CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Method of Research In this research, the writer used a classroom action research as the method of research. Dave Ebbut in Trianto (2011: 15) states that classroom action research is the systematic study of attempts to improve educational practice by groups of participants by means of their own practical actions and by means their own reflection upon the effects of those actions. In this research, the writer took two cycles and each cycle consisted of two actions, so that the writer did four actions in this research. In doing this research, the writer worked collaboratively with the English teacher of the eighth grade in SMP N 1 Patikraja. B. Place and Time of The Research 1. Place of the Research This research was held at the class VIIIF of SMP N 1 Patikraja. It was located at Jl. Banyumas no 9 Patikraja. 2. Time of the Research This research was done on March 2011 until June 2011. The complete schedule could be seen in the following table: 18
19 No Activities 1. Doing Observation 2. Making Proposal 3. Making Lesson Plan 4. Doing Actions 5. Making Report Table 1 The Schedule of the Research Months March April May June 2011 2011 2011 2011 C. Subject of the Research The writer held the research in SMP N 1 Patikraja at the students of VIII grade. The writer took class VIIIF as the subject of the research. The number of the students was 36 student, they were 14 males and 22 females. D. Research Design Research design used by the writer was spiral model by Kemmis and Taggart. Wiriaatmadja (2005: 66) explains that there are cycles in classroom action research and each cycle consists of stages. These stages are planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The process of this research is not only stop in one cycles, it would be continued to the second one. The aim of this research was to improve students writing ability using scaffolding strategy. There were two cycles consisted of four meetings. The action research spiral could be drawn as follows:
20 Figure 1 Research Design of Kemmis and Taggart Wiriaatmadja, (2005: 6) REFLECT PLAN OBSERVE ACT REFLECT REVISED PLAN OBSERVE ACT The steps of research design above described as follows: 1. Planning Based on the problem faced by the students in writing class and their writing ability, here the writer and the collaborator designed the plans for the research as follows: a. Selecting the material b. Preparing the lesson plan that would be taught to the students using scaffolding strategy c. Preparing the media d. Preparing observation instruments that would be brought into the classroom
21 e. Designing the post-test that would be given at the end of teaching learning process at the last each cycle. 2. Acting After planning the actions, the writer and the collaborator implemented two actions in each cycle. There were two cycles, so there were four meetings done in this research. During this research the writer became the teacher and the collaborating teacher became the observer. The writer as the teacher taught the students writing using scaffolding strategy, and the collaborating teacher as the observer observed the students and the teacher activity. 3. Observing In this stage while teaching the students, the writer observed the students activities in the teaching learning process in the classroom. The collaborator observed the students and the teacher activities. The collaborator was provided by some observation sheet, those were the students observation sheet, the teacher observation sheet, and field notes sheet. The collaborator did observation by filling the observation sheets on their hands. He filled the observation sheet based on the real condition of teaching learning process at that time. 4. Reflecting Reflecting was the last stage of the implementation of a cycle. All actions of the implementation of the plan evaluated and reflected. The collaborator and the writer tried to analyze the result of the implementation
22 of the scaffolding strategy toward the students writing ability. From doing the reflection the writer and collaborator got the information of the problem appeared during the teaching learning process. Those problems were as the consideration in doing the next cycle. E. Technique for Collecting Data The technique for collecting data is important to get data that will be used to know the success of the research. Data provided information about the process and the product of improving students writing ability using scaffolding strategy clearly. In doing this research the writer needed two kinds of data; they were qualitative and quantitative data. According to Sugiyono (2008: 309) there are four techniques of collecting qualitative data. They are observation, interview, questioner and documentation. According to Wiriaatmaja (2008: 129) there are some information in classroom action research could be collected from observation, field notes, interview, and documentation. Besides qualitative data, from quantitative data the writer can use test for the technique of collecting data. Based on the explanations above, the writer decided to use some techniques of collecting data. Those were: 1. Test Test is one way to do measurement in the form of assignment which has to be done by the students to get the data of their mark which is
23 able to be compared with their friends or the standard mark. (Nurgiyantoro, 2001: 58) The writer used written test for the pre-test and post-test of the CAR. Pre-test was given to the students to know their writing ability before CAR and post-test given to the students to know their writing ability after they have got the treatment in each cycle. Those tests were important to know the students improvement although in classroom action research the process of teaching learning is the main problem. 2. Observation The writer and the collaborator used observation to get data about the students activity and the teacher activity in the process of teaching learning process. According to Sugiyono (2008: 310) Observation is the basic of all science. By doing observation, researcher will get the fact of the real condition that is researched. This observation described the students interaction and participation in the writing class especially for class VIIIF at SMP N 1 Patikraja clearly. In doing this research the writer used observation sheet as the instrument. The indicators of the observation sheet were: No 1 2 3 Name % Table 2 The Students Observation Sheet Indicators A B C D E F G Total Score
24 Indicators: A. Active in group discussion B. Active in asking or answering questions C. Speak loudly and clearly D. Participating actively in the teaching learning process E. Active in asking for assistance from teacher or classmates F. Active in giving ideas G. Doing the task completely Table 3 The Teacher Observation Sheet No Teacher Activities Yes No 1. Giving apperception 2. Reviewing the previous material 3. Telling the aim of lesson 4. Giving motivation strategy 5. Using media to scaffold the students learning 6. Giving opportunity for students to active in teaching learning process 7. Moving around the class to provide the students assistance 8. Giving chance to the students to work autonomously 9. Reviewing the material 10. Giving an evaluation toward the students writing activity 3. Questionnaire The writer and the collaborator used questionnaire to collect data in this research. According to Trianto (2011: 57) Questionnaire is some written questions proposed to the respondent to be answered in written form too. In this case, the questionnaire used to know about students opinion after the application of scaffolding strategy in writing class.
25 The writer used closed questionnaire in this research because she wanted to know students opinion about the usage of scaffolding strategy in writing class. In filling the questionnaire, the students only wrote ( ) symbol based on their feeling. Table 4 The Questionnaire (After Treatment) No Pertanyaan Ya Tidak 1 Apakah kamu merasa senang belajar menulis bahasa Inggris menggunakan scaffolding strategy yang diterapkan dalam pelajaran menulis? 2 Apakah kamu merasa tertarik untuk belajar menulis bahasa Inggris ketika diterapkan scaffolding strategy? 3 Apakah kamu termotivasi untuk belajar menulis bahasa Inggris menggunakan scaffolding strategy yang diterapkan? 4 Apakah kamu menjadi bisa menulis dengan baik setelah dibantu menggunakan scaffolding strategy? 5 Apakah kamu merasa percaya diri ketika mengerjakan tugas menulis menggunakan scaffolding strategy? 6 Apakah kamu dapat berdiskusi dengan baik dalam kelompok ketika diterapkan scaffolding strategy? 7 Apakah setelah terlibat dalam kerja kelompok kamu menjadi lebih bersemangat dalam menulis? 8 Apakah kamu menjadi lebih menguasai aturan-aturan menulis dengan baik dengan diterapkan scaffolding strategy? 9 Apakah kamu puas dengan hasil tulisan kamu setelah melalui berbagai kegiatan menggunakan scaffolding strategy? 10 Apakah kemampuan menulis bahasa Inggris kamu meningkat dengan dterapkan scaffolding strategy? 4. Field Notes Field notes was made by the writer or collaborator who was observing the teaching learning process. (Wiriaatmadja, 2008: 125). Field notes consist of very important of information related to the observation. The information was about class environment, class management,
26 interaction between teacher and students, etc. In this field notes the information got was more complete to support the observation result. 5. Documentation To strengthen the research, the writer and the collaborator used documentation. Hornby (1995: 342) states document is an official or formal paper, form, book, etc. giving information about something. Document can be in written form, picture, or art. Documentation can be in the form of syllabus, journal, students score, and lesson plan. Besides those documents, the writer used photographs to record the students activity. F. Technique for Analyzing Data In this research the writer used descriptive analysis technique. The purpose was to describe the students activities during the implementation of the teaching learning process. According to Suwandi (2011: 66) there are two techniques to analyze data in classroom action research, those are: descriptive comparative technique and critical analysis technique. The first is descriptive comparative technique; this technique is used to analyze the quantitative data, by comparing the result before the research with the result at the end of each cycle. The second is critical analysis technique, this technique related to the qualitative data. Critical analysis technique includes the weaknesses and the success of the students activity and the teacher s activity in the teaching learning process.
27 1. The Qualitative Data The writer collected some qualitative data such as questionnaire, observation, and field notes. Burns in Transiskha (2008: 24) said that in the qualitative classroom based on the action research, the use of spoken language in the class is a major focus for analysis. The schema would show the steps of the technique for analyzing qualitative data. Figure 2 Collecting Data Reducing Data Making verification/ conclusion Presenting/ reporting data The steps are: 1. Collecting data This stage is the process of collecting the data such as questionnaire, observation, field notes, and documentation. The purpose is to suggest to the next stage of data collection and data analysis. 2. Reducing data It is a process of attempting to reduce the large amount of data that might be collected to be more manageable categories of concept or theme. Then, the data are organized based on the problem formulation.
28 3. Presenting/reporting data The data that had been analyzed presented in a systematic and well organized form. The purpose is to ensure that the report sets out based on the process of the research and that the findings outcomes are well supported with the presented data. 4. Making verification/conclusion It is the last step of the process of analyzing data; the data that had been presented to a systematic and well organized form could give information that was needed in making conclusion. The conclusion consisted of the simple description of the essence of the data presented. The writer used a formula for questionnaire and observation results to measure students activity in each action. By using this formula the writer will know the weaknesses and the success of the action implemented. The writer used percentage to know the students activities and the questionnaire. To know the Percentage of students activity, the writer used the formula: P = A X 100% B Where: P = the percentage A = frequency of each activity B = total respondent (students) (Trianto, 2011: 63)
29 2. The Quantitative Data The quantitative data used to evaluate the success of the implementation of each cycle. By doing this evaluation, the writer will know whether the implementation of the cycle is success or not. The writer used analytical writing scale to measure student s writing ability. According to Nurgiantoro (2001: 307), there are model of scale instrument for every certain class in each aspect that is scored. Table 5 Writing Evaluation Criteria using Scale No Aspect Score Criteria Indicators 1. Content 27-30 Very good 2. Organization 18-20 Very good 3. Vocabulary 18-20 Very good Complete information, substantive, complete in developing writing, relevant with the problem. 22-26 Good Enough information, less substantive, not enough in developing writing problem. 17-21 Fair Limited information, less of substantive, not enough in developing writing problem. 13-16 Bad There is not content and problem. Fluent in expression, clear in expressing idea, complete, well organization, logic in sequence and cohesive. 14-17 Good Less in fluent, unorganized but clear in main idea, limited in supporting material, logic in sequence but incomplete. 10-13 Fair Not fluently, un regular idea, illogical in sequence and developing idea. 7-9 Bad Not communicative, unorganized, invaluable. Correct in word choice, mastery in word form. 14-17 Good Sometimes incorrect in choosing the word but it does not disturb the meaning. 10-13 Fair Limited in using the word, often make a mistake in vocabulary, and it can make
30 4. Language 22-25 Very good 5. Mechanics 5 Very good change the meaning. 7-9 Bad Bad in choosing the word, less in vocabulary invaluable. Effective in complex construction, only few in language mistake. 18-21 Good Simple construction but effective, few mistake in complex construction, there is a mistake but it does not change the meaning. 11-17 Fair Serious mistake in sentence construction, unclear meaning. 5-10 Bad Not mastery in syntactical construction, many mistakes, not communicative, invaluable. Mastery in writing rule, only some spelling error. 4 Good Sometimes there is spelling error but it does not change the meaning. 3 Fair Sometimes there is spelling error, uncertain meaning. 2 Bad Not mastery in writing, many spelling error, unreadable, writing, invaluable. Each point of each component has different score. It can be seen at the following table of scoring. Table 6 Model of Writing Evaluation Criteria using Score No Evaluation Aspects Score 1 Content 13-30 2 Organization 7-20 3 Vocabulary 7-20 4 Language 5-25 5 Mechanics 2-5 The sum of score
31 In analyzing the quantitative data, the writer could get the average of students writing score. It used to measure how well the students writing ability using the formula: Where: Σx x = N x = Mean X N = Individual score = Number of students (Arikunto, 2010: 264) To know the improvement in pre test and post test, the writer used the formula as follows: P1 = P2 = y 1 y x 100% y y 2 y x 100% y Where: P = Percentage of students improvement y = Pre test result y 1 = y 2 = Post test result Post test result (Arikunto in Febriyanti, 2011: 31)
32 G. Indicator of Success Indicator of success is made to determine the success of the research. According to Suwandi (2011: 66) indicator is target that would be used as the orientation in concluding the success of the research. According to Kartowarigan in Mulyani (2010: 29), the aim of the research is to improve and to involve. Therefore, this research would be categorized into successful research if there was an improvement, no matter how much the improvement. The collaborator and the researcher formulated the indicator of success of the research. First, the students with score 7 could reach 70%. Second, the average of students activity in writing class could reach for more than 50%. The last, the questionnaire result could show more than 50% answered Yes or gave positive response toward the implementation of the scaffolding strategy. If those indicators were reached, then the research would be stopped.