Action research in education

Succinct definition of action research appears in the workshop materials we use at the institute for the study of inquiry in education. That definition states that action research is a disciplined process of inquiry conducted by and for those taking the action. The primary reason for engaging in action research is to assist the “actor” in improving and/or refining his or her tioners who engage in action research inevitably find it to be an empowering experience. Relevance is guaranteed because the focus of each research project is determined by the researchers, who are also the primary consumers of the s even more important is the fact that action research helps educators be more effective at what they care most about—their teaching and the development of their students. When teachers have convincing evidence that their work has made a real difference in their students' lives, the countless hours and endless efforts of teaching seem action research ional action research can be engaged in by a single teacher, by a group of colleagues who share an interest in a common problem, or by the entire faculty of a school. These seven steps, which become an endless cycle for the inquiring teacher, are the following:Identifying research informed 1—selecting a action research process begins with serious reflection directed toward identifying a topic or topics worthy of a busy teacher's time. Selecting a focus begins with the teacher researcher or the team of action researchers asking: what element(s) of our practice or what aspect of student learning do we wish to investigate? 2—clarifying second step involves identifying the values, beliefs, and theoretical perspectives the researchers hold relating to their focus. For example, if teachers are concerned about increasing responsible classroom behavior, it will be helpful for them to begin by clarifying which approach—using punishments and rewards, allowing students to experience the natural consequences of their behaviors, or some other strategy—they feel will work best in helping students acquire responsible classroom behavior 3—identifying research a focus area has been selected and the researcher's perspectives and beliefs about that focus have been clarified, the next step is to generate a set of personally meaningful research questions to guide the 4—collecting sional educators always want their instructional decisions to be based on the best possible data. Action researchers can accomplish this by making sure that the data used to justify their actions are valid (meaning the information represents what the researchers say it does) and reliable (meaning the researchers are confident about the accuracy of their data). Lastly, before data are used to make teaching decisions, teachers must be confident that the lessons drawn from the data align with any unique characteristics of their classroom or ensure reasonable validity and reliability, action researchers should avoid relying on any single source of data. Most teacher researchers use a process called triangulation to enhance the validity and reliability of their findings.

Individual action research

Observing a phenomenon through multiple “windows” can help a single researcher compare and contrast what is being seen through a variety of planning instruction, teachers want the techniques they choose to be appropriate for the unique qualities of their students. All teachers have had the experience of implementing a “research-proven” strategy only to have it fail with their students. The ability of the action research process to satisfy an educator's need for “fit” may be its most powerful attribute. Because the data being collected come from the very students and teachers who are engaged with the treatment, the relevance of the findings is the harried and overworked teacher, “data collection” can appear to be the most intimidating aspect of the entire seven-step action research process. The key to managing triangulated data collection is, first, to be effective and efficient in collecting the material that is already swirling around the classroom, and, second, to identify other sources of data that might be effectively surfaced with tests, classroom discussions, or 5—analyzing gh data analysis often brings to mind the use of complex statistical calculations, this is rarely the case for the action researcher. A number of relatively user-friendly procedures can help a practitioner identify the trends and patterns in action research data. During this portion of the seven-step process, teacher researchers will methodically sort, sift, rank, and examine their data to answer two generic questions:What is the story told by these data? Answering these two questions, the teacher researcher can acquire a better understanding of the phenomenon under investigation and as a result can end up producing grounded theory regarding what might be done to improve the 6—reporting is often said that teaching is a lonely endeavor. The loneliness of teaching is unfortunate not only because of its inefficiency, but also because when dealing with complex problems the wisdom of several minds is inevitably better than sad history of teacher isolation may explain why the very act of reporting on their action research has proven so powerful for both the researchers and their colleagues. The reporting of action research most often occurs in informal settings that are far less intimidating than the venues where scholarly research has traditionally been shared. Faculty meetings, brown bag lunch seminars, and teacher conferences are among the most common venues for sharing action research with peers. However, each year more and more teacher researchers are writing up their work for publication or to help fulfill requirements in graduate programs.

Action research cycle in education

Regardless of which venue or technique educators select for reporting on research, the simple knowledge that they are making a contribution to a collective knowledge base regarding teaching and learning frequently proves to be among the most rewarding aspects of this 7—taking informed informed action, or “action planning,” the last step in the action research process, is very familiar to most teachers. When teachers write lesson plans or develop academic programs, they are engaged in the action planning process. What makes action planning particularly satisfying for the teacher researcher is that with each piece of data uncovered (about teaching or student learning) the educator will feel greater confidence in the wisdom of the next steps. Although all teaching can be classified as trial and error, action researchers find that the research process liberates them from continuously repeating their past mistakes. More important, with each refinement of practice, action researchers gain valid and reliable data on their developing purposes for action stated earlier, action research can be engaged in by an individual teacher, a collaborative group of colleagues sharing a common concern, or an entire school faculty. These three different approaches to organizing for research serve three compatible, yet distinct, purposes:Building the reflective progress on schoolwide ng professional ng the reflective individual teachers make a personal commitment to systematically collect data on their work, they are embarking on a process that will foster continuous growth and development. In this way, the individual teachers conducting action research are making continuous progress in developing their strengths as reflective progress on schoolwide singly, schools are focusing on strengthening themselves and their programs through the development of common focuses and a strong sense of esprit de corps. As a result, when a faculty chooses to focus on one issue and all the teachers elect to enthusiastically participate in action research on that issue, significant progress on the schoolwide priorities cannot help but ng professional an entire faculty will share a commitment to student development, yet the group finds itself unable to adopt a single common focus for action research. However, like the doctors at the medical center, the teachers in a “quality” school may well differ on which specific aspects of the shared vision they are most motivated to pursue at any point in s whose faculties cannot agree on a single research focus can still use action research as a tool to help transform themselves into a learning organization. It is common practice in a quality medical center for physicians to engage in independent, even idiosyncratic, research agendas. However, it is also common for medical researchers to share the findings obtained from their research with colleagues (even those engaged in other specialties). In these schools, multiple action research inquiries occur simultaneously, and no one is held captive to another's priority, yet everyone knows that all the work ultimately will be shared and will consequently contribute to organizational action research now?

About action research

Ever there were a time and a strategy that were right for each other, the time is now and the strategy is action research! With the exploding knowledge base on teaching and learning and the heightened demands on teachers to help all children achieve mastery of meaningful objectives, the inadequacy of the blue-collar model for teaching is becoming much the teachers in a school begin conducting action research, their workplace begins to take on more of the flavor of the workplaces of other professionals. Worse still, the respect that society had traditionally placed upon public school teachers is eroding, as teacher bashing and attacks on the very value of a public education are becoming a regular part of the political landscape. Nevertheless, great personal satisfaction comes from playing a role in creating successful solutions to continually changing puzzles. Specifically, most education departments and ministries have declared that they expect the standards to be rigorous and meaningful, and that they expect all students to meet the standards at the mastery stakes in the standards movement are high. For this reason, it is imperative that these 21st century pioneers, our classroom teachers, conduct the research on “standards attainment” the time is right for action research. The teachers, schools, and school systems that seize this opportunity and begin investing in the power of inquiry will find that they are re-creating the professional practice of education in their locale as a meaningful and rewarding pursuit. Courses by r sional college icates of transferable credit & get your degree degrees by ical and ications and ry arts and l arts and ic and repair l and health ortation and and performing a degree that fits your schools by degree degree raduate schools by sity video counseling & job interviewing tip networking ching careers info by outlook by & career research : action research in education: methods & research is often used in the field of education. The following lesson provides two examples of action research in the field of education, methods of conducting action research and a quiz to assess your understanding of the & worksheet - action research in short & fun your free trial error occurred trying to load this refreshing the page, or contact customer must create an account to continue er for a free you a student or a teacher? Definition & ing community involvement in linary problems in the classroom: types & reading comprehension impacts subject matter t map: definition & ng methods for remedial trip: definition & ing student writing: examples, tools & psychology: help and growth and development: tutoring 102: substance growth and development: homework help psychology: study guide & test therapy approaches: help & ve psychology study social psychology: study guide & test logy 105: research methods in uction to psychology: homework help uction to psychology: tutoring ional psychology: homework help ional psychology: tutoring psychology: tutoring ch methods in psychology: help and psychology: homework help growth and development: help and al psychology: help and logy 108: psychology of adulthood and ch methods in psychology: homework help research is often used in the field of education. The following lesson provides two examples of action research in the field of education, methods of conducting action research and a quiz to assess your understanding of the is action research? Each of these ways is used in various professional fields, including psychology, sociology, social work, medicine, nursing, education and so on.

What is action research in education

However, the field of education often uses action research, an interactive method of collecting information that's used to explore topics of teaching, curriculum development and student behavior in the classroom. Action research is very popular in the field of education because there is always room for improvement when it comes to teaching and educating others. Sure, there are all types of methods of teaching in the classroom, but action research works very well because the cycle offers opportunity for continued reflection. Action research is also beneficial in areas of teaching practice that need to be explored or settings in which continued improvement is the focus. After you've had time to observe the situation, the entire process of action research is reflected upon. While there are various methods to conducting action research, there are also various types of action research in the fields of education, including individual action research, collaborative action research and school-wide action research. For example:Individual action research involves working independently on a project, such as an elementary school teacher conducting her own, in-class research project with her orative action research involves a group of teachers or researchers working together to explore a problem that might be present beyond a single classroom, perhaps at the departmental level or an entire grade -wide action research generally focuses on issues present throughout an entire school or across the district. As you can see, action research can be used in many educational 'll explore two examples of action research being used in the field of education. Observation example (individual action research)step 1: identify the problemyou are a fifth grade teacher and have identified a problem in your classroom. Step 4: observeduring this step of the action research process, you observe the groups of students working together. This is the observation and data collection 70,000 lessons in all major free access for 5 days, just create an obligation, cancel a subject to preview related courses:Step 5: reflect and sharethis final step is the end point of action research... Surveys example (collaborative action research)step 1: identify the problemyou are a third grade teacher and have been asked to be a part of a collaborative action research project at your school.

You are asked to be a part of an action research project where surveys are created and sent home to the parents asking for their thoughts on the issue. You and your team of researchers hope to identify reasons why students are not completing their homework and then be able to share the results with all staff at your school to garner some conversation on how to improve the problem. You and your team of researchers (your colleagues) go through the surveys, take notes, organize the responses into categories and share in the task of summarizing each of the questions in regards to overall consensus of answers. In the field of education, action research is used quite often to explore new ways of teaching and interacting in the classroom. Some types of action research involve: individual action research, collaborative action research and school-wide action research. Remember the five steps of action research include:Act to implement a tely, the goal of action research is to improve processes. Learning outcomesafter reviewing this lesson, you should have the ability to:Define action research and identify its main common methods of action be individual action research, collaborative action research and school-wide action n the five steps of action er for a free you a student or a teacher? The educational psychology: help and review page to learn g college you know… we have over 95 s that prepare you to by exam that is accepted by over 2,000 colleges and universities. Anyone can -by-exam regardless of age or education learn more, visit our earning credit erring credit to the school of your able degree, area career path that can help you find the school that's right for ch schools, degrees & the unbiased info you need to find the right articles by an area of study or degree ical and biomedical ications and ry arts and personal l arts and ic and repair l and health ortation and and performing state of education: students respond to the state of the union nist: overview of education programs for ng inspector: summary of building inspection career ian assistant: overview of education for physician dic: overview of education for 's taxonomy and online education: overview of education computerized bookkeeping online: overview of education ambulance training: overview of education ment of education proposes new student aid scrutinize department of education's oversight of special funding for minority-serving officer vs. Plus networking certificate program history ling psychology graduate program or - photogrammetrist education and career are viewing lesson. Of research experimental ty and reliability: how to assess the quality of a research to interpret correlations in research ntial statistics for psychology ch ethics in educational -sectional research: definition & research in education: methods & udinal research: definition & ch methodology: approaches & ural equation modeling: introduction & & relational hypotheses: definitions & g an apa abstract: format & ch design and analysis: help and 8. Differences in children: help and research in education: methods & examples related study ional psychology r resources psychology syllabus resource & lesson psychology: study guide & test psychology syllabus resource & lesson ional psychology syllabus resource & lesson introduction to psychology: study guide & test to psychology syllabus resource & lesson life span developmental psychology: study guide & test pmental psychology: certificate span developmental psychology: help and psychology: practice and study to psychology: help and uction to psychology: certificate span developmental psychology: homework help rd social mobility: definition & social mobility: definition & darley: biography & macionis: sociology author, zed crime: definition & & worksheet - language development in & worksheet - impact of social & cognitive development on interpersonal & worksheet - social constructivism and the mediated learning & worksheet - methods for advancing cognitive & worksheet - piaget vs.

D social psychology: homework introduction to educational psychology y and educational aims: help and pmental psychology in children and adolescents: help and tion in learning: help and logy 316: advanced social & developing ting 305: auditing & assurance physical education (22): study guide & test art - content knowledge (5134): practice & study ization at school & the of property uences of crime nature of are texmat exams? Worksheet - lower & worksheet - tragic & worksheet - contractions in & worksheet - general intent rence: legal definition & dactyly: definition, causes & to register for the gre do i get a copy of my ged? Department of rs engage their  schools, action research refers to a wide variety of evaluative, investigative, and analytical research methods designed to diagnose problems or weaknesses—whether organizational, academic, or instructional—and help educators develop practical solutions to address them quickly and efficiently. Action research may also be applied to programs or educational techniques that are not necessarily experiencing any problems, but that educators simply want to learn more about and improve. The general goal is to create a simple, practical, repeatable process of iterative learning, evaluation, and improvement that leads to increasingly better results for schools, teachers, or research may also be called a cycle of action or cycle of inquiry, since it typically follows a predefined process that is repeated over time. A simple illustrative example:Identify a problem to be t data on the ze, analyze, and interpret the p a plan to address the te the results of the actions fy a new more formal research studies, such as those conducted by universities and published in peer-reviewed scholarly journals, action research is typically conducted by the educators working in the district or school being studied—the participants—rather than by independent, impartial observers from outside organizations. Less formal, prescriptive, or theory-driven research methods are typically used when conducting action research, since the goal is to address practical problems in a specific school or classroom, rather than produce independently validated and reproducible findings that others, outside of the context being studied, can use to guide their future actions or inform the design of their academic programs. That said, while action research is typically focused on solving a specific problem (high rates of student absenteeism, for example) or answer a specific question (why are so many of our ninth graders failing math? Action research can also make meaningful contributions to the larger body of knowledge and understanding in the field of education, particularly within a relatively closed system such as school, district, or network of connected term “action research” was coined in the 1940s by kurt lewin, a german-american social psychologist who is widely considered to be the founder of his field. The basic principles of action research that were described by lewin are still in use to this ors typically conduct action research as an extension of a particular school-improvement plan, project, or goal—i. The object of action research could be almost anything related to educational performance or improvement, from the effectiveness of certain teaching strategies and lesson designs to the influence that family background has on student performance to the results achieved by a particular academic support strategy or learning program—to list just a small related discussions, see action plan, capacity, continuous improvement, evidence-based, and professional glossary of education reform by great schools partnership is licensed under a creative commons attribution-noncommercial-sharealike 4. International popularmost recentmost schools, action research refers to a wide variety of evaluative, investigative, and analytical research methods designed to diagnose problems or weaknesses—whether organizational, academic, or instructional—and help educators develop practical solutions to address them quickly and efficiently.