Teachers from EC through Upper levels partnered with postdoctoral scholar, Nicole Mancevice, for a multi-year teacher action research project.
Focus: “How did you solve the problem?” “Why did you use that strategy?” “What are my next steps based on what I learned today?” From EC through Upper levels, students are asking their peers questions about the process of learning, and they’re reflecting on their own learning process. Both students and teachers are documenting the students’ thinking in writing, sketches, and recordings. Teachers initiated an action research project to study the role of pedagogical documentation on student reflection and teacher decision-making as part of inquiry instruction in an elementary school setting.
Findings: Teacher and students improved on their abilities to reflect on the process of learning during inquiry. Results led to revising school “best practices” guide to address alignment between documentation and formative and summative assessment practices