Teachers and Students as Co-Researchers

The first cohort of the Project-based Research class's hard work and dedication have paid off. Their research on how COVID-19 affected RSM fourth-grade students’ homework performance has just been published in the Journal for Teacher Action Research (JTAR)!

This study compares the performance of RSM's fourth-grade students from in-person classes in 2019-2020 against their counterparts who studied online in 2020-2021. Click here to view the results of this study. 

How did this project benefit RSM students? 

We initiated a group of teacher-researchers to answer questions about student learning, teaching, and classroom environment in 2021. This project was later expanded to include high school students. 

As students begin with RSM in elementary school, they advance in math very quickly and finish calc in tenth or eleventh grade, which gives them time to explore. Their high school research experience is an excellent way to enhance their college admissions applications while still in high school.

Students are engaged in project-based research with teachers at school where RSM teachers developed a curriculum for. Our first cohort of student co-researchers published research results in the Journal for Teacher Action Research (JTAR).

Findings and Future Research

Following the research, it was found that students who attended in-person classes had higher homework scores and spent less time on assignments. Also, it has been reported that some students and parents enjoyed online classes. The main reason for this is that it saves time: there is no need to commute to a physical location.

However, our research confirmed what our experience as teachers already showed - younger children tend to do better in regular classes. As follows, RSM will continue to recommend in-person education whenever this option is possible.

Moving on, we will continue our future research to explore why in-person learning works better and how we can enhance online teaching to mirror in-person learning. Considering online learning environment may not impact older children in the same manner, further research should be conducted for older grades.

Authors: Oksana Ilina, Sona Antonyan, Anna Mirny, Olga Lepsky, Jenya Brodskaia, Mihir Balsara, Kian Keyhan, Alexander Mylnikov, Adam Quackenbush, Jordyn Tarlie, Aleksandra Tyutyunik, Rohan Venkatesh, Larry Ludlow

To find more information about our curriculum and approach, please schedule a free 30-minute evaluation with the Principal in your area.