EDD581 Week 1 Introductions Syllabus and Expectations Action

EDD/581 Week 1

• Introductions • Syllabus and Expectations • Action Research, NCATE, and the UOP Conceptual Framework • What is Action Research? • Types and components of AR. • AR as school improvement & examples • Learning Teams Agenda

Course Objectives • • • Define action research. Distinguish between types of action research. Identify the components of action research. Review examples of action research. Explain how action research can be utilized to effect school improvement and change. • Examine opportunities to conduct action research collaboratively.

• Using the course syllabus Pairs/Teams work together to review the course objectives compare them to the NCATE & UOP Conceptual Framework to answer the following question. Each team will create a list to share with the class. • Which state standards and components of the UOP Conceptual Framework are addressed through the learning objectives of this course? Action Research, NCATE & the UOP Conceptual Framework

Answer one of the indented questions below: • Have you had any experience conducting any type of research in the past? If so, what was the study about? • Have you been a subject or participant in a research study? If so, what was the study about, and what was your part in the study? Question Starter

• Defining action research • Action research is a type of research designed for use by practitioners like teachers or administrators to solve problems and improve professional practices in their own environment by enhancing knowledge about teaching and learning. • The purpose of action research is for practitioners to investigate and improve their practices. • Context is not controlled yet but is studied so the ways in which context influences outcomes can be understood. • Quantitative and qualitative data from a variety of sources is collected analyzed for the purpose of improving practice. Introduction to action research

• Understanding the various forms of action research will help educators choose the type of action research that most closely aligns with their own goals, purpose, and values. • Types of action research include: • Collaborative – multiple researchers from school and university settings work together to study educational problems. • Critical – encourages wide collaboration among a variety of educational stakeholders that evaluates social issues so that results can be used for social change. • Classroom – conducted by teachers in their classrooms with the purpose of improving practice. • Participatory – a social, collaborative approach that investigates reality so that it can be changed. Types of action research

• Educator/teacher initiated • Addresses a practical problem of use to the researcher • Collects and uses data for decision making purposes to improve educational practices (e. g. , reflective teaching practices) • Investment of time (most projects last from 3 -12 months) • May involve collaboration if time allows • District or employer approval of action research project (ARP) may be required • Informed consent of participants is required Components of action research

• Collaborative – classroom teachers team up with experts or university level researchers and dialogue among educational stakeholders in different settings • Critical – various stakeholders collaborate to research educational disparities due to gender, ethnicity, and social class • Classroom – a classroom teacher, often a solo endeavor, seeks out to understand solve problems that occur in his or her classroom • Participant – the researcher is able to explore practices within the limits of the social structures as an actual participant in the setting of the problem to understand create solutions Examples of AR

Visit the following website to explore examples of AR within the school setting. http: //cadres. pepperdine. edu/ccar/projects. school. html Partner Activity

• http: //www. educationalimpact. com/programs/a ctivity/Inst. Lead_05 a_01/ AR and school improvement

• Educational action research is a system of inquiry that teachers, administrators, and school support personnel can use to study, change, and improve their work with children and in schools. • Ways that action research leads to school improvement: • Teachers – by allowing them to investigate ways to deal with classroom issues • Media Specialists – by giving them the opportunity to study methods to • • • increase interest in reading, technology, and use of the media center Coaches – by examining ways to increase skills in sports, reflect on effectiveness of coaching styles, and work with special needs in athletics Counselors – by giving them the tools to study usefulness of counseling programs, ways to identify students who need advocates, and methods of effective communication with all stakeholders Principals – who can encourage and evaluate action research by their teachers and conduct their own school-improvement studies District Administrators – who can focus on issues such as the usefulness of professional development, curriculum reform, and training programs Teachers of the arts, speech pathologists, and support teachers – who can research the ways they interact and teach students AR and school improvement

What are examples of some problems that educators might study, using an action research model? Exit Question

• Expectations • Projects/assignments for this course • Create Teams Learning Teams