Action Research Fundamentals I

1. Action Research Fundamentals I Mark Nivan Singh T4A414 marknivan@sp.edu.sg

2. The Agenda for Today By the end of this workshop, you will be to: • Identify the components of Action Research • Appreciate the importance of action research • Brainstorm some preliminary ideas for your action research project

3. Read This Article • Read the article “Teacher Research leads to learning” by NSDC • We will have a discussion on it!

4. PLUS MINUS INTERESTING Let’s Start with Your Inputs

5. The Link Between Research and Practice • Improvement in Classroom Teaching • Classroom Management • Assessment Reference: http://www.nsdc.org

6. Case Studies on AR • Consider the case studies on Action Research • Have a discussion with your group on what you found interesting / disturbing • Share with the bigger group your thoughts and concerns

7. What is Action Research • Particular way of researching your own learning • Also known as Practitioner Research or Self-reflective Practice • More than just doing activities • Involves data gathering, reflection on the action as it is presented, generating evidence and making claims

8. “a form of collective, self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own social or educational practices as well as their understanding of these practices and the situations in which these practices are carried out.” Kemmis and McTaggart (1988)

9. The Approach We Will Take • AR as cyclical, dynamic, and collaborative process • Change in practice leading to social change through cycles of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting • When you engage others in the process of inquiry, with the intent of solving a problem related to educational work is action research

10. Our Approach • Change – Improving practices and behaviours by changing them • Reflection – People thinking, reflecting and/or theorizing about their own practices, behaviours and situations • Participation – People changing their own practices and behaviours, not those of others • Inclusion – Starting with the agendas and perspectives of the least powerful, widening the circle to include all those affected by the problem

11. Our Approach (cont) • Sharing – People sharing their perspectives with others • Understanding – Achieving clarity of understanding of the different perspectives and experiences of all involved • Repetition – Repeating cycles of research activity leading toward solution to a problem • Practice – Testing emerging understandings by using them as the basis for changing practices or constructing new practices • Community – Works toward the development/building of a learning community.

12. Competencies of a Researcher Plan and executeresearch • Formulatehypothesis • Gather and Analyse data • Use data collection approaches (surveys, observations, interview etc, literature research ie use available data) • Understand and apply statistical methods • Addressresearch ethics • Maintainresearchintegrity Present results of research

13. Action Research Helix Look Look Look Act Act Act Think Think Think

14. RESEARCH DESIGN INITIATING A STUDY Setting the stage Focusing and framing Literature review Sources of information Ethics Validity DATA GATHERING CAPTURING STAKEHOLDER EXPERIENCES AND PERSPECTIVES Interviewing Observing Artifact review Literature review DATA ANALYSIS IDENTIFYING KEY FEATURES OF EXPERIENCE Analyzing epiphanies and illuminative experiences Categorizing and coding Enhancing analysis Constructing category systems COMMUNICATION WRITING REPORTS Reports Ethnographies Biographies PRESENTATION AND PERFORMANCE Presentations Drama Poetry Video Multimedia ACTION CREATING SOLUTIONS Solving problems Classroom practices Curriculumdevelopment Evaluation Family and community School plans Action Research Basic Research

15. Clearing Up Misconceptions • All AR must have pre and post tests • Quantitative research is far more superior to qualitative research • It is easier to conduct qualitative research • It is extremely hard to do Action Research • Action Research is not theoretically based and hence not rigorous

16. Action Research vs Traditional Research • Improvement vs Explanation • Development vs Knowledge • Perspectives vs Experimentation • Local vs Universal

17. Some Ways To Select Topics • Personal experience • Curiosity • State of knowledge in a field • Solving a problem • Socially hot topics • Personal values • Everyday life

18. The 6 Ps of Action Research Dr Ho Boon Tiong who is a consultant on Action Research, shares his vision of AR. • Passion • Problem • Plan • Practice • Product • Present

19. Research Question • Feasible • Clear • Significant • Ethical Your aim is not just to answer a question, but to pose and solve a problem that others also think is worth solving.

20. Activity – My Research Question I am studying ________________ because _________________ so that ___________________________________________________________________________________________________

21. Framing The Study • Problem • Participants • Place • Time • Scope

22. Key Elements of an Abstract • The problem under investigation • The participants or subjects, specifying pertinent characteristics, such as number, type, age, and sex • The experimental method, including the apparatus, data gathering procedure and complete test names • The findings, including statistical significance levels • The conclusions and the implications or applications

23. Action Research Process/Cycle Identify Issue In Practice that affects teaching/learning in undesirable way • Reflect on Practices/Action – (Reflective Practice) • Carry out Literature Research • Ask questions/conduct research to gather more info • about an issue/problem that affects teaching and learning • State plausible hypothesis of issue/problem • Carry out Experiment • - Plan and carry out intervention process, • - Collect data to systematically study the effects of the intervention • - Analyse and evaluate the information gathered • Refine/Revise Practice • Revise/refine intervention (if necessary) • Adopt and incorporate intervention as part of practice Identify Issue/ Problem Review/restate hypothesis Carry out literature research to verify hypothesis State Preliminary hypothesis Does data collected support hypothesis ? Verify Issue/ Problem Yes No Plan and carry out intervention Conduct Research Gather and analyse data Interpret findings Adopt Intervention Refine and adopt intervention

24. Understanding the Teaching/Learning Process What happens when we teach/lecture? Input Process Output/ Product Demonstrate Lecture Guide/coach Instruct Read Write Think Talk Listen Act Feel Compare what they have learnt with what they know Assimilate/accommodate new learning Apply new learning in another situation Researches Curriculum Syllabuses References Textbooks Experiences Observations • Thro’ activities • listen • discussions • solve problems • do worksheets • carry out projects • Perform experiments WHERE does learning take place? How does learning take place? Input Process Output/ Product Read Write Think Talk Listen Act Feel • A deeper understanding of the content of the lesson • An ability to apply the new learning in another situation

25. Managing the Curriculum to facilitate Effective Learning Implement, monitor and assess student learning • Carry out the activities planned • Use the resources prepared • Monitor the learning of students • Assess the learning of students using the assessment tool prepared • Gather information on • how well activities were implemented eg active student involvement • How useful resources were eg clarity, interest etc • How students reacted to the activities and resources Evaluate, Review and Refine • Decide on how well goals/LOs were achieved • Decide on how effective activities and resources were in terms of facilitating the attainment of goals/LOs • Explore alternative activities and resources that can be used or implemented • Consider alternative/ additional goals/LOs to work towards Plan and develop teaching and learning resources Decide on goals/LOs to achieve Decide on how goals/LOs are to be achieved Design Learning activities that facilitate attainment of goals/LOs Research on what and how others have done Study alternative methodologies and resources Produce the resources to support the implementation of the activities eg. lab instructions, assignment worksheets, cases, notes, ppt Pilot activities and resources Decide on how to know if outcomes are achieved Select assessment mode and format Produce the assessment tool Decide on how the curriculum is to be evaluated eg pass rate, quality grades, student feedback in terms of learning, process of learning/ learning journey, Design/produce the evaluation tool Learning activities • Integrated in terms of experiences -cognitive, physical and emotional • Integrated in terms of discipline/ knowledge • Active involvement • Authentic – real world context • Resources • Clarity of language • Adequacy of information/data for students to perform required activities • Ease of access to resources & information • Assessment /Evaluation • Valid –closely related to the goals/LOs • Reliable • Formative vs summative • Adequacy ie. Whether all critical learning are measured • Authentic ie tasks should be consistent with what is expected in the real world • Rubrics to specify the different levels of attainment Goals/learning outcomes • include knowledge, skills, values and attitudes • include graduate attributes • Student-centred

26. Final Activity – Report Elements • Brainstorm with your group members and go online and come up with a template for you to present your study.

27. Useful Resources • For an FAQ http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/arfaq.html • Educating As Inquiry – An Action Research Site http://www.lupinworks.com/ar/ • AR Resource Site http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arhome.html • More AR Projects http://cadres.pepperdine.edu/ccar/projects.school.html

28. The End!!

29. Action Research Fundamentals II

30. Objectives of the Session By the end of this session, you will be able to: • Describe the different quantitative research designs • Describe the different qualitative research designs • Select an appropriate research methodology for your AR project

31. Re-Cap • The 6 Ps of Action Research • How to choose a topic

32. Research Design • Building a Preliminary Picture: Identifying the research problem and the people affected by or having an effect on the problem • Focusing: Refining the statement of the research problem, the research question, and research objectives • Framing: Establishing the scope of the inquiry • Preliminary Literature Review • Sampling: Procedures for identifying project participants

33. Research Design • Sources of information/data: Identifying stakeholding groups, sites and settings, statistical records, and other sources of documentary information providing input to the study • Form of the information: interview transcripts, observational records etc • Data gathering procedures: How information will be gathered • Data Analysis: Ways of distilling information to identify key features, concepts, meanings • Ethics: No harm is done to pp • Validity: Procedures used to enhance the research

34. Qualitative or Quantitative? • The Methodology you choose will depend on your research question and what is it that you are trying to find out.

35. Different Quantitative Research Designs • One group pretest-posttest design • Static Group Comparison Design • Randomised Posttest only control group design • Randomised Pretest-Posttest control group design

36. Qualitative Methods • Focus Groups • One to One Interviews • Opinion Surveys

37. Tips for Good Interviews • Pause to listen attentively • Paraphrase • Probe • Pay attention to non verbal cues • Facilitative Tools

38. Tips for Good Questions Fowler (1984) pointed out for practical standards that all survey questions should meet: • Is this question that can be asked exactly the way it is written? • Is this a question that will mean the same thing to everyone? • Is this a question that people can answer? • Is this a question that people will be willing to answer, given the data collection procedure

39. Tips for Good Questions II • Be sure that the question is unambiguous • Keep the focus as simple as possible • Keep the questions short • Use common language • Avoid the use of terms that might bias responses • Avoid leading questions • Avoid double negatives • Pretest the questionnaire • Format is important

40. Activity – Your Choice • What effect will introducing the Presentation rubric have on the quality and variety of presentations? • How can using technology throughout the entire writing process improve the traits of voice, word choice, and sentence fluency? • How does the environment (lighting, location, noise) affect the time on task and quality of student learning? • If I set up community circle time to listen to students describe their learning experiences in my classroom, in what ways, if any, will the information about their learning processes help me redesign the way I teach?

41. Activity – Your Choice II • Using WEB 2.0 tools in the lesson • Using Active learning strategies in the classroom • Death by Powerpoint - Is it all just powerpoint in the lectures • Rapport building with students - hits and misses • Does using the PBL method improve students' learning of Business Law • Does using the PBL method of teaching increase students' motivation in learning Business Law? • What are the best methods of getting students to attend 8am lessons • What do the youths of today value?

42. How Important is Literature Review in AR? • Must I do a Literature review? • Where can I get such sources?

43. Practical Issues • Stay small, stay focused • Identify a clear research question • Be realistic about what you can do; also be aware that wider change begins with you • Plan carefully • Set realistic timescale • Involve others • Ensure good ethical practice • Concentrate on learning, not on outcomes of action • The focus of the research is YOU, in company of others Adapted from Dr. Ho Boon Tiong

44. Where do We Go From Here? • You will be paired with an Education Advisor who will be helping you complete your reports. • A final report with your recommendations and learning needs to submitted with your portfolio.

45. Thank You!!!