Data Collection
Because the data was
qualitative rather than quantitative, much of it is anecdotal. I sent out a post-project
survey to poll participants’ perceptions of the process. Questions included
rating scales regarding the effectiveness of the project as well as
participants’ opinions of the most effective part of the process. The survey
was taken independently through Survey Monkey online. When I had follow-up
questions related to the surveys, I contacted the participants by email.
Findings
(Section Four)
The online survey generated the following results:
Helpfulness
of the collaboration:
- “Really
helpful… I gained a lot from the experience” 60%
-
“Somewhat helpful… I’m glad I participated” 40%
- “Not
very helpful” 0%
- “A
complete waste of time” 0%
Participants
commented that the greatest benefit of the face-to-face meetings included
“exchanging ideas on what actually worked in the classroom to increase
editing/revising skills,” knowing that other teachers were facing the same
challenges, and sharing activities, ideas, materials, and strategies to improve
teaching.
When asked
what could have been added to make the meetings more helpful, answers included:
-
classroom
visits and observations
-
make-and-take
sessions
-
exchanging
ideas for conferencing
-
ideas
for first semester instruction
-
extending
the project to include reading instruction as well as writing instruction
