Pair work

Part one:
y One person talk to partner about something in their

teaching practice that they want to improve.

y Other person listens to see if they can understand what

the values are that are motivating the other to improve.

y Feedback from pair work.

Pair work
Part two
y Focus on claims made about improvement. y Focus on kind of data required to enable you to make a judgement on the effectiveness of the actions taken.

Starting Points I want to improve I want to learn more about Im perplexed by Some are unhappy about Im curious about

Continuing Starting Points I want to try I think to make a difference I want to change Im interested in

Teaching

Professional Development
Is this for real! This is not working. How can I make it better?

At home
How can we avoid this in the future? How can be make our relationship better?

IN EDUCATION
y The quality of

educational experience provided for children will depend on the ability of the teacher to stand back and reflect his or her practice and continually strive to make the necessary changes y (Koshy,V. 2005:1)

How can I improve my practice

action research... research... teacher-initiated, school-based research used to improve the practitioners practice by doing or changing something, where the teacher is the researcher and the teachers practice is the focus of the research

y The main reason for teachers to engage in action

research is to learn from and to improve their own teaching activities

by re-examining their practice and altering their taken-for-granted beliefs and understandings

Remember .
y Action research is a valuable and powerful way to use

data to impact educational practice. y Systematically collecting information about what is happening, evaluating the effectiveness of interventions, and disseminating the results helps school teachers/student teachers become more intentional and thus more successful in helping all children learn.

Please Recall.. What is Action Research?

Action Research is a process through which teachers collaborate in evaluating their practice, try out new strategies, and record their work in a form that is understandable by other teachers.
John Elliott. (1991). Action Research for Educational Change. Philadelphia: Open University Press/Milton Keynes.

What is Action Research? Cont d

y Action Research is concerned with changing

situations, not just interpreting them. y Action Research is an evolving process of changing both the researcher and the situations in which he or she works.

What is Action Research? Cont d

y Action Research is systematic and involves

collecting evidence on which to base rigorous reflection. y ACTION RESEARCH is a CYCLE!! y Plan, act, observe, reflect. y Revised plan, act, observe, reflect.

What is the PROCESS of Classroom Action Research?

Five Phases
1. Problem Identification 2. Plan of Action 3. Implementing the action 4. Collecting & Analyzing the Data 5. Reflecting on the action (before,

during and after the action)

1. Identifying the Problem/an aspect of educational practice to improve

First, select a general idea or area of focus: y should involve teaching and learning y should be within your locus of control y should be something you feel passionate about y should be something you would like to change or improve

Action Research: Five Phases

1.

Problem Identification-Identifying an aspect of the educational practice to improve. Ask yourself .

     

What is the problem I want to solve? What is the question I want to answer? Why do you want to study this topic? What do I wish was different? What is the proposed change? How do you plan to introduce this change?

Action Research: Five Phases 1.Problem Identification Cont d

 What resources will be necessary to support this change?  What is the proposed timeline for the action research cycle?  What type of action research data will be collected?  Is this problem broad enough to illustrate student achievement and narrow enough to be manageable?  Who will be part of the action research group?  Are you passion about this topic?  Can I finish it on time?

1. Identify the Problem..Cont The Purpose:

y Purpose of the study: Once the research question is

identified, consider what you will do with the solutions and/or answers to your question.
y What educational practices would you like to impact? y What student outcomes are you hoping to influence? y What decisions will the study help you make?

Next :Develop Research Questions

Develop research questions about the problems and plan the research process accordingly.
y Filter and narrow the topic to a research questions. y Ask yourself what you think the answer(s) to your

question(s) will be.

The research question should be: y a higher-order question; not yes-no y stated in common language; avoid jargon y concise y meaningful y not already have an answer y Normally begin with HOW

Example: GENERATING QUESTIONS FOR ACTION RESEARCH

My question emerged out of what I understood to be problematic classroom dynamics that surfaced immediately at the beginning of the year. For one thing . eight boys dominated the classroom especially during all class discussions. A second interesting pattern emerged. Whenever I asked the class to voluntary form groups, line up, or make a circle, they did so in exactly the same fashion sorting themselves neatly first by gender, then by ethnic and racial affiliation. My questions were: How can I increase participation in all class discussions by those less willing or able to share? How can I help the students in my classroom feel comfortable working with diverse groupings of classmates and ultimately overcome, at least part of the time, their desire to always be with their friends? Coccari (1998)

What Next? What is Already Known?

Review what is known about the problem.
y Has anyone in the school asked this question before? y Who might have information? y What is the relevant research in professional journals? y What does an internet search find on this topic?

Literature Review
y What have others found? Search for resources and y y y y

review the relevant research literature. Has anyone in the school asked this question before? Who might have information? What is the relevant research in professional journals? What does an internet search find on this topic?

Review the Related Literature

y Become familiar with

other research done on the area of focus y Utilize the findings of others to help develop the plan y Apply research findings through the lens of others experience

Action Research: Five Phases

2. Planning an Action
y y

Will you look at your existing practices or develop and implement a new strategy? How will you focus your question to increase student achievement?

Planning an Action: Develop a Timeline

y This is the essence of

planning! y Anticipate where & how your study will take place. y Anticipate how long each step will take. y Apply predicted time frames to a calendar.

Planning an Action: Statement of Resources

y What will you need to

carry out your study? y Resources include time, money, and materials. y Make a list before you get started!

Action Research: Five Phases

3. Implementing the Action y Taking action
y Deciding what steps need to be taken and how to take

them in order to alter or improve practice y This is the action in action research

Action Research: Five Phases

4. Collecting the data. y What, why, when, where and how will you collect your

y y y y y y y y

data? Who are the subjects of the action research effort? How will you ensure that you have multiple perspectives? What information (data) will I collect? What data collection methods will I use? Are there sources readily available for use? How structured and systematic will the collection be? How will I organize the data? (e.g., by gender, classroom, grade) Can I use multiple sources of data to triangulate my conclusions or judgments?

Action Research: Five Phases

4. Data Collection Method Quantitative: (Counting and Sorting)

Questionnaires or surveys Assessments:

Projects Open-ended questions Tests Quizzes Other statistical analyses

Action Research: Five Phases

4. Data Collection Method
Qualitative (Telling Stories )
Logs and Journals Individual Interviews Focus Groups Opinion Essays

Methods of Data Collection

Interviews individual files field notes case studies memos self-assessment journals diaries videotapes photos records anecdotal records portfolios logs of meetings audio tapes surveys questionnaires observations checklists

samples of student work

Taxonomy of action research data collection techniques

Action Research Data Collection Techniques (The Three Es) Experiencing
(By observing)
Participant Observation (Active participant)

Examining Enquiring
(By asking)
Informal Interview Structured formal Interview Questionnaires Attitude Scales Standardized Tests Archival documents Journals Maps Audio and Videotapes Artifacts Fieldnotes

(by using records)

Passive Observer

Collect the Data

y Using a variety of data collection

strategies, gather information that will contribute to the findings y Triangulate y Data should be analyzed as it is collected

Organize, Analyze & Interpret the Data

y As the data is collected, it is

also continually organized & analyzed y As new perspectives are gained on the original area of focus, the problem statement may change y Interpretation is based on ongoing analysis & continually reviewing the area of focus

What is triangulation?
y Triangulation refers to the use of multiple

independent data sources to collaborate findings. Using multiple sources gets you closer to the truth.
School records

Tests

Observations

Guidelines for Data Collecting Be clear. Use appropriate tools. How much will you need? Make it easy for you. Use multiple resources.

Continuing Data Collecting Directly answers question. Presentation is important. Review and dont expect too much. Display to reveal underlying patterns. Key issue: Get USEFUL info

Action Research: Five Phases

5. Reflecting on the Action

Donald Schon

Reflection in Action
y Reflection takes place in the midst of action

http://hci.stanford.edu/other/schon87.htm

Donald Schon

Reflection on action

Pausing after an activity to see how it went what went well, what did not, what could be changed; We develop sets of questions and ideaas about our activities and practice http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-reflect.htm#Schon

Reflection
y Looking back on experience to improve practice y Learning in the midst of practice y Making decisions about what to do

Stop to reflect

Rushing around Life becomes a blur

Reflection helps us to focus

To think and act and think again

Reflection is the bridge between thinking and acting

A reflective thinker is aware of her own knowledge and lack of knowledge and recognizes that there may not be only a single correct solution to a problem or interpretation of a situation. A reflective thinker relies on all available resources to find relevant needed information and opinions in order to come to a personal understanding of a situation, knowing that this understanding may change, as she gains more information and insight into the matter.

Action Research: Five Phases

Plan for Future Actions-Next Cycle?
y What will you do differently in your

class/school as a result of this study? y How will you write about what you have learned so that your findings will be useful to others?

Example: Action Research Question

Web Question Samples
y y

http://www.sou.edu/education/actionresearch/tasks.htm http://www.sou.edu/education/actionresearch/questions.htm

Video Samples:
y

http://home.sou.edu/~jablonsd/ARfair.HTML

It is teachers who, in the end, will change the world of the school by understanding it. Lawrence Stenhouse