social skills and problem solving skills are involved with group work and peer relationships. With group work tasks, the student will contribute ideas/solutions/opinions, communicate effectively with possible solutions, heightened self-awareness and self-control, actively interact and engage with group task, promote focus and attention, and provide peer moral support. As part of the learning domain, psychomotor domain targets the student’s skills.

4) The teacher’s perception and views of the PBL is advantageous in the process of teaching in a PBL setting. The teacher’s attitude towards PBL can highly influence the student’s participation and motivation. PBL is a teaching method that is experiential and interactive. Since students with disabilities have various ways of learning content and teachers need to hone into the different learning styles to motivate their students in order to maximize the student’s potential (Council, 2018). Contrastingly, in a traditional/mainstream classroom, the teaching methods and atmosphere are highly structured such as in a lecture type environment (Hwang, Hung & Chen, 2014). For example, traditional education is teacher-centered delivery of instruction to classes of students who are the receivers of the information . This may entail mostly audio and visual presentation with minimal hands on approach methods (Hwang, Hung & Chen, 2014).

· Which of these variables are independent variables?

For this study, the independent variable entails the teaching methods of PBL environmental setting, which includes an experiential method versus a traditional teaching method.

· Which of these variables are dependent variables?

The dependent variables included in this study are 1) student’s academic performance, 2) self-efficacy in learning i.e. gaining confidence with accomplished goal, improve motivation and attitude 3) group work i.e. gaining social skills and problem solving skills. 4) teacher’s perception of a PBL.

· Which of these variables are other variables of interest? Specify how they are of interest (for example, covariate, confound, etc.)

The covariate variable of interest in this study are the teacher’s perception of PBL. In scope of a PBL teaching method, a teacher’s perspective on its deliverance and attitudes towards teaching in a style that is non-traditional could possibly affect how a student’s responds to the tasks/activity itself. The teacher’s perception and attitudes are covariate because it influences the dependent variables. Past research has shown that perceptions of the PBL teacher’s participation are associated with the student’s motivation and their enjoyment and interest (Council, 2018).

· Operationally define each of your study variables. Be sure each variable is objectively and reliably measurable.

The operational definition of the variable would be to collect data a variety of methods. The methods to be used is to interview the students and teachers, perform classroom observations, utilize standardize learning difficulties screening tests, knowledge tests, and attitude scales. The time to collect the data would entail a school year of 10 months from the start of the year to the ending of the school year. With the screenings, pre and post-test involved will generate a numeric value that is measurable for analyzation.

· Will you use existing measures in your research? If yes, describe the reliability and validity data of the measure.

Existing measures in the research study will be utilized. The existing data will include a review of student’s educational file which include past academic performance such as report cards, pertinent information gathered from past teachers, IEP, Section 504 plans, Behavioral Support Plans, Cognitive evaluations, Academic evaluations, Adaptive Behavioral Assessment etc.

The Standardized Teacher Questionnaire for Identification of Students with Learning Difficulties consists of six scales: oral language (expressive and receptive), written language (reading and writing), mathematics, and reasoning (Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010). Each scale consist of 15-20 statements pertaining to the difficulties of the student may exhibit in the above mentioned learning domains (Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010). The teacher rates and observes the student’s behavior in a scale ranging from one to nine (never to always) (Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010). The test-retest reliability coefficients rang from .95 to .98 for the six scales(Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010). Cronbach alpha coefficient ranged from .95 to .97 for the six scales (Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010). Second, the Standardized Screening Software for Learning Skills and Weaknesses assesses picture and word recognition, spelling, oral, and reading comprehension, syntactic awareness and vocabulary, and working memory, non-verbal reasoning and rhythm sensitivity (Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010). The skills are then evaluated on the test-retest reliability coefficients range from .60 to .77 for the ten scales (Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010).

An Attitude Scale will be used to examine the student’s and teacher’s attitude. The instrument includes statements, which consists of five factors( Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010). The first factor assesses the student’s attitude towards task value concerning environmental studies, the second factor-assessed the student’s academic self-efficacy in learning environmental studies (Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010). The third factor assesses the student’s attitudes towards group work and collaboration with peers. The fourth factors in the student’s attitudes toward traditional teaching and the fifth factors in the student’s attitudes towards PBL teaching (Filippatou & Kaldi, 2010).

· Will you create measures for this research? If yes, Describe your development and pilot testing procedures for this measure.

No, this learner would not create measures for this research at this present time. Should this research continue to progress into further research, collaboration with PBL teachers would be involved to formulate other testing procedures.

6. Sample

6. Sample

· What is the population of interest?

The population of interest is students with disabilities and students who need additional support in the classroom setting.

· Who are the sample participants?

The sample participants are 20 students in the 6th grade ages 11-12 years old who were selected to participate in a Project Base Learning classroom.

· Explain how this sample is (and is not) representative of the population. Include a discussion of any inclusion or exclusion criteria for participation.

These students consisted of students with an IEP who were eligible to for Special Education services under the criteria of Emotional Impaired, Specific Leaning Disability, or Other Health impaired. More specifically, students who were clinically diagnosed with ADHD, High Functioning Autism, ODD, and Anxiety or a student with accommodations in the classroom who eligible under the Federal Act of Section 504.

Students who also met the criteria of being academically at high risk to fail is also considered in the sample. These students were identified to have complicated dynamics outside of the school system such as being placed in a foster home, unsupported family systems, history of chronic school absents.

7. Procedures

7. Procedures

· What are the participant recruitment procedures?

The recruitment procedures will entail the following steps located at public elementary school with PBL classroom for 6th graders (ages 11-12 years old). Two teachers who instruct the PBL classroom, one of which is specified as the Special Education Teacher and the other General Education teacher. There are a total of 19 students designated for the PBL classroom.

Step:

1) Participation letter to PBL teachers, introducing this learner/researcher and the purpose of study. The letter would include the details of study and a request of list of students in their class. This letter will include informing the teachers that a survey will be given to the parents about their thoughts and upcoming activities of PBL.

2) An invitational letter sent to Students and Families to inform them of the research project that will be taking place at their child’s school in their class. This letter will include the purpose of the study to explore the effectiveness of project-based learning and motivation on students with learning difficulties/disabilities. The letter will include all the details of the study i.e., duration and time of study to take place, questionnaires, interview, and confidentiality and storage of the collected data.

3) Consent form for participation to students and families to be sent along with the invitational letter.

· What are the study procedures? (What will you do and where will you do it in obsessive detail)

The basic procedure in implementing the correlation study will be conducted in phases. Phase 1 will be to collect the quantitative data (pre and post), Phase 2 analysis of the quantitative data, Phase 3 merge results of other pertinent data gathered i.e., observations and interview notes and Phase 4 Interpret the merged results.

1) The quantitative data collection procedure will begin with sending out the questionnaires to families, teachers, and student’s about PBL activities and what they are doing in their classroom. This questionnaire is based on examining attitudes, of group work, and motivations. The questionnaire will be formulated on a data scale that is ordinal. The scale of measurement using a Likert Scale of 3-points and organizing the data with a coding system to also encode their identity of the person completing the questionnaire.

2) The second questionnaire is sent to students to assess their knowledge of the project activity with a 10 open-ended and multiple-choice question. The same questionnaire will be used again at the end of the PBL session. For this specific research, the project activity in the PBL class in a public elementary school in Hawaii which incorporates the Hawaiian culture of utilizing the Hawaiian lands such as sustainability in areas of agriculture and oceanology. For example, in past project activities, the students are responsible to develop a “Lo’i”, which is a Hawaiian word for Taro plant patch located in a native farm. The students are able to use math, science, social skills etc. to grow, harvest, and for some other plants on the farm to sell in the community.

3) A standardized teacher questionnaire is sent to teachers to determine the students learning difficulties in a data scale that is ordinal. The six scales will include oral language, written language, mathematics, and reasoning to comprise of 15 statements. The teacher rating will be based on the student’s observed behavior ranging from always to never.

4) This researcher/learner will have a 10 interview questions that assesses the perspective, views, and attitudes of teachers teaching a PBL class. The data is an ordinal scale with Likert scale on a Five-Point Scale ranging from 1. Strongly Agree, 2. Agree, 3. Undecided, 4.Disagree, and 5. Strongly Disagree.

5) This researcher/learner will conduct and develop an observation form to collect data when observing student interactions in the PBL class once a week for 10 months (beginning to ending of the school year).

The quantitative data results will be integrated into a Means and Standard deviation of five dependent variables before and after the implementation of PBL about “Sustainability and Hawaiian Plants”. The dependent variables will incorporate the sample size and the two mean scores (1 = before the implementation of PBL and 2 = after the implementation of PBL). Variables measured 1. Total Knowledge Score, 2. Self-efficacy/attitude, 3. Group work, 4. Traditional teaching, and 5. PBL teaching.

· Describe research ethics and diversity considerations for this proposed study. How, when, and from whom will you obtain consent? How will you protect participant privacy and the confidentiality of their data?

Participation letter to PBL teachers and families include the details of study. Obtaining a consent form for participation of students and families to be sent along with the invitational letter. At this time, students are not identified with a disability or categorized at risk to maintain the diversity of student population in the class. After consent is received for participation, this researcher/learner would request of list of students who have an IEP/504 in their class.

An invitational letter sent to Students and Families to inform them of the research project that will be taking place at their child’s school in their class. This letter will include the purpose of the study to explore the effectiveness of project-based learning and motivation on students with learning difficulties/disabilities. The letter will include all the details of the study i.e., duration and time of study to take place, questionnaires, interview, and confidentiality safeguards. The confidentiality safeguards will inform families and participants how the data will be stored in a locked file cabinet on school premises.

8. Statistics

8. Statistics

· What statistics will be used in this study? Be specific for each hypothesis to be tested which variables you will use and which statistical test. Separate them by number.

In this quasi-experimental design, the comparison group of pre-test and post-test design will be utilized for each hypothesis.

1) A student with disabilities will benefit socially/emotionally and academically from learning in a Project Base Learning setting. Variable tested: Factor 1. Total knowledge score, Factor 2. Self-efficacy/Attitude.

2) Learning in a Project Base Learning setting will improve students with disabilities to be motivated and gain a positive attitude about learning. Variables tested: Factor 3. Group Work, Factor 2. Self-efficacy/Attitude.

3) The effects of students with disabilities who learn in a mainstream/traditional method of teaching differ from students who learn from a Project Base Learning setting. Variables tested: Factor 4. Traditional teaching, Factor 5. PBL teaching.

4) Teacher’s perceptions of a Project Base Learning have affects with student’s motivation to learn. Variables tested: Factors 2. Self-efficacy/Attitudes, Factor 4. Traditional teaching, Factor 5. PBL teaching.

· How do the statistics fit the needs of the study?

The statistical significance of comparing mean scores from a quasi-experimental design will help factoring in the results of determining patterns and trends. Since the independent variable (PBL setting) does not change for the student over a 10 month period, the comparison of obtaining a baseline score and implementation of PBL teaching will show if there is significant or insignificant difference in progress or lack of progress.

· If post hoc analyses are being considered, discuss these as well, including a rationale for your choice of analysis.

Should there be a significant result, the alternate hypothesis that there is no difference in when a student with disabilities is placed in a PBL versus mainstream/traditional learning setting is accepted. When this occurs the two factor means show a statistically significant difference from each other; therefore, a post hoc test will be determined if the PBL and mainstream/traditional setting differed from each other.

9. Strengths

9. Strengths

What are the strengths of this study? Why are they strengths?

The strengths of this study utilizes a very specific setting (PBL) where currently this learner has participants who are accessible based on this learner’s employment. The research study results for the most part have favorable outcomes and can be shared with the PBL Pilot Project which is currently taking place. The strengths of the study pertains to the content area of having positive effects for students with disabilities. With further informational data, more classes can be developed to help support students to flourish and learn effectively.

10. Limitations

10. Limitations

What are the weaknesses or limitations of this study? Why are they weaknesses?

This researcher/learner foresees time being a factor towards the success of this research. The time availability of all participants to include waiting for consents to completed, conduct scheduled interviews, assess data may impact the overall data. Although this is a 10 month study, this researcher/learner also have other priorities that are under time constraints.

11. Recommendations

11. Recommendations

What recommendations would you make for future research? Consider including the following:

· How could this study be improved?

As this quantitative proposal progresses in terms of documenting the process and the steps taken to analyze the data, perhaps limiting the hypothesis and research question to one or two would simplify the process and therefore, time would possibly not be a limitation.

· How could internal and external validity be improved in future research?

For the reason of time constraints and limited experience in developing an instrument, existing measures such as questionnaires are utilized. Consequently, based on the researcher (Council, 2018) studies and result, the researcher also indicates that the development of measures may limit the validity. Since the designs in the research study review indicate that the design is not an experimental design the internal validity of the study may not show a cause and effect (Council, 2018). For future research, a thorough research review of more than three studies would be conducted to analyze the result trends, instruments, and measurements used.

· How does this study fit in with other research in this area?

This study could be utilized as a comparison to other school settings that are established for students with disabilities. A cross study between interventions used such a positive reinforcements in a fully self-contained class (All special needs students), Resource Class (students with special needs attend both general education class and attend classes that they are deficient in), Inclusion Class (an integration of general education students and students with special needs conducted in a traditional class setting).

· What research should follow this study to help move the field forward?

For this study, this researcher/learner recommends further exploration in intellectual abilities and the range of individuals with disabilities. Due to the range and spectrum of various disabilities it would be beneficial to be move forward with gaining knowledge of the multitude of intelligence and how to teach student with disabilities.

References

References

Provide full APA references for each citation included in this proposal.

Council, J. (2018). The effects of project-based learning and motivation on students with disabilities  Retrieved from http://library.capella.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch .

proquest.com%2Fdocview%2F2061204785%3Faccountid%3D27965

Flippatou, D., & Kaldi, S. (2010). The effectiveness of project-based learning on pupils with learning difficulties regarding academic performance, group work and motivation. International Journal of Special Education, 25(June), 17-26.

Hwang, G., Hung, C., & Chen, N. (2014). Improving learning achievements, motivations and problem-solving skills through a peer assessment-based game development approach. Educational Technology Research and Development, 62(2), 129-145. doi:10.1007/s11423-013-9320-7

Lovelace, T.S., Gibson, L. & Tabb, J. (2013). Response to intervention techniques and students with learning disabilities. (pp. 113-131) Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Doi: 10.1108/S0270-4013 (2013)0000025009

Raggi, V. L., & Chronis, A. M. (2006). Interventions to address the academic impairment of children and adolescents with ADHD. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 9(2), 85-111. doi:http://dx.doi.org.library.capella.edu/10.1007/s10567-006-0006-0