TALATURU KU

ACTION RESEARCH
 Kurt Lewin coined the term “action research” in 1944.
 The desire to develop teaching skills and knowledge and take action to improve
student learning are qualities of a good action researcher.
 Action research is a systematic inquiry with the aim of improving issues or
concerns affecting the classroom.
 Action research provides teachers with new knowledge and understanding about
how to improve educational practices or resolve significant problems in classrooms
and schools.
 Action research is one form of applied research because it draws on a range of
designs and methodologies.
 Instructional decisions, contributing to the professional culture of teaching, and
Impacts of action research on teachers include building confidence in helping build
a reflective practice based on proven techniques.
 Action research develops quality teachers to attain quality learning and quality
assurance.
 Professional growth and development of teachers has been directly linked to
conducting action research.
 Action research can develop teachers into becoming transformative leaders for
school-wide system.
 Action research aims to improve teaching towards learning outcome.
 The goal of action research is positive change.
 Action research should involve a plan of action that will allow the teacher- researcher
to make a change and to study that change.
 Action research places its emphasis on real problems – here and now in a local
setting.
 Through action research, teachers employ critical self-reflection on a daily basis in
their classrooms.
 Action research entails an ongoing process of reflection and revision. We say that
action research is iterative since plans are created, implemented, revised, then
implemented.
 Teacher Action Research is formative rather than summative since it is an ongoing
process of evaluation, recommendation, practice, reflection, and re-Evaluation.
 Triangulation and corroboration increase the credibility of the information in Action
research.
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 A case study is an in-depth description of a process, experience, or structure of a
single institution
 Action research is a cyclical process which follows these steps:
1) identifying the forming conclusions;
2) modifying your theory and repeating the cycle;
3) and lastly, reporting the results.
 Teacher research are focused on bringing change in the classroom to support the
needs of the learners. Impacts of the results of these research may extend beyond
the classroom.
 Academic research can be generalized to larger populations, while action research
is more interested in gaining knowledge directly applied to the educators’ own
teaching context.
 Good action research topics in education are meaningful, concise, and higher-
order questions that have not already been answered.
 Action research can be connotated as the following: teacher’s research;
practitioner’s research; teacher-as-scholar research; practical inquiry;
interactive research; classroom inquiry; and practice-centered inquiry.
 Classroom action research begins with a question or questions about classroom
experiences, issues or challenges.
 Various types of action research include the following:
1) Individual Action Research;
2) Collaborative Action Research;
3) School-wide Action Research;
4) District-wide Action Research.
 An Individual Action Research usually focuses on a single issue in the classroom.
 Curriculum instruction and assessment may be potentially impacted by an
individual action research.
 A coach or mentor may be tapped for support in an individual action Research.
 Collaborative Action Research involves as few as two teachers or a group of several
teachers and other interested individuals in solving a classroom or department issue.
 Curriculum instruction, assessment, and policy are the areas where a
collaborative action research can have an impact on.
 Teacher Action Research can be a tool for equity and multicultural education
because it engages the community the evaluative effort and, as a result, give the
community ownership of and responsibility for change.
 Action research aims to improve education through change by encouraging teachers
to be aware of their own practice. It is therefore reflective.
 Being pragmatic is one of the pedagogic perspectives of action research as it entails
learning by doing.
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 In action research, all participants can contribute to and benefit from the process. It
is therefore empowering.
 In action research, meaning is constructed using participants’ multiple realities in the
situation, making it an interpretative research approach.
 Action research is carried out by individuals with a common purpose; therefore, it is
both participative and collaborative.
 Action research views the problem from the point of view of those involved or the
participants.
 Some of the purposes of action research is that it answers questions regarding the
effectiveness of specific instructional strategies, performance of students. And
classroom management techniques.
 Action research offers practical significance rather theoretical which is the aim of
formal research.
 According to Glanz (1998), the four-step process for action research to examine
educational problems in schools setting are:
1) select a focus;
2) collect data;
3) analyze and interpret data;
4) take action.
 Basic action research cycle includes the following steps:
1) Propose a change;
2) Engage in action;
3) Observe results; and
4) Reflect on action.
 The research introduction provides the information of what the research is all about,
the purpose of the study and the situation challenging to the reader to read.
 Data for action research can come from multiple sources, including student grades,
homework completion, interviews, written texts, etc. The use of multiple data sources
is termed triangulation.
 In gathering data for an Action Research, at least three sources must be used. This
implies triangulation.
 To achieve corroboration, there should be the involvement of different people to
interpret a given data.
 Improved collegiality and formation of partnerships are effects of a collaborative
action research.
 A School-wide Action Research is believed to have a potential impact on school
restructuring, policy changes, parental involvement, and evaluation of programs.
 In a school-wide action research, school commitment is identified as one of the
critical supports needed.
 A district-wide action research may potentially impact the allocation of resources,
professional development activities, organizational structures, and policies.
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 For organization, community-based, performance-based, or processes for decision-
making, a district-wide action research is mostly utilized.
 District issues and organizational structures are the focus of a district-wide Action
research.
 Action research in schools investigates human actions and social situations that are
experienced by teachers as susceptible to change.
 Varieties of Action Research include:
1) Diagnostic;
2) Participatory;
3) Empirical:
4) Experimental.
 The Diagnostic variety of an Action Research is designed to lead to action.
 An experimental action research can provide under favorable circumstances a
definitive test of a specific hypothesis.
 An empirical action research entails record-keeping and accumulating experiences
in a day to day work.
 Action research uses an inductive reasoning approach.
 For an action research problem to be worthwhile, it should have an immediate
benefit for the learners, teachers, the management, school, the stakeholders, the
communities, and the society as a whole.
 A purposive sampling is utilized in action research, whereby students and/or
members of the school are usually selected as samples.
 Some areas of interest for Action Research include the following:
1) Inclusive education;
2) Learning assessment;
3) Continuing Professional Development;
4) Services and support system;
5) Quality assurance mechanisms;
6) Class discipline and student behavior.
 In action research, events are interpreted as human actions and transactions
rather than natural processes subject to the laws of natural science.
 In the context of action research, four basic themes are drawn which include
empowerment of participants, collaboration through participation, acquisition
of knowledge, and social change.
 Ethics of hope, ethics of caring, ethics of openness, and ethics of responsibility
are the four types of ethical practices in Action Research.
 Action research may be limited due to budget concerns and lack of financial
Support.
 Analysis of data in an Action Research can be done by generally grouping raw data
using descriptive statistics.
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 To avoid complexity in gathering data in action research, the teacher- researcher
should utilize available data generated, kept, and controlled by the teacher-
researcher.
 Accounts or information of action research can be validated in dialog with
Participants.
 Action research is NOT conducted primary to generate theories for knowledge
and science development, rather, it is used by teachers, supervisors, and
administrators to improve the quality of their decisions and actions.
 To avoid difficulty in identifying a topic or problem, a teacher can conduct small
group discussion or conversation with colleagues about common problems
encountered inside the classroom.
 Teachers can gain confidence to pursue research work by being prepared through
reading, learning, and training.
 Teacher improvement is key to school improvement.
 Classroom Action Research is more concerned with the teaching process than with
the topics taught.
 Conclusions of an Action Research cover only specific contexts, where the study
was conducted.
 In a formal research, generalizability of results is possible. However, for an Action
Research, generalizability is very limited.
 If minors are needed to participate in an action research, parental consent could
pose a challenge in data gathering.
 Are plans and procedures for research that include detailed of the researcher, and
audience.
 Methods of data collection and analysis. Criteria for selecting a research design
include the research problem, personal findings CANNOT be considered as an action
researcher.
 A teacher who aims to rediscover a theory to support and validate research Group
performance assessment is most effective in addressing student Engagement
concern in class.
 Behavior, learning patterns, reasoning mechanisms and creativity exhibited A
naturalistic observation is the most appropriate method to explore the during activities
of preschoolers.
 Consistency and reliability of results and findings will be a challenge in action
research since validation and sampling measures are not much stressed, but finding
solutions to identified problems and for the improvement of More on Teaching and
learning.
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 Influence thinking skills, sense of efficacy, willingness to share and A sense of
collaboration is implored when action research is intended to communicate attitudes
toward process of change.
 An action research report communicates what was done and the result, shows
presentation and analysis of data, the statement of findings, implications and
Conclusions.
 Collective sharing of research findings with other schools and districts is one of the
strategies to further and strengthen research dynamics in an institution Towards
building a research-driven culture.
 In direct observation, the teacher-researcher simply writes down what was
Observed.
 With inferential observation, the teacher-researcher writes down an observation that
is inferred by the subject’s body language and behavior.
 Surveys and questionnaires are not good sources of quantitative data, however,
they are best used to identify trends and themes.
 Some of the identified constraints associated in the conduct of action research include
time constraint, lack of research competence, lack of research interest, lack of
confidence, lack of statistical skills, and lack of administrative support.
 Unlike a formal research, teacher-made or developed instruments are Commonly
used in action research.
 Action research, teacher-researchers need to record data and reflect on it. To do
this, they can keep a journal and discuss it with a critical friend.
 When the demands or needs of the people in the future are projected in order to
identify the needed resources, a trend analysis can be utilized.
 Focus Group Discussion is a means of gathering or validating data among s of the
study through interaction and conversation.
 A causal comparative research is also known as ex-post facto research.
 An impact study focuses on the effect and implications of the system or program on
certain parameters of the beneficiaries that serve as an outcome.
 To find or develop more suitable system or process, a development research can be
performed.
 An inquiry which combines or associates both quantitative and qualitative forms is
termed as mixed methods research.
 In a concurrent mixed method, the researcher merges quantitative and qualitative
data to comprehensively analyze the research problem.
 To identify the systematic manipulation of one variable or another variable, an
Experimental research is used.
 A content analysis involves the analysis and interpretation of recorded materials in
their own context.
 Ethnography is used to deal with subjects who are part of a particular culture and
possess specific behavioral patterns.