How I Designed Surveys and Used Analytics to Boost Academic Achievements in My Students?
Data has always fascinated me. My love for data began when I was chosen Monitor of my class while I was in class 5. I used to write details of all of the students of my class. We didn’t have phone numbers back then. So, I used to list down name, address and their father’s name. It just felt so good to know all the details. Another reason I liked data and numbers because they were on my grade sheet. The arrangement of numbers seemed wonderful. Later during my participation in events, I used data for my speech and presentations along with participation in hackathon on data.
I was placed as a fellow in a rural community school. I had responsibility to teach science from class 6 to 10. Initially, we conducted specially designed Diagnostic test of Math and English. It gave us insight about the knowledge level in numbering and writing skills. After that we would differentiate in our classrooms and would make lesson plans based on same. It seemed successful in terms of what it was designed for. But the Diagnostic test had some limitations. It was a single dimensional test that could only give results about numbering and language skills. But there was more to the scene.
Students in the school were not vocal at that time. There was lack of proper communication between teachers and students. Students were shy to speak with us. We couldn’t talk with them enough so that we could get idea of their personality and learning styles. Even the reflection sheets which we had been given during the training or ones that I downloaded from the internet, didn’t work well as many of the students didn’t have proper writing skills. So, there was a problem which we had to figure out. At one hand, talking didn’t work while in other hand neither writing worked. Objective questions as check of understanding, and it worked well. I thought to use this method to collect information.
Subject Difficulty Level
Class was preparing for the final examination of the local level. Based on our observations we decided to conduct a boot camp for preparation. Each of the students were working hard, but still there were differences in the study level of students. Keeping all students at one place was not a good idea for a boot camp. So, we decided to split students into groups and provide them the required support. But, we had no idea, how to differentiate groups. Our observations simply didn’t work. We decided to conduct a survey.
I designed a simple survey in Microsoft word and printed it out. The survey included, Name of the subject and in three columns, there were difficulty level, easy, average and hard. Students had to tick mark in the columns right next to the name of the subject in their preferred column. To save paper costs, survey was printed in small size formats. Next day, those surveys were distributed and instructions given. After the survey was completed, I put all the data in Excel and prepared a bar graph. Based on those bar graph, we formed group of students and provided support. Later, we got good results with 6 of our students in top 10 and one for second position in the local level.
Learning Style & Interest
We started hostel facilities for students appearing in Secondary Education Examination(SEE). This was a new situation for not only students but also for us. Most of the students had not strong academic background and no any specific routine. We had also no any idea how to make study routine for students. We respected individuality of students, so we didn’t want to force down our routine for them. On the other hand, they had to adapt to a new situation and also they needed support to make their routine. Each child is different and so is their learning styles.
I designed a survey in Microsoft Word that included columns. The columns had few topics like
a) Study Prefer time (Morning, Day, Evening)
b) Max Study time (1–2 hrs., 2–4hrs, 4+hrs)
c)Group Study (Yes, No)
d)Study Prefer with friends (1–2, 3–4, 4+)
e)Study Style (Silent, Vocal, Doodling)
With all of these data, we categorized students with similar responses and sat with them to build their routines. The routines were personalized due to which retention increased. We introduced free time between the schedule so that they can enjoy their hostel life. We used to hold weekly examinations and results improved after students started following their routines.
Availability of Books
In my earlier post, I have written about how I made my students bring books to the school. Books are integral part of our education system. As a community school in rural part of Nepal, our students faced difficulty getting books on time. Even if they got books, proper care of books were not taken or either they would lost it. Lack of books not only created problems in delivering content but also hampered reading skills of students as well as excuse for not being able to make homework. Due to large number of students, it was difficult to ask each students about the condition of their books.
In Microsoft Word, I designed a small survey with book names and their condition, if they had books, they would put a tick in yes and if not, in No. Also I included a column in which they would list if any book from earlier class was available at their house. This survey sheet was given to each students from class 6 to 10. After the survey was completed, I prepared a bar graph with the help of Microsoft Excel. We found out that most of the students didn’t have books. We requested students to bring spare books and distributed to the needy ones. For others, we found some extra books in the library.
Regarding surveys and analytics, I didn’t use any sophisticated tools or software. I used Microsoft Word to design surveys and Microsoft Excel to build graphs, charts to draw conclusion from them. We had to work with low resources in a rural setting. However, it taught us, the system of work along with the communities and its stakeholders.
