This blogpost was written by Natasha Guy. Natasha is a research assistant in the Centre for Early Mathematics Learning at Loughborough University. She is a former primary school teacher and SENDCO, working in schools across Manchester, Salford and Nottingham. Natasha is interested in mathematics research that holds practical relevance in the primary classroom. She has been involved in projects aiming to understand children’s learning of multiplication facts as well as the barriers to teacher engagement with research. Currently, Natasha is involved with projects exploring the early mathematical skills causally related to mathematics learning. There is a link to read more about Natasha’s work at the end of this blogpost. Blogpost edited by Dr Bethany Woollacott.

In this blogpost, Natasha reflects on her experiences of collecting data for a research project investigating multiplication tables (project website linked at the end of this blogpost), identifying five easy-to-adopt strategies for successful data collection with young children.

Introduction

There were big smiles on the children’s faces. Some whispered, “Yes!” while pumping their fist. I admit this was an unexpected reaction to four researchers walking into a Year 3 classroom laden with iPads ready for the next round of multiplication practice, but we were delighted! We had met the children twice before. On the first occasion, we asked them to complete several paper and pencil tasks – all maths-related. The second time, we introduced them to the iPads and our new ‘game’ – Treasure Chest Tables. Over two weeks, the children played this game six times to help us understand their multiplication practice. Would their enthusiasm last? Thankfully, yes (on the whole!). An even greater surprise was when one of our participating schools presented us with a thank-you card from the staff and children. Not only had the children enjoyed participating, but teachers had too. How did we achieve this? This blogpost outlines five recommendations for successful school-based data collection.

1. Make it relevant in the classroom

Schools are required to cover a lot of content to meet curriculum demands. We wanted to ensure that the schools we worked with could clearly see how our study would support that. Our research aim was to understand more about children’s practice of multiplication. Currently, teachers in Years 3 and 4 spend time preparing children for the Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) – a statutory assessment of multiplication recall taken towards the end of Year 4. We made sure we had a clear understanding of the maths curriculum for this age group and developed our study with this in mind. We consulted with lower Key Stage 2 teachers on how children practice multiplication in the classroom, researched apps that support multiplication practice, and gathered teacher feedback during task development. By the time we were ready to recruit our partner schools, we were clear on the purpose of the study from both a research and practice perspective and could confidently relay this.

2. Keep the kids happy

The great (and terrifying) thing about children is they quickly tell you if something isn’t working for them. Our study included a pre-test, a two-week intervention period, and a post-test session. In developing these tasks, understanding the variability in 7–8 year-olds’ maths skills was vital. We were able to include the right mix of easier and more challenging items allowing children to successfully engage with the tasks, while giving us the variance we needed. Language was important too. One task included word-based multiplication problems. The wording for these was carefully matched to that commonly used in the classroom ensuring the data reflected children’s true mathematical ability.

We also developed a gamified app for the intervention phase. Again, we took great care in making this engaging for the children. We carefully considered the difficulty of the maths content (including different levels appropriate for different abilities), the aesthetic of the app, and the inclusion of a reward system. Combined, we created something that most children were excited to play for the duration of the intervention. This made the whole experience of data collection pleasurable for everyone.

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“Combined, we created something that most children were excited to play for the duration of the intervention. This made the whole experience of data collection pleasurable for everyone.“

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3. Be realistic about time commitments

Schools are busy places, and a good understanding of how they operate is important. Before rushing into schools for data collection, we needed to know, for example, what time demands were realistic for schools without compromising the robust quality of the research project. We gave careful consideration to developing testing sessions that (i) fit easily into a class timetable, (ii) were long enough to capture the data we needed, and (iii) were age appropriate in length to ensure children’s attention was sustained. It was also important to allow time within the data collection schedule for flexibility and unexpected surprises. Things crop up in schools all the time that require plans to be altered. The wriggle room we planned into our testing schedule meant that when the inevitable requests came through from schools to change times and dates of sessions, we were able to accommodate that without compromising the project in any way.

4. Be clear on classroom management

Whole class testing is an efficient method of data collection. Provided children are mature enough to work through tasks independently, 20-30 good quality data points can be gathered in one session. However, despite its efficiency, it is not without risk. If something goes awry during a testing session, making up that session is much more complicated. When working with 30 children simultaneously, effective classroom management is vital. This was where my experience as a primary school teacher really came to the fore, enabling me to dust-off my classroom management skills and highlighting the value of having individuals with practical teaching experience within a research team. Throughout each session, children were focused, engaged and clear on what was expected of them. Because of this, sessions ran smoothly, staff and children enjoyed them, and high-quality data was gathered.

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“Throughout each session, children were focused, engaged and clear on what was expected of them. Because of this, sessions ran smoothly, staff and children enjoyed them, and high-quality data was gathered.“

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Clearly it is not realistic for all research teams to include an experienced teacher and therefore classroom management may not be within the skill set of the team. Fortunately, it is within the skill set of school-based staff. If they are clear on what each session will look like, teachers will likely be willing and able to support where needed. Ensuring both school and research staff know what is expected throughout the project greatly reduces the chances of things going wrong; something which is in everyone’s interest!

5. Take schools on the journey with you

The effort we put into creating a practical and relevant project was worth it. Children were engaged throughout, and staff gave positive feedback. However, we wanted schools to continue benefiting from the project after data collection. For us, this meant providing meaningful feedback as soon as we could. The nature of research often involves long periods of time between data collection and any outputs or publications. This is not helpful to schools that need feedback sooner for it to be useful – children progress in their learning very quickly. We therefore analysed children’s maths-based data from the pre and post-test sessions and produced reports for each school highlighting general areas of learning that classes were secure with or needed more work on.

Ethical consideration does need to be given to the types of information that is shared. We were careful to only provide similar information to that teachers would already be gathering on the children, and details of this were carefully relayed to parents during the consent process. We were hopeful this information could be used to supplement ongoing teacher assessments and support future teaching and learning. We are now analysing our data and considering how to share our findings. We will continue to update partner schools on our outputs. Additionally, we are considering the best places for dissemination, for example, practitioner-facing journals and conferences attended by educators. We want to ensure our key messages reach those who can improve children’s multiplication fact learning.

Summary

Asking schools to commit to a research project is no small thing. However, considering the relevance of the study, creating engaging tasks, being prepared for shifts in timelines and classroom behaviour, and creating and maintaining positive communication with partner schools are five things that can support a successful school-based project.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the schools, teachers and children for their participation and enthusiasm throughout the project that I discussed in this blogpost. I would also like to thank the principal investigators on this project, Professors Camilla Gilmore and Lucy Cragg, for their support and encouragement.