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Action Research Slide

This chapter discusses action research, which involves systematic inquiry by teachers and other stakeholders to improve schools and student learning. It describes the purpose of action research as solving problems, developing teachers professionally, and encouraging reflection. The key aspects covered include the definition, the four-step action research process, characteristics of both critical and practical action research, levels of involvement, and common data collection techniques.

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618 views18 pages

Action Research Slide

This chapter discusses action research, which involves systematic inquiry by teachers and other stakeholders to improve schools and student learning. It describes the purpose of action research as solving problems, developing teachers professionally, and encouraging reflection. The key aspects covered include the definition, the four-step action research process, characteristics of both critical and practical action research, levels of involvement, and common data collection techniques.

Uploaded by

DMaliez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Educational Research

Chapter 20
Action Research

Gay, Mills, and Airasian
Topics Discussed in this Chapter
The definition and purpose of action
research
The action research process
The four steps in conducting action
research
Key characteristics of action research
Action research data collection
techniques
Definition and Purpose
Definition
Any systematic inquiry conducted by
teacher researchers, principals, school
counselors, or other stakeholders in the
teaching/learning environment to gather
information about the ways that their
particular schools operate, how they teach,
and how their students learn.
Objective 1.1
Definition and Purpose
Three purposes
To provide teacher researchers with a method for
solving everyday problems in schools to improve
both student learning and teacher effectiveness
To develop the professional disposition of teachers
Encourage teachers to be life-long learners
To incorporate into a teachers daily routine a
reflective stance
The willingness to look critically at teaching so it can be
improved
Objective 2.1
The Action Research Process
The Dialectic Action Research Spiral
A model that provides teacher researchers with a
practical guide and illustrates how to proceed with
inquiries.
Four steps
Identifying an area of focus
Data collection
Data analysis and interpretation
Action Planning
See Figure 20.1
Objectives 3.1 and 4.1
Key Characteristics of Action Research
Two types of action research
Critical action research
Known as emancipatory action research
The goal is to liberate individuals through the gathering
of knowledge
Five guiding values
Socially responsive
Democratic enabling participation of people
Equitable acknowledging peoples equality of worth
Liberating providing freedom from oppressive debilitating
conditions
Enhancing enabling the expression of peoples full
human potential

Objective 5.1
Key Characteristics of Action Research
Two types of action research (cont.)
Practical action research
Five key concepts
Individual teachers have decision-making authority
Teacher researchers are committed to continued
professional development and school improvement
Teacher researchers want to reflect on their practice
Teacher researchers will use a systematic approach for
reflecting on their practice
Teacher researchers follow the Dialectic Action Research
Spiral
More applied and less philosophical than critical action
research
Objective 5.1
Key Characteristics of Action Research
Three levels
Individual teacher research
Small teacher groups or teams in a single
school
Departments
Common content areas
School-wide research
Objective 5.2
Key Characteristics of Action Research
Five characteristics
Persuasive and authoritative
Teachers develop solutions to their own problems
Relevant
The focus is on issues of concern to teachers, not
educational researchers
Accessible
Teachers willingness to reflect on and change their
thinking about teaching leads them to become more
successful and productive members of the professional
community
Objective 5.3
Key Characteristics of Action Research
Five characteristics (continued)
Challenges the reform of the educational
system
Offers an opportunity to embrace a problem-
solving philosophy and practice as an integral
part of the culture of teachers schools
Not a fad
Good teachers have always systematically
looked at the effects of their teaching on
student learning
Objective 5.3
Action Research Techniques
Take time to identify a meaningful, engaging
problem
Four criteria
The focus should involve teaching and learning and should
be related to the teachers own practice
The focus is something within the teachers locus of control
The focus is something about which the teacher feels
passionate
The focus is something the teacher would like to change or
improve
Objective 6.1
Action Research Techniques
Data collection
Reconnaissance
Generally thought of as preliminary data
gathering
Reflecting on your own beliefs
Understanding the nature and context of your
general idea
Objective 6.1
Action Research Techniques
Reconnaissance (continued)
Three forms
Gaining insight through self-reflection
Theories that impact your practice
Your educational values
How your work fits into the larger context of
schooling and society
Historical contexts of your school and schooling
Historical contexts of your beliefs about teaching
and learning
Objective 6.1
Action Research Techniques
Reconnaissance (continued)
Three forms (continued)
Gaining insight through descriptive activities
Focusing on who, what, when, and where
Provide evidence that your problem is, in fact, a
problem
Identify students who are struggling with tasks
related to your problem
Identify current methods for dealing with your
problem
Identify the frequency with which your problem
arises
Objective 6.1
Action Research Techniques
Reconnaissance (continued)
Three forms (continued)
Gaining insight through explanatory activities
Focus on why
Account for critical factors that have an impact on
your problem
Develop a hypothesis stating the expected
relationships between variables in your study
Clarifies what the teacher believes about the
relationships of factors, variables, and contexts that
make up their work
Identifies what the teacher believes can improve the
situation

Objective 6.1
Action Research Techniques
Data collection
Largely determined by the nature of the
problem
Idiosyncratic based on the teacher,
problem, context, and accessibility
Dominated by qualitative techniques
If quantitative data is collected it tends to
remain on a descriptive level
Objective 6.1
Action Research Techniques
Sharing the results
Communicating the results to others in
formal and informal settings
Several commonly used forms
Conversations
Presentations
Papers
Can lead to further analysis and understanding
Creates a permanent record of the research
Objective 6.1
Action Research Techniques
Taking action
Deciding what steps need to be taken and
how to take them in order to alter or
improve practice
This is the action in action research
Objective 6.1

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