Julia Gleason

The Affective Domain and Daily 4

Question:
I think that it would be productive to perform an action research project on the affective
domain. My question is, does the use of Hal Urban’s Daily 4 affect test scores positively?
Collect the Data:
In order to measure this concept, you will need a list of students’ average test scores prior
to implementing this research action. Then, after implementation, you can compare each
student’s average test scores using the Daily 4 versus not.
To implement the research action, each day at the beginning of class students will get into
small groups and take one turn each answering one of the following questions: What is some
good news? What is something funny? What are you thankful for? What are some kind words for
your group or for a specific member of your group? This process should last about 4-5 minutes
each day.
Start collecting the new test scores, making sure no new test making or taking strategies
are implemented by the teacher. Students may use new strategies because that may be part of the
growth using the Daily 4…however, do not tell students one way or the other in order to keep the
experiment unbiased.
Analyze the Data:
After 2 units using this strategy, compare their new and old scores with the help of other
teachers of the same grade level. They can provide different insights.
Implement the Change and Try New Practices:
If the outcome is positive, continue to use the Daily 4 each morning, but always be on the
search for new improvements. You could try having a few students share their answer from the
questions with the whole class, or you could try mixing up the groups every week. Then, see if
the scores improve positively or negatively with each change. Note: You could also use another
measurement other than test scores to see if the affective domain is changing. You could have
students prior to the project rank their comfortableness in class 1-5, and repeat after the 2 units.