An Action Research Exploring Students' Learning Experiences And Dialogic Pedagogy

Abstract

The COVID 19 pandemic caused a sudden shift in schools and districts that led to this action research study. Teachers needed to evaluate and revise their pedagogical choices in order to generate an education system in hybrid settings should be supported by a supportive environment. There are two types of hybrid classrooms: face-to-face classes in which the students attend the class in person and online classrooms in which the students attend via videoconferencing. A hybrid learning model was not well understood by teachers and students, thus an effective instructional practice was needed to support student learning as a result of developing and implementing effective teaching methods. In this qualitative case study on action research. The learning process is examined through a combination of Bakhtin's dialogus, Vygotsky's social constructivism, and Deci and Ryan's self-determination theory. During the course of the study, three types of information sources were collected and analyzed: interviews of students, surveys of students, and teacher-researchers observations. Research results from this investigation suggest that developing a pedagogy based on dialogue in the classroom has a positive impact on the learning experience of the students by increasing their student motivation and their understanding of the content, compared with implementing a traditional method of teaching in the classroom. Through the use of purposeful questioning techniques and scaffolding within the lesson, the teacher was able to facilitate a productive discussion between the group members, cultivate a sense of collaboration within small groups, and restructure the power relationships within the classroom in order to facilitate effective dialogue.