CultivatingEquitableStudentcenteredDiscussions:

SamaraFrancisco
HighTechHighGraduateSchoolofEducation
TeacherLeadershipResident,MastersofEducationCandidate
May2016

METHODS:
Thisactionresearchusedimprovementsciencetobetterunderstandthefollowingquestion:Howdowe
createequitablestudentledclassroomdiscussionswherestudentsarefacilitatingandallstudentsareengaged?I
usedPDSAcyclestoachievethefollowingaim:
ByMay2016,10thGradeHumanitiesstudentsatHTHMA
willengageinequitablestudentcentereddiscussionsinwhichstudentssharetalktime,generatequestions,
providerelevantresponses,andfacilitatetheirowndiscussions.
ThePDSAcycleisaframeworkusedinimprovementsciencethatallowsresearcherstoquicklyand
readilyimplementandevaluatetheeffectivenessofchangeideas.Forthepurposesofthisactionresearch,Iwill
completemultiplePDSAcyclesthatcomprisethefollowingcyclicalstages:Plan,Do,StudyandAct.
Plan:Thinkaboutthesystem,identifygoals
Do:Implementchangeideaintheclassroom
Study:Revieweffectofchangeidea,followupwithfocusgroupsandinterviews
Act:Discussnewunderstandings,adjustcourseandrepeatcycle

Plan
Attheoutsetofeachcycle,Igatheredinformationtodeterminethechangeideastofocusonforthe
currentcycle.Theultimatestandardofsuccessforequitableconversationsentailsthoseinwhichstudentshave
multipleopportunitiestoengagebefore,during,andafterwholegroupconversationsandthatpermitverbal
participation.Studentsalsosetindividualgrowthgoalsforparticipatingindiscussion.Finally,thestudent
centeredstructureofthisresearchempoweredstudentsratherthantheteacher,toserveasfacilitatorsbyasking
questions,invitingothersin,andmakingconnectionstothecommentsofothersinordertopromote
participationandensureequity.
BeforeIimplementedtheinitialcycleofchangeideas,studentshadacolddiscussion,inwhichI
collectedbaselinedatafocusedonwhotalked,howlongindividualstudentstalked,whoaskedquestions,and
howconnectedanddeepstudentsresponseswere.Iutilizedvideorecordingtoensureaccuracy,andIcompiled
thedataintoasummaryandgraphicstosharewithstudents.Thisassistedstudentswithsettinginitialindividual
andclassgrowthgoals.Finally,studentscocreatedarubricofwhatanequitablediscussionlookedlike.Atthe
endofeachdiscussion,studentreflectionsfocusedaroundtherubricandwhethertheymetthegoaltheysetfor
themselves.

Do
Topropelstudentstowardstheaim,thisprojectincorporatedavarietyofchangeideasincyclesto
isolatethemostimpactfulvariables.ThePDSAprocessisfundamentallyiterativeanddynamicinthatit
respondstotheneedsofthesubjects.Thefollowingarechangeideasthatweusedbasedonfeedbackand
researchregardingthistopic:
Creatingalistofdiscussionnorms
Settinggoalsonwhichnormstoimproveatenacting

 Graphicorganizerstoprepareevidence
Timeinclasstopreparefordiscussion
Assigningspecificrolestostudentsforparticipation(e.g.posingtheopeningquestion,theformal
facilitator,noticingwhenothersarentparticipating,challengingtheprevailingopinion)
Debriefswithclassofrecordeddiscussionsandconversationmap
Visualcuestosignaladesiretospeak

StudyandAct
Tomeasurestudentsuccessatachievingtheaim,thePDSAcyclesregularlyassessedstudentexhibition
ofdesiredbehaviorsandtheperceptionofequitableparticipationinthediscussion.Tomeasurebehaviorsand
perception,Iuseddiscussiontranscripts,individualstudentsurveys,peerobserverfeedback,andwholeclass
debriefs.ThetypesofbehaviorsItrackedfrommyobservationsincludedthefollowing:initiatingthe
discussion,invitingothersin,askingaquestion,interruptinganotherstudent,sharingtheair,attemptingto
participate,amongstothers.Tovalidatemyobservations,Iusedthesurveydataandpeerfeedbacktoassess
perceptionofequityinthediscussion.
BaselineData
Toestablishabaselineforparticipation,Idividedstudentsintotwogroups.Igaveeachgroupabout
1012minutestodiscussresponsestoaTedTalkandwhethertheyagreedordisagreedwiththeargumentmade
bythespeaker.MyapprenticeteacherandIobservedfromtheoutside,makingmarksonwhospokeand
interruptingonlywhennecessary.

PDSACycleSnapshots:DataCollection,AnalysisandResults:
Thefollowingrepresentsthevariouschangeideacyclesusedtofosterstudentcenteredequitablediscussions,
andthewaysIcollectedandanalyzeddatatoguidenextsteps.

PDSA#1:Definingparticipationanddiscussionnorms
IpresentedstudentswiththebaselinedataandaskedthemtoperformtheMakingThinkingVisible
RoutineSee,Think,Wonder.Thisaskedstudentstoobservethenumbersandmakeobservations,
assumptions,andcreatequestionsbasedontheinformation.Iomittedanynamesoridentifyinginformationfor
students.Studentsthencreatedalistofnormsandhabitsthatdefineparticipationindiscussion.Someofthe
normsandhabitsthatwererecurringthemesforareastoworkonincludedsharingtheair,monitoringhow
muchyouspeak,invitingothersin,andsayingrelevantthings.

PDSA#2:Selfassessingstrengthsandareasofgrowth
Studentsselfassessedtheirstrengthsandareasofgrowthbasedontheprovidedlistofrolestoplayin
discussion.Thegoalwastocreateindividualgrowthplanstoprioritizehowtogrowasdiscussionparticipants.
BasedonBrookfieldandPreskills(2005)definitionofconversationalmovesandthelistofnorms/traitsof
participation,Iprovidedstudentswiththefollowingrolestoidentifytheirstrengthsandareasofimprovement:
Makethefirstcomment
Offersupportbyagreeingwithsomeone
Offersupportbyprovidingexamples
Offercounterargumentorprovidealternatives
Askopenendedquestions

Askclarifyingquestions
Summarizingorrephrasingacommentoridea
Synthesizingthecommentsofseveralpeopleorauthors
Invitingothersintotheconversation

About29%ofstudentsindicatedtheirgreateststrengthwasofferingsupportbyagreeingwitha
classmate.69%ofstudentssaidthatspeakingfirstisoneofthethingstheyareleastlikelytodoinadiscussion.
About36%saidtheywouldliketoactuallyprioritizemakingthefirstcomment.Thisisnosurprisetome,
becauseIhavenoticedthelagtimebetweenwhenthediscussionbeginsandwhomakesthefirstmove.The
samehappensinmoreteacherdirectedconversations.

PDSA#3:GoalSetting,observation,andreflection
Basedonindividualstudentresponsestothesurvey,Igavestudentsaprepsheettargetedtohelpthem
preparetodiscussandtakeontheroletheyprioritizedimprovingin.Thefollowingdaywehadtwofishbowl
discussionsineachclass.Infishbowldiscussions,studentsalternatebetweenplayingoneoftworoles:
participantandpeerobserver.Theparticipantisintheinnercircleengaginginthediscussion.Thepeerobserver
istheparticipantspartner,whotakesnotesandevaluateshis/herperformancebasedonthetargetarea.The
goalistoforcestudentstopracticedoingthethingatwhichtheywantto/needtoimprovein.Followingthe
discussion,studentstookthefollowingsurvey:

Figure3:Studentsurveysfollowingdiscussions
1. Ifeltpreparedtoparticipateinthediscussion(1:StronglyDisagree...5:StronglyAgree)
2. Mygroupsharedtalktimesoallvoicescouldbeheard(1:StronglyDisagree...5:
StronglyAgree)
3. Mygroupinvitedothersintotheconversation(1:StronglyDisagree...5:StronglyAgree)
4. Mygroupinterruptedotherstudentswhowerespeaking(1:StronglyDisagree...5:
StronglyAgree)
5. Ihadenoughchancestoparticipateinthediscussion(1:StronglyDisagree...5:Strongly
Agree)
6. Lookatthefeedbackfromyourpeerreviewer.Whatissomethingyoucancelebrate
aboutyourparticipationinthediscussiontoday?
7. Whatissomethingyoucancelebrateaboutthegroup'sdiscussion(eitheryourgroup'sor
theothergroup's)?
8. Whatissomethingyoucanpersonallyworkontoimproveforthenextdiscussion?
9. WhatissomethingyouwouldrecommendArleneandSamaraadjustforthenext
discussion?

Duringdiscussion,Itrackedparticipationandusedaudiotranscriptstoconfirmmyobservationsforwho
spokeandwhodidnot.Idrewconclusionsonstudentperceptionofequitybasedongroupingstudentswho
marked4or5oragreed/stronglyagreed.Wehadatotaloffourfishbowldiscussions.Of40respondents,52.5%
agreed/stronglyagreedthattheyfeltprepared.Ofthe16studentswhoturnedintheirmaterials,only3didnot
makecommentsrelatedtotheirgoals.13/16did.Of40respondents,62.5%agreed/stronglyagreedthattheir

groupinvitedothersintotheconversation60%agreed/stronglyagreedthattheyhadenoughchancesto
participate.

PDSA#4:Refereesandredcards
ThisfinalPDSAcyclewasanotherfishbowldiscussionthattestedthechangeideasofvisual
participationcues,referees,preparationthepriorday,andstreamlinedfeedbackforms.Igavestudents30
minutesthedaybeforetoreadanessaybyCesarChavezcalledOnNonviolence.Studentsoptedtoeither
readontheirownorinsmallgroups.Nocomprehensionorsupplementaryquestionsweregivenwiththe
intentionofforcingstudentstousethediscussionasameansofbuildingcollectiveunderstandings.Students
onceagainsetgoalsaroundwhichhabitandwhichnormtheywanttofocusonperformingwellandwroteiton
afeedbackform.Basedonastudentssuggestionfromthelastcycle,Iadaptedtheformtobesimplerbyasking
peerobserverstowritewarmandcoolfeedback.Iaddedtwoelementstotheflowofthediscussion:areferee
andsignalcards.Refereeswerestudentswhowerepeerobserversthatdeliberatelymonitoredthegroups
abilitytoupholdthenormsandhelpedmakethegroupawareiftheywerenotbyverballyintervening.Signal
cardswererednotecardsparticipantsintheinnercirclecouldholduptocommunicatetothegrouptheywanted
tospeakatthattime.Whileweneverintendedtorequirestudentstoyieldthefloortothestudentwiththeraised
card,thisspecificallypromotedsafetyinspeakingwhenstudentsfelttheywereready.