Action Research M AT 718

Adan Rodriguez

Problem Statem ent

Students and Soldiers have demonstrated a lack of 21st
Century Learning Skills and Strategies, especially when
working on complex problems through interdisciplinary
subjects.
Students have displayed a deficiency in critical thinking
and problem solving skills when facing pressure or
deadlines.
Due to immersion of technology in students daily lives
and in their education setting their communication and
collaboration skills with peers have diminished.

Baseline D ata

Newly integrated soldiers have scored low in the Armed Forces

Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) thus limiting their options
for a military occupational specialty (MOS). Soldiers are lacking
in learning skills and strategies of the 21st century. The most
evident skills that are lacking are critical thinking and problem
solving, communication, collaboration and creative thinking.
Currently data from the Education Trust shows that nearly a
quarter of all high school graduates can not pass the Armed
Forces entry exam to enter into the service. According to The
Education Trust 23 percent of test takers failed to obtain the
minimum score of 31 to enter the Army (has lowest entrance
score of all services).

Baseline D ata Cont.

Scores have been lower for
minority students compared to
their Anglo counterparts. This
coincides with academic
achievement of core subjects
in all levels of education. The
overall low scores is a cause for
concern for senior leaders.
They feel the pool of applicants
will become to small to support
the militarys need of young
men and women to fight and
win Americas wars.

Mean AFQT Score by Race/Ethnicity for Applicants

60

55

50
40

44
39

30
20
10
0

African American

White

Hispanic

Mean AFQT Score by Race/Ethnicity for Applicants

M easureable G oals for Problem Based Learning

Establish a problem based learning
environment where soldiers and students can
exercise critical thinking, communication,
collaboration skills in a small group setting.
Applying their skills immediately to work on
complex real world problems.
Students will use their technology literacy
skills to create projects and reports through
collaborative efforts crossing interdisciplinary
subjects.

Educator's G oals
Professionally I would like
to develop an environment
where students and
soldiers can gain and
apply knowledge with
facilitation that stimulates
critical thinking.
Creating and mimicking
current problems as
soldiers in the Army or
future college students.

Grow as a coach,
teacher, mentor in the
Army to continue to
groom future leaders in
the making.
As an educator I want to
ensure students are
becoming life long
learners. Learners who
continuous seek to
improvement their craft.

Student and Soldier G oals

Students and soldiers will learn to be
mentally agile while critically thinking
about complex problems. Using
outside of the box thinking with
creative solutions and collaboration
with a group of diverse peers.
Instill motivation to were they can
make an immediate impact in their
organization or university.
Motivation through meticulously
applied pressure.

ProfessionalO utcom es
Outcomes
Challenge students and soldiers to
collaborate with peers they are not
comfortable with.
Optimize communication and
collaboration for successful PBL
sessions.
Expose subordinates
to resilient
Success Criterion
by sharing
experiences
andof
behavior
Demonstrate
increased
knowledge
sharing
information.
the Four
Cs
Complete assigned group projects with
an 80 percent rate.
Integrate current problems important to

Planned Artifact
Soldiers will use a
meeting normally
attended by
senior leaders of
the brigade to
evaluate the
combat
operational
readiness of
combat platforms
throughout the
theater of
operation.

Learner O utcom es
Outcomes
Collaborate with peers in the creation
of viable solutions for complex
operation problems.
Immersion into problem based
learning through facilitation of a
strong leader.
Success Criterion
Students will need to exhibit
collaboration with small group by
providing critical input of ideas and
solutions.
The senior team will evaluate growth
from the first PBL session to the final

Planned Artifact
Through passive
and active
participant
observations of
students and
soldiers I will
evaluate team
members for
growth in all
areas of critical
thinking,
creativity,
collaboration and

Interview s
Q :Which learning skill is most important to you as a
student?
A: Successful communication. To me this is fundamental
and most vital to establish early on in order to have an
effective engagement between student and teacher and
avoid any confusion.
Q: Does the professor leadership affect how students learn?
A: Most definitely, no matter the age of the student the
notion is already established that they accept the teacher
as the mentor or expert of the subject matter
Q: How do you overcome complex problems you cant
figure out?
A: I have to communicate the need for help and I
collaborate with my peers and seniors for possible
solutions.
Q: Do you prefer transactional or transformative
leadership?
A: Transformative. If you find yourself being a group leader
I would choose this style as being most effective because it

Mr. Vega is a
mid grade
NonCommissioned
Officer. He has
been in the
Army for 11
years and
currently is
attending a
university. He
is a finance
major
expecting to
enter his junior

Interview s

I prefer working in small groups because of

being able to bounce ideas off of each other

Critical thinking is necessary skill in my current

job, I use it to be able to solve problems as a
young leader

PBL is a method of instruction that requires a

transformative professor

We need more life skills being taught in the

classroom, for example financial literacy.
Teaching students about credit, buying a home
and car loans

Mrs. Corey is
currently in
the Army. She
is a lower
enlisted soldier
who currently
is attending
college and
taking general
education
courses.

Sum m ary
21st Century learning skills and strategies need to be the norm in
todays classroom. Education is critical for our survival as a
nation and as humans. As the world evolves so do the
complexity of problems and solutions. Our education system
needs a major revamping in order to better prepare our students
to be prepared to enter any organization and have an
immediate impact. Integrating a curriculum that challenges ,
prepares and stimulates students is our responsibility as
educators and community leaders. When students leave high
school without the necessary skills to be successful we as
educators are swift to pin it on the student. We blame their
inability to learn or to comprehend the material presented.
Perhaps an evaluation as educators is needed to remind
ourselves that we serve and teach for the students. We are the
solution and subject matter experts. Use your God given talent

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