GRDG690 Action Research: Literacy

1. GRDG690Action Research: Literacy Week 3: Methods, Data Collection & Ethics Gloria E. Jacobs, Ph.D.

2. Agenda • Ethics • Methods & Data Collection • Writing the methods section • Context of the study • Participants • Data collection methods • Ensuring trustworthiness

3. Ethics • Respect for Persons • Informed consent/ parental permission/ child assent • Trust • Anonymity & confidentiality • Beneficence • Do no harm • Never deceive your participants • Justice • The research will help the people with whom you are working • Your action research ethics should reflect the principles of your teaching • Data should reflect what really happened

4. Permissions – Keep it Simple • Parental permissions from any students you’ll be working with. • Consent from any adults you’ll be interviewing or observing • Assent from children you’re working with. Verbal assent is ok with young children. A written assent form is good for older children • Sample consent/permission/assent letters are online.

5. Take Online Ethics Course • Link online • Email your confirmation number to me • Why we worry about ethics • History of ethical issues in research • Main concerns of research review boards

6. Methods: Issues Quantitative/Experimental Qualitative/Action Research • Triangulation • Validity • Reliability • Generalizability • Bias • Triangulation • Credibility • Transferability • Dependability • Confirmability • Transparency (being candid) • Guba’s approach: See page 85-87

7. Wolcott’s Approach (p. 92) • Talk little/listen a lot • Record observations accurately • Start writing early • Show, don’t tell • Report fully (do not be afraid of that which doesn’t fit) • Be candid – what biases do you have? • Seek feedback – use your critical colleagues

8. Methods: Data Collection • Enquiring • Interviewing • Informal • Formal • Email • Focus Groups • Questionnaires • Take notes during interviews and focus group meetings even if recording Experiencing • Observation • Participant Observation • Active • Privileged • Passive • Field Notes • How to observe • What to take notes on • Anecdotal record forms (p. 63) Examination • Journals (teacher & student) • Maps • Video recordings • Audio recordings • Photos • Artifacts (district data, student work, test results, reading inventories)

9. Organizing your data • Date / Time • Location • Participant names & demographic information • Code names

10. Planning Your Research • Identifying Data Collection Techniques (Box 3-4 (p. 73) • How will you be experiencing, enquiring, and examining • Identifying Data Sources: Mills figure 3-1 (p. 57) • Strive for multiple forms of data for each subquestion • Getting specific about data sources Mills box 3-3 (p. 72) • Identify as many of the actual documents you’ll be collecting

11. Planning Your Research II • How will you ensure the validity of your research? (Mills, Box 4-1, p. 87).

12. Sample Action Research Cycle • Based on your reading, select a method you would like to learn more about. • Try it in your teaching • Observe, keep field notes, collect student work, interview student(s) about their experience • Analyze the data – How did the method impact student learning? • Adjust the method based on what you learned from the analysis • Go back to step 2 • Do this cycle at least three times • Analyze all the data and determine the outcomes

13. Sample Passive Observer Action Research Cycle • Identify a teacher or teachers who use the method you are interested in (based on your reading) • Observe them use the method and take field notes • Collect samples of student work • Interview the teacher(s) about what they did • Interview the student(s) about their learning • Analyze the data to see what emerges. • Share what you learned with the teacher and get their feedback • Repeat with the same method or different methods as appropriate for your question.

14. Contents of Methods Section • Write in future tense – you will then change it after you are done to reflect what you really did • Context • Describe the school or location • Participants • Describe each participant (age, race/ethnicity, gender, years of teaching, reading level, etc.) • Your role (as teacher, observer, etc.) • Method • What you are going to do (did) • Credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability • Be specific. • Data Collection • What tools did you use to collect data (active observation, field notes, interviews (how many), questionnaires (how many), artifacts, video recording etc. • If you are using interviews and questionnaires, include copies of the questions in your appendices • Exemplar and template available online

15. Next Class • Complete online ethics course (link on Blackboard) • Email the certificate number to me. • Draft of Methods section due 2/24 or 2/25 (no class) • Begin data collection as soon as you have the consents/permissions • As you are collecting data, revise your theoretical framework and email it to me when you are ready. • Continue working on your literature review, methods as necessary (after I review it). Email it to me when you are ready. • 3/17 or 3/18 Class meeting – Data Analysis • Read Mills 6 & 8 • Bring whatever data you have to class