Phase One: Identifying an Educational Problem and a Proposed Solution Introduction: I teach 11th grade Honors and A-level

World History. A part of studying history is reading and analyzing primary sources in order to discover a better-rounded, accurate, and deeper understanding of historical events and its impact on the world. However, many students, despite their reading and ability level have difficulties with primary sources, particularly interpreting the meaning of the document due to difficult vocabulary and complex subjects. Students also have difficulties in distinguishing the difference between primary and secondary sources, applying prior historical knowledge to interpret documents, analyzing point of view and bias, and answering analysis and evaluation type of questions, particularly using evidence from the primary source to support arguments. In this capstone project I am seeking to improve the following: Reading comprehension when students read primary source documents. Analyzing primary source documents, particularly in o Contextualizing the primary source. o Evaluating the validity and trustworthiness of a primary source. o Analyzing and interpreting the meaning and significance of a primary source. Historical writing o Use primary sources effectively as evidence to support an argument. o Synthesize their prior knowledge with what they have learned in the primary source. o Analyze cause and effect relationships in history.

Evidence of the Learning issue: This learning issue is apparent through many pieces of evidence. First, I have observed my students during classes in which primary documents are being used. Students typically state that they do not understand what the author is saying due to vocabulary and how the author writes. Pre-reading and during reading activities help students when reading primary sources, but their written analysis still suffers as evident from written assignments they turn in. Another piece of evidence that supports that this is a learning issue is the Mock ACT/SAT combo test that all eleventh graders were required to take in November of this year. The table below shows the scores of one of my World History classes. Some students were not present during the Mock exam and so they do not have scores.

Student #

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Class Average

ACT Reading Score Max score possible is 36 13 20 18 20 26 26 30 N/A 10 21 24 13 10 N/A 16 8 21 23 14 N/A 18

SAT Critical Reading Score Max score possible is 800 480 620 380 440 510 480 550 N/A 460 480 570 550 300 N/A 480 500 640 420 380 N/A 485

SAT Writing Score Max score possible is 800 420 360 330 300 400 390 340 N/A 400 330 370 330 240 N/A 330 340 430 420 360 N/A 358

Students typically scored the lowest on the SAT writing section and the SAT critical reading and ACT reading section typically was one of their other weaker sections. This shows that students have difficulty interpreting reading and expressing ideas through their writing. While the readings and writing of the SAT/ACT may not have been primary source documents, it still supports that reading analysis and writing is a learning issue among my class and school population. Description of the School System: 21 Elementary schools, 8 Middle Schools, 6 High Schools, & 4 Centers 2012-2013 Enrollment: 26,669 2012-2013 High School Enrollment: 8,941 Staff: School System employs 3,430 people. There are 2,030 teachers, 1,080 support staff, 79 technical employees and 241 administrators. County Demographics: Percentages based on enrollment on September 30, 2012. (201213 school year) See below chart

County Demographics
African-American Hispanic American Indian/Alaskan 5.70% 0.10% 52.30% 32.70% 5.70% 3.00% 0.50% White Multiracial Native Hawaiian Asian/Pacific Islander

Testing Data of the School System: HSA Data: (Bolded numbers are my schools scores.) Percent met HSA requirement by passing all 4 tests as of 10/2012 68.6 89.1 72.4 89.7 80.7 73.9 80.5 76.0 Percent met HSA requirement with combined score of 1602 on all 4 tests as of 10/2012 21.9 8.6 18.0 7.7 10.4 18.7 13.3 17.0

High School

Percent met by Bridge as of 10/2012

Percent granted waivers 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 County 2012 County 2011

9.5 2.4 9.5 2.5 8.9 7.4 6.2 7.0

SAT Results for College Bound Seniors (Bolded numbers are my schools scores.) 2011-2012 SAT Math 482 546 475 496 471 471 490 502 514

School 1 2 3 4 5 6 County State Nation

# 86 96 107 323 162 73 847 47,467 1,664,479

Critical Reading 481 539 470 485 471 478 486 497 496

Writing 467 526 447 469 456 474 471 488 488

Total 1430 1611 1392 1450 1398 1423 1447 1487 1498

School 1 2 3 4 5 6 County State Nation

# 93 85 112 322 157 61 830 47,787 1,667,123 2010 2011 AP Data:

Critical Reading 493 558 485 487 475 513 494 499 497

2010-2011 SAT Math 488 568 472 488 458 478 488 502 514

Writing 464 546 458 470 444 501 473 491 489

Total 1445 1672 1415 1445 1377 1492 1455 1492 150

Score on the National Exam 5 4 3 2 1

# of Students 100 357 700 1040 1245

Total # of AP Exams 26 AP Subjects 88.8% of enrolled students took the AP Exam

Description of School: Total Enrolled: 2,244

School Demographics
African-American Asian/Pacific Islander Multiracial Hispanic White

28.40%

61.18% 3.11% 0.95% 6.36%

Ethnicity Boys Asian-American 68 African-American 672 Inter-racial/Multi-racial 10 Hispanic 32 White 338 Note: Chart indicates 2,218 total students Services provided to students Service IEP 504 Plan FARMS # of Students 130 34 353

Girls 73 685 11 37 292

Total 141 1357 21 69 630

Percentage based on 2,244 enrollment count 5.79% 1.52% 15.73%

2012 Average SAT Scores o Critical Reading: 485 o Writing: 469 o Math: 496

2011 AP Scores: 79.4% took the National Exam that were enrolled Score Earned 5 4 3 2 1 # of Students 42 101 224 309 245

The above data shows that throughout the school and the school district, reading and writing is a weakness for many students at all levels. Critical reading and especially writing are the lower scores on the SAT. On Advanced Placement exams, 60% of students do not earn a passing score of a 3 and 15% of students earn either a 4 or the top score of 5. This is primarily due to the written portions of many of the AP exams. As an AP reader that has graded the essay portions of the AP European History exam, analysis is a weaker point in their essays. Individuals involved: I decided that I will be using the technology based solution to address student analysis and writing skills when reading and using primary sources in my smallest Honors World History class. I am picking my smallest class to work with since I can focus on the support the students may need with both the learning issue and the technology-based solution. I am also picking this class because they are one of my Honors classes that performed lowest on the Mock ACT/SAT, particularly in reading and writing. These students are also more familiar with wikis, particularly Wikispaces. This class is comprised of 19 eleventh graders and 1 ninth grader. None of these students has a 504 plan. None of these students receive free or reduced meals, also known as the FARMS program. One student does receive special services/has an IEP. This student receives speech therapy for stuttering. One other student was recently tested to see if they need special education services, but so far is not receiving special services. In this class of 20, there are 2 Asian-American students, 11 African-American students, 1 Hispanic student, and 6 White students. I will be the only teacher working with these students. Approval: I received approval from my principal to work on the capstone project in my school. See the below email.
RE: Graduate Work Hill, Kimberly (CCPS) To: Newton, Anna M. (CCPS) Anna, Thanks for sharing this with me. I'm interested to learn what you decide to take on as your project! Kim

From: Newton, Anna M. (CCPS) Sent: Friday, January 18, 2013 2:15 PM To: Hill, Kimberly (CCPS) Cc: Iverson, Debra (CCPS) Subject: Graduate Work Dear Ms. Hill, On February 4th, my final class/capstone project for my Master's in Instructional Technology will begin. One of the steps is to get approval from the principal/administrator for permission to design a project that uses educational technology to help address an instructional issue your students are experiencing. The course description is: (Formerly OMED 680.) Prerequisite: 24 credits, including the first eight courses in the program. May be taken with EDTC 645 or EDTC 650. Recommended as the final course in the MED program. A self-directed project, in which teachers collaborate with colleagues within or across grade levels or departments to incorporate innovations into their curricula. Throughout the seminar, a portfolio is built to demonstrate the development, implementation, and outcomes of the project. This is designed as a capstone experience that provides teachers the opportunity to apply previous knowledge and skills gained from other courses in the program. I am still in the process of brainstorming potential instructional issues for my research, but I wanted to get your permission to use one or multiple sections of my World History classes. The following link is the outline of the different phases of the project: http://goo.gl/8b5eX. The end of the semester is April 29th. Thank you for your support. Mrs. Anna Newton

(Screenshot includes the same information above it.)

Technology-based Solution: In order to address the learning issue and to improve students analysis and writing skills when reading and using primary sources, I have decided to use a wiki, created using Wikispaces. Wikis are a great collaborative and constructivist tool that will allow me and the students to help each other improve their interpretation and analysis skills when reading primary sources and using evidence from primary sources in discussions and written assignments. Wikis are also a great way to extend learning opportunities outside the classroom and are free as long as you have access to a computer with an internet connection. I plan to periodically assess students analysis and writing skills formally through various writing assignments to check for improvement. Some assignments may include responses to analytical questions based off of reading primary sources as well as extend written response where students must use evidence from primary sources to support their argument. Research-based Evidence: Wikis can be used for a variety of purposes. This versatility means that wikis can be used to address various instructional desires and needs. This makes a wiki a logical choice in order to help improve reading comprehension, analysis, and writing skills of my students when they read primary sources in World History. There are many reasons why students have difficulty comprehending, analyzing, and using primary sources as evidence in written assignments. However, a wiki designed to help students with this learning issue will be effective according to many articles about wikis. According to the research, wikis help reading comprehension, analysis, and writing skills because they motivate students, support them in their learning, use student-centered pedagogy, and it requires students to practice reading, analysis, and writing skills in an easy to use and accessible form of technology. Wikis also help students to become more critical of internet sources, especially Wikipedia, since they will understand how wikis work in practice. The first issue when getting students to read a primary source document is to get them to actually read the document. There needs to be a hook to get the students interested in the topic. According to Gibbons (2010), students in the test class made a connection to the work that was

being done on the wiki because it mirrored the social networking sites they used all the time in their lives outside of school (p. 37). Once students become interested in a topic, they are more likely to continue to working even if it is difficult. Wikis also motivate students and increase engagement because it gives students the opportunity to participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members (Seglem &VanZant, 2010, p. 45). This article particularly addressed using wikis to help students with IEPs, who had difficulty reading comprehension and typically did not participate in class due to their difficulties. The authors found that their students became more active because the wiki encouraged them to share their opinions and interpretations and as time went on, students shared stories from their readings with their classmates as opposed to proving that they were reading (Seglem &VanZant, 2010, p. 45). Another way to motivate students is through project-based learning and wikis are a great medium for projects because wikis can be easily edited by members. According to Konieczny (2007), students may be encouraged to work on a continuous basis, instead of leaving most of the work for the last weeks of the term since their work will be visible to their peers, as well as their teacher. Another way project-based learning encourages student participation is because they have more of a stake in both the process and the product and they nurture a participative and active attitude in which students see their intellectual activity in a new light (Zanelotti, 2011, p. 387). These students participate more in a wiki because it allows them contribute to the information and product. A United States History teacher engaged his students in a project-based learning assignment where they used a wiki to present their understandings and findings on a particular World War II topic. However, students must complete all of their homework assignments, which include reading primary source documents, before they can work on their World War II wiki page in class. Heafner & Friedman (2008), found that as students become

more involved in the project, students completed readings for homework so that they could spend class time working on their websites and the teachers even dropped daily quizzes on the readings because the students were completing the readings when they were assigned (p. 295). These teachers rewarded students for completing their homework outside of class by giving them more in class time to work on their wiki pages and time to informally review the content of their wikis. Engaging students in learning opportunities is the first step toward improving students reading comprehension, analysis, and writing skills. Besides motivating students to engage when reading and interpreting primary source documents, students will also need support in order to successfully interpret and use primary source documents as evidence in their writing. There are many ways a teacher using a wiki can support students in their learning. One such way is by increasing transparency of assignments and assessments. Transparency enables students and teachers to see each others work and in that sense make it available as a resource for their learning activities (Baltzersen, 2010, p. 794). Having more transparency through a wiki can support students in improving their learning because of three main reasons. First, when students know others will see their contributions, they tend to want to provide better work. Second, students learn from others, especially when they have easy access to the data and contributions others provide. Finally, feedback is easier to give when others have easy access to their work (Baltzersen, 2010, p. 794). Feedback is very important because it helps students learn from their mistakes, edit work that is in progress, and it is another form of support from teachers and their peers. Feedback is also a great way to support students psychologically. For example, Mariela, a student in the article by Seglem and VanZant (2010), gained confidence from the feedback of other students and her teachers. The wiki

proved an empowering experience for her, and, as a result, Mariela left [the] class prepared to tackle the challenges awaiting her in high school (p. 46). One of the biggest problems students have in history classes is reading, interpreting, and analyzing primary sources that are selected by the teacher. Many of the primary sources that are available; are at a reading level too difficult for many of the students to break down (Stoddard, Hofer, & Buchanan, 2008, p. 146). This difficulty in contextualizing information and analyzing primary sources can hurt student achievement. Due to this fact, Friedman and Heafner (2008), assert the importance of scaffolding students learning experiences, particularly demonstrating the analysis and interpretation skills that students will need to successfully understand a primary source (p. 83). This article did not particularly mention wikis, but students had to create a web site to demonstrate their knowledge of the Great War and use primary source documents to support their assertions. Wikis could have been a way students created their web site. Wikis also provide support for students because it can support the Just-In Time Teaching (JITT) strategy. The JITT strategy used in a wiki can create a feedback loop that meaningfully connects class preparation and time spent in class (Zanelotti, 2011, p. 385). Using the JITT strategy with a wiki is very easy because wikis can easily connect blog posts through a RSS feed or the teacher can post an assignment or primary source reading on the class wiki with a discussion area. In this discussion area, students can post answers, comments, and questions. The teacher then reviews all the posts of students and based on the posts from students the teacher can adjust his or her teaching before class in order to address the needs of the students. A class wiki will allow the instructor to make student out-of-class work more efficient; moreover, student out-of-class work will now play a formative role in shaping work done in class (Zanelotti, 2011, p. 186). Formative assessments are very important because it allows the teacher

to check on student learning and achievement. If posts are on a class wiki, then they can be viewed by all the students in the class. This is another added benefit because it has the potential to create a more dynamic and collaborative learning environment (Zanelotti, 2011, p. 186). Wikis support both collaborative learning and constructivism pedagogies. Collaborative learning is beneficial for many reasons, such as building social relationships with peers and teamwork skills while engaging in learning that requires higher-order thinking skills. CarneyStrahler (2011), argues that wiki technology enables learners to cooperate to attain learning goals as they construct their own knowledge (p. 76). A teacher created a collaborative learning environment using a wiki. In this wiki, students initiated questions, answered peer questions, engaged the teacher in individual dialogue, and conversed with peers about their wikis both socially and as a part of the final critique of the project (Heafner & Friedman, 2008, p. 296). Constructivism works very well with collaborative learning because they both are studentcentered forms of learning where the teacher acts more as a guide for students. Wikis allow students to present their knowledge and wrestle with the inherent problems of constructing knowledge with others (Kissling, 2011, p. 63). When students construct their own knowledge they retain it longer. When a United States History teacher had students create a wiki to present their understandings and findings on a particular World War II topic, they found that the students who created wikis had greater content retention than students who were taught in a more traditional teacher-directed approach (Heafner & Friedman, 2008, p. 298). In order to use a wiki to successfully engage students and improve their reading comprehension, analysis, and writing skills, the teacher and students must continually use the wiki and it must be designed to fit the objectives of the course. A major benefit of wikis is that they are easy to use, since wikis can be edited with what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG)

editors (Heafner & Friedman, 2008, p. 290). WYSIWYG web editors is extremely important because it means that students and teachers do not need to know HTML code, which can be very difficult and cause the teacher and students to not use the resource. This ease of use allows teachers and students to focus on content rather than the technological tool and it also eliminates the barrier of teachers not having access to Web editing software on their computers, as well as the potentially cumbersome task of lack of access to ftp in schools (Heafner & Friedman, 2008, p. 290-291). Wikis are not only easy to use, but they are a free resource that is typically are not blocked by internet filters that schools have in place (Heafner & Friedman, 2008, p. 291). Another benefit of using wikis is that students become more sensitive to the nature and limitations of that medium. The experience [of using a wiki in the classroom] can generate a healthy skepticism regarding wikis in general, specifically regarding the need to verify the source of the information students find online (Zanelotti, 2011, p. 381). Kissling (2011) even describes seven different teaching strategies using Wikipedia in order to teach students about knowledge construction and how to be critical when reading and using any online or print source (p. 62). Wikis have many educational benefits, such as motivating students, providing them a support system to increase their achievement, supporting more student-centered teaching, and increasing students digital literacy, but the most important benefit is improving student skills they need in order to be successful in social studies courses and beyond. Reading comprehension is an extremely important skill because without it higher levels of skills are not possible. Wikis improve reading skills because they utilize multimedia, which provides learners with contextual clues to comprehend text. In addition, wikis assist students in interactive reading, which may motivate learners to read and help with comprehension of difficult text structures and

vocabulary (Carney-Strahler, 2011, p. 79). Wikis also encourage close reading because the students have to be aware of their peers contributions. Students have to continually read classmates postings in order to avoid reposting information on the pages, which also helps students to learn the content since they are reading the wiki and assignments consistently (Baltzersen, 2010, p. 804). Once students have improved their reading comprehension skills, students can work on their critical thinking and analysis skills, which is critical in social studies education. Historical inquiry is the process of teaching students how to find information, how to evaluate sources, and how reconcile conflicting accounts, and how to create an interpretive account (Stoddard, Hofer, & Buchanan, 2008, p. 144). Wikis are a great way to encourage historical inquiry because it encourages students to discuss the sources within their groups and compare them to the textbook account (Stoddard, Hofer, & Buchanan, 2008, p. 158). This discussion is key to helping students analyze various sources of information in order to find out significant information and assess its validity and trustworthiness. Besides analyzing what is significant and the validity of various sources, wikis also require students to move beyond studying events in isolationtoward a level of recognition of simultaneous occurrence, connection among all, and the key understanding of cause and effect, which is very important in the study of history (Heafner & Friedman, 2008, p. 295). Furthermore, wikis help students become better problem solvers and help students understand how to analyze and synthesize information.Wiki technology in the classroom enables learners to deepen their thinking process, which means students are able to take the lead in their own learning (Carney-Strahler, 2011, p. 78). Writing skills also improve with the use of wikis. Wiki-based writing assignments require different writing and compositions skills, particularly the difficult task of balancing

concision and precision. The wiki-assignment will require students to write with greater clarity, eschewing vocabulary and jargon the use of which may, in fact, be a mere crutch (Zanelotti, 2011, p. 383). Students will need to think more about what they are writing and how they are writing it. According to Carney-Strahler (2011), encourage more reflective writing and requires students to synthesize their views and ideas (p. 79). Besides requiring students to be more mindful of how they write and requiring students to synthesize their knowledge and research, wikis also allow students to post and view their writing online at anytime and any location. This allows students to give and view feedback from the teacher and fellow students. Gibbons (2010) found that his test class was producing better paper drafts due to feedback they were receiving on the wiki and from students making connections to the work they were doing on the wiki and their writing assignment (p. 37). Wikis can be used in a variety of ways and in a variety of content areas. Comprehending primary sources, analyzing, and synthesizing their findings in writing assignments are difficult tasks for all students in history classes. A wiki is a great resource in order to help students improve their reading comprehension, analysis, and writing skills in history. The research shows that wikis help reading comprehension, analysis, and writing skills because they motivate students, support them in their learning, use student-centered pedagogy, and it requires students to practice reading, analysis, and writing skills in an easy to use and accessible form of technology that also encourages them to be more critical of the sources of information. References: Baltzersen, R. K. (2010). Radical transparency: Open access as a key concept in wiki pedagogy. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 26(6), 791-809. Retrieved from http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet/ajet.html Carney-Strahler, B. (2011). Wikis: Promoting collaborative literacy through affordable technology in content-area classrooms, Creative Education, 2(2), 76-82. Retrieved from http://www.scirp.org/journal/ce/

Charles County Public Schools. (2013). About us: Fast facts. Retrieved from http://www2.ccboe.com/aboutus/fastfacts.cfm Friedman, A. M., & Heafner, T. L. (2008). Finding and contextualizing resources: A digital literacy tools impact in ninth-grade world history. Clearing House, 82(2), 82-86. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/vtch20/current Gibbons, S. (2010). Collaborating like never before: Reading and writing through a wiki. English Journal, 99(5), 35-39. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/journals/ej Heafner, T. L. & Friedman, A. M., (2008). Wikis and constructivism in secondary social studies: Fostering a deeper understanding. Computers in the Schools, 25(3-4), 288-302. doi: 10.1080/07380560802371003 Kissling, M. (2011). A call for wikipedia in the classroom. Social Education, 75(2), 60-64. Retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/socialeducation Konieczny, P. (2007). Wikis and wikipedia as a teaching tool. International Journal of Instructional Technology & Distance Learning, 4(1). Retrieved from http://www.itdl.org/journal/jan_07/index.htm Seglem, R., & VanZant, M. (2010). Privileging students voices: A co-teaching philosophy that evokes excellence in all learners. English Journal, 100(2), 41-47. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/journals/ej Stoddard, J. D., Hofer, M. J., & Buchanan, M. G. (2008), The starving time wikinquiry: Using a wiki to foster historical inquiry. Social Education, 72(3), 144-146, 158-160. Retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/socialeducation Zanelotti, K. (2011), Enhancing student learning through web-based assignments. Teaching Philosophy, 34(4), 373-391. Retrieved from http://secure.pdcnet.org/teachphil