TeachingCommunityBlogging Link to the survey    Blogging Survey Data    Link to the survey data

Analysis of Blogging Survey Data

 

In this post I will explain why I wrote the survey and what I learned from the survey.  Also, the data from the survey is attached, so I encourage other to analyze the data and make their comments also.

 

As the instructor of a graduate level pedagogy course for mathematics teachers, I am always searching for better ways to create discourse between teachers on important teaching issues.  I want to use web 2.0 tools as a communication medium for the course to expose teachers to new technology.  I had planned to use a wiki page because I understood and had used them before, but at the last minute made a blog instead.  The blog changed over the 6-week course from input of the course instructor and teachers.  Some of the blogging conversations (posts and comments) were so powerful that I (course instructor) ended the course with this survey.  The purpose of this survey was to find out: (i) if a blog is a better medium for participating in a graduate level pedagogy course than written papers and (ii) if this blog started in the summer could be used to continue sharing resources and exchanging ideas throughout the year.

 

Analysis of the teacher responses to the survey

 

There were six questions, teachers were asked to respond personally to the first four questions and as they felt most teachers would respond to the last two questions.  Most of the responses were positive.  This would be expected since most of the survey questions were about how they used the blog and whether this is a good method of communicating with other teachers.  The eleven teachers made 101 comments to the 6 questions.  Seventy-nine of the comments were positive, 21 were negative, and 1 was neutral.

 

Question 1: Was blogging easier than writing papers assignments? (explain pros and cons)

The teachers made 19 positive comments and only 6 negative comments.  The most commons positive comments were that writing was faster, less formal, and easier to edit.  The most common negative comments were that it was hard to learn how to navigate the blog and many students wrote the paper in Word (as before) and pasted their document into the blog comment.  The fact that most teachers did not even list a con when instructed to do so showed that most teachers preferred blogging to written papers.

 

Question 2: What factor influenced you the most to read and comment on peers’ post?

The teachers made 14 positive comments and only 3 negative comments.  Most of the teachers chose to read a post or comment if it was relevant to their teaching situation or the title or first sentence peeked their interest.  A few teachers pointed out that the main reason they read and commented on the blog was that it was required.  This leads the instructor to believe that constructing the courses around peer posting and commenting rather than instructor posting and teachers commenting increases engagement.

 

Question 3: What type of information do you hope to get in comments from your post?

The teachers made 20 positive comments and only 1 negative comment.  The revealed that they very interested in the comments of their peers.  They wanted answers to their questions and shared experiences relative to their teaching issue.  The teachers responded very positively to creating their own posts and almost universally expected helpful comments.

 

Question 4: Do you see yourself using this blog to discuss teaching issues during the year? (why or why not)

I expected most teachers to say no because their MAT peers do not share an understanding of their district or teaching assignment.  There were 11 positive, 7 negative, and 1 neutral comment to this question.  When the data is analyzed by teacher it says 4 teachers are planning on still reading and post to the blog, 2 teachers are not planning to participate on the blog, and 5 teachers will check out the blog to see if anyone is posting helpful or interesting posts.  Most of the teachers are cautiously hopeful that the Better Math blog could be a helpful resource to solving teaching problems and/or sounding off about teaching issues.

 

Question 5: What are the best tools on the Internet for communicating teacher ideas?

Remember they identified what they felt were the most popular Internet media for communicating teacher ideas. The teachers made 14 positive comments and 4 negative comments toward web 2.0 media.  By the items listed most teachers in the MAT feel that Web 2.0 media is well accepted.

 

Question 6: What factors make a blog, wiki, or webpage most helpful for creating community between teachers?

The teachers made 21positive comments and only 1 negative comment.  Over whelming teachers feel that the Internet should be used to share resources and share ideas.  It must be easy and relevant because they don’t have time to make it work.

 

I was pleasantly surprised at the positive response of the teachers toward using a new technology medium to most of us for a 6-week graduate course.   It also seems that most of the teachers will check the blog to see if there are any resources they can use or any new posts that peak their interest.  So I will do my best to make this blog relevant to the mathematics teachers in the classroom trenches.