Action Research

ACTION RESEARCH
Trudy Thorson & Kendra Beliveau
ED 800
November 19th, 2012

ACTION RESEARCH
 “Action research is characterized as research that
is done by teachers for themselves”
(Mertler, 2009).
 Teachers examine their own
classrooms, instructional strategies, assessment
procedures, and interactions with student learners
in order to improve their quality and effectiveness.

WHAT ACTION RESEARCH IS AND IS NOT
What it is… What it is not…
• A process that improves • Problem-solving
education through change
• Collaborative • Doing research on or about
people
• Cyclical • Linear
• Practical and relevant • Conclusive
• Within context of teacher’s • Generalizing to larger
environment populations
• How we can do things better • Why we do certain things
• Explores, discovers and seeks • The implementation of
to find creative solutions predetermined answers
• A way to improve instructional • A fad
practice by observing, revising,
and reflecting

VIDEO: ACTION RESEARCH MADE SIMPLE
 Action Research Made Simple
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg83f72_6Gw

Key Characteristics
 Addresses Real Life Problems

 Constructs Knowledge

 Promotes Change

 Collaborative / Participatory

A BRIEF HISTORY OF ACTION RESEARCH
FERRANCE (2000)

 Kurt Lewin, a social psychologist and educator, first
formulated the idea of performing research in a “natural”
setting in the 1940s.
 No distinction between the research study and the
problem to be solved.
 Proposed that research should be cyclical rather than
linear.
 Stephen Corey was among the first to use action
research in education and he stated the following:
We are convinced that the disposition to study…the
consequences of our teaching is more likely to change
and improve our practices than is reading about what
someone else has discovered of his teaching (Corey,
1953, p. 70).

MODELS AND TYPES OF
ACTION RESEARCH

MODELS OF ACTION RESEARCH
 Many models exist but all share the same basic
principles which are:
 A central problem or topic
 Observation or monitoring takes place
 Collection and synthesis of data
 Some type of action is taken
 Next stage of action research (varies)

ACTION RESEARCH INTERACTING SPIRAL
ERNEST STRINGER (2007)

LEWIN’S ACTION RESEARCH SPIRAL
(MERTLER, 2009)

CALHOUN’S ACTION RESEARCH CYCLE
(MERTLER, 2009)

BACHMAN’S ACTION RESEARCH CYCLE
MERTLER (2009)

RIEL’S ACTION RESEARCH MODEL
(MERTLER, 2009)

PIGGOT-IRVINE’S ACTION RESEARCH MODEL
MERTLER (2009)

TYPES OF ACTION RESEARCH (FERRANCE, 2000)

STEPS IN ACTION RESEARCH
(FERRANCE, 2000)

FERRANCE (2000)
 Identify a problem area
 Meaningful, attainable and within teacher’s influence
 Higher order question that is specific and concise
 Collection and organization of data
 Portfolios, interviews, photos, diaries, field
notes, videos, journals, case
studies, checklists, surveys
 Appropriate, easy to collect, and readily available
 Triangulate data (i.e. use three or more sources)
 Organize to identify themes; can be arranged by
gender, classroom, school, grade level, age, etc.
 Interpretation of data
 Analyze and identify major themes
 Quantitative or qualitative

 Action based on data
 Use the data collected complemented by current
research to develop a plan of action
 Alter only one variable
 Document and collect data during action phase

 Reflection
 Evaluate the results
 Was the intervention successful? Can the positive
results be directly attributed to the variable addressed?
 If unsuccessful, what could be done in subsequent
attempts to elicit more favorable results?

UNDERSTANDING OUR LEARNERS AND DEVELOPING
REFLECTIVE PRACTICE: CONDUCTING ACTION RESEARCH
WITH ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
SOWA (2009)

 The study outlined action research projects of six
graduate student teachers in an ESL Methods Course.
Three projects are described in the paper and we will
outline one of these to show how it reflects the steps of
action research.
 Identify the Problem
 Students were not able to make “connections between
the sound symbol relationships necessary for word
decoding in reading and spelling” (Sowa, 2009, p.
1029).

SOWA (2009)

 Gather Data
 Reading assessment: Pre- and Post-Tests
 Work Samples

 Interpret Data
A reading pre-test was used as a baseline
 Student samples showed beginning writing and spelling
strategies

SOWA (2009)
 Act on Evidence
 Re-teach phonemic awareness to try to improve ELLs
reading, writing and spelling skills.
 Taught phonics in context
 Worked on spelling strategies including letter-sound
relationships and letter-sound combinations
 Evaluate Results
 Work samples indicated an improvement in spelling and
reading but only a slight growth in reading.
 The reading post-test showed improvement amongst
students to decode words and recognize miscues.

ACTION RESEARCH: USING WORDLES FOR
TEACHING FOREIGN LANGUAGE WRITING
BARALT, PENNESTRI, & SELVANDIN (2011)
 Used Mackey and Gass’s (2005) explanation of action research
as framework for study.
 A very comprehensive research report which includes three
sections:
1. Explanation of data visualization as a learning tool (creates a
rationale for the research study)
2. The action research report conducted by the authors using
Wordle
3. The outcome of the project and suggestions for how educators
can use word clouds in foreign language classrooms
 Context: 18 students in an intermediate-level Spanish FL class at
a private research university who met for 50 minutes three times
a week. Four compositions were to be written during the
semester and students were expected to be able to: present
information formally with an introduction, provide supporting
paragraphs and a conclusion; use accurate grammar; and use
instructors’ feedback in their writing. The expectations were
clearly communicated to the students.


 Identify the Problem
 Two main issues in students’ writing:
1. Continuous repetition of errors
2. Reliance on high frequency words without attempting
to use new vocabulary in writing
 Data Collection
 Word frequency counts from students’ compositions and
a whole-class-based word cloud.
 Teaching reflection about the class discussion
 Instructor asked students about their perceptions of the
use of Wordle in the writing process
 This procedure was used for all four compositions.


 Act on Evidence
 Wordles helped to show students’ progress
 Students used more vocabulary in their compositions
 Facilitated class discussions about the writing process
 Evaluate Results
 Both the students and instructor agreed that using
Wordles created excitement about writing.
 Effective, novel, and enjoyable.
 Students incorporated more varied vocabulary, used
grammar more accurately, and had more content in their
writing.
 Workshop days became more student-centered


 Limitations
 Lack of generalizability

 Findings of action research are typically only
relevant to the specific classroom being
investigated, its students and its own unique
characteristics
 It may yield different results in other classrooms,
contexts or languages.
 As with any technology, teachers must ensure that
the software works with their computer systems;
Wordle requires a Java-enabled web browser

WRITING THE ACTION RESEARCH
REPORT

WRITING ACTION RESEARCH REPORTS
 Reports vary depending on the
variables, context, and action involved but most
include:
 Introduction
 Area of focus
 Defining the variables

 Research questions

 Review of related literature
 Description of the Intervention or Innovation
 Data Collection and Considerations
 Data Analysis and Interpretation
 Conclusions
 Reflection and Action Plan (Mertler, 2009)
 Examples of Action Research Reports written for
professional development presentations

DISADVANTAGES OF ACTION
RESEARCH
 Lack of Time
• Action Research is demanding of space and time, both
of which are stretched to their limits.
 Validity
• Inevitable research bias
 Results are not Generalizable
• Although a researcher’s findings may be tested by
another teacher in their own classroom
 Range of Models and Process
• Action Research is a messy process and the constraints
of the models may “trap teachers”

VIDEO: WHAT “NAGS” YOU ABOUT
YOUR TEACHING PRACTICE?
 Video:
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/13909812/action-
research

TIME TO REFLECT!
 After viewing our presentation on action research,
what nags you about your teaching practices that
you’d like to change?
 At your table groups, use the questions on the next
slide to come up with a possible research
question(s) that you could test in you own
classroom.
 Examples include but are not limited to: teaching
method, identifying a problem, examining an area
of interest, classroom environment, classroom
management, evaluation, etc.

ACTIVITY:
WRITE ACTION RESEARCH QUESTIONS
PINE (2009)

 I would like to improve by __________________.
 I am perplexed by _____________________.

 I am really curious about ____________________.

 Something I really think would make a difference is
_______________________.
 Something I would really like to change is
____________________.
 What happens to student learning in my classroom
when I ___________________?
 How can I implement ______________________?

 How can I improve _______________________?

REFERENCES
Baralt, M., Pennestri, S., & Selvandin, M. (2011). Using Wordles to Teach
Foreign Language Writing. Language Learning & Technology, 15(2), 12-22.

Ferrance, E. (2000). Action Research. Providence, RI, USA. Retrieved
November 14, 2012 from
http://www.lab.brown.edu/pubs/themes_ed/act_research.pdf

Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (2005). 7.5.2 Action Research. In Second
Language Research: Methodology and Design (pp. 216-220). Mahwah, New Jersey:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Mertler, C. (2009). Action Research. Thousand Oaks, California, USA:
Sage Publications, Inc.

Pine, G. (2009). Teacher Action Research. Thousand Oaks, California:
Sage Publications, Inc.

Sowa, P. A. (2009). Understanding our learners and developing reflective
practice: Conducting action research with English Language Learners. Teaching and
Teacher Education, 25(8), 1026-1032.

Stringer, E. T. (2007). Action Research (3rd ed.). London: Sage
Publications, Inc.
Waters-Adams, S. (2006). Action Research in Education
Retrieved November 14, 2012 from
http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/actionresearch/arhome.htm

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