CAN THO UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT B.A Thesis IN-SERVICE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF THE PROBLEM SOLVING SKILL IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION COURSE (SP210) AT CTU Supervisor: M.A Lê Thị Huyền Researcher: Trương Thị Minh Thư Student’s code: 7086650 Class: NN0852A2 Course: 34 Can Tho, April 2012 i Luận văn tốt nghiệp Đại học với đề tài mang tên “IN-SERVICE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF PROBLEM SOLVING SKILL IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION COURSE (SP210) AT CAN THO UNIVERSITY” sinh viên Trương Thị Minh Thư thực hướng dẫn Thạc sĩ Lê Thị Huyền trường Đại học Cần Thơ Ý kiến cán hướng dẫn khoa học Thạc sĩ Lê Thị Huyền ii Luận văn tốt nghiệp Đại học với đề tài mang tên “IN-SERVICE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION OF PROBLEM SOLVING SKILL IN LANGUAGE EDUCATION COURSE (SP210) AT CAN THO UNIVERSITY” sinh viên Trương Thị Minh Thư thực báo cáo Hội đồng chấm luận văn thông qua Ủy viên thư ký Ủy viên (Ký tên) (Ký tên) Cán phản biện thứ Cán phản biện thứ hai Cần Thơ, ngày tháng Chủ tịch Hội đồng Ký tên iii năm 2012 LỜI CAM ĐOAN Tôi xin cam đoan đề tài luận văn tốt nghiệp công trình nghiên cứu khoa học thân Các số liệu kết trình bày luận văn hoàn toàn trung thực Tác giả luận văn Trương Thị Minh Thư iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been accomplished without the help of many people First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Mrs Lê Thị Huyền for her valuable instructions, comments, advice and encouragement so that I could overcome many problems to finally finish my thesis I deeply appreciate for your valuable time spent on reading and giving me your feedback on the very first drafts of the chapters Thank you so much for helping me learn how to become an independent researcher Next, I am also grateful to Mrs Ngô Thị Trang Thảo who always cared about my process Besides, my sincere thanks go to all the participants, junior high school teacher who attend Problem Solving Skill in Language Education course, for their great cooperation In addition, my special thanks also fly to my dear friends for your continual encouragement and your time spent on helping me eradicate the moment of tension and stress Last but not least, I am indebted to my family giving me unconditional love and always raising me up when I am down All of the mistakes left in this thesis are mine Truong Thi Minh Thu v TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES ix ABSTRACT x TÓM LƯỢC xi CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale CHAPTER REVIEW OF LITERATURE 2.1 Educational evaluation 2.2 Course evaluation 2.2.1 Types of course evaluation 2.2.2 Reasons for course evaluation 2.2.2.1 For assessing the quality and effectiveness of a training course 2.2.2.2 For improvement 2.2.3 Ways to evaluate a learning course 2.3 Problem Solving Skill in Language Education Course 10 2.3.1 The skills for solving problem 10 2.3.1.1 The definition of problem solving skill 10 2.3.1.2 The definition of decision making 11 2.3.2 The significance of problem solving in language education course 12 2.3.3 Course description 14 2.3.3.1 Instructional method applied in problem solving in language education course 15 2.3.3.2 Material applied in Problem Solving Skill in Language Education course 18 CHAPTER 20 METHOD 20 3.1 Research design 20 3.2 Description of participants and instruments 20 3.2.1 Participants 20 3.2.2 Instruments 20 3.3 Research procedures 22 CHAPTER 24 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 24 4.1 Result 24 4.1.1 Learners’ perception of the benefits of knowledge they have learnt (KNOWLEDGE) 25 4.1.2 Students’ perception of the effectiveness and appropriateness of the instructional method (METHOD) 29 4.1.3 Students’ perception of the appropriateness of the material (MATERIAL) 32 4.2 Discussion 33 CHAPTER 35 IMPLICATIONS, LIMITATIONS, 35 RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 35 5.1 Implication 35 5.2 Limitation and recommendation for further study 36 vi 5.3 Conclusion 36 REFERENCES 38 APPENDIX 42 THE COURSE COMMENT SHEET 42 APPENDIX 43 APPENDIX 52 APPENDIX 54 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 Descriptive statistics of the cumulate mean score of clusters KNOWLEDGE, METHOD, MATERIAL…………………………24 Table 4.2 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of the course……….25 Table 4.3 Descriptive statistics of the cumulate mean of cluster apply, positive change, perception……… ……………………………………… 26 Table 4.4 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of the benefits of knowledge they have acquired in this course……….…………… 26 Table 4.5 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of the extent to which they can apply knowledge they have learnt……………………… 26 Table 4.6 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of positive change due to acquired knowledge…………………………………………… 27 Table 4.7 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective on knowledge acquired Table 4.8 Descriptive statistics of the cumulate mean of clusters……… … 28 appropriateness”, “benefits”, “instructor’s impact……………… 29 Table 4.9 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of the effectiveness and appropriateness of instructional method used in this course………29 Table 4.10 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of the appropriateness of the instructional method…………… …………………………30 Table 4.11 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of the benefits of the instructional method……………………………………………… 31 Table 4.12 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of instructor’s influence ………………………………………………………… 32 Table 4.13 Descriptive statistics of the cumulative of items 14, 33 ………… 32 Table 4.14 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of the appropriateness of the material………………………………………………… …32 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.2.3 Framework of course evaluation…………………………… Figure 2.3.3.2 Framework of problem solving skill in language education course……………………………………………………… 19 Figure 2.2 Framework of cluster of questionnaire…………………… 21 ix ABSTRACT This study was conducted from February to the end of April, 2012 in Can Tho University (CTU) The participants were 67 in-service junior high school english teachers In this paper, I investigate the learners’ perception of problem solving skill in language education course (SP210) This is a descriptive research, in which the data from 66 questionnaires were treated by SPSS 16.0 It was found that the learners have positive perspective of the problem solving skill in language education course (M = 4.15, SD= 378) with = strongly disagree, = disagree, = neutral, = agree, = strongly agree Especially, as the statistics shown, most of learners strongly agree that the knowledge they have learnt in this course benefits them (M = 4.18, SD = 39) Moreover, most of learners found that the instructional method, utilized in the course was effective and appropriate (M= 4.13, SD = 40) In addition, most of learners find the official material utilized in the course appropriate with their level and the requirement of content in the course (M = 4.14, SD = 53) From the result, the researcher propose that the Problem Solving Skill in Language Education Course should be considered as an obligatory course in the curriculum, in stead of an optional one, and creating learner- centered environment and employing problem-based learning framework should be encouraged in (SP210) class x N 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Statements Strongly disagree Taking the course gives me a strong motivation to solve problems in life Khóa học cho động lực mạnh mẽ để giải vấn đề sống, công tác chủ nhiệm lớp I was being taught many principles and theories about problem solving skill by myself and listening to friends’ presentations while my teacher mostly prompted me how to learn by myself Nhờ tự học nghe nhóm báo cáo, hiểu nguyên lý lý thuyết kỹ giải vần đề , cô giáo chủ yếu gợi ý để tự học I know the five-step approach to make a decision and I can apply this approach to solve real life problems Tôi biêt “phương pháp năm bước” để định vận dụng phương pháp để giải vấn đề thực tế Discussing and preparing for group’s presentation enhanced the development of unity within my group Thảo luận chuẩn bị thuyết trình nhóm làm cho nhóm đoàn kết With solving problem based learning, I found that my strengths and weaknesses can be identified and used or compensated for when making a decision Với phương pháp học dựa việc giải vấn đề, thấy ưu khuyết điểm xác định, sử dụng bù trừ cho đưa định After the the course, I find it easy to understand the content of the book Sau khóa học này, thấy hiểu sách dễ dàng I became more experienced and selfconfident in making decision and solving problem Tôi trở nên có kinh nghiệm tự tin việc định giải vần đề I found that discussion in group to choose alternatives made the problem less complicated Tôi thấy việc thảo luận với nhóm để chọn giải pháp làm cho vấn đề trở nên đơn giản 47 Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree APPENDIX CLUSTER OF QUESTIONNAIRE CLUSTERS GROUPS STATEMENTS In this course, I could solve problems based on heuristics After the course, I am able to identify problems in real-life situations, particularly in functioning the role of a form teacher 19 Knowing clearly my interest, 1.1 Extend to which learners apply aptitude and temperament, I could knowledge they have learnt (items: 1, decide my field of work 3, 19, 5, 22, 26, 30, 34) I have known how to apply ‘The lobster pot model” in choosing the The most suitable alternative to make effectiveness of decisions knowledge of 22 My knowledge of heuristics has the course increased along with the course (17 items) 26 While taking this course, I have applied the bridge model (analyzingsynthesizing- valuing) in solving my team’s assignment and problems occurring in teaching at high schools 30 I know the five-step approach to make a decision and I can apply this approach to solve real life problems 34 I became more experienced and self-confident in making decision and solving problem After taking the course, I am more objective in identifying my interest, 1.2 Positive changes due to the aptitudes and temperament and those acquired knowledge ( items: 6, 9, of my students’ 10, 13, 21, 25, 27, 28) After attending this course, my 48 behavior, my attitude toward dealing with real life problems has been changed positively 10 While participating in groupbased, problem solving process, I obtained critical thinking skill for making better decision independently 13 After taking the course I found that I have a quick response to solving problems occurring in emergency 21 My abilities to create, to generalize and to simplify are improved 25 After taking this course, my skill of pertaining basic knowledge to the real life problems has been increased 27 In this course, I obtained the learning objective with high interest of gaining insight and knowledge, not for marks 28 Taking the course gives me a strong motivation to solve problems in life 1.3 Perception of knowledge they 11 I like the knowledge I have learnt have learned (item 11) from the course I think that it’s necessary for me to evaluate my own work, and to be graded by audience after my group’s presentation, because that helps me know which level my ability of self assessment is at 2.1 Learners’ perception of the I felt excited when my thinking was appropriateness of the instructional challenged a lot by the instructor method (items: 2, 7, 8, 17, 24, 35) Besides 30 periods in class, amount of time needed for researching into this The subject and preparing presentation is instructional double or more method 17 I like the way my teacher gave our (16 items) group the ownership of solving our 49 assignment, so that we are free to create new things in our presentation, but our creativeness must be for conveying the information of the chapter 24 I like the interesting learning activities in which I could share, discuss and analyze the ideas with friends 35 I found that discussion in group to choose alternatives made the problem less complicated My skill of group work has been enhanced in this course 15 I have known what a leader needs 2.2 Benefits and positive change due to to control team’s work because to the instructional method (items: 4, of this course 15, 16, 18, 20, 23, 29, 31, 32) 16 I hadn’t known that I made many mistakes in pronouncing my mother language until I presented our group topic in Vietnamese 18 My decision making powers can be enhanced through the process of preparing the presentation with other members in my group 20 Our task performance is good thanks to group work 23 During the process of preparing the presentation and practice reporting in group, I found that I understood the lesson better 29 I was being taught many principles and theories about problem solving skill by myself and listening to friends’ presentations while my teacher mostly prompted me how to learn by myself 31 Discussing and preparing for 50 group’s presentation enhanced the development of unity within my group 32 With solving problem based learning, I found that my strengths and weaknesses can be identified and used or compensated for when making a decision 2.3 Learners’ perception of 12 The instructor of the course has knowledge acquired (item 12) positive impact on me 14 I found many interesting principles, background knowledge Learners’ perception of the material (2 items) about problem solving skill in Adair’s book 33 After the course, I find it easy to understand the content of the book 51 APPENDIX RELIABILITY OF STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ON THE COURSE OF PROBLEM SOLVING SKILL RELIABILITY ANALYSIS – SCALE (ALPHA) Scale Mean if Scale Variance Corrected Item-Total Cronbach's Alpha Item Deleted if Item Deleted Correlation if Item Deleted item1 140.32 130.220 286 920 item2 140.39 128.181 288 920 item3 140.29 127.008 452 918 item4 140.36 124.297 646 916 item5 140.27 124.509 562 917 item6 140.39 125.535 572 917 item7 140.53 123.514 531 917 item8 140.23 130.301 197 921 item9 140.38 129.685 320 919 item10 140.36 126.604 587 917 item11 140.23 123.594 656 915 item12 140.38 125.285 513 917 item13 140.53 126.899 467 918 item14 140.36 126.881 529 917 item15 140.29 127.562 392 919 item16 141.12 130.477 074 928 item17 140.67 124.656 549 917 item18 140.38 123.839 590 916 item19 140.65 126.261 561 917 item20 140.18 127.874 320 920 item21 140.36 127.250 529 917 item22 140.41 126.369 545 917 item23 140.09 124.976 662 916 item24 140.42 127.663 449 918 item25 140.42 125.663 653 916 item26 140.56 125.604 598 916 52 item27 140.36 124.327 571 916 item28 140.14 128.273 377 919 item29 140.33 125.364 574 917 item30 140.47 124.561 621 916 item31 140.24 125.725 455 918 item32 140.55 127.083 390 919 item33 140.38 124.424 552 917 item34 140.26 126.010 601 916 item35 140.20 123.730 637 916 Reliability Statistics Cronbach's N of Alpha Items 920 35 53 APPENDIX DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS Descriptive statistics of students’ perception of the course WHOLE COURSE N Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation 66 4.15 378 N Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation KNOWLEDGE 66 4.18 395 METHOD 66 4.13 401 MATERIAL 66 4.14 532 Valid N (listwise) 66 Mean of KNOWLEDGE, METHOD, MATERIAL Valid N (listwise) 66 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of the benefits of knowledge they have acquired in this course KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE = apply, positive change, perception Valid N (listwise) N Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation 66 4.18 395 66 N apply =1, 3, 5, 19, 22, 26, Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation 66 4.11 366 66 4.15 351 perception=11 66 4.29 651 Valid N (listwise) 66 30, 34 positive change =6, 9, 10, 13, 21, 25, 27, 28 54 1.1 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of the extent to which they can apply knowledge they have learnt apply apply= 1, 3, 5, 19, 22, 26, 30, 34 Valid N (listwise) N Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation 66 4.11 366 66 N In this course, I could solve problems based on heuristics Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation 66 4.20 471 66 4.23 602 66 4.24 681 66 3.86 552 66 4.11 558 66 3.95 567 66 4.05 618 After the course, I am able to identify problems in situations in life, particularly in functioning the role of a form teacher I have known how to apply ‘The lobster pot model” in choosing the most suitable alternative to make decisions 19 Knowing clearly my interest, aptitude and temperament, I could decide my field of work 22 My knowledge of heuristics has increased along with the course 26 While taking this course, I have applied the bridge model (analyzing- synthesizing- valuing) in solving my team’s assignment and problems occurring in teaching at high schools 30 I know the five-step approach to make a decision and I can apply this approach to solve real life problems 55 34 I became more experienced and self-confident in making decision 66 4.26 535 and solving problem Valid N (listwise) 66 1.2 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of positive change due to acquired knowledge Positive change N Positive change = 6, 9, 10, 13, 21, Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation 66 25, 27, 28 Valid N (listwise) 4.15 351 66 N Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation After taking the course, I am more objective in identifying my interest, aptitudes and 66 4.12 595 66 4.14 493 66 4.15 504 66 3.98 595 temperament and those of my students’ After attending this course, my behavior, my attitude toward dealing with real life problems has been changed positively 10 While participating in groupbased, problem solving process, I obtained critical thinking skill for making better decision independently 13 After taking the course I found that I have a quick response to solving problems occurring in emergency 56 21 My abilities to create, to generalize and to simplify are 66 4.15 504 66 4.09 518 66 4.15 685 66 4.38 576 improved 25 After taking this course, my skill of pertaining basic knowledge to the real life problems has been increased 27 In this course, I obtained the learning objective with high interest of gaining insight and knowledge, not for marks 28 Taking the course gives me a strong motivation to solve problems in life Valid N (listwise) 66 1.3 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of knowledge acquired perception N Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation perception =11 66 4.29 651 Valid N (listwise) 66 N 11 I like the knowledge I have learnt from the course Valid N (listwise) Minimum 66 66 57 Maximum Mean 4.29 Std Deviation 651 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of the effectiveness and the appropriateness of instructional method used in this course METHOD METHOD =appropriateness, effectiveness, instrustor’s impact Valid N (listwise) N 66 Std Deviation 4.13 401 66 N appropriateness = 2, 7, 8, 17, 24, Minimum Maximum Mean Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation 66 4.12 392 66 4.12 392 Instructor’s impact =1 66 4.14 677 Valid N (listwise) 66 35 effectiveness= 4, 15, 16, 18, 20, 23, 29, 31, 32 2.1 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of the appropriateness of the instructional method appropriateness N appropriateness = 2, 7, 8, 17, 24, 35 66 Valid N (listwise) 66 N Minimum Maximum Mean 4.12 Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation 392 Std Deviation I think that it’s necessary for me to evaluate my own work, and to be graded by audience after my group’s presentation, because that 66 4.12 734 66 3.98 794 helps me know which level my ability of self assessment is at I felt excited when my thinking was challenged a lot by the instructor 58 Besides 30 periods in class, amount of time needed for researching into this subject and 66 4.29 627 66 3.85 685 66 4.09 547 66 4.32 660 preparing presentation is double or more 17 I like the way my teacher gave our group the ownership of solving our assignment, so that we are free to create new things in our presentation, but our creativeness must be for conveying the information of the chapter 24 I like the interesting learning activities in which I could share, discuss and analyze the ideas with friends 35 I found that discussion in group to choose alternatives made the problem less complicated Valid N (listwise) 66 2.2 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of effectiveness of the instructional method effectiveness effectiveness = 4, 15, 16, 18, 20, 23, 29, 31, 32 Valid N (listwise) N 66 Minimum Maximum Mean 66 59 4.12 Std Deviation 392 N My skill of group work has been enhanced in this course Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation 66 4.15 614 66 4.23 627 66 3.39 1.094 66 4.14 699 66 4.33 709 66 4.42 556 66 4.18 605 66 4.27 714 66 3.97 679 15 I have known what a leader needs to to control team’s work because of this course 16 I hadn’t known that I made many mistakes in pronouncing my mother language until I presented our group topic in Vietnamese 18 My decision making powers can be enhanced through the process of preparing the presentation with other members in my group 20 Our task performance is good thanks to group work 23 During the process of preparing the presentation and practice reporting in group, I found that I understood the lesson better 29 I was being taught many principles and theories about problem solving skill by myself and listening to friends’ presentations while my teacher mostly prompted me how to learn by myself 31 Discussing and preparing for group’s presentation enhanced the development of unity within my group 32 With solving problem based learning, I found that my strengths and weaknesses can be identified and used or compensated for when making a decision Valid N (listwise) 66 60 2.3 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of instructor’s influence Instructor’s impact N Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation Instructor’ impact = 12 66 4.14 677 Valid N (listwise) 66 N 12 The instructor of the course has positive impact on me Valid N (listwise) Minimum Maximum Mean 66 4.14 Std Deviation 677 66 Descriptive statistics of students’ perspective of the appropriateness of the material MATERIAL N MATERIAL = 14, 33 66 Valid N (listwise) 66 Minimum Maximum Mean N 4.14 Minimum Maximum Mean Std Deviation 532 Std Deviation 14 I found many interesting principles, background knowledge about problem solving skill in 66 4.15 533 66 4.14 699 Adair’s book 33 After the course, I find it easy to understand the content of the book Valid N (listwise) 66 61 [...]... way of reviewing literature relating to problem solving course Figure 2.3.3.2 Framework of problem solving skill in language education course Problem solving skill in language education course Skills for solving problem Problem solving skill Decision making skill Significance of the course Benefits of the course 19 Course description Method Material CHAPTER 3 METHOD Chapter two has presented literature... Solving Skill in Language Education (SP210), in fact, in this course, students have learnt not only the skill of solving problem but also the skill of making decision Adair (2010) confirmed that decision making and solving problem are two forms of applied thinking and they can be distinguished Since the book “Decision making and problem solving strategies” by Adair was used as the main material in this... main material in this course, these two skills were considered as main focus of the course 2.3.1 The skills for solving problem 2.3.1.1 The definition of problem solving skill Many definitions of problem solving skill were offered: Gagne (1985), Garofalo and Lester (1985) refers that problem solving is one of the kinds of higher order thinking skills such as "visualization, association, abstraction,... REVIEW OF LITERATURE In this chapter, I will review literature relating to course evaluation and Problem Solving Skill in Language Education Course The first concern will be theories about course evaluation including types of course evaluation, reasons for evaluating a course and criteria for course evaluation Another major concern is about the definition, the importance of problem solving skill Finally,... out The first task is to make an evaluation at the beginning of the course, then make an evaluation during the course, finally, make an evaluation at the end of the course In comparison with Kirkpatrick’s model, the last task corresponds with two first levels in Kirkpatrick’s model (reaction and learning) Therefore, this research just concentrates on conducting an evaluation at the end of the course. .. changes in learning theory, educators and trainers are revising curricula to include integrated learning environments which encourage learners to use higher order thinking skills, and in particular, problem solving skills.” (as cited in Kirley, 2003) As far as the importance of problem solving skills are seen, today, the incorporation of problem solving skills is taken as a key component of the curriculum... for them and can benefit them 2 3 Most students find the material used in this course appropriate with their level and the objectives of the course 1.3 Organization of the thesis The thesis is organized into five following chapters: Chapter 1 is the introduction The rationale, the statements of research objectives, research questions and hypotheses, organization of the thesis are introduced in the. .. reduction of individual’s satisfaction Interestingly, in this course, the instructor employed a principle of problem- based learning framework She gave groups the ownership of solving their assignments so that the learners were free to create new things, but their creativeness must serve for conveying the information of the chapters (Little, 1991) She also gave groups the ownership of applying the planning... clarified in the next part 2.3.3.1 Instructional method applied in problem solving in language education course Problem - based learning is the learning that results from the process of working toward the understanding or resolution of a problem (as cited in Barrows & Tamblyn, 1980) They also articulated that the problem came first in the learning process while in traditional approach, problem was... learners rate the appropriateness of the material utilized in this course? 1.2.3 Hypotheses Basing on the relevant literature review and the research questions, I hypothesize that 1 All students agree that knowledge they have acquired during the course of problem solving skill in language education is beneficial and useful 2 Most students realize that the instructional method applied in this course is