Bethlehem Moravian College

1. Bethlehem Moravian College Education Department Action Research Workshop Presentation Abrilene Johnston-Scott, EdD Research Coordinator September 11, 2014

2. Action Research • Any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers, principals, school counselors, or other stakeholders … • in the teaching/learning environment … • to gather information about how their particular schools operate, how they teach, and how well their students learn. • Research done by teachers for themselves

3. Goals of Action Research • To improve the lives of children • To learn about the craft of teaching

4. The Process of Action Research

5. Mills’ Dialectic Action Research Spiral

6. Ethics

7. Informed Consent • Ensures that research participants • enter the research of their free will • understand the study • are aware of any possible dangers • Intended to reduce the likelihood that participants will be exploited • Ongoing dialogue between participants and teacher-researcher • Written permissions if necessary

8. Freedom from Harm • Students must not be exposed to risk • anonymity: researcher does not know identity of participants • confidentiality: researcher does not release personally identifiable information • There is no place for deception in action research!

9. Parental Permission • Required if • students are underage • data identify students • Not required if • school personnel have “legitimate educational interest” • records are anonymous • Request must specify • what data may be disclosed • for what purposes • to whom

10. Deciding on an Area of Focus • Clarify your area of focus. • Do reconnaissance. • Review related literature.

11. Clarifying an Area of Focus • General idea: statement that links idea to action and refers to a situation to change or improve • Area of focus: explicit question or problem to investigate • involves teaching and learning • focuses on your own practice • within your locus of control • something you feel passionate about • something you want to change or improve

12. Reconnaissance • Preliminary information gathering • Taking time to reflect on your own beliefs • Taking time to understand the nature and context of your general idea • 3 forms • self-reflection • description • explanation

13. Self-reflection • Reflect on • theories that affect your practice • educational values you hold • historical contexts • how your work in schools fits into the larger context of schooling and society • historical contexts

14. Descriptive Activities • What evidence do you have that this is a problem? • Which students are affected? • How is the content currently taught?

15. Explanatory Activities • Develop a hypothesis • focus on the why • try to account for critical factors that have an impact on the general idea

16. Review of Related Literature • Systematically identifying, locating, analyzing documents related to the topic/area of focus • major themes • promising practices

17. Data Collection Techniques

18. Data Collection • Largely determined by the nature of the problem • qualitative • quantitative • mixed method

19. Qualitative Data Collection Techniques

20. Using and Making Records • Archival documents • attendance and retention rates • discipline referrals • standardized test scores • Journals • Maps, video and audio recordings, photos, film • Dictation software • Other artifacts

21. Quantitative Data Collection Techniques • Teacher-made tests • Standardized tests • School-generated report cards • Questionnaires • etc

22. Triangulation • Use of multiple sources of data • “multi-instrument” approach

23. Triangulation Matrix

24. Realigning Your Focus • Other directions appear more interesting, relevant, or problematic • That’s fine — • Action research is intimate, open-ended, unforeseen • Action research is done to benefit you and the students

25. Validity • Degree to which data collection methods measure what they are supposed to measure

26. Reliability • Degree to which a test consistently measures whatever it measures • expressed numerically, usually as coefficient • high coefficient (near 1.00) indicates high reliability • no test is perfectly reliable

27. Reliability in Qualitative Action Research • Degree to which data would be consistently collected • same techniques utilized repeatedly • same techniques used by different researchers

28. Generalizability • Degree to which behavior of one group can be used to explain the behavior of a wider group • Generalizability is not the goal of action research. Instead, it is to: • understand what is happening in your school or classroom • determine how to improve things in that context

29. Data Analysis and Interpretation

30. Ongoing Analysis & Reflection • Is your research question still answerable and worth answering? • Are your data collection techniques catching the kind of data you want and filtering out unwanted data? • Conduct interim analysis • Avoid premature action

31. Analysis & Interpretation • Data analysis • summary of data • technique determined by type of data • Data interpretation • finding meaning in the data

32. Organizing Qualitative Data • Reading/Memoing • record initial thoughts • Describing • include context, actions, interactions • Classifying • develop themes

33. Data Analysis Techniques • Identify themes • work inductively • Code surveys, interviews, questionnaires • try to find patterns, meaning • Analyze interviews • annotate and identify themes • Ask key questions

34. Data Analysis Techniques • Concept map

35. Data Analysis Techniques • Display findings • matrixes, charts, concept maps, graphs, figures, audiovisual media • State what’s missing • avoid makingunwarranted assertions

36. Analyzing & InterpretingQuantitative Data • Descriptive statistics • shorthand way of giving lots of information about a range of numbers

37. Analyzing & InterpretingQuantitative Data • Descriptive statistics • central tendency • mean (average) • median (middle) • mode (most frequent) • variability • standard deviation (spread)

38. Qualitative Data Interpretation • Extend the analysis • raise questions • note implications that might be drawn, without actually drawing them • Connect findings with personal experience • Seek advice of “critical” friends • take time to build relationships

39. Qualitative Data Interpretation • Contextualize findings in literature • Turn to theory • link to broader issues • provide rationale, sense of meaning

40. Action Planning for Educational Change

41. Developing Action Plans • Reflect: “Based on what I have learned from this investigation, what should I do now?”

42. Steps to Action • Summarizing findings • Recommending action • Determining responsibilities • Sharing findings with colleagues • Ongoing monitoring (data collection) • Creating timeline • Developing resources

43. Levels of Action Planning • Individual • curriculum development, implementation • instructional & assessment strategies • classroom management strategies/plans • community involvement • Team • teachers, administrators, parents • Schoolwide

44. Action Should Be Ongoing • Taking action is a regular part of teaching • based on formative feedback • often intuitive and informal

45. Reflection • What were the intended and unintended effects of your actions? • What educational issues arise from what you have learned about your practice?

46. Challenges Facing Teacher Researchers • Lack of resources • Resistance to change • Reluctance to interfere with others’ professional practices • Reluctance to admit difficult truths • Finding a forum to share what you learned • Making time for action research

47. Writing Up Action Research

48. Format and Style • Format: general pattern of organization and arrangement • Style: rules of grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and word processing

49. APA Style Manual • Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association • most widely accepted by colleges, universities, journals

50. Outline, Action Research Report • Area-of-focus statement • Related literature • Definition of variables • Research questions • Description of intervention or innovation