College of Education

Course Code M.Ed. L.Ed. 208

Course Title Action Research in Language Education
Module Number 1
Module Title Nature and Characteristics of Action Research
Week Number & Dates Week 1 – October 2 – 8, 2021

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

A. Describe the characteristics of action research;
B. Compare and contrast action research and formal research;
C. Identify the purposes of action research;
D. Differentiate the kinds of action researches;
E. Reflect on your responsibility as teacher researcher in improving teaching practice.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND RESOURCES

Read the Lecture Notes

Watch the following videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCSC2AezhAo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJT4bd3LCBI
Also Read:

https://www.deped.gov.ph/2017/03/20/do-16-s-2017-research-management-guidelines/

https://www.teacherph.com/deped-action-research-topics-and-titles/

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INTRODUCTION
“He who dares to teach must never cease to learn.” – John Cotton Dana
A teacher desirous to embrace the teaching profession needs to engage in lifelong
learning to become an effective and efficient teacher. Being a good teacher involves a
continuous search for the improvement of teaching practice. On road to attain this goal is to
undertake action researches to resolve the persistent problems that are encountered in the
facilitation of learning. In this lesson, you are going to understand the nature and characteristics
of action research to better appreciate its value in discovering better ways to assist learners
achieve in the classroom.

BODY

NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ACTION RESEARCH

What is an action research?
Action Research (AR) involves taking “a self-reflective, critical,
and systematic approach to exploring your own teaching contexts”
(Burns, 2010). She also commented that “one of the main aims of AR is
to identify a ‘problematic’ situation or issue that the participants – who
may include teachers, students, managers, administrators, or even
parents – consider worth looking into more deeply and systematically.”

Specifically, action research in education can be defined as the process of studying a

school situation to understand and improve the quality of the educative process (Johnson, 2012).
It provides practitioners with new knowledge and understanding about how to improve
educational practices or resolve significant problems in classrooms and schools (Mills, 2011).

On the other hand, Norton (2009) adds that doing action research is associated with
reflective practice. He argues that reflection does not merely confirm our experiences and
personal beliefs and values. Reflecting on practice as part of an action research cycle is essential
if any enduring change is to be effected, because it involves some transformation from
previously held assumptions to adopting a new framework. Norton also points out that reflective
practice is inextricably related to continuing professional development which puts firmly at the
center of a teacher’s own learning and self-development.

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As proactive and progressive teachers, action research is an essential activity for us to

improve the practice of teaching. We learn from the outputs of action researches for us to
effectively facilitate instruction.

Comparison and Contrast of Action Research and Formal Research

The matrix below presents the differences between formal research and action research.
Indicators Formal Research Action Research
Training Needed by Extensive On own or with
Researcher consultation
Goals of research Knowledge that is Knowledge to apply to the
generalizable or externally local situation
valid
Method of identifying the Review of previous or past Current needs of problems
problem to be studied research/es faced
Procedure for Literature Extensive, using primary More cursory, using
Review sources secondary sources
Sampling frame Random and representative Students/pupils or clients
sampling with whom they work
Research Design Rigorous control, long time Looser procedures, may
frame change during study; quick
time frame; control through
triangulation
Measurement Procedures Evaluate and pre-test Convenient measures or
measures standardized tests
Data analysis Statistical tests; qualitative Focus on practical, not
techniques statistical significance
Application of results Emphasis on theoretical Emphasis on practical
significance significance

Characteristics of Action Research

Action researches are characterized in many ways, namely:

 Conducted by teachers, administrators, or other educational professionals for solving a
specific problem or for providing information for decision making at the local level
(Weirsma, 1995)

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 Involves finding a solution of doing something; testing the applicability of other research
results; testing the proposed solutions to problems before applying them on a large scale

 Little concern about generalizing the results to other educational settings

 Situational, collaborative, participative, empirical, practical, and informal

On the other hand, Carr and Kemmis (1986) describe action research as being about:
 The improvement of practice (the way you carry out your professional actions and why
you do things the way you do)
 The improvement of the understanding of practice
 The improvement of the situation in which the practice takes place

Why Conduct Action Research

Action researches are conducted to fulfil several functions, namely:

1. To understand one’s own practice, among others:

 Planning and organizing lessons

 Assessment practices
 Innovation of teaching strategies
 Development/improvisation of instructional materials
 Classroom management

2. To understand how to make one’s own practice better

3. To understand to accommodate outside change in one’s practice

4. To understand how to change the outside in order to make one’s practice better

Types of Action Researches

Action researches can be conducted in varied structures. It could be individual,

collaborative, school-wide or district-wide. The characteristics of each structure are shown
below:

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Individual Collaborative School-wide District-wide

Teacher
Single classroom
Single School issue, District issue
issue classroom or problem, or area of Organizational
Focus several collective interest structures
classrooms with
common issue
 Coach/mentor  Substitute  School  District
 Access to teachers commitment commitment
technology  Release time  Leadership  Facilitator
 Assistance  Close link  Communication  Recorder
Possible with data with  External  Communication
Support organization administrator partners  External
Needed and analysis partners
 Curriculum  Curriculum  School  Allocation of
 Instruction  Instruction restructuring & resources
 Assessment  Assessment change  Professional
Potential  Policy development
Impact  Parent activities
involvement  Organizational
 Evaluation of structures
programs  Policy
 Practice  Improved  Improved  Improved
informed by collegiality collegiality, collegiality,
data  Formation collaboration & collaboration &
 Information of communication communication
not shared partnership  Team building  Team building
Effects  Disagreements  Disagreements
on process on process
 Shared vision

Kinds of Action Researches

Action researches can be designed in many ways depending on the intent and the role of
the researcher. These are shown below:

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1. Diagnostic – an action research intended to identify the causes of poor performance and
failures in meeting school performance targets.

Example: The Principal visits a school to observe classes in order to identify the
possible causes of poor student reading performance.

2. Participant – an action research in which the people who are to take action are involved in
the research process from the beginning.

Example: The District Supervisor serves not only as consultant in an action research but
also acts as one of the researchers.

3. Empirical – an action research which involves implementing an intervention program and

keeping a record of what is done and what happens. It is a matter of record-keeping and
accumulating experience in day-to-day work.

Example: Documenting the school’s remedial reading program, with the implementer
(Subject Coordinator or Department Head) as the researcher himself/herself

4. Experimental – a controlled research on the relative effectiveness of different action

techniques (usually involving pre-test-post-test design). This type is most common
among public schools.

Example: Testing the effectiveness of Internet use as pre-writing activity to improve the
writing skills of the students

Reflect on your experience in this lesson by answering the following:

1. Why is being a teacher-researcher important for you as an effective
facilitator in the classroom?
2. If you have conducted action researches before, what realizations
have you discovered in this lesson?
3. What investment should you make to become a good action
REFLECT researcher?

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Demonstrate your understanding of the lesson by answering the

following:
Activity 1. In 15 words, explain the meaning of action research.
Activity 2. Cite one major reason for you to conduct an action reason.
Explain briefly but substantially.
RESPOND Activity 3. Choose one kind of action research you want to conduct and
ND give two reasons why it is preferred. Get a classmate and share each
other’s output. What did you realize from this sharing? Explain briefly
but substantially.

SUMMARY/CONCLUSION

In this lesson, you learned about:

 Action research as a school-based research activity intended to solve a recurring
problem.
 AR’s major purpose is to improve teaching practice to facilitate learning among
the students.
 Most action researches are individually conducted and empirical in nature.

REFERENCES

Burns, A. (2010). Doing action research in English language teaching: A guide to

practitioners. New York: Routledge Inc.
Carr, W. & Kemmis, S. (1986). Becoming critical: Education, knowledge and action
Philadelphia, Falmer Press.
Johnson, A. P. (2012). A short guide to action research. New Jersey: Pearson Education
Mills, G. E. (2011). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher. NJ: Pearson Education.
Norton, L. (2009). Action research in teaching and learning. New York: Routledge Inc.
Wiersma, W. (1995). Research methods in education: An introduction. Boston: Allyn & Bacon

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Prepared by: MARCELO R. RAQUEPO

Course Facilitator

Checked by: EMMELINE T. AREL

Chairperson

Approved by: JOHN MARK F. BONDOC

Dean, College of Education

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