ACTION RESEARCH July 17 2002 By Dorothy Realdine

ACTION RESEARCH July 17, 2002 By Dorothy Realdine Director of Curriculum Bridgeton School District drealdine@bridgeton. k 12. nj. us

What is Action Research? n A form of self-reflective inquiry by practitioners into their own educational practices and situations.

Primary Purposes of Action Research n n n Improve one’s own educational practices Improve one’s own understanding of those practices Improve the situation in which those practices are carried out

Steps in Action Research Process n Problem / Research Question n Plan of Action n Data Collection n Data Analysis n Reflection – plans for Future Action

Introduction of Issue On what do you focus action research? n n n A problem from your classroom A puzzle or dilemma about the learning of a particular student or group of students A question you have about your teaching A situation that has arisen in your classroom Hypothesis n What do I expect will occur?

Literature Review What do I know about the issue? n What research is there on the issue? n

Statement regarding the issue What specifically is the issue? n What variables will be studied? n What questions will I address? n

Action Plan n n n What is the proposed change? How are you to introduce this change? Who will be part of the action research group? What resources will be necessary to support this change? What is the proposed timeline for the action research cycle? What type of action research data will be collected?

Data Collection Who are the subjects of the action research effort? n What is the sampling plan? n What are the data collection methods? n What data collection instruments will be used? (Observations, surveys, interviews etc. . ) n

Analysis and Reflection n What is the plan for data analysis & interpretation? n What is the plan for ensuring validity? n What is the plan for sharing your findings?