Research Clinic Workshop

Elemental Equations and MSTQE

Facilitated by Sue Thotz and Wayne Landerholm

October 25- November 22, 2005; every Tuesday 3:30-5:30 pm

 

Participants:

            Selina Bartels-8th grade science teacher at Uplift

            Demi Lafkas-6th grade science teacher at Uplift

        Preservice Teachers:             

            Tim Evans-Truman College

Laura Gryfinski-Northeastern Illinois University

Linda Kostencki-MSTQE/Northeastern Illinois University

Melissa Martinez-MSTQE/Wright College

Katie Smith-MSTQE/Wright College

 

Introduction

This workshop series focused on providing participants with experience conducting action research on the subject of the food environment.  Over a period of 5 sessions, participants designed a research project, collected and analyzed the data, and created a plan for student involvement.

 

Why a workshop on research?

As teachers, we want our students to be curious and ask questions about the world.  We want them to know where to find the answers and make them life-long learners.  We also want them to investigate and discover their own answers when their curiosity isnÕt satisfied.  To do so, they must:

áAsk the question in a way that can be investigated and answered

áCollect information in a methodical way

áAnalyze and interpret the information they gather

áMake meaning from their findings

áArticulate that meaning to others in a compelling way

 

Research skills require higher-level thinking and reasoning.  Research fosters creativity, curiosity, organization, and reason.  At the same time, basic skills can be incorporated as tools for the research process.  Generally, teachers are often reluctant to undertake research.  This workshop series is designed to model, encourage and facilitate teacher-led research so that teachers can undertake student-involved research projects.

 

Why research the food environment?

Food is something everyone has experience with.  Investigating the food environment doesnÕt require special knowledge or tools.  It, therefore, may be less intimidating than researching a traditional subject such as ecology or physics.

 

More importantly, the food environment directly impacts the health and well being of students.  Eating behavior isnÕt solely based on the willpower of the individual.  The food environment has an important impact on what students eat every day as it determines what choices they have both in the school and in their neighborhood.  Student food choices are a direct result of the food that is available but the students, themselves, have little power to determine what is provided.  By conducting research on the food environment, teachers and students can potentially provide compelling evidence for the need to change their food environment to increase the health of the students.

 

Why action research vs. a formal research project? Action research is useful and particularly applicable to the educational setting. By accepting the conditions that go with action research in a classroom, a teacher can get under way rather than having to go through administrative review.  Research projects can be changed on the fly as long as the requirements for collecting multiple sources of data are observed.  There is no necessity for a controlled experimental design, often impossible in a classroom setting.  Interim results can be immediately implemented if desired.  Results generally do not require sophisticated statistical analysis. 

 

Workshop purpose: Participants will plan and conduct an action research project so they may ultimately facilitate student action research projects.

 

Objectives:

1.Design and conduct a teacher-led research project.

2.Learn about a variety of research techniques.

3.Plan a student research opportunity.

 

Schedule:

Workshop 1:  Facilitators modeled a sample food research project utilizing both qualitative (survey) and quantitative (focus group interview) methods.  Participants critiqued the appropriateness of both data collection methods.  Culminating exercise:  Participants reflected on their own experiences and generated ideas for possible research projects.

 

Workshop 2:  The facilitators led a discussion about the appropriate structure of a research project.  Topics included credibility, internal validity, external validity, triangulation, types of data (artifacts, observational, inquiry) and the nature of the planning cycle.  Culminating Exercise:  Articulate a research question appropriate to the food setting at Uplift School and identify 3-5 data collection strategies, which might provide the data necessary to answer the research question. 

 

Out of this exercise, the group settled on a research topic and devised strategies to address the topic:

 The overarching goal is to arrive at a healthier school lunch for the Uplift students.  To begin, observe what students are currently eating and not eating.

Research question 1:  What are the food preferences of the students?

á      Given a list of lunch menu items, which do the students self-report as preferable?

á      (Possible follow up with observation of taste-testing)

Research question 2:  What lunch menu items do students eat, throw away, and trade?

á      Self-report survey of wasted items..

á      Observation of garbage waste.  

 

Workshop 3:  Participants devised their data collection instruments, planned for the collection of data and delegated roles:

2 participants created a lunchtime food preference survey.

1 participant created a lunchroom waste survey

1 participant created an analysis plan

3 participants collected data

 

Workshop 4:  Participants gathered to examine the results of the data collection process.  They tallied and analyzed the collected preference survey data. 

 

                                   

Research Question 1 (Student food preferences) Participants discussed what kind of analysis was appropriate, given the nature and amount of data collected. 

            Procedure:

á      Uplift science teachers administered and collected the anonymous surveys during class time.  Students were asked to circle all food items they liked to eat. 

á      See Appendix A for the survey format and items. 

Results: 

á      Among the favorite items from the different categories were

o      EntrŽe:  cheese pizza and pepperoni pizza

o      Dairy:  chocolate milk and fruit yogurt

o      Fruits:  watermelon slices, grape juice, and kiwi

o      Vegetables:  mashed potatoes

o      Dessert:  cookie and cupcake

á      See student preference bar graphs at the end of the document for specific food preference data results. 

 

Research Question 2 (What foods do students choose to eat or throw away?), The following is a summary of the procedure and results: 

            Procedure:

á      Before collecting lunchroom data from students, permission was requested from the food service manager (Donna).  No images of the children would be taken, only the food.  No data collectors would be allowed behind the food service line for sanitation reasons. 

á      Students are allowed to choose between 3-5 dishes usually consisting of an entrŽe, at least one side and one fruit choice.  On the day of the observation, the menu consisted of the following choices:

 

o      Entree: Corn dog, spicy chicken sandwich, bean and cheese burrito, cheese sandwich, taco meat with tortilla chips (pictured above).

o      Side:  Corn, salad, chicken noodle soup French fries.

o      Fruit:  Applesauce, apple, orange

o      Milk:  Chocolate milk, whole milk, 2% milk

á      Observers provided students with the self-report survey at the beginning of the lunch period and asked them to return the survey when complete.  Observers were then positioned near the sole cafeteria garbage can and marked down items if they were judged to be less than 50% eaten. 

Results:

á      Based on the garbage observation, the most commonly wasted food was fresh fruit.  At least half of the trays were observed to have no plate waste.  Most of those who did have waste had just 1 uneaten item.  The observation process was determined not to be reliable for the following reasons:

                 

o      Uneaten food left on the tray was sometimes unobservable e.g. milk in the carton, sandwiches in the wrapper, etc.

o      Students often dumped their trays as a group at the end of the lunch period making it difficult to check individual trays.

á      The self-report surveys were also found to be too inaccurate to be reliably counted.  This was determined during the data analysis process due, in part, to ambiguities in the self-report instrument design.

á      In an informal interview with Uplift food service staff, two servers stated that some of the favorite entrees are:  pizza, spicy chicken, cheeseburgers and generally meat-type entrees.  Other favorites are cookies, apples, bananas, pineapple, and chocolate milk.  The least favorite foods reported by the two staff members are popcorn chicken, cold sandwiches, oranges, and pears.  Staff reported that students complain about the lack of juice available and that French fries are served almost every day due to student demand.  

 

Workshop 5:  Participants discussed future directions for the project.  Specific topics included how to involve students in an ongoing project and how to translate the results into action in the classroom and cafeteria.  The following action plan ensued:

 

Selina Bartels is planning a 10-week after-school program for students to be                           offered next semester.  Ms. Bartels will present the data from this workshop series to the students and assist them in determining what next steps they see as necessary to make school food healthier.  Workshop participants brainstormed the following ideas as a starting point:

áApproach the after-school meal program rather than lunch (it may offer more flexibility and would be appropriate for an after school club).

áWhen introducing new menu items, preview with proper marketing and nutrition information.

áFind out who the decision makers are in the menu determination process.  Who has the power to change the menu and introduce new items?

áInvolve force multipliers through student government, a cooking club, science club, or sports team.

áInvestigate interest in, and feasibility of, a salad bar or baked potato bar.  Conduct a more focused survey on salad bar options.

áProminently display nutritional data for each dayÕs meal to help students become more aware of their caloric and nutritional intake.

áBefore any additional preference surveys are administered, seek student input to generate a list of foods

 

Conclusions:

Participants acquired new knowledge about how to conduct action research in a school or classroom.  They saw a simple research project modeled in the early workshops and learned how to devise a project of their own.  After constructing the research design in the abstract, they attempted to gather data to answer their research questions.  They discovered that some methods were more reliable than others.  In the end, there emerged a food preference and usage pattern that could serve as the basis for either further research or development of an action plan.  Some members of the study group committed themselves to assisting Ms. Bartels in her work next semester.  The workshop series met its goals of introducing research procedures to pre-service and in-service teachers, conducting a relevant food-related research project and providing the framework for a student involved action research project.


Appendix A

 

 

 

 

Food Preferences

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Please circle as many items as you like from each category that you would like to see on your lunch tray at school. 

Include anything that is not listed under other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Main Course

 

 

 

Vegetables

 

Fruits

 

Dairy

 

Desert

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Veggie Sub

 

Chicken Nuggets

 

Green beans

 

Apples

 

Skim milk

 

Jello

Sandwich

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grilled Cheese

 

Carrots (raw)

 

Bananas

 

Plain Yogurt

 

cookie

Sweet & Sour

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken & Rice

 

Hot Dog

 

Black-eyed peas

 

Oranges

 

2%milk

 

plain granola bar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salisbury steak

 

Grilled Chicken

 

Broccoli

 

Pears

 

whole milk

 

cupcake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peanut Butter &

 

Cheeseburger

 

Greens

 

Watermelon

 

chocolate

 

pudding cup

Jelly

 

 

 

 

 

slices

 

milk

 

 

 

 

Grilled fish fillet

 

Tossed salad

 

 

 

 

 

peanut butter

Spicy Taco Meat

 

 

 

 

 

Peaches

 

1% milk

 

granola bar

 

 

Macroni &

 

Collard greens

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bean taco

 

Cheese

 

 

 

Apple sauce

 

Fruit Yogurt

 

pie slice

 

 

 

 

Baked potatoe

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheese Pizza

 

Bean Chili

 

 

 

Fruit cup

 

 

 

chocolate chip

 

 

 

 

Mustard greens

 

 

 

Other:

 

granola bar

Hamburger

 

Baked Beans

 

 

 

Kiwi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corn relish

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bagel dog

 

Turkey Sub

 

 

 

Grape juice

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandwich

 

Kidney beans

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sloppy Joe

 

 

 

 

 

Pinapple juice

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sausage pizza

 

Mushrooms

 

 

 

 

 

Other:

Ham & Cheese

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beef fried rice

 

Turnip greens

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pepperoni Pizza

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chili w/meat

 

Ceasar salad

 

Other:

 

 

 

 

Spaghetti &

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meat Sauce

 

Vegetable

 

Black beans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fried Rice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chicken & Bean

 

 

 

Mashed potatoes

 

 

 

 

 

Burrito

 

Meat taco

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steamed carrots

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meatloaf

 

Pork-n-beans

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Butter beans

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bean Burrito

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peas

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pinto beans