Discovery VSG Presentation Script

Discovery VSG Presentation Script

KNA&KEA Conference: Odaiba, Japan

Slide 3 (first slide for Shirley)

Hello. My name is Shirley Dong and I am an Instructor with two centers in New York City.

(click) A couple of years ago, we all attended Professional Development trainings hosted by Mr. Yamabe and Mr. Miyake from Japan. These presentations really inspired us and we wanted to move forward!

(click) Soon after the meetings, we decided to form an “east coast” Voluntary Study Group, or VSG, that would meet once a month to discuss our excellent students. We each took turns videotaping our students and sharing our case studies. However, after about a year of learning, we decided we wanted to take our research up a notch.

(click) In 2007, we refined our focus.

(click): Our new strategy was to “Discover” how we could translate what we had been learning from our excellent students to all of our students.

(click): We also decided upon a new structure. We would now observe multiple students in our centers, over extended periods of time, in order to gather ongoing data on their performance as they progressed through the levels.

Slide 4

We set three primary goals for our research.

(click) The first of these was to discover how our advanced students in the D, E, and F levels approached their work and were able to learn from the worksheets independently. We chose these levels because we were inspired by Mrs. Wan Pen’s presentation at the Instructor’s conference in Toronto. We wanted to “discover” how the examples and exercises in these levels shift children from “completers” of worksheets to “learners” of worksheets.

(click) We also wanted to discover the similarities and differences of how our students approach these worksheets, because we believed it would help us to determine the “improvement points” for our more average students.

(click) Lastly, we hoped to discover our own preconceptions about student ability when it comes to lesson planning. We wanted to push our boundaries and preconceptions, to go a little bit outside our own comfort zones, so that we could open ourselves to the true potential of our students.

Slide 5

It was extremely important that we select the right students to study. To do this, we set forth the following guidelines.

1. (click) Monitor students should be able to work independently. This was very important, especially for our excellent students. We wanted to learn what practices our students used to learn from the worksheets so that these practices could then be shared with all of our students.
2. (click) They must be self motivated. They had to do their work willingly.
3. (click) All students had to be on the G by 5 track.
4. (click) All students had to be around D 151 at the start of the study so that we would have similar longitudinal data for all of our monitor students
5. (click) We chose students who tended to fall in the 10% range of students who sometimes advance outside of the SCT guidelines. We wanted to learn how these students had developed the learning skills to challenge themselves.
6. (click) Lastly, we wanted all students to be able to complete 5 worksheets per day.

Slide 6

We selected two types of monitor students.

(click) The first type was the truly “excellent” student. These students reached 2 years above grade level in only 2 years of Kumon study. These were our model, excellent students.

(click) The second type of monitor student was an average student who was studying 2 years above grade level. By studying these students in conjunction with our advanced students, we believe that we can put our average students on the right path to becoming not only advanced, but also excellent, independent learners!

Slide 7

To collect our data, we needed a series of guidelines. You see them here before you.

1. (click) First, we created a file for each student.
2. (click) It was very important for us to set up a study area for our monitor students near our desks. This allowed us to observe the students, provide feedback or guidance if needed, and to take careful notes on their progress without significantly disrupting the flow of our centers.
3. (click) We asked all monitor students to record the completion time for each worksheet. This enabled us to better understand student progress as they worked their way through a set.
4. (click) We kept all completed classwork and homework for reference.
5. (click) We recorded all information about the student’s performance in class during each center day. This included time, accuracy, work ethic, demeanor, specific challenges faced, etc. This was difficult to implement at first, but was very important for conducting analysis of our students later.
6. (click) Lastly, we met with each other to discuss our monitor students once per month. This opportunity to learn from one another, through our students, was absolutely vital to the development of our VSG. It was truly a wonderful experience to have this opportunity to learn from one another each month!

Slide 8

We also attempted to figure out what type of learning was occurring while the student was completing the worksheets. We determined that there are three basic categories that students fall into: (3 clicks) Independent, Support, and Repetition. Of course, students can be different kinds of learners with different concepts and sets. Through our research we wanted to see if our students could move from one learning category to the next.

I’d now like to explain the three categories.

Independent: (click) Student shows ability to learn from the examples without explicit teaching or instruction. The student may need to be reminded, occasionally, to refer to the examples when stuck, but can then solve independently. If there are mistakes, they are generally corrected independently. The student appears confident and motivated and is able to meet any challenges presented by the worksheet.

Support: (click) This student will generally require explanation or “teaching” of examples by an assistant or the Instructor in order to progress through the set. However, the student can apply concepts independently after being taught. The student may demonstrate a lack of confidence or require additional support or reassurance.

Repetition: (click) This student finds the material challenging and requires additional repetition of the worksheets to develop understanding of the material as well as confidence and comfort with it.

We found that our students could progress from one learning category to the next! Indeed, some of our “support” type students really became independent learners by the time they began attempting level F and G materials. We also saw some of our students who tended to need more repetition stretch their wings and make their way toward a more support style learning. This was truly exciting to see and we’re looking forward to sharing some case studies with you.

Slide 9

(click) Coming up next, we will share a few student case studies involving Excellent and Average students.

(click) Arti and Jay will share how some of their excellent and average students, working at roughly the same Kumon level and grade, were able to progress through the D, E, and F levels.

(click) With this kind of comparison, we have learned that our average students need not remain average! We also learned that knowing the traits of our excellent students can help us to determine points for improvement in our average students. Knowing our excellent students helps us to paint the full picture for the development of our average students.

Now, it’s my pleasure to introduce Arti Balakrishna!

Slide 10 (Start of Arti’s slides)

Good afternoon. My name is Arti Balakrishna and it is my pleasure to share with you all a part of our discovery as we studied our monitor students.

(click) We discovered that a student’s inherent ability is fully realized if it is matched with emotional maturity. (click) Perhaps, it is the combined effect of ability with emotional maturity that will allow an average advanced student, who needs support, to be transformed into an excellent, advanced and independent learner.

Slide 11

Among the monitor students selected at my center, I will talk to you about Dharmen and Corbin. Dharmen is an excellent, advanced and independent learner and Corbin was an average, advanced student who did well with support, mostly emotional support.

Slide 12

As I watched him learn and progress through the worksheets, I observed the characteristics Dharmen displayed which made him an independent and advanced learner. He was competitive and eager to meet a challenge, had the emotional and physical stamina to do work for long periods of time and did not let mistakes deter him.

Slide 13

Corbin, on the other hand, was a diffident, nervous and very cautious learner. He as afraid of making mistakes and did not enjoy new concepts. He did not have the stamina to work for extended periods of time.

Slide 14

Both Dharmen and Corbin are small built, shy and reticent young men. Dharmen is currently in the 3rd grade and attends public school. Corbin is just 2 months older than Dharmen but is in the 4th grade and homeschooled. Dharmen is the eldest of two children while Corbin is the youngest.

Slide 15

(click) Dharmen was selected for the study because he exhibited many traits of excellent students. He was a model student to learn from. (click) At first the number of pages and the number of problems seemed to be daunting for Dharmen but once he started to time his work page by page it seemed to become easier for him to deal with his work even if it was new material. (click) As he advanced through the level, timing each page and learning new material at his comfortable pace allowed Dharmen to progress quickly and comfortably and in step with his real potential.

Slide 16

The completion times for D151 to 200 for Dharmen and Corbin are not very different.

Slide 17

If we compare the errors for the same worksheets, the difference between the two students reveals their strengths and weaknesses.

Slide 18

Even though Corbin was a little out of the parameters we had set for our study, he was selected for the study because he showed characteristics of an advanced student who showed potential to become an independent and excellent student.

(click) When I started the study, Corbin had many meltdowns when he was given new material in class. Seeing 5 pages of new material unnerved him and he would break down crying. (click) He would insist on taking his work home to complete it. (click) He was comfortable when assigned repetition in class, but all new concepts had to be done at home as he felt nervous to do them in class.

Slide 19

I realized that the strategy used to develop Dharmen would be a good start for Corbin. (click) Like Dharmen, Corbin would time each page, even at home. (click) The work load was reduced to keep his confidence up. Corbin was also encouraged to get each page corrected before he moved on to the next one.

Slide 20

(click) Both Dharmen and Corbin were video taped doing E141 for the first time in class. (click) The difference was that Dharmen was informed on the day he was video taped while (click) Corbin was told about the taping in advance .

Slide 21 (Dharmen Video)

As you watch Dharmen do E141 for the first time (he had absolutely no prior introduction to multiplication of fractions) you can see his independent approach to learning. He keeps going back to the examples and reviewing the concept till he ultimately understands it. He is not discouraged by how long it is taking him.

Slide 22 (Corbin Video)

Let us observe Corbin on the video tape. He was informed ahead of time and as I video taped him doing E141, to my amazement, Corbin hesitated for only a brief moment at each example and very quickly understood the concept of multiplication of fractions.

On page E142a, he wanted to know why the numbers were crossed out. I asked him to look carefully at the example and notice how the fraction had changed after the numbers had being crossed out and he quickly figured out that they had been reduced – a concept he was first introduced to in level D. After that, he finished the entire page in 5 minutes. On page E143a, he was able to see that the same process was used in both directions and completed the page in 4 min.

After watching the video tape of Corbin doing E141, you can see the independent attitude that had surfaced by merely having him do his work at his own pace to suit his emotional strength. This gave him the chance to become more confident and allowed him to boldly approach new concepts and it will be interesting to see how smoothly he will progress through the rest of the study.

Slide 23

(click) I learned from my excellent students that in order to help them achieve their full potential the gradual introduction of new and advanced material can be crucial. (click) It allows the student to develop emotionally which in turn gives him the correct attitude to deal with a strong academic challenge. (click) This confidence grows over a period of time as Jay will show you all by her analysis of two such students from her center. Jay will go over details of how she observed these two students approach the actual problems as they learned from the worksheets.

(click) On a personal note, even if the process of being part of a very closely monitored VSG involves a lot of time and effort, it well worth every minute, as it gave me the unprecedented opportunity to learn from other excellent Instructors. That in turn help me broaden my approach to helping my students in reaching their full potential. This, however, is only the beginning. Jay……..

Slide 24 (Start of Jay’s slides)

Thank you Arti! Good afternoon everyone! My name is Jay Raghunath and I am an instructor from New York. I have been studying eight students so far. These students can be easily categorized as either excellent or average advanced students. Due to time constraint, today I would like to specifically compare and contrast two students with different learning curves. We would like for you to ponder as to when and how Kumon work sheets develop independent learning in average advanced students.

Slide 25

(click) John is an excellent advanced student who started his Kumon study on October, 2006 when he was in grade 2. He took a P2 placement test and started on level A. (click) Christine is an average advanced student who started her Kumon study in April, 2004 when she was in PK1. She took a K1 placement test and started on level 4A 31. Currently both students are on level G.

(click) John and Christine are exactly the same age and in the same grade.

(click) John is a confident student who is enthusiastic about his work, works independently, does not get frustrated with mistakes. He also has a tremendous capacity to do mental calculations and ability to work efficiently.

(click) Christine on the other hand is a bit nervous, needs more support with new concepts and needs more repetition to master work sheets. But she is very diligent, has the stamina to tackle work, and meticulous in writing out all the steps.

Slide 26

(click) In the next few minutes, I will share with you the progress of John and Christine through some of the challenging work sheets in levels D, E, and F. (click) These work sheets were chosen particularly because they are generally regarded as needing some support for most students. (click) Studying how they both handled some of the challenging steps when they did it for the first time sheds some light on their inherent ability, and the development of skills needed to study higher levels of Kumon work sheets independently. Both students have completed 5 pages per day through levels D, E, and F.

Slide 27

Graph 1: This first graph shows progress for both John (click) and Christine (click) .

John has progressed from level A through level F in 2 years and Christine has taken 4 ½ years to complete levels 4A through F.

Slide 28

Table 1:

Achievement test results:

Levels John Christine

4A70/70; 4/10; G1

3A57/60; 8/10; G2

2A78/80; 6/10; G2

A100/100; 9/10; G299/100; 10/10; G2

B75/80; 14/15; G278/80; 16/15; G2

C80/80; 12/15; G279/80; 12/15; G2

D68/70; 37/25; G259/70; 18/25; G3

E68/70; 25/25; G267/70; 25/25; G2 F 48/50; 29/25; G3 44/50; 30/25; G3

(click) Table 1 is the achievement test results for both students. They are surprisingly quite similar!

Slide 29

We studied the SCT vs. number of attempts for both the students for some key sets in levels D, E, and F. Both students repeated or moved on through worksheets when they felt ready to move on. They decided their repetition during feed back.

Graph 2: This graph shows SCTs against the number of attempts for Level D for both students. John is represented by dashed lines and Christine is represented by solid lines. Sets chosen to study were D151 and D181. The solid lines are Christine’s and the dotted lines are John’s. John starts off with over the Y time in his first attempt and drops down to X time by 2nd and 3rd attempt. Christine however seems to have a harder time bringing down her SCT closer to even Y time.