Student Survey Question 7: How do the WSQ's help you as a student? Which parts help you the most?

This is the seventh in a series of 10 posts about a student survey I gave to my classes after four weeks of a fully flipped classroom.  Here are the trends and some responses I have chosen to share.

All survey responses can be found in the following posts:

Student Survey Question 1: Describe your effort in the flipped classroom and explain

Student Survey Question 2: When DON'T you watch the videos for Flipped Class?

Student Survey Question 3: What are you doing when you watch the videos? Are you an active listener?

Student Survey Question 4: When do you watch the videos?

Student Survey Question 5a: How are you feeling about the Flipped Classroom?

Student Survey Question 5b: What could be done to make the flipped classroom better?

Student Survey Question 6: How does the flipped classroom help you in learning the material?\

Student Survey Question 7: How do the WSQ's help you as a student?  Which parts help you the most?

Question 7. How much do the WSQ's (mainly  the summary, question, and answer) help you  as a student?

A LOT		53	32%
A LITTLE		78	47%
NOT VERY MUCH		37	22%
NOT AT ALL		13	8%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

Question 7. Which part of the WSQ helps  you the most?

Watching the video		140	84%
Writing the summary		41	25%
Discussing the summary in class		47	28%
Writing the Question		24	14%
Answering the Question		37	22%

People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

This was a very important survey question to me, because the WSQ is still a work in progress.  I am constantly trying to experiment with new ideas to make it more effective as a learning tool and NOT just busy work.  After the first 4-5 weeks of the semester, you can see that about 1/3 of my students did not find the WSQ to be very helpful (yes, I still have 1/3 that found it VERY helpful, but still...).  That is a big enough percentage for me to consider changing things up and modifying to make it better.

Here is what I've done since these survey results came in:

1. Most summaries are now "guided summaries" where I give the students 2-4 key questions to answer in their summary rather than just having them start from scratch with what THEY thought was important.  Students are REALLY liking this much better than the open summaries and find it much more helpful.  I will be doing another survey later in the semester to see how their views have changed statistically.

2. I have incorporated the new "5 minute WSQ" (Math Analysis) and "2 minute WSQ" (Algebra 1) to give the students more structured talk time about their WSQ.  This gives the students more focus and accountability in making good use of their time and actually having the discussion, whereas before I think it was easier for some groups to just not really do it.

"The WSQ helps me a lot"

As I read through these comments, I think "Yes! These students get it!"  They understand that the WSQ requires work and thinking, but it is supposed to help them understand the material more and develop as a math student by being able to do more than just solve problems.

• Mainly the summery help me a lot. even though it's hard but it helps me think of the steps of a concept and it help me to understand the concept better. 
• The summary helps me out mainly because it is able to keep the knowledge fresh in my head rather than losing it instantly. 
• It helps me because it makes me think. I have to put what I saw, heard and learned into words. It can be challenging but, it makes you think about the material. It helps if you understand it it can be easier to write the summary. The question helps because if you don't understand you can write your question and ask it to my group the next day in class.
• The question helps me ask a question without being embarrassed
• I say that the wsq's help out a lot because when you do the summary after you watch the video you have everything fresh in your mind. Then the next day when someone in class asks you what the video was about you can just show them or read them your summary. Also after you watch the video and wrote down your summary if you had any questions you can write it down and make sure that for the next day you don't forget your question so you can ask the teacher or your group so they can answer it for you or also so they can help you answer, then if they don't know the answer then you can ask the teacher.
• I love the summary because it does help me get a concept more when i write it in my own words, and if I have a question I write it down so it could get answered the next day.
• They help because for the summaries you get to sum up everything you're learning in your own words, and if you cant sum it all up on your own you obviously didn't learn anything. While watching the video you can have a question and that's where you can ask.
• Writing the WSQ helps me know if I understood the concept 100% or I need to re-watch some of the parts of the video. I believe that if we can write and thoroughly explain what we saw we should be experts the next day for the quizzes. It's makes us see if we really know the concept or not and  if that's the case we have to make sure we watch the video until we do understand.
• The WSQ's help me pay more attention and really absorb the information.
• The WSQ's helps me a lot. Writing the summary makes you process the information that was in the video. Writing the question makes you think hard about the concept.
• The WSQ's help me as a student to not just understand the math but also to understand it in "english". Like, to understand the different elements of the concept in math vocabulary.
• The WSQ's have helped me a lot even though I sometimes dont feel like doing it. It has helped me because I can explain what we learned with words if someone asks me for help. 
• The WSQ helps me a lot. There are times where my summary is lackluster. That means i don't understand the concept at all. By listening to my group members, then I can understand what to do better. It makes me a better math student. 
• It actually keeps me thinking about the concept because I have to make sure my summary is good and i have to know the concept to help answer my group's questions.
• i get to explain what I get it and what I don't which very important when it comes to math, which is the hardest subject for me.
• Even though its a hassle, i like it because it gets me thinking about what i learned. Especially since i want to be a math teacher.
• The WSQ helps me organize my thoughts after a video. This helps clarify the concept and makes you think deeper when coming up with a question. Plus it helps us develop our mathematic vocab and forces us to use it correctly.

"The WSQ helps me just a little"

Overall, there are some interesting comments in here from both sides...

• I just get tired of writing what I learned. Also, I'd rather rewatch the video than reread my summary because its much easier.
• in my opinion the WSQ's dont really do much, the part that helps me is discussing the video with our group but we mainly use our SSS when discussing it. 
• the WSQ's only help me a little becuase sometimes i do get the math but i just can't write the summary.
• I think they only help me when i am discussing the summary with my group members. Also the super or perfect summary worked because we just threw up all we knew about the concept and put the pieces togther and came to understand it more.
• They help me as a student because I see how much as a student I learned on my own by watching the videos
• I don't think the summary does a lot to imprint the step by step math process in my head; when I see it on video, that's when I absorb the information, which is why I rewind and take notes. When I have to do the summary afterwards, it doesn't accomplish much except take up more time because I'm only repeating what's in my head. However, going through the information in class is very helpful to me, because that way some things that I missed before will be addressed. The question is helpful, only if you answer it personally though. Usually when answered by a student, the response is inadequate, inaccurate, and unsatisfying.
• Sometimes I kind of feel like it is a waste of time to do the summary but maybe I just haven't noticed that it actually helps me. The question part does help because I get to ask questions that I don't know the answer too and learn from that.
• As much as they peeve me, I enjoy digging deep into my brain for a "hot" question. The summaries are okay, I haven't really seen any improvement in my math skills since I've started to do them but I'm learning interesting things with the questions. 
• I need to reflect more on my WSQ's. After all, those summaries and questions are useless if I don't take the time to actually reflect on them.
• Well for me as a student I honestly don't see how they help me YET. But for a teacher it would help because it shows if I truly understood the material.
• I don't get the reasoning for the question part besides showing our understanding. The summary is fun and is like a little quick study session/ cheat sheet. We should be allowed to use them on tests.

The students who did NOT find the WSQ helpful (either "not very much" or "not at all") said this:

As I read through these "complaints" I'm honestly okay with most of them.  I'm fine with students not liking it because it's difficult for them to put math into words - that's good for them and it's a skill that needs to be developed.  I'm fine with students complaining that they don't think writing and reflecting helps them learn because they don't realize that it actually does.  That is pretty much the summary of all of the complaints listed below.  It's hard for them and they don't see how writing helps them.

When it comes down to it, our students need to be READING, WRITING, LISTENING, SPEAKING, and THINKING in all content areas every day.  Many students don't like to read. They don't like to write. They don't mind listening, but they don't like to speak about math too much - they would rather just silently work on problems. Most of all, I have found students these days don't really like to have to THINK. They don't like things that require them to work hard. 

• I don't find the point in doing wsq because it doesn't improve on my understanding. To me math is my favorite subject and I learn quickly and i don't need to be writing what I learn, whats important, and the steps I take because i know it already. Not to brag or anything.
• The WSQ's dont really help me i find them pointless and a waste of time because instead of doing them we can already be doing our work. The summaries are okay but the questions i don't really see a point on doing them, because you can always ask people for help or the teacher and some students just write a question they already know the answer to so i see no point they pretty much just write one to have a blue signature.
• All I care about is learning the lesson and practicing the problems. The wsq don't help me.
• Honestly, most of the time, I'm just looking for more things to write down. Its also very time consuming. 
• They don't help me at all, because i already learned the material so i am basically going back into the SSS and using the vocab and trying to word my paragraph in a way that makes sense. 
• I'm not good at coming up with questions if i understand the concept
• The wsq does help, but i don't feel like it helps much because i feel like the summary is just an additional part to our hw assignment and its difficult to write out some math concepts in words. Also, sometimes for certain concepts, it is difficult to write a lot. 
• To be honest, I find the wsqs to be a huge burden. Even when I clearly understand the concept that I can do the problems by myself, its hard to word it so that it makes sense. Writing out math can be difficult, that combined with the fact that writing isn't one of my strengths. Often times I am writing a summary that in my head makes sense, but once I read it, it doesn't. Other times I leave out information and then awkwardly place it toward the end. In other words, they're a pain.
• Yes it requires analyzing the concept, but to me I don't see a point in doing it, its the person's choice if they decide to watch it or not.
• its not that it doesn't help me its just that its to much after watching the video we have to write about it and i guess I'm not a fan of writing
• I know you say that writing a summary is also another way to show you understand the concept. But to me it's hard to write what I just learned. It doesn't help me understand the concept more it just stresses me out trying to find a way to explain what I just learned even though I get what's going on in the concept.
• they do not help me very much i think hat if the student has watched the video he/ she will obviously "get" it than the ones that have not. we shouldn't have to write a summary because if you didn't get the concept in the first place........how would you be able to explain what you did? 
• I don't feel writing about it helps me learn
• I feel like I'm gaining nothing from it. I feel like it is a chore to figure out a question to ask.
• If anything, it is hard and challenging to write the WSQV. 
• I think that the summary helps a little bit in recapping the material, and the question forces us to think a little bit, but not significantly. 
• It is time consuming i would much rather spend time on working out problems and then asking questions than to spend my lunchtime writing wsqs. i get no practice. 
• The summary is difficult for me.
• I think this is more like busy work i mean like  most people just write to avoid the "red line" which will be that way for whatever we do. Just the reality of high school students, and sometimes at the end of watching a video, i cant think of a question to ask which then turns into a not so "hot" question.