Action ResearchNot traditional educational research often

research tests theory not practicalTeacher research in classrooms and/or

schools/districts for the purpose of: Improving teachingInvestigate areas of concernTesting educational theoryEvaluating and implementing an educational planMeet the challenges within classrooms and

schools

Action research is used to describe an approach to classroom research

A few reasons to do action research…Help you build a reflective practice based on

proven ideas or techniquesAllow you to try new ideas and reliably assess

their effectivenessIt will help you build confidence in your

managerial or instructional decisionsIt will contribute to the professional culture

of teaching at your schoolIt can create meaningful and lasting change

in order to improve student achievement

Levels of Action Research Individual for classroomGroup of teachers for departmentTeachers, administrators, and other

stakeholders to affect change in larger school community

Action Research HistoryKurt Lewin(1946) credit with development of

concept of action researchEvolved and influenced by Kemmis(1983),

Ebbutt (1985), Elliott (1991), Hopkins (1985) and others…

Conducting Action Research StepsIdentify the question, issue or problemConduct a literature reviewDefine a solutionApply the solution and collect the dataAnalyze your findingsReport your findingsTake ACTION

How to Get Started.. Identify the Question, Issue or Problem

Decide on a FOCUSFind your professional self…some guiding

questions may be… What are your broad interests in teaching? What are your specific interests? What questions are manageable? What are you passionate about?

Is there a problem or question that you would like an answer to or as a future teacher, administrator, policy maker, researcher and how will an answer to your question or idea help you do a better job?

Literature Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2d7y_r65HU&feature=related

What is a Literature Review?A “lit review” done early in the research

process is the review of the research literature related to the problem or question posed?

Once the problem or question has been identified, information is needed about the problem so that it can be placed in the proper context and the research can proceed…

Sources of InformationStudies published in books, journals, periodicals,

technical reports, and academic theses and dissertations available either in print or online through the library’s electronic sources.

Note: one distinction made between references is whether they are primary or secondary sources.

A primary source is a report, book, article written by the person who conducted the research.

Secondary sources are written by someone at least one step removed from the research.

Assembling and Summarizing InformationOnce you locate and review the sources from

the literature search, then you must consider the question “What should I do with this information?”

First, you need to determine if the content of the source is relevant to your research problem or question? Try to stay focused…

If is not relevant, delete it!

Interpreting and Using InformationOnce you review your sources, you can skim

them to get an overview.From this overview, you can make a decision

on whether this information is relevant to your research problem or question…

Writing the ReviewNow the information that you have reviewed and synthesized can be put into the review of the literature…

For your literature review… it should be from 10 to 15 pages with a minimum of 10 references.

Referencing When information is reported from a source,

it must be adequately referenced. Please use APA format.

Referencing can be done in a number of ways, a reference list is limited to references sited in your report…please use References for your report.

A bibliography may also include references for background information or further reading

Conducting Action Research Steps

Identify the question, issue or problemConduct a literature reviewDefine a solutionApply the solution and collect the dataAnalyze your findingsReport your findingsTake ACTION

Conducting Action Research Steps Further Defined

At this point,

You have identified the question, issue or problem

Conducted a literature review searchReviewed the available literature and written

a Literature Review on your question of interest

What have you discovered?

Conducting Action Research Steps Further DefinedDefine a solutionApply the solution and collect the dataAnalyze your findingsReport your findingsTake ACTION

What do we mean by Define a Solution Next Step?Research Design

Quantitative or Qualitative?Action research is defined as research

conducted at the local level, conducted by a practitioner, focused on solving a particular problem it can be either…

Research MethodsSampling proceduresData collection procedures

The Nature of Educational Research

Research is empirical.Research is systematic.Research should be valid.Research should be reliable.Research can take on a variety of forms.

Research is empirical

Educational research is characterized as empirical, because empiricism is the concept that all knowledge is derived from sense experience.

Information takes the form of data, which can include test scores, field notes, responses to questionnaire items, etc…

Research is systematicBased on the scientific method, there are five

steps1. Identify the problem2. Review the information3. Collect data4. Analyze data5. Draw conclusions within the framework of

your study

Research should be validValidity is when something should be based

on fact or evidence

Internal validity is the extent to which results can be interpreted accurately

External validity is the extent to which results can be generalized to a population, situations and conditions..in action research we are not concerned about this area…

Research should be reliableReliability of research concerns the

replicability and consistency of the methods, conditions, and results.

Research can take on a variety of forms

Basic and applied researchThe primary purpose of basic research is the

extension of knowledgeThe primary purpose of applied research is

the solution of an immediate, practical problem…

Action ResearchOne type of applied research is action research

…this is what we are doing!

Action research is often conducted by teachers, administrators or other educational professionals for solving a specific problem or for providing information for decision making at the local level.

Action research is less rigorous in terms of design and methodology then other educational research…

Research MethodsDescribe your sampling and data collection

proceduresIdentify your instrument, test, interview,

questionnaire, survey…How will you measure? What about validity and reliability?How will you analyze the data? Important to

think about ahead of time, if you are using human subjects you need to go through an institutional review board.

Data CollectionMeasuring instruments must be identified and/or

developedIf the data is descriptive in nature, you must take

field notesYou can collect data by doing interviews or

observationsIf you conduct a survey, you need to determine

what measuring instruments you will use, i.e. questionnaires, standardized tests

Think ahead…about preparing the data you collect for analysis

Next StepDefining your solution……Collecting your data……..