Educ 904 OTHER AR STUDIES Figure out criteria for excellent action research

Friday February 10

What the context of the study is What the researchers are trying to discover How did they do it The overall significance of it Then put on your critical researcher hats and then imagine you are person in the research: have I been told enough Are there other things the researcher could have done Do the results reflect the data collected What could have been done to make the study sounder, richer Could they have asked the question in a different way Could you see them infusing IE or Vygotsky to make it a better study It seems like with the examples in Koshy they are kind of hum drum Were the kinds of questions posed fun and imaginative as possible Did they ask questions that couldnt have been answered within the time frame

In groups share the project and figure out the general criteria to judge the project Appropriate graphics to represent the data (Edward TUFTE) A clear question Research ambiguous (not clear who they were working with, no concrete conclusion, unfinished, a lot of words, the action isnt clear, more their thoughts and feelings) Give a clear and accurate description and then tell me why. Its hard to make general statements instead make what worked for us was this in this case Concrete How does it impact ____ tomorrow Researchers must be honest about what did or didnt work Having student voices really points to the work Important for a study to admit its limitations outright Be more observations recorded Lit reviews act as support for arguments not necessarily breaking new ground but looking for a community of support Align yourself with past research projects The AR questions old ways of doing things Limit variables

Educ 904 Back as a class Mark made us regroup and generate a list of good and bad AR Good AR Strong literature review Closely connected to research question Used to interpret results Definition of A/R and return to it in a conclusion Philosophy, values Methodology Note: this is what Mark wants us to do in ours Participant voices It feels more real (at least when it is well done and they really have something to say They tell you who the participants are You get a sense of people as people Including demographics Description of participants It follows that you need to ask good questions so that it is more personal and interesting. Look for ways that provoke more personal response so there is more to think about. Voice of the researcher Personal reflection Openness/honesty about surprises, disappointments Organic Just because the research is over, were still thinking about it What well do for next time Continuing action/AR Variety of data Clear warrants for ideas Be selective of the data you choose to focus on You can include tables in the appendix but theres no need to be exhaustive in the body of the report What you are doing is telling a story There is a fine line between telling a story

Friday February 10

Weak AR Conclusions without data Preconceived conclusions Lack of context Poorly presented data Numerical data outsize graphs Poorly formatted Over-interpretation (when data is lacking, then you use some other kind of data to fill in the gaps, and try to squeeze more meaning or validity to it then it already has) For example a teacher giving their perspective on the students perspective A tendency to massage data to fit a story Stuck on original question Missed opportunities Too much (undigested) data unrelated to the argument

Educ 904 that is meaningful and one that is too complex Self-Correction, critique Changes in approach Inadvertently you humanize yourself to the reader and gain their support or sympathy

Friday February 10

Prepare yourself to be a judging panel Then present to another group After dinner break The IE Guide to AR If we had to put an AR guide, how could we implement IE in the design Sense of wonder IE in the Planning Stage sense of wonder o provide a definition of A/R and return to it in a conclusion o Philosophy, values o Methodology o How do we mediate that (in an imaginative way) for people who are coming into AR? Focus on problems should be balanced with the things you feel joy about Becoming really clear about what that looks like for you Get a better understanding of who you are as a teacher (being alert to things about yourself) How can I embody that readiness that will lead to more joyous moments that lead to areas in the research Are there specific challenges in the research How do I know where I am when Im ready for those things to happen An awareness/where and when is there a sense of well-being in the research for me Its not necessarily something that needs improvement (bring that into the research so it seems to more aha moments) sort of opposite to how Koshy presents it where theres lots of control, so that theres more chances for those great things to come in Would be helpful if a metaphor (like tight-rope walking) control and predictability, could be established 3

Educ 904

Friday February 10 Identify the happy moments not just on what you are trying to solve

Story o Voice of the researcher o Personal reflection o Openness honesty o Narrative of the researchers journey o Demographics of the students and community Sense of mystery o What drove you to the project o Holes in other research that is apparent to you o What will the research show you and shape your teaching afterwards o You dont know yourself as a researcher what is going to happen and this points to your ability to adapt/self-correct and critique Looking at sense of authority and truth o referencing other published works o Lit review Vivid mental imagery o Clear ideas o Have to be able to imagine yourself and a realistic version of what might happen Prediction Binary opposites (but this is built throughout their research) o Conceal/reveal o Perfect/flawed o Identity/nameless o Purposeful/purposeless o Colourful/drab o Stagnant/active o Improve/worsen o Impartial/biased Heroic qualities (inviting, impartiality, resourcefulness, attention to detail, collaboration, efficiency insight, stewardship, sense of community, self-improvement, life-long learning) Self-improvement Life-long learning

IE in the Data collection Stage Literate eye Definition of self how the students see themselves within the topic Collections and sets o Include a variety o Concise Extremes and limits 4

Educ 904

Friday February 10

Graphic organizers (real good ones, Emma approved) Binary opposites (purposeful, purposeless) Doesnt necessarily have to be on a data collection chart, you could take a picture its nontraditional and still quite meaningful Giving students a set of emoticons (may help in articulating their emotions if they do not have the language)

IE in the Write up Stage Literate eye Acknowledgement of general schemes Implement anomalies and general schemes Looking at sense of authority and truth (referencing other published works) Humour and joke (voice of the researcher)

Results (kind of along the lines of the write up) Implement anomalies and general schemes Looking at sense of authority and truth (referencing other published works) Humour and joke (voice of the researcher)

SATURDAYS PLAN Back to our AR studies Asking critical questions and loop holes Are they as imaginative as they could be Are they drawing on things youve been learning By the end you will be prepared to deal with things that ago wrong or unexpected things that arise

Educ 904 Cool Stuff I learned:

Friday February 10

Wordle (a visual representation of the words the come up frequently in the responses) To determine groupings and relations of words Came out of open-ended questions and these were the major themes that came out of their responses. Imaginative approach to data representation

Be wary of too many layers involved in the interpretations (example: an interpretation of an interpretation or a perception of what someone think is happening) Avoid A 3D form to represent 1D data