ActionResearch?

Anyonecan!

Yourguidetoactionresearch

Whatisactionresearch?
Have you tried a new strategy in your classroom lately? Have you planned your lessons differently?Areyoulookingforanalternativeapproachtodealingwithaprobleminyour classroom? If your answer to any of these questions is Yes, youre already on the way to doing action research. By formalising the process through careful planning, acting and evaluating,andbydoingeffectiveresearch,youcanelevatesimplechangestothelevelof worthwhileandeffectiveactionresearch. Action research is a systematic process that allows you to try out different ways of doing thingsinyourclassroomorinyourschool,untilyoufindsomethingthatreallyworksforyou andforyourstudents.

WhyshouldIdoactionresearch?
Asateacher,youhaveprobablycomeacrosscurriculummaterialorreportsthathavebeen developed by a central education department that just dont work well in your particular schoolorinyourownclassroom.Researchmayhavebeendoneincompilingthematerial, butthefinalproductisstandardisedandtoobroadtobeofuseinyourparticularsituation. Or perhaps youve undertaken some professional development and picked up some tips, onlytofindthattheydidntworkforyouoryourstudents.Hereshowactionresearchcan help: Actionresearchissituationspecific:itenablesyoutoexamineyourownsituation. Itisaparticipatoryprocessandallowsforinputfromallthoseinvolved. It is collaborative. You work with colleagues and other participants to answer your researchquestion. Itallowsforanongoingprocessofselfevaluationwhereyouappraiseyourselfandyour ownperformance. It assumes that you already have a great deal of professional knowledge and can continuetodevelopthisknowledgeandimproveyourpractice.

WherewillIfindthetime?
Teaching is hard work. Meeting curriculum requirements, keeping up with changes in technologyinclassrooms,teachingandpreparingnewandexcitinglessons,marking,talking to parents, coaching sport and supervising extramural activities the list is a long one. Increasingly,teachersarealsoexpectedtoabsorbmoreoftheparentalandcounsellingrole intheirboyslives. Actionresearchisntjustsomethingtoaddtoyourload.Itmaytakealittletimetoorganise and evaluate, but by allowing you to take control and make changes that enable best practice,thebenefitsfaroutweighthecosts.
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Howdoesactionresearchwork?

Look Think Act Reflect

StepOne:Identifyanissueandbegintoformulateyourquestion
Choose something that is important to you as a teacher: for example, look at some of your own teachingmethodsoratthewayyourboyslearn.Startwithasimple,manageableprojectyoumay notbeabletochangeeverythingatonce,butyoucanimproveasmallpart. Startoffwithaquestion,likeWhydotheboysinmyclass...?Thinkabouthowyoucoulddevelop thatquestionintosomethingwhichincludesanintervention,likeWhathappenswhenI...?

StepTwo:Findoutmoreabouttheissue:read,research,reflect!
Do research to find out about your topic. Read books, journals and other research studies and papers.Whenyoustart,trytouseatleastthreesources.Youllfindmoreandmorereferencesas yougoalong.Remembertokeepreading:yourresearchisnotconfinedtoonepartofthestudy itsanintegralandongoingpartofit. Maintainfocuswhileyouresearchsoyourprojectdoesntbecomeunmanageable.Youmayfindthat you need to revisit your question and make changes, or even change your direction to work on somethingmoreinteresting.

StepThree:Makechangesortryoutyournewidea
Whatareyougoingtodo?Makethechangeortryoutyournewideainyourclassroom.Howwill you measure your results? You can use a wide variety of data collection methods: interviews, questionnaires,observation,journalsandmanymore. Your research must be systematic and rigorous to your give your work credibility. You need to providesoundevidencethatyouarentjustmakingitallup!Checkthatwhatyouaredoingisreally workingandthatyourprojectstaysfocussed.

StepFour:Evaluateandreflect
Lookattheinformationyouvecollectedandanalyseit.Howcanyoubesurethatyourconclusions arefairandaccurate?Involveacriticalfriendsomeonewhoseopinionyoureallyvalue.Heorshe canhelpyoulookatyourworkdifferently.Consultcolleaguesoryourvalidationgrouptohelpyou checkyourdataandmakejudgementsaboutyourreport.

StepFive:Improveoramendyourpractice
Howwillyoudothingsdifferently?Whathaveyoulearnedfromtheproject?Rememberthataction research is empowering it allows you to change the way you teach. You can continue to make changesallthetime,andcontinuetogrowasaprofessional. Have your questions been answered? Perhaps other issues have emerged that you need to examine? Were the results what you expected? How will you share your results? Could they be usefultoothersinyourschool/community/theworld?Presentyourfindingstoothersyoucangive atalk,doapresentationataconference,publishapaperorparticipateinonlineteacherforums. Remember:TheresultisnotaboutIvedonethatorImadethathappen.JeanMcNiff(2002)sums uptheprocesslikethis:

IcanshowthatcertainchangestookplaceasIchangedmypractice, particularlyinmyself,anddifferentrelationshipsevolved.

How to set out a research proposal

Actionresearchprojecttitle: Researchquestion:

subquestions

Researchrationale/background:

Whatistheidentifiedneedthatthisprojectwilladdress?

Keyreadings:

Readingsthathaveinformedtheresearchproposal;atthisstageitneednotbeafullblown literaturereview.

Researchmethodology:

researchapproach(qualitative,quantitative,mixedmethod) sample datacollectionmethods dataanalysismethods validityandreliabilitychecks(i.e.howwillyouensurethatyourdataisvalidandreliable?)

Reporting:

If you intend to publish your findings, a report of 3000 5000 words (excluding Reference List)isappropriate.

Keyprojectactivitieswithtimeline:

Thisisa'todo'listwithtimeline,e.g.sendoutpermissionletters;haveinitialmeetingwith participantstooutlineproject,etc.

Ethicalconsiderations:

timeinvolvedforparticipants anonymityconsiderations(surveys,reporting,etc) permissions(toparticipate,interview,takephotos,video) considerationofanydisadvantageassociatedwiththeresearch

Budget:

Costsinvolved(travel,stationery,helpwithdatacollection) 5

Howtopublishyouractionresearchreport
Thefollowingisasuggestionforyourreportformat.

Introduction
Includehere: Anoverviewofyourresearch(yourresearchtopic,yourrationaleforundertakingresearchin thisareaandabriefdiscussionofanyrelevantliteratureonyourtopic).Youmay,ifyouwish, includetheliteraturereviewasaseparatesection. Yourresearchquestionandanysubquestions Theresearchcontext(abriefdescriptionofyourschoolethosandcharacter) Theresearchsample

Researchplan
Includehere: adescriptionofyouraction yourapproach(qualitative,quantitative,mixedmethod) datacollectiontechniques methodsofanalysis

Results:Analysisanddiscussion
yourkeyfindings discussionofyourfindingsintermsoftheresearchquestion

Conclusion
Asummaryofyourfindingsintermsoftheresearchquestion

Implicationsforpractice
Reflectonhowyourfindingswillcontributetoachangeinpracticeforyou,yourcolleagues andyourschool. Considerhowyourfindingswillinfluencethenextcycleofactionresearch.

HowdoIfindoutmore?
Readingsinactionresearch
GraduateSchoolofEducation,GeorgeMasonUniversity2007,Teacherresearch,viewed1June 2009,<http://gse.gmu.edu/research/tr/>. JohnHopkinsUniversity&MorganStateUniversityn.d.,Actionresearch,viewed1June2009, <http://www.sitesupport.org/actionresearch/index.html>. Howard,J&Eckhardt,S2005,Actionresearch:Aguideforlibrarymediaspecialists,Linworth, Worthington,Ohio. InternationalBoysSchoolsCoalition2009,Actionresearchinboysschools,viewed1June2009, <http://www.theibsc.org/page.cfm?p=285> McNiff,J2002,Actionresearchforprofessionaldevelopment:Conciseadvicefornewaction researcher,viewed1June2009,<http://www.jeanmcniff.com/booklet1.html>. Mertler,C2006,Actionresearch:Teachersasactionresearchersintheclassroom,Sage,Thousand Oaks,CA. Mills,G2003,ActionResearch:AGuidefortheteacherresearcher,2ndedn,PrenticeHall,Upper SaddleRiver,N.J. NSWDepartmentofEducationandTraining2008,Actionresearch,viewed1June2009, <https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/proflearn/research/actres.htm> Stringer,E2004,Actionresearchineducation,Pearson,UpperSaddleRiver,N.J. ThisbookletwasdrawnupbythecoordinatorsoftheIBSCGlobalActionResearchProject DiLaycockdi.laycock@gmail.comand MargotLonglongma@stjohnscollege.co.za Feelfreetocontactusifyoudlikemoreinformation. 7