Grade 11 Geography

In the third class, the sample size was 35 learners, making this the smallest sample size of the three classroom observations. The observers sat in the back-right corner and noted that the classroom was much bigger than the other two. This class had half of the windows painted black and a green chalkboard wrapped around the entirety of the room. Table 4.7 summarizes the relevant teacher and learner observations for this class. The teacher used a whiteboard, projector, computer and SMART board throughout the lesson. Again, rather than utilizing the interactive possibilities of the SMART board, the teacher used it to project lesson material. The team members also noted that this teacher seemed to be introducing new material to the learners. This could account for the high number of learners taking notes and paying attention in this lesson, as in the other lessons they were reviewing material they learned in previous lessons. This teacher had a stern voice that often times came across as strict and harsh. The teacher spoke English throughout the lesson, although the observers noted that the teacher was not speaking clearly, as it was hard to understand

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Start 5 min 10 min 15 min 20 min

Perc en ta ge o f Learn ers (% ) Time (Minutes)

Learner Engagement in Grade 11 Biology

Positive Learner Behavior Negative Learner Behavior

64

what he was saying in the back of the room. The teacher used a lecture style and paced in front of the room throughout the lesson. While the learners answered questions throughout the lesson, the observers noticed that the teacher often interrupted them when they tried to answer. At times the teacher even answered his own questions without giving the learners a chance to participate. A majority of the learners were both sitting up and listening and maintaining eye contact with the teacher. This class also had the most learners taking notes. This indicates that there were relatively high positive learner behaviors in this classroom. No learners asked questions and only a few volunteered to answer questions at the beginning of the lesson. While there were few side conversations, they continued throughout the duration of the lessons, so the team consistently observed negative learner behavior.

Table 4.7: Summary of teacher and learner observations for Grade 11 Geography

Grade 11 Geography (n= 35) Start 5 min 10 min 15 min 20 min

Teacher Observations Type of Activity Performed

Lecture X X X X X

Non-technology based activity Technology based activity

Group-work Other (please specify)

Teacher Actions When was the purpose of the lesson stated? X

When did the teacher ask questions throughout the lesson? X X X X X

When did the teacher answer questions throughout the lesson? Material Used Chalk board White board X X X SMART board X X X Projector X X X Computer X X X Posters

Other (please specify) X None

Learner Engagement Observations At 5-minute mark Positive Learner

Behavior

Sitting up and listening 33 33 33 32 34

Maintaining eye contact with the teacher 30 27 32 32 32

Taking notes 0 12 25 34 33

Negative Learner

Behavior Talking in side conversations 1 2 4 2 3

During 5-minute time frame Positive Learner

Behavior

Asking questions 0 0 0 0 0

Answering questions from the

teacher/volunteering 2 3 4 0 0

Additional Observations

Has SMART board, uses it as a projector. Interrupted learners when they tried to answer. Half the windows are painted black. No posters around the room.

65

This information showed that while the learners all appeared to be exhibiting high amounts of positive behaviors, there were consistent negative learner behaviors throughout the lesson. Figure 4.3 depicts the different average percentages of learners exhibiting positive and negative behaviors at and during each five-minute period. Positive learner behaviors were relatively high throughout the duration of this lesson, beginning at 46% and increasing to over 72% by the end of the lesson. Meanwhile, negative learner behaviors remained relatively low, with exhibitions of negative learner behaviors occurring between 9% and 11% for the entirety of the lesson. While this is low compared to the amount of positive behaviors observed for this class, the analysts noticed that the average negative behaviors were slightly higher overall compared to the Grade 10 Geography lesson.

Figure 4.3: Learner engagement in Grade 11 Geography

During this lesson, the learners were sitting up and listening and most appeared to be taking notes. This class also had the highest rates of positive learner behavior from the data collected through the observation forms. However, the observers made additional observations that there was very little learner engagement. While the learners seemed to be sitting up and taking notes, the observers were not able to completely confirm that the learners were paying attention, as the observers were sitting in the back of the classroom. In fact, no learners asked questions and very few volunteered to answer a question. They were the quietest class observed. This again could be due to the teacher presenting new material, so the learners were paying more attention so that they could learn the new material before exams. Considering these factors, the analysts believed that this class was minimally engaged in the lesson and that the learners had minimal interest in the material. This teaching style, talking at the class and not to them, resulted in minimal interest and little learner engagement. The designer of each module took this into consideration and made sure that the amount of time the teacher spent lecturing was minimal. The project team also encouraged the EduVentures educators to interact with the learners even when lecturing, to make sure that the learners felt involved and connected to the lesson.

While it was not possible to identify concrete trends across all three classroom observations, this study gained a great deal of information by connecting ideas between teaching techniques and learner engagement. It was impossible to include every learner behavior on the learner engagement form; therefore,

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Start 5 min 10 min 15 min 20 min

Perc en ta ge o f Learn ers (% ) Time (Minutes)

Learner Engagement in Grade 11 Geography

Positive Learner Behavior Negative Learner Behavior

66

the observers wrote down additional observations that did not fit into a category on the form. The observers witnessed learner excitement in interactive classroom settings and learner disengagement in lecture-based classrooms. The team used this information to develop their renewable energy lessons in a manner that enabled the teacher to actively engage with the class.