Western Governors University

Learning Design WGU Capstone Report

Tori Labbe

Lidiya Yanusheva

February 4, 2024
 Abstract

The type of capstone research was a case study, with the goal of this project was to discover how

an e-learning module could impact students’ ability to respond to constructive feedback from

peers. The topics of the modules included: Teaching Basic Conversational Skills, Building

Student Collaboration, and Strategies for Teaching How to Respond to Constructive Feedback.

Students were taught how to both provide and respond to feedback in order to effectively work in

group settings. The problem that led the project was that second grade students don’t know how

to comfortably respond to constructive feedback effectively with their peers while collaborating.

The guiding questions were: “how will the e-learning module affect a second grader’s ability to

respond to constructive feedback?” and “how will the e-learning module impact students'

comfort level in responding to constructive feedback?”. The instruments used include: formative

assessments Classkick, an observational rubric, and a self-assessment survey given both before

and after the conclusion of the module. Participants in the project were 21 second grade students,

about 7-8 years of age. The stakeholders involved in this research project were the parents of the

students in this study and the principal of this school. Methods used were quantitative, measured

by 2 of formative assessments, one summative assessment, an observational rubric, and the pre

and post surveys. Finally, the conclusion based on my results of the DBR study and data analysis

was that the module was successful, implying that study participants felt more comfortable

providing and receiving peer feedback after completing the modules.

 Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction 5

Instructional Problem 5

Research Problem 5

Research Purpose 5

Research Question(s) 5

Chapter 2: Literature Review 6

Introduction to the Literature Review 6

Thematic Subheading 6

Thematic Subheading 6

Thematic Subheading 6

Conclusion 6

Chapter 3: Research Methodology 7

Instructional Problem Overview 7

Potential Solutions 7

E-Learning Unit of Instruction Description 7

Research Methodology 7

Method 7

Participants/Stakeholders 7

Data Collection Instrument(s) 7

Data Analysis Technique(s) 7

Expected Timeline 7

Data Security and Confidentiality 7

Conclusion 7

Chapter 4: Results 8

Summary of Research 8

Summary of Results 8

Proposed Iteration(s) of E-Learning Solution 8

Chapter 5: Discussion 9

Conclusion(s) Based on Results 9

Limitations 9

Implications of Research on Educational Practice 9

References 10

Appendix A 11

Appendix B 12

Appendix C 13

Appendix D 14
 Chapter 1: Introduction

Instructional Problem

● Solo Learners who are currently able to work on their own will be taught skills on how to

work in a group setting instead of dominating and completing all the work themselves.

Research Problem

● Second grade students don’t know how to comfortably respond to constructive feedback

effectively with their peers while collaborating. As a result, due to this lack of

knowledge, they don’t feel comfortable participating in group discussions.

● This is important because working with others is a skill that these students will face in

their everyday lives. When it comes to school and the education of young children,

people often put most of the emphasis on their ability to learn to read or math skills. At

times, social skills and the ability to collaborate with peers are overlooked. Being able to

work with others is a standard that is graded each term on a second-grade student’s record

card, however, some teachers give students a grade on this standard without much

thought to it or concrete examples. Students in the module will be taught how to

respectfully disagree or respond to an idea or opinion that they do not like or agree with.

It is also important to be able to respectfully respond to constructive feedback on

opinions because disagreeing is part of life, and if children are not taught how to

respectfully respond to differing opinions, it could lead to serious conflict. Kids must be

taught to work collaboratively in a respectful manner for their future jobs and life

experiences to come. Being taught these tools are necessary for the both academic and

personal growth of young students.

 ● One possible cause for this research problem is that they have never been taught how to

respectfully agree or disagree with peers. Either their parents or teachers have not taught

them direct skills on how to have a proper conversation with peers where both people

have an equal chance to talk and they are also responding appropriately.

● The assessment: oral discussion where everyone responds, and everyone has an equal

amount of time. This will be graded with a rubric or checklist.

Research Purpose

● The purpose of this research is to study the effects of the e-learning module on a second

grader’s comfort level in responding to constructive feedback.

Research Question(s)

1. How will the e-learning module affect a second grader’s ability to respond to constructive

feedback?

2. How will the e-learning module impact students' comfort level in responding to

constructive feedback?
 Chapter 2: Literature Review

Introduction to the Literature Review

The study aims to find out how an e-learning module could impact students’ ability to

respond to constructive feedback from peers. The researcher reviewed current literature to

become familiar with current literature on using technology to teach beginning skills related to

responding to constructive feedback within a group setting. The following themes used to

organize the literature review are: Teaching Basic Conversational Skills, Building Student

Collaboration, and Strategies for Teaching How to Respond to Constructive Feedback.

Teaching Conversational Skills

Students and adults learn communication skills by having experience talking to peers

daily. It is something that is developed over time, and not often explicitly taught to young

children. Good conversations typically cover six broad areas: social etiquette, clarity of

communication, reciprocation, showing interest and engagement, perspective-taking and

inclusion, and finding common ground (Elias 2022). Respectful communication also involves

the words students choose to agree and disagree with peers. In this way, it is a skill that

involves several prosocial behaviors that all work together to help students build stronger

relationships (Bruno 2015). Pre-conversation activities can provide valuable transitions not

only to everyday conversations but also to successful classroom conversations and role-play

(Powell, Eckard, Kearny, Kramsch, 1981). A social skills training program consisting of

instructions, modeling, behavior rehearsal, performance feedback, and a programmed

generalization set was used to teach conversational behavior to four socially isolated children

(Whitehill, Hersen, Bellack 1980). Petrie (2011) explained that communication takes place

when someone sends a message and the other person receives it. It is a two-way process
(Petrie 2011).

Developing Peer Feedback Skills

Peer feedback isn’t often something that comes naturally for students. Some learners do

not have the desire or skills to give or properly respond to feedback, especially when it comes

from a peer. Taylor (2011) states that by the end of the semester, there are improvements in

their performance, teamwork, and ability to solve problems (Taylor 2011). Studies show that

feedback should deal with specific performances, not generalizations; feedback should deal

with decisions and actions, rather than assumed intentions or interpretations (Hamid,

Mahmood, 2010). To develop peer feedback skills, educators will need to focus on

emphasizing to students that feedback should not be tied to feelings or opinions, but rather

specific examples of the peer’s work. Additionally, a strategy mentioned by Topping (2017) is

that more time should be spent discussing and agreeing on the assessment criteria, training the

assessors to give feedback, coaching while peer assessment is occurring, and so forth

(Topping 2017). By familiarizing learners with assignment criteria, they will likely be more

successful in providing accurate feedback to their peers. Sparks (2017) believes that at its

best, collaboration in the classroom can help students think more deeply and creatively about

a subject and develop more empathy for others’ perspectives. (Sparks 2017). Thus, peer

assessment encourages students to be critical, independent learners as they become more

familiar with the application of assessment criteria and develop a clearer concept of the

material being reviewed (Hovardas, Tsivitanidou, Zacharia, 2014). Teaching learners how to

be Finally, one way to encourage peer feedback is with greater significance placed on learner

autonomy, guidance on good practice in self- and peer appraisal has been recognized as
preparation for life-long learning and multi-source feedback in professional life (Cushing,

Abbott, Lothian, Hall, Westwood, 2011).

Strategies for Teaching How to Respond to Constructive Feedback

The final theme of the literature review focuses on strategies teachers can use to teach

learners how to respond to constructive feedback. Wong, Kan, and Chow (2022) explain

another strategy is to help students learn how to identify group issues, listen reflectively, give

constructive feedback, structure discussions, manage their groups, give group presentations

and compile reports; review individuals' contributions and deal with common group work

issues (Wong, Kan, Chow, 2022). The educator can teach students how to balance listening

and speaking while receiving and responding to feedback. Students must first feel

comfortable enough to share their work and then gain confidence to provide feedback to

others (Sackstein 2017). Regularly incorporating collaborative group work, allows learners to

become comfortable with sharing their ideas and responding to constructive criticism.

Teaching learners to be okay with constructive feedback is also a strategy that educators can

adopt during group work. Another type of intervention used to raise the quality of peer

feedback is training students to adopt specific quality criteria (Gielen, Peeters, Dochy,

Onghena, Struyven 2009). While responding to constructive feedback, to achieve mutual

goals, students must communicate accurately and resolve conflicts constructively (Johnson

and Johnson 1989).

Conclusion

In conclusion, finding articles related to my topic was one thing that worked well. I was

able to read about the reasons why peer feedback is important and the benefits of it pretty easily.

One thing that was a little bit more challenging was finding specific teaching strategies to teach

learners how to respond to constructive peer feedback. One thing I did discover was that it may

be equally as important to teach students how to provide peer feedback as well. The scholarly

articles, journals, and books that I read taught me that there are steps that could come first before

teaching students how to respond to constructive feedback. Adding basic conversation skills and

how to help students develop peer feedback skills are new ideas that I discovered and decided to

add to my research. I believe that teaching conversation skills and how to provide feedback will

aid in teaching learners how to respond to constructive feedback. The articles helped me come up

with a solution for the instructional problem because by teaching students skills on how to have

collaborative conversations, provide feedback to peers, and respond to peer feedback, they will

in return have the skills needed to be able to hopefully take on confidently working in a group

setting. Some of the design principles from existing research that informed my research were to

focus on some of the pre-existing skills that students need to be able to respond to constructive

feedback. Some of these include conversation skills, social skills, and being familiar with

grading criteria. The gaps in the current literature include a lack of strategies for teaching

learners to respond to constructive feedback. There are tons of tips for teachers on how to

provide feedback to students, but not much on teaching students how to receive feedback to

improve their work. This research addresses the gaps in the literature because my research aims

to come up with more strategies to teach students these skills to improve the overall quality and

productivity of student work.

 References

Powell, B., Eckard, R. D., Kearny, M. A., & Kramsch, C. J. (1981). Teaching Conversation Skills in ESL.

The Modern Language Journal, 66(4), 448. https://doi.org/10.2307/327495

Elias, M. J. (2022). Teaching students how to have meaningful conversations. Edutopia.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-students-how-have-meaningful-conversations/

Bruno, C. (2015). EMPATICO skills: Spotlight on respectful communication activities. Empatico.

https://empatico.org/empatico-skills-spotlight-on-respectful-communication-activities/

Mark B. Whitehill, Michel Hersen, Alan S. Bellack. (1980).Conversation skills training for socially isolated

children, Behaviour Research and Therapy, Volume 18, Issue 3, 217-225

Petrie, P. (2011). Communications Skills for Working with Children and Young People (3rd ed.). Jessica

Kingsley Publishers.

Taylor, A. (2011). Top 10 reasons students dislike working in small groups … and why I do it anyway.

Biochem. Mol. Biol. Educ., 39: 219-220.

Hamid, Y., & Mahmood, S. (2010). Understanding constructive feedback: a commitment between

teachers and students for academic and professional development. J Pak Med Assoc, 60(3),

224-7.

Topping, K. (2017). Peer Assessment: Learning by Judging and Discussing the Work of Other Learners.

Interdisciplinary Education and Psychology, 1(1), 1-17. Article 7.

https://doi.org/10.31532/InterdiscipEducPsychol.1.1.007

Sparks, S. D. (2021, May 3). Children must be taught to collaborate, studies say. Education Week.

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/children-must-be-taught-to-collaborate-studies-say/2017/05
Tasos Hovardas, Olia E. Tsivitanidou, Zacharias C. Zacharia (2014). Peer versus expert feedback: An

investigation of the quality of peer feedback among secondary school students, Computers &

Education, Volume 71, 2014, Pages 133-152, ISSN 0360-1315

Annie Cushing, Stephen Abbott, Doug Lothian, Angela Hall & Olwyn M. R. Westwood (2011) Peer

feedback as an aid to learning – What do we want? Feedback. When do we want it? Now!,

Medical Teacher, 33:2, e105-e112, DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2011.542522

Wong, F. M. F., Kan, C. W. Y., & Chow, S. K. Y. (2022). From resistance to acceptance in small group

work: Students' narratives. Nurse Education Today, 3, 105317.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105317

Sackstein, S. (2017). Peer Feedback in the Classroom: Empowering Students to Be the Experts. United

States: ASCD.

Sarah Gielen, Elien Peeters, Filip Dochy, Patrick Onghena, Katrien Struyven (2010). Improving the

effectiveness of peer feedback for learning, Learning and Instruction, Volume 20, Issue 4, Pages

304-315, ISSN 0959-4752

Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1997). Social skills for successful group work. MAA notes, 201-204.
 Chapter 3: Research Methodology

B. Instructional Problem Overview

The instructional problem that guides this study is the lack of skills working in a group

setting demonstrated by elementary school students. These learners were often observed

dominating and completing all the work in a group setting themselves. I am currently in my 3rd

year teaching second grade, and the lack of collaboration skills demonstrated by second grade

students tends to affect their ability to enhance their learning and growth. Informal observation

has made it clear to me that my students have a really hard time both providing feedback to peers

and responding to constructive criticism from peers within our classroom learning environment.

C. Potential Solutions
1. One potential e-learning solution that would address the instructional problem includes

lessons via Google Meet and practice assignments that will be found in Google

Classroom. The solution will contain 3 modules. The first module will be a Google Meet

with students addressing the importance of providing feedback to each other when

working in a collaborative setting. The teacher will explain tips on how to provide

feedback to a peer constructively and respectfully. Following the meeting, an assignment

will be posted to Google Classroom involving hypothetical situations in which the

student must both provide feedback and respond to constructive feedback. Module 2 will

be another Google Meet in which students learn skills involving conversation skills and

responding to constructive feedback (listening, taking turns speaking, asking questions,

etc.). After the meeting, students will go into breakout rooms to practice some of these

conversation skills with one another. The teacher will drop in on each group to observe

how the students are interacting and applying the new knowledge as well as provide

feedback. Module 3 will focus on students completing the final summative assessment
 which will be a text-to-speech assessment in which students apply their knowledge by

responding to constructive feedback.

a. One technology tool that would be used to support this learning solution would be

Google Meet - a way of video conferencing within Google Classroom. Google

Classroom is an LMS that can be used to deliver assignments and summative

assessments.

b. One advantage of implementing the solution from C1 is that the teacher will be

able to actively observe student work through small group break-out sessions on

Google Meet and provide timely feedback to students.

c. One potential challenge is that students won’t want to speak in small group

discussions and therefore the teacher will not be able to assess their learning.

- One step I would take to address this challenge would be to require students to

participate by speaking at least three times within the breakout sessions and make

this a clear expectation via assignment expectations posted in Google Classroom.

2. Another possible e-learning solution would also be divided into 3 modules. Module 1 will be a

Google Meet in which the teacher introduces students to proper group collaboration skills and

how to provide peer feedback. Following the lesson will be an assignment in which learners

interact with dialogue simulation software in which they have role-playing conversations. In this

simulation, learners will have a casual conversation discussing a sample problem they must solve

together. They will need to come up with responses for providing feedback to the virtual peer.

The second module will be a recording of a lesson teaching students how to respond to

constructive feedback. Included in the recording would be tips on responding respectfully to

constructive feedback from peers. After watching the video, learners will attend a Google Meet
to discuss what they have learned from the video. Learners will then be split into breakout

groups to apply what they have learned by being given problems to solve within their group.

Each learner will be required to share a solution to the problem and peers must provide feedback.

After receiving feedback, the learner will respond respectfully. The teacher will visit breakout

rooms to observe, ask questions, and provide timely feedback. Module 3 will include the

summative assessment in which students will write a solution to a problem and submit it to

Google Classroom. Peers then must provide feedback to at least 3 peers by commenting on their

submissions. Once the learner receives their feedback, they must respond to the feedback. This

response will be evaluated on a grading scale by the teacher using a set rubric.

a. The learning technology tools incorporated in this solution include Google Meet, Google

Classroom LMS, and Dialogue Simulation Software (iSpring Suite). Google Meet is a

way to video conference within the LMS Google Classroom (where students can access

assignments, feedback, and grades).

b. One advantage of implementing this solution is that students will have time to think about

their responses to feedback by responding via writing rather than being put on the spot in

a live face-to-face conversation.

c. One challenge of this solution is that the teacher may not be able to observe each student

respond to feedback in the breakout rooms. These learners will not receive feedback on

their skills before heading into the summative assessment.

- One possible step the teacher may take to address this challenge is requiring students to

begin working when the teacher joins the breakout session so the teacher can observe

each learner. During the time before or after the teacher joins, students can work on a

separate task provided by the teacher.

3. One last possible solution is for students to participate in a live Google Meet where they learn

about feedback, what peer feedback is, and then how to provide peer feedback. By the end of the

meeting, students will look over examples of student work and listen to examples of constructive

feedback provided by the teacher. Following the meeting, students will look over student

samples provided in Google Classroom and then submit their constructive feedback. Module 2

will begin with students watching a video recording of the teacher explaining how to respectfully

respond to constructive feedback. After the lesson, students will partake in a jeopardy-style

learning game where students are provided with an example of feedback and must choose an

appropriate multiple-choice answer with an appropriate way to respond. Students get points for

each correct answer they receive. Module 3 will begin with another Google Meet where the

teacher will explain how to complete the summative assessment. For the summative assessment,

students will complete a written assignment (aligned with a second-grade writing standard) by a

specific due date. After all assignments have been submitted, students will peer review each

other’s work by adding comments to the submissions on Google Classroom. Finally, students

will respond to their feedback respectfully (using phrases they learn such as “thank you for your

feedback”.

a. The learning technology tools used in this involve Google Classroom LMS (for

assignments and assessments), Google Meet for students to meet with teachers and peers

via video, and the Jeopardy gamification.

b. One advantage of using this solution would be engaging students in gamification to learn

the content before completing the summative assessment. The competitive nature of a

game aims to encourage students to want to participate to earn points.

 c. One possible challenge of this solution is that not all students respond well to the game

and are scared they may get the wrong answer. This may prevent some students from

wanting to participate in the game and therefore not learning the content before the

summative assessment.

- One thing that could be done to address this challenge is for the teacher to explain game

rules and expectations before playing. One rule is that all students must answer at least 1

question to get full participation points. The meeting room rules should be laid out by the

teacher both verbally and posted into Google Classroom for students.

4. The e-learning solution that I will choose to address the instruction problem is solution 1. The

reason why I chose this solution is because I believe that it provides the least possibility for

challenges to arise. This solution only requires students to engage with their peers once in

module two, which won’t be as much pressure since it is not the final summative assessment.

Students will first learn new information before each assignment so they can immediately apply

the skills they were just taught, which will be beneficial in the transfer of knowledge. For

example, in module 1, students will complete an assignment involving providing peer feedback

and responding to feedback right after they learn these skills in a Google Meet. Unlike the third

solution where students are required to create their own responses, the first assignment for this

solution is a multiple choice assignment. This type of assignment may be easier for students in

second grade who have never learned the basics of peer feedback before. One final reason I

chose this solution is because the summative assessment includes students responding to

feedback that is chosen by the instructor. The teacher can strategically choose feedback that

students should respond to, rather than students having to respond to peer feedback from other

students that may not be easy to understand, let alone provide feedback to.
E-Learning Unit of Instruction Description
1. The Entire Module is called: Providing and Responding to Peer Feedback. This e-Learning
Experience will include:
• Module description:
- In this e-learning module, students will use the LMS Google Classroom to access all the

materials needed. The solution will contain 3 lessons total. The first lesson is called:

Providing Peer Feedback. This Lesson will begin with a Google Meet at 8:45 am where

students will learn the importance of providing feedback to each other when working in a

collaborative setting. The teacher will explain tips on how to provide feedback to a peer

constructively and respectfully. Following the meeting, students will find lesson 1 in

Google Classroom to find their first assessment involving hypothetical situations in

which the student must both provide feedback and respond to constructive feedback.

Lesson 2 will also start with a Google Meet in which students learn skills involving

conversation skills and responding to constructive feedback (listening, taking turns

speaking, asking questions, etc.). After the meeting, students will be split into breakout

rooms to practice some of these conversation skills with one another. The teacher will

drop in on each group to observe how the students are interacting and applying the new

knowledge as well as provide feedback. After this, students will complete another

formative assessment on Classkick with multiple choice questions on what they learned.

Module 3 will focus on students completing the final summative assessment which will

be a text-to-speech assessment in which students apply their knowledge by responding to

constructive feedback.
• target audience

- The target audience for this module is 21 second grade general education students (ages

7-8 years of age). Their prior experience includes Google Classroom, Classkick, and

Google Meet. Their prior skills include listening, sharing, and empathy.

2. Identify the learning goal of the module.

- The module teaches elementary students conversations skills needed to provide and

respond to peer feedback. The learning goal will be to teach the e-learning module that

uses Google Classroom to teach students how to provide feedback to peers as well as

respond to feedback from peers.

3. Identify the learning objectives.

- Learning objective 1: Students will be able to answer hypothetical multiple-choice

questions on providing respectful, constructive peer feedback with 90% accuracy.

- Learning objective 2: Students will contribute to a discussion displaying respectful

communication skills at least 3 times.

- Learning objective 3: By the end of the E-learning instructional unit, students will be able

to answer hypothetical multiple-choice questions regarding responding to constructive

feedback with 90% accuracy.

a. Describe the formative assessments and summative assessment you will use during your

module to measure learner understanding of the learning objectives.

 - There are three formative assessments in my module. The first formative assessment in

lesson 1 includes 3 situation based multiple questions involving providing appropriate

and constructive peer feedback. The second formative assessment in lesson 2 is instructor

observation where the teacher drops into breakout rooms to observe students displaying

learned conversation skills. The third formative assessment (also in lesson 2) includes an

exit-ticket assignment where students select all of the appropriate ways to hold a

respectful conversation. The summative assessment includes 3 hypothetical situations in

which students must apply their knowledge on providing peer feedback and

communication skills to respectfully respond to constructive peer feedback.

4. Describe two different learner needs you might encounter as you implement the e-learning

module.

- One learner need that I might encounter as I implement the e-learning module is if a

student or students do not speak English well. These students may be new to the United

States or just new to the English language. This may affect their ability to communicate

as well as learners that speak English as their primary language, especially because this

module is centered around communication with peers.

- A second learner need I might encounter is the need for immediate feedback. In the part

of lesson 2 in which students are put into breakout rooms and required to practice

communication skills, students will be having conversations with one another. There will

be multiple things said by students during this time, and some students may need to be

reassured that they are correctly using appropriate language and gestures as learned from

the lesson right before.

a. Explain how you will address the learner needs from part B4 to support learner success in

achieving the goal and objectives of the module. Include specific examples connecting both

learner needs to specific parts of the module.

- I will address the first learner's need involving possible language barriers by meeting

individually with such students to ensure that these students understand the content and

what is being asked of them. Using visual aids or non-verbal communication during this

meeting is another strategy that I can use to overcome some of the barriers.

- I will address the second learner’s need involving the need for reassurance by addressing

each student individually after I exit the breakout room. After each student has had a

chance to prove their communication skills, I will provide them with areas of growth or

strengths. This will provide students with an understanding of what they did well, or what

they may need to improve for the next time.

5. Identify two learning technology tools used in your module.

- One learning technology tool I used in this module is Google Meet - a way of video

conferencing within Google Classroom. Google Classroom is an LMS that I used within

the module to deliver assignments and summative assessments.

- Another learning technology I used was Classkick. Classkick is a tool that teachers can

use to create assignments and provide feedback while the student is working, or after they

have finished. Students can go at their own pace on Classkick assignments and get help

right if or when they need it. I used Classkick for the formative assessments as well as the

summative assessment.

a. Justify how the tools from part B5 will be used to help accomplish the learning goal.
 - Google Meet helps accomplish the learning goal to teach elementary students

conversation skills needed to provide and respond to peer feedback because it is a way to

observe students having live conversations with one another over a virtual learning

environment. Since it is a live meet, the teacher can provide immediate feedback to the

conversations being had in the breakout rooms. Additionally, Google Meet accomplishes

this goal because it allows the teacher to provide lessons to students while actively

interacting with them by asking questions or answering questions regarding peer

feedback, which increases the chance for student engagement.

- Classkick helps accomplish the learning goal to teach elementary students conversation

skills needed to provide and respond to peer feedback because I was able to provide

assignments with real life situations that students will likely encounter when working

with peers. Students are able to apply their knowledge from the Google Meet lessons

while receiving feedback from the teacher instantly or after completing the assignment.

Students are able to work at their own pace on Classkick while their work is being saved

automatically, which is one less aspect students need to stress about while completing this

module.

6. Justify how the e-learning module you created in part B addresses the instructional problem,

including three specific examples from your module for support.

- The e-learning module addresses the instructional problem, Solo Learners who are

currently able to work on their own will be taught skills on how to work in a group

setting instead of dominating and completing all the work themselves, in several ways.

The skills being taught through this module focus on ways to both appropriately and
 respectfully communicate with peers such as taking turns speaking, asking questions,

providing feedback, and responding to feedback. Knowing how to apply all of these skills

will address the problem of one learning dominating an assignment and sharing the

work-load with their peers.

Research Methodology Method

- My study will be quantitative. This choice is based on the fact that 2 of the formative

assessments and the summative assessment are multiple choice with set correct answers.

The other formative assessment is observation based, but it uses observational protocol.

The type of information needed to address the research questions for this study is the

ability in which a second grade student can respond to constructive feedback. This will be

measured by their ability to correctly answer situational questions with right and wrong

answers. It will also be measured by the amount of times they speak in breakout rooms as

well as the quality of their responses. After completing the module, students will answer

a survey responding to their comfortability level responding to constructive feedback on a

1-4 scale, with 1 being uncomfortable and 4 being confident.

Participants/Stakeholders

- Potential participants will be 21 second grade students, about 7-8 years of age. The

demographics include 12 females and 11 males, with the ethnicities caucasian and african

american. These participants will be selected based on the fact that they are currently in

my classroom and I have access to their learning experiences. This is purposeful

sampling due to the fact that my students are available in my instructional setting. The

study setting in an in-person second grade general education classroom with the content

area being SEL. One possible stakeholder involved in this research project is the parents
 of the students in this study. The parents of the students have a legal right to know what

their child is involved in while at school to ensure that they are safe and being protected.

Another possible stakeholder is the principal of this school, who has the right to know

what is going on in the classrooms at the school.

Data Collection Instrument(s)

- This study uses three data collection instruments. The first research question is: How will

the e-learning module affect a second grader’s ability to respond to constructive

feedback? Assessments with multiple choice questions on Classkick are the instruments

used to collect quantitative numerical data for this research question. The student will be

given a situation in which they are given peer feedback and given multiple possible ways

to respond to this constructive feedback. There is only one correct answer that is an

appropriate and respectful response. This instrument aligns with the research question

because it will be given directly after the Google Meet to measure whether the students

have learned how to appropriately respond to constructive feedback.

- The second research question will study how the e-learning module impacts students'

comfort level in responding to constructive feedback. The instrument that will measure

this is an observational rubric to be used by the researcher while observing conversations

happening in a breakout room. Another data collection instrument used to measure this

question is a self-assessment survey given both before and after the conclusion of the

module where the student rates their comfortability responding to constructive peer

feedback. This will allow the researcher to evaluate the impact of the module.
Data Analysis Technique(s)

- Descriptive statistics is the kind of technique used when analyzing data in this study.

Formative and summative assessment scores, a rating scale survey, and an observational

rubric include quantitative numerical data that will be used to analyze the data after the

conclusion of the module. Students will be scored on their pre-assessment and

post-assessment to measure their comfort level in providing and responding to

constructive peer feedback. The survey consists of 4 questions. Each question includes 3

ways to answer regarding how the student feels about the situation. The directions are to

read the questions about how they feel when working with other classmates. Smiley face:

they feel good about it. Straight face: they feel okay about it, not good or bad. Frowny

face: they feel bad about it. If student answers change from the pre-assessment survey to

the post from either frowny face or straight face to smiley face, it will be clear that the

module had some positive impact on providing or responding to peer feedback. If student

answers remain the same or go down from a smiley face to a straight face or frowny face,

the module did not have a positive impact on the student.

Expected Timeline

- The expected timeline for this module is over the course of 3 days, with about 30 minutes

of student engagement per day. The start date will ideally be Tuesday, Apr 23, 2024 and

conclude data collection on Thursday, Apr 25, 2024 .

Data Security and Confidentiality

- Data will be kept safe in a password locked computer for a maximum of 3 years after the

conclusion. Confidentiality will be maintained by not showing the faces or names of the

students involved in the study. The names will either be randomly assigned or names
 such as “Student A, Student B” etc. All participants and assigned numbers will also be

locked in a password safe computer where no one else will be able to access aside from

the researcher.

Conclusion

- In conclusion, the key methodical elements of this study include quantitative data that

will be collected and analyzed after the conclusion of the module. The data that will be

collected will be numerical, and the data instruments used for collecting data will be

multiple choice assessments, an observational rubric, and a self-assessment survey. The

data from the multiple choice assessment will be analyzed by comparing the number of

correct answers to the total number of possible correct answers. The observational rubric

data will be analyzed by searching for appropriate key phrases and terms used in

respectful collaborative conversations used by the participants after being taught. Finally,

the self-assessment will be analyzed by the number scale that measures the degree to

which participants feel comfortable responding to constructive peer feedback at the

conclusion of the module.

 Chapter 4: Results

Summary of Research

1. Write the “Summary of Research” section by summarizing your Design-Based Research

(DBR) study, including the following previously approved information from Chapters 1 and 3:
• instructional topic
- The instructional topic was guided by conversation skills and the ability to provide
and receive peer feedback related to writing and social skills. This relates back to the
instructional problem which states that solo Learners who are currently able to work
on their own will be taught skills on how to work in a group setting instead of
dominating and completing all the work themselves. The researcher collected both
quantitative and qualitative data. The results of the pre-and post-tests showed that
the e-learning module made a positive impact on students’ peer feedback skills. The
instructional setting is a virtual classroom of 2nd grade students.
• research topic
- The research topic is that second grade students don’t know how to comfortably
respond to constructive feedback effectively with their peers while collaborating. As a
result, due to this lack of knowledge, they don’t feel comfortable participating in group
discussions.
• participants of e-learning intervention and how they were involved with the intervention
- The participants of the e-learning intervention were a group of 21 second grade
students part of the research’s class. They were involved in the intervention because
they participated in lessons in the e-learning module, took the assessments, and
completed a pre and post survey.
• other stakeholders and their roles during the intervention
- Stakeholders involved in the intervention include the principal of the school. Her role
in the intervention was to validate the lesson and the data after it was collected. The
role of the parents in this intervention was to understand the module and approve
that their child participate in the research.
• how the data were collected
- The data was collected using quantitative data. Data was collected from the pre and
post surveys, 2 formative assessments, and the summative assessment. One
formative assessment was observation based, and used observational protocol. The
pre and post surveys showed data exhibiting students’ comfortability level
responding to constructive feedback on a 1-4 scale, with 1 being uncomfortable and
4 being confident. Students that changed their answers to be more comfortable
 proved that the module made a positive impact, but if their answers stayed the same
or showed they became less comfortable, it showed the module either made no
impact or made a negative one. Data was also collected from the multiple question
assessments depending on how many questions were correct out of the total.

Summary of Results

2. Write the “Summary of Results” section by analyzing the data collected through the

implementation in Task 1 and reporting your results by doing the following:

a. Provide a detailed description of the data.

- The data was considered a quantitative study: the process of collecting and analyzing

numerical data. The data collected instruments include: assessments on Classkick with

multiple choice questions, breakout room rubric, and pre and post self-assessment

surveys. This data was gathered after all students have completed it, between April 9-11.

b. Present a visual representation of the data.

Module 1 Classkick Formative Assessment Scores: (figure 1)

0/3 1/3 2/3 3/3

Student Number 24, 10, 19 3, 13 5, 25, 23, 18, 11 4, 21, 14, 16, 1, 7,
8, 26, 12, 20, 17

Data (3/21 students) (2/21 students) (5/21 students) (11/21 students)

Breakout Room data: (figure 2)

Skills 3 - Meets 2 - Progressing 1 - Beginning
Expectations

Contribution Student contributed Student contributed Student contributed

to the conversation to the conversation to the conversation
at least 3 separate at least 2 separate 1 or less separate
times times times

Ability to Actively listened to Participated in one Participated in

Communicate others while also of the following neither of the
providing effective aspects: listening to following aspects:
feedback to group others or providing listening to others
 members effective feedback or providing
to group members effective feedback
to group members

Student Numbers 2, 3, 4, 14, 16, 23 1, 5, 7, 8, 13, 19, 10, 18, 24, 12, 17
21, 25, 11, 20

Data 6/21 students 10/21 students 5/21 students

Module 2 Classkick Formative Assessment scores: (figure 3)

0/1 1/1

Student 13, 10, 19, 18 3, 2, 4, 21, 5, 14, 24, 16, 25, 1, 7, 8, 23,
Number 11, 12, 17, 20

Data 4/21 students 17/21 students

*3 out of 4 are ESL

Module 3: Final Summative Assessment Scores (figure 4)

Answers 0/5 correct ⅕ correct ⅖ correct ⅗ correct ⅘ correct 5/5 correct
correct

Student 18 10 16, 25, 11 13, 19, 17 20 3, 2, 4, 21, 5,

Number 14, 24, 1, 7,
8, 26, 12

Data 1/21 students 1/21 3/21 3/21 1/21 12/21

students students students students students

Pre-Survey About Comfortability Working in Groups and Peer Feedback:

(figure 5)
Smileys 0/4 Does not feel 1/4 Mostly 2/4 Feels 3/4 Feels 4/4 Feels very
on survey comfortable at all does not feel somewhat pretty comfortable
comfortable comfortable comfortable

Student 10, 24, 2, 22 5, 4, 11 23, 20 3, 18, 12, 26, 13, 16, 25, 8,
Number 7, 14 17, 21

(4 people) (3 people) (2 people) (6 people) (6 people)

 Post-Survey About Comfortability Working in Groups and Peer Feedback:
(figure 6)
Smileys 0/4 Does not feel 1/4 Mostly 2/4 Feels 3/4 Feels 4/4 Feels very
on survey comfortable at all does not feel somewhat pretty comfortable
comfortable comfortable comfortable

Student 3, 10, 23, 12, 1, 26, 20, 8

Number 2, 18, 19, 24 13, 5, 16, 7,
14, 4, 21, 11,
17

(0 people) (0 people) (0 people) (8 people) (13 people)

c. Explain your interpretation of the data analysis based on the research methodology from

Chapter 3.

- Analysis of the quantitative data from the pre-and post-test demonstrated improved

student scores between the pre-and post-assessments. The average test scores changed

from 57.5% on the pretest to 90.2% on the posttest. The median scores also increased

from 3 to 4. Analysis of the self-assessment surveys showed that participants’

comfortability about working in groups and giving and receiving peer feedback changed

between the beginning and the end of the study. The first survey question asked about the

positive impact of e-learning modules on students’ comfortability providing and

receiving peer feedback in a group setting. The average score was 3 on the pre-survey,

meaning that the majority of study participants felt neither comfortable or uncomfortable.

The average score for this question on the post-survey went up to 4. That implies that

study participants felt more comfortable after completing the modules (Figure 6).

d. Explain how you recognized and minimized bias in the analysis of data about learners.
 - I recognized and minimized bias in the analysis of data about learners by making sure

that all learners’ answers were considered in the study. If a student didn’t complete any of

the work on time, I would make sure that they were caught up before moving forward to

ensure they had the same learning experience as all other participants.

Proposed Iteration(s) of E-Learning Solution

a. Evaluate the effects of the e-learning solution on the instructional problem or the research

topic from Chapter 1.

- The research that guided the study is: “Second grade students don’t know how to

comfortably respond to constructive feedback effectively with their peers while

collaborating. As a result, due to this lack of knowledge, they don’t feel comfortable

participating in group discussions. The outcomes of the e-learning module impacted the

research problem in a positive way based on the responses they gave in the post-survey.

The average score for the post-survey involving questions regarding the students’

comfort level providing and receiving feedback went from a 3 out of 5 to a 4 out of 5,

meaning that the overall student population felt more comfortable with this task

following the modules.

b. Describe how you would redesign and enhance the fully-functioning e-learning module based

on the results discussed in part B2.

- The post-survey questions results displayed that students still did not feel very

comfortable providing peers with feedback. Because of this, I would redesign this module

by putting more emphasis on teaching students to provide feedback to their peers. The 3

modules included in the e-learning modules were all given the same amount of time and

effort. Module 1, providing peer feedback, was the main thing students were still
 uncomfortable with by the conclusion of the module. I would redesign research

methodology by changing the order of the modules so that the topic of providing

feedback to peers comes second or last, after students were already taught conversation

skills. Then, I would allow more time for this specific topic since it was more difficult for

students to understand and feel comfortable with.

c. Describe the appropriate research methodology for the new design.

- The appropriate research methodology for the new design will not change. The data

collection instruments remain the same, the pre-survey and post-surveys to rate students’

comfortability. The new design only aims to change the quality of the instruction.

d. Discuss how making refinement(s) to the data collection tools prior to future iterations would

enhance the representativeness and trustworthiness of your data.

- Making refinements to the data collection tools would enhance the representation of the

data because it would allow students to have more time practice with providing peer

feedback to each other. After doing it a few times, students should feel more confident

doing it in the future, therefore impacting and hopefully improving the data regarding

their comfortability providing feedback to their peers.

e. Justify the proposed redesign and enhancement from part B3b with additional feedback from

stakeholders and additional research.

- The proposed redesign is justified through feedback from stakeholders based on the

conversation I had with the principal of the school following the e-learning experience.

She informed me that it was a good idea to start the module by teaching conversation

skills because it was more basic, and then building up to a more complicated skill, which
would be about using conversation skills to respectfully provide constructive feedback to

peers. This idea is also supported by Science Lessons that Rock when it states, “Teaching

students to give effective feedback is hard and takes a lot of student practice. And then

more practice. If you are using project based learning in your classroom, peer feedback is

a vital part of the process” (Fanucci 2019). This emphasizes the importance of providing

plenty of time to students to get used to providing feedback to each other in order for

them to become comfortable with doing it.

 References

Fanucci, R. (2019, June 5). Teaching Students To Give Effective Peer Feedback. Science Lessons

That Rock. https://sciencelessonsthatrock.com/teaching-students-to-give-effective-

peer-feedback-html/

‌
 Chapter 5: Discussion

Conclusion(s) Based on Results

a. Discuss the conclusion(s) you drew based on the results of your DBR study and the data
analysis you completed.

- The conclusion I drew based on my results of the DBR study and data analysis is that the
module was successful. The average score was 3 on the pre-survey, meaning that the
majority of study participants felt neither comfortable or uncomfortable. The average
score for this question on the post-survey went up to 4. Additionally, the test scores
changed from 57.5% on the pretest to 90.2% on the posttest.That implies that study
participants felt more comfortable after completing the modules.

b. Discuss the importance of your findings in relation to the instructional setting identified in
Chapter 3 and from your research topic and research questions from Chapter 1.

- The study setting in an in-person second grade general education classroom with the
content area being SEL. The importance of my findings in relation to the instructional
setting because the module positively impacted my students’ ability and confidence
working in group setting and responding to peer feedback.

Limitations

a. Discuss the encountered limitation(s) you experienced during the data collection and analysis
that could impact the effectiveness of the fully-functioning e-learning module.

- Some data limitations I experience during the data collection that could impact the
effectiveness of the e-learning module is that not all students were present on the same
days. There were some students that had to be taught the material a day late, and in a
quicker, condensed session. This may not have been as impactful as the lesson on the
previous day, therefore resulting in data limitations.

Implications of Research on Educational Practice

a. Describe the design principles you generated that are the result of the final interpretation of
the data.
 - The design principles I generated that are the result of the final interpretation of the data
include:
1. Inform learners of the objective.
- At the beginning of the module, I explained that the learners will be learning how to
provide and receive feedback from peers.
2. Stimulate recall of former learning
- On the second and third day of the experience, I asked learners what they remembered
about the topic from the previous days.
3. Present the Content
- I taught the new content for the day that builds off of learners; prior knowledge.
4. Provide Guidance
- During group work and assignments, I provided guidance to learners by clarifying any
questions they had about the content.
5. Elicit Performance
- Students completed a formative assessment at the conclusion of each lesson.
6. Give Feedback
- I provided feedback to learners while they were discussing in groups, as well as gave
feedback on their performance on Classkick.
7. Evaluate performance
- I graded each assessment, observation survey, and self-assessment surveys to see how
each student performed.
8. Improve retention
- At the conclusion of the experience, learners were encouraged to recall all of the aspects
of the modules that hey thought went well, and things they could improve for next time.
After they reflected on this, they completed the post-survey.

b. Discuss the possible implications of your DBR study and its applications for learning design
and further research.

- This DBR found that the implementation of the E-learning module led to the
improvement in student collaboration skills, conversations skills, and ability to provide
and receive feedback from peers.The implications: These results suggest that elementary
school teachers can use an e-learning approach to teach peer feedback and conversation
skills, as it positively impacts collaboration skills.
 References

Powell, B., Eckard, R. D., Kearny, M. A., & Kramsch, C. J. (1981). Teaching Conversation Skills in ESL.

The Modern Language Journal, 66(4), 448. https://doi.org/10.2307/327495

Elias, M. J. (2022). Teaching students how to have meaningful conversations. Edutopia.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-students-how-have-meaningful-conversations/

Fanucci, R. (2019, June 5). Teaching Students To Give Effective Peer Feedback. Science Lessons That

Rock. https://sciencelessonsthatrock.com/teaching-students-to-give-effective-

peer-feedback-html/

Bruno, C. (2015). EMPATICO skills: Spotlight on respectful communication activities. Empatico.

https://empatico.org/empatico-skills-spotlight-on-respectful-communication-activities/

Mark B. Whitehill, Michel Hersen, Alan S. Bellack. (1980).Conversation skills training for socially isolated

children, Behaviour Research and Therapy, Volume 18, Issue 3, 217-225

Petrie, P. (2011). Communications Skills for Working with Children and Young People (3rd ed.). Jessica

Kingsley Publishers.

Taylor, A. (2011). Top 10 reasons students dislike working in small groups … and why I do it anyway.

Biochem. Mol. Biol. Educ., 39: 219-220.

Hamid, Y., & Mahmood, S. (2010). Understanding constructive feedback: a commitment between

teachers and students for academic and professional development. J Pak Med Assoc, 60(3),

224-7.

Topping, K. (2017). Peer Assessment: Learning by Judging and Discussing the Work of Other Learners.

Interdisciplinary Education and Psychology, 1(1), 1-17. Article 7.

https://doi.org/10.31532/InterdiscipEducPsychol.1.1.007
Sparks, S. D. (2021, May 3). Children must be taught to collaborate, studies say. Education Week.

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/children-must-be-taught-to-collaborate-studies-say/2017/05

Tasos Hovardas, Olia E. Tsivitanidou, Zacharias C. Zacharia (2014). Peer versus expert feedback: An

investigation of the quality of peer feedback among secondary school students, Computers &

Education, Volume 71, 2014, Pages 133-152, ISSN 0360-1315

Annie Cushing, Stephen Abbott, Doug Lothian, Angela Hall & Olwyn M. R. Westwood (2011) Peer

feedback as an aid to learning – What do we want? Feedback. When do we want it? Now!,

Medical Teacher, 33:2, e105-e112, DOI: 10.3109/0142159X.2011.542522

Wong, F. M. F., Kan, C. W. Y., & Chow, S. K. Y. (2022). From resistance to acceptance in small group

work: Students' narratives. Nurse Education Today, 3, 105317.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2022.105317

Sackstein, S. (2017). Peer Feedback in the Classroom: Empowering Students to Be the Experts. United

States: ASCD.

Sarah Gielen, Elien Peeters, Filip Dochy, Patrick Onghena, Katrien Struyven (2010). Improving the

effectiveness of peer feedback for learning, Learning and Instruction, Volume 20, Issue 4, Pages

304-315, ISSN 0959-4752

Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1997). Social skills for successful group work. MAA notes, 201-204.
 Appendix A

In this e-learning module, students will use the LMS Google Classroom to access all the

materials needed. The solution will contain 3 lessons total. The first lesson is called: Providing

Peer Feedback, where students will learn strategies on how to provide feedback to a peer

constructively and respectfully. Following the meeting,students complete a formative assessment

where they demonstrate their ability to both provide feedback and respond to constructive

feedback. Lesson 2 will involve students learning skills involving conversation skills and

responding to constructive feedback (listening, taking turns speaking, asking questions, etc.).

After the meeting, students will be split into breakout rooms to practice some of these

conversation skills with one another. After this, students will complete another formative

assessment on Classkick with multiple choice questions on what they learned. Module 3 will

focus on students completing the final summative assessment which will be a text-to-speech

assessment in which students apply their knowledge by responding to constructive feedback.

 Appendix B

Include all data collection instruments, such as assessments, surveys, questionnaires,

observation checklists, interview questions, etc.

Appendix C