EDU 702 : Action Research

Presenters:Mumtaz Najiah binti MusaNur Hidayah binti Md Yazid

Nurul Munirah Azamri

Group: ED7701A1

Action Research

Basic Assumptions Underlying Action Research

Assumption Examples

Teacher and other education professionals have the authority to make decisions

A team of teachers after discussions with the school administration decides to meet weekly to revise mathematics curriculum to make it more relevant to low achieving students.

Teachers and other education professionals want to improve their practice

A group of teachers decides to observe each other on weekly basis and then discuss ways to improve their teaching.

Teachers and other education professionals are committed to continual professional development

The entire staff-admin, teachers, counselors, etc of an elementary school goes on a retreat to plan ways to improve the attendance & discipline policies for the school.

Teachers and other education professionals will and can engage in systematic research.

The staff decides to collect data by reviewing the attendance records of chronic absentees over the past years –interview sample (random and determine why they differ) . The member of the faculty will discuss ways to resolve issues and establish appropriate method to help the students.

Types of Action Research

Participatory Action Research

Levels of Participation

Levels of Participation in Action Research

STEPS IN ACTION RESEARCH

1. Identifying the RQ

The RQ should question on how to make something better, improve teachers’ practice, deal with a troublesome issue, or correct something that is not working.

Try to make it manageable. Avoid RQs which are too broad.

An example of RQ: “What might be a better way to teach prepositions?” (This RQ is more suitable than “Is inquiry teaching more appropriate than more traditional teaching?”)

2. Gathering the necessary information

Decide what sorts of data are needed and how to collect them.

All methodologies are possible to be used e.g. experiments, surveys, causal-comparative studies, observations, interviews, analysis of documents, ethnographies.

3. Analyzing and Interpreting the

Information The analysis is normally less complex and

detailed than other forms of research.

The data be examined in relation to resolving the RQ or problem for which the research was conducted is crucial at this stage.

(cont…)

In order to come up with good RQs that can help in analyzing the data, Stringer suggests:

1. ‘Why’ for the 1st question – establishes the general focus- reminds everyone the purpose of the study

2. The remaining questions ‘what’, ‘how’, ‘who’, ‘where’ & ‘when’ – enable participants to identify the associated influences

The purpose of RQs is to assess the data & clarify info that has been gathered (not to make quality judgments).

4. Developing an Action Plan

It is essential for the study to indicate clear directions for further work/research on the original problem or concern.

SIMILARITIES & DIFFERENCES BETWEEN

ACTION RESEARCH & FORMAL (QUANTITATIVE

& QUALITATIVE) RESEARCH

ACTION RESEARCH FORMAL RESEARCH

Systematic inquiry.

Goal is to solve problems of local concern.

Little formal training required to conduct such studies.

Intent to identify & correct problems of local concern.

Systematic inquiry.

Goal is to develop & test theories & to produce knowledge generalizable to wide population.

Considerable training required to conduct such studies.

Intent to investigate larger issues.

ACTION RESEARCH (cont.)

FORMAL RESEARCH (cont.)

Carried out by teacher or other local education professional.

Uses primarily teacher-developed instruments.

Less vigorous.

Usually value based.

Carried out by researcher who is not usually involved in local situation.

Uses primarily professionally developed instruments.

More vigorous.

Frequently value-neutral.

ACTION RESEARCH (cont.)

FORMAL RESEARCH (cont.)

Purposive samples selected.

Selective opinions of researcher often considered as data.

Generalizability is very limited.

Random samples (if possible) preferred.

Selective opinions of researcher never considered as data.

Generalizability often appropriate.

Advantages of Action Research

Can be done by almost any professional, in any type of school, at any grade level, to investigate about any kind of problem.

*Eg :done by an individual teacher in the

classroom.

Improve educational practice

-help to be more competent professionals

-help to be better in understanding and applying the research findings of others.

*Eg : Teacher can improve their ability to read,

interpret and critique more formal

research when appropriate.

Help teachers or other professionals to develop more effective ways to practice their craft when carrying out research.

-greater understanding as to how the results might apply to their own situation.

-rich source of ideas about how to modify and enrich own strategies and techniques.

Help teachers identify problems and issues systematically.

*Steps :

1)Define a problem precisely.

2)Identify and try out alternative ways to deal with the problem.

3)Evaluate the alternative ways.

4)Share with others.

Can build up a small community of research-oriented individuals within the school itself.

-The research involves individuals working together to solve the problem.

{help to reduce the feeling if isolation}

Analysis of the Study

Purpose :

Explore how integrating the Arts in social studies education can increase student participation and motivation, and impact student achievement.

Definition :

1)Student participation :

ratings made by the student teacher based on observations during each of 20 lessons.

2)Student achievement :

term grades

3)Art Activities : eg - pictures, music or drama

Hypotheses

- None is stated, but clearly implied that art-integrating activities will result in higher participation, motivation and achievement.

Sample :

- Four sixth-grade social studies classes taught by the same teacher.

- Number of students is not given.

Instrumentation

- Participation was assessed by student teacher ratings after 20 lessons given to each of four classes.

- Observation and conservation with students were reflective teaching journal.

- Achievement was assessed by term grades based on a “variety of assessment types”.

Procedures/Internal Validity

- The study design compares 14 “Arts” lessons with six “traditional” lessons.

*location, instrumentation, history, maturation, regression; all controlled by the design.

Data Analysis/ Results

-Descriptive statistics.

~The students liked ”Arts” lessons better and that this was accompanied by higher levels of rated participation.

(obviously motivated)