In-school survey

[James Comey]

If anyone bothers reading, the download link is here:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/983h6h...Survey.doc

Of course, I may as well bridge this topic with the discussion on G+:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/...7443107328

[xcriteria]

This really is an interesting document to check out. I wrote a bunch on the G+ thread, but... what do you all think? Anyone else up for surveying fellow students?

[xcriteria]

Of note, roughly half of the respondents said "No," they didn't like school.

My next question there is, why not? And, likewise, what, if anything, did any of them like about school?

For example, it's rather common for people to like school "because I can see my friends." That's not exactly a vote of confidence in school itself, but more about being in a shared space with their friends. (You could also manage that at a bookstore, cafe, park, or somebody's house.)

Likewise, some people like school because of their sense of achievement, because they see it as a step toward their future, and so on. But, identifying why could be a useful next step.

It's also sometimes the case that school provides a better environment than people's home life, for one reason or another. That's a factor to explore.

It would also be interesting to ask people about their knowledge and thoughts about ways to learn beyond school-as-usual (a.k.a., the factory model, though many people may not be familiar with that term.) For example, have they heard of MOOCs? Have they ever learned things online?

Another question to ask is about their plans for college and career... and how much they've come up with that on their own, vs. being guided by parents or others.

I'm not sure what the best way is to go about asking a bunch of those questions... or interviewing/surveying larger numbers of students. But, it would be fascinating to see some of the results.

[xcriteria]

Another approach to try is what's called a longitudinal study, which means following people over time.

This could even be done retroactively, by asking things like what they thought of elementary or middle school.

What people think of particular classes, subjects, and teachers is another question to explore. It seems common that virtually everyone has some teachers and subjects they more or less like, or tolerate, and others they can't stand, or at least dislike.

Another question, which could be asked pretty simply, is, "what, if anything, are you interested in learning that isn't covered in school?"

And... so much more to consider, but any ideas about how to go about asking some of those questions?

And, perhaps, how to find a way to ask a bigger set of people... perhaps over multiple days.

But, this is a fantastic start; Roughy half of students are unhappy with school. Definitely something to explore, given that a lot of people are interested in how to increase student engagement. Maybe a pretty substantial transformation of how school works is the only way...