I wonder if anyone has any experience of using Moodle surveys, particularly COLLES, with younger students, eg under 11 years old?
I'd like to use the built in surveys towards the beginning of a pilot study of Moodle with year 5 and year 6 pupils, but I'm worried that some of the language may be a little sophisticated, and the whole area of 'professional relevance' seems, err, irrelevant.
Has anyone attempted to reword the questions whilst staying true to their spirit? Has anyone used the surveys as is with pupils this age? Am I worrying unnecessarily?
Thanks in anticipation,
Miles.
At one point, I located the file where the questions where coded. I have since forgotten where that was but will go on another hunt; unless someone here could redirect us to it.
I work with a rather large age-range of learners, including some under 20 years-olds who are still at the McJob phase rather than particpating in professional practices. I would like to reword such statements as 'professional relevance' to something along the lines of "I find what I am learning in class is relevant to my life outside of this course." Okay, it's a bit wordy but you get the idea. 
David, have you looked at the questionaire module? You can build custom surveys with that and not have to code...
Thanks for the tip and your help Amy. Yes the questionnaire module is a great tool! I have been using phpESP that the questionnaire module is based upon for about a year now.
Why I would like to use Moodle's built-in survey tools is that they provide extra analysis functions for interpretation and visualization of data. While I could design similar surveys to these using the Questionnaire module, graphing and visualizing the data is cumbersome.
See the survey.php file in your lang folder to change the wording.
Thank you very much Chardelle. I was able to reword the survey to make it more relevant to my learners.
Question to Martin (and Bryan?) as scientific researcher and (co?)author of the tool:
Make these changes, David made, a "recalibration" of the survey necessary for that age-group? guidelines?
I am also interested in age groups 10-12 and 12-18
Other (may be important) point is that the survey doesn't allow unanswered multichoice questions. So there is no place for the "doesn't know / doesn't answer" and the taker is forced to answer anything and so to distort results.
Another related matter is whether every question is completely understood. I'm afraid it is not and in some cases even for grown-ups unless they are specialists.
what children know about: ?
I would appreciate if unanswered questions were allowed
Another related matter is whether every question is completely understood. I'm afraid it is not and in some cases even for grown-ups unless they are specialists.
what children know about: ?
-their profesional practice
-to think critically
-to model critical self-reflection
-to think critically
-to model critical self-reflection
I would appreciate if unanswered questions were allowed
Many thanks for the above. I've had a go at rewriting COLLES in a more child friendly way, whilst still aiming to stay true to the spirit of the original questions. I'd welcome any comments on this. Having glanced at the PHP code, it looks as though it would be possible to add this as an alternative survey, but I think I might just go for a rough and ready hack for my own use as a pilot. Some of the relevance questions are taken from the Student version of the Construvtivist Learning Environment Survey.
Word says these changes reduce the Fleisch Kincaid reading grade from 5.4 to 4.0.
|
COLLES |
Child friendly COLLES |
|
My learning focuses on issues that interest me |
I have found the work interesting |
|
What I learn is important for my professional practice |
My new learning starts with problems about the world outside school |
|
I learn how to improve my professional practice |
I get a better understanding of the world outside school |
|
What I learn connects well with my professional practice. |
I learn how what I study can be part of my out-of-school life. |
|
I think critically about how I learn |
I learn how to learn |
|
I think critically about my own ideas |
I think through my own ideas |
|
I think critically about other students ideas |
I think about what other pupils say |
|
I think critically about ideas in the units |
I really try to understand the things were taught. |
|
I explain my ideas to other students |
I explain my ideas to other pupils |
|
I ask other students to explain their ideas |
I ask other pupils to explain their ideas |
|
Other students ask me to explain my ideas |
Other pupils ask me to explain my ideas |
|
Other students respond to my ideas |
Other pupils respond to my ideas |
|
The tutor stimulates my thinking |
The teacher makes me think |
|
The tutor encourages me to participate |
The teacher gets me to join in |
|
The tutor models good discourse |
The teacher shows me how to discuss ideas |
|
The tutor models good self-reflection |
The teacher shows me how to think things through for myself |
|
Other students encourage my participation |
The other pupils encourage me to join in |
|
Other students praise my contribution |
The other pupils say nice things about what I say |
|
Other students value my contribution |
What I say helps the other pupils to learn |
|
Other students empathise with my struggle to learn |
The other pupils help me when Im challenged. |
|
I make good sense of other students messages |
I make good sense of what other pupils say |
|
Other students make good sense of my messages |
Other pupils make good sense of what I say |
|
I make good sense of the tutors messages |
I make good sense of what the teacher says |
|
The tutor makes good sense of my messages |
The teacher makes good sense of what I say |
|
Do you have any other comments? |
Do you have any other comments? |
Word says these changes reduce the Fleisch Kincaid reading grade from 5.4 to 4.0.
Rookie question here: What is COLLES and/or where can I read more about it?
(I did a brief search on the forums and did not see any faq-related answers regarding COLLES.)
Thanks for any help,
-Matt
(I did a brief search on the forums and did not see any faq-related answers regarding COLLES.)
Thanks for any help,
-Matt
It's the Constructivist On-Line Learning Environment Survey.
Moodle includes it as standard in the survey module.
Its described fully at http://lsn.curtin.edu.au/tlf/tlf2000/taylor.html
Moodle includes it as standard in the survey module.
Its described fully at http://lsn.curtin.edu.au/tlf/tlf2000/taylor.html
Miles,
What do you think about relaxing the need to answer absolutely all questions?
When one is forced to answer everything (to be able to submit the survey) and doesn't know or doesn't understand some questions, one answers who-knows-what. The result of the survey is less clear or less precise. The case "doesn't know/doesn't answer" would help a lot.
What do you think about relaxing the need to answer absolutely all questions?
When one is forced to answer everything (to be able to submit the survey) and doesn't know or doesn't understand some questions, one answers who-knows-what. The result of the survey is less clear or less precise. The case "doesn't know/doesn't answer" would help a lot.
Having trialled my adjusted version with a class this morning, I'm inclined to agree with you - a number of them picked 'sometimes' because they weren't sure, didn't know etc., which I believe will give somewhat unrepresentative results.
I don't really know enough php to be able to tell what effect turning off the entry checking will have on the computations further down the line.
I'll look into this as and when!
My pilot suggests I may still need to do some work, especially on the relevance section. I was also surprised by how many didn't grasp 'learning to learn'.
Ah well.
I don't really know enough php to be able to tell what effect turning off the entry checking will have on the computations further down the line.
I'll look into this as and when!
My pilot suggests I may still need to do some work, especially on the relevance section. I was also surprised by how many didn't grasp 'learning to learn'.
Ah well.
Miles-I think your version of some of the questions might be good to use with adults as well. They are less jargon-y and little more friendly than the originals. I'm going to incorporate some of them into my own site, which is for adult learners. Thanks for these ideas!
Yes, and it is also good for ESL students for whom English is not their native language. They often need simpler language to accommodate their level of language development. I will look at trialling this with my learners too.
Very interesting discussion, thanks a lot Miles!
Very interesting discussion, thanks a lot Miles!
Thanks for the encouragement.
Following my own pilot, I've further simplified some of the wording, so we now use:
Which perhaps takes this version further from the original, especially in the area of professional relevance, but it seems easier than having to explain to a class what each statement means. It further reduces the Flesch Kincaid grade to 3.8 (FWIW).
If I were to look into modifying the php code properly, so as to inlcude these as an alternative to the existing COLLES, could these make it into future Moodle releases?
Following my own pilot, I've further simplified some of the wording, so we now use:
| Moodle standard COLLES | Child friendly version |
| My learning focuses on issues that interest me | I find the work interesting |
| What I learn is important for my professional practice | When we start a topic, we talk about things in the real world |
| I learn how to improve my professional practice | The things I learn help me to understand the world better |
| What I learn connects well with my professional practice. | I learn how the things Im taught will be useful for me when I leave school |
| I think critically about how I learn | I learn how to learn |
| I think critically about my own ideas | I think through my own ideas |
| I think critically about other students ideas | I think about what other pupils say |
| I think critically about ideas in the units | I really try to understand the things were taught. |
| I explain my ideas to other students | I explain my ideas to other pupils |
| I ask other students to explain their ideas | I ask other pupils to explain their ideas |
| Other students ask me to explain my ideas | Other pupils ask me to explain my ideas |
| Other students respond to my ideas | Other pupils respond to my ideas |
| The tutor stimulates my thinking | The teacher makes me think |
| The tutor encourages me to participate | The teacher gets me to join in |
| The tutor models good discourse | The teacher shows me how to discuss ideas |
| The tutor models good self-reflection | The teacher shows me how to think things through for myself |
| Other students encourage my participation | The other pupils encourage me to join in |
| Other students praise my contribution | The other pupils say nice things about what I say |
| Other students value my contribution | What I say helps the other pupils to learn |
| Other students empathise with my struggle to learn | The other pupils help me when Im stuck. |
| I make good sense of other students messages | I understand what other pupils say |
| Other students make good sense of my messages | Other pupils understand what I say |
| I make good sense of the tutors messages | I understand what the teacher says |
| The tutor makes good sense of my messages | The teacher understands what I say |
| Do you have any other comments? | Do you have any other comments? |
If I were to look into modifying the php code properly, so as to inlcude these as an alternative to the existing COLLES, could these make it into future Moodle releases?
This is really useful Miles. I may look into using this for the pilots I will be organising for some Hampshire schools.
Some of the relevance questions are taken from the Student version of the Construcvtivist Learning Environment Survey.
Miles, I wonder if you could answer a question for me. I didn't know of a student version of the COLLES. It's not integrated into Moodle, is it? Do you know where I could find out more about this version? (no reference in the url you posted above)
TIA, Tim.
Miles, I wonder if you could answer a question for me. I didn't know of a student version of the COLLES. It's not integrated into Moodle, is it? Do you know where I could find out more about this version?
(no reference in the url you posted above)TIA, Tim.
Two different things, Tim.
There is a Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) which is used fairly extensively in science education, including at schools. If you have a good library, I believe the references are
There is a Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) which is used fairly extensively in science education, including at schools. If you have a good library, I believe the references are
Taylor, P.C. & Fraser, B.J. (1991). Development of an instrument for assessingconstructivist learning environments. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research, 27(4), 293-302.
Taylor, P.C., Fraser, B.J. & Fisher, D.L. (1997). Monitoring constructivist Learning environments. International Journal of Science Education, 459, 414-419.
But googling "Constructivist Learning Environment Survey" should throw up lots of sites where it or something similar is used. I first came across it in a computer based version but have since lost the URL.
COLLES is the constructivist online learning environment survey, that forms part of Moodle, and is documented at http://lsn.curtin.edu.au/tlf/tlf2000/taylor.html
as above. It is, I believe, the same P Taylor in both cases, with whom Martin has also documented Moodle development, see eg
http://dougiamas.com/writing/edmedia2003/
I would not be surprised to learn that COLLES was developed out of CLES.
Timothy,
Whatever you find out, could youi pass it on to me as well.
See you at KOTESOL tomorrow.
Sean
Whatever you find out, could youi pass it on to me as well.
See you at KOTESOL tomorrow.
Sean