Student engagement during the English class presentation stage through the use of mini whiteboards in Manuela Cañizares school.

Abstract

Manuela Cañizares students face a significant problem during their English learning, a lack of engagement when the content is presented to them during a class. The Ecuadorian Ministry of Education aims for a student-centered learning during the English lessons, however, students from 5th, 6th and 7th grade are learning in a teacher-centered way. This research study aims to analyze students’ engagement when using the mini whiteboards during the presentation stage of an English class. The research method this study used is Action research, where mini whiteboards were implemented with the students during the presentation stage of their English classes, while the researcher used unstructured and structured observations related to students’ behavior prior and during the use of the mini whiteboards. Prior to their use, students were observed to establish a baseline of their engagement and be able to study it later. The observation phase allowed for the introduction of the mini whiteboards and the beginning of the first implementation cycle. Upon the conclusion of this first cycle, a quantitative survey was administered to improve the effectiveness of the mini whiteboards with the students and introduce new strategies like the gamification and think-pair-share in a second implementation cycle. At the end of this second cycle, students provided feedback through a qualitative survey regarding their experience with the mini whiteboards. The analysis of the responses, along with the results of the observations conducted during the whole study, showed that the mini whiteboards were effective in boosting the engagement that the students had thanks to interactive learning. They allowed to make the class student-centered, while showing that it is actually possible to have something didactic during this stage of an English class. Nevertheless, a reduction in the effectiveness of the mini whiteboards over time was observed despite the use of new strategies during the second cycle of research. Therefore, future research should aim to explore other didactic activities and resources that can be developed and used during the presentation stage, enabling teachers to have a diverse set of tools at their disposal when delivering the content in their English classes.