ACTION RESEARCH

1. ACTION RESEARCH Reconnaissance Mills, G. E. (2003). Action Research: A guide for the teacher researcher, 2nd ed. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill Prentice Hall.

2. ACTION RESEARCH … is systematic inquiry done by teachers (or other individuals in the teaching/learning environment) to gather information about- and subsequently improve- how their particular schools operate, how they teach, and how well their students learn.

3. Chapter 1: Understanding Action ResearchAction Research Teaching Focus Area Objectives Implement lesson Reflect on whether students achieved objectives Data Collection Data Analysis & Interpretation Reflect on Lesson Reflect on how today’s lesson affects tomorrow’s lesson Action Planning

4. 4 Steps in the Action Research Process Based on Deborah South’s Example of “Unmotivated” Students • Step 1 • KEY CONCEPT: Identifying an area of focus • EXAMPLE: The purpose of this study was to describe the effects of a “study skills” curriculum on student outcomes. In particular, the study focused on the variables of student attendance, peer influence, adult influence, and students’ self-esteem. X

5. Step 2 • KEY CONCEPT: Collecting data • EXAMPLE: • Data was collected through surveys, interviews, and report card/attendance records.

6. Step 3 • KEY CONCEPT: Analyzing and interpreting the data • EXAMPLE: • Attendance did not appear to be an issue-- children attended school regularly. • Peer groups did affect performance. Students encouraged each other not to complete homework assignments. • Teacher approval of student work appeared to have little effect on students’ work habits, whereas about the half of the children indicated that they were motivated to complete their homework to receive parental approval. • On average, student grades had dropped dramatically during the term in which they were enrolled in the study skills class. • Interpretation: The study skills class was having a negative impact on student outcomes, behavior and attitudes.

7. Step 4 • KEY CONCEPT: Action planning • EXAMPLE: It was determined that students would not be homogeneously grouped for a study skills class the following year because of a “critical mass of negativity” that appeared to emerge from the students as they fed off each others’ lack of motivation. The study skills curriculum would continue to be used and monitored with a heterogeneous grouping of students.

8. The Dialectic Action Research Plan Mills, G. E. (2003). Action Research: A guide for the teacher researcher, 2nd ed. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill Prentice Hall. Identify an Area of Focus Develop an Action Plan Collect Data Analyze and Interpret Data

9. To Do: Select an appropriate area of focus. Do reconnaissance. Review related literature. Write and research plan to guide your work. Steps to Planning an Action Research Project

10. Area of Focus

11. 1. Criteria for Selecting a General Idea/Area of Focus: Should involve teaching and learning and should focus on your own practice Something within your locus of control Something you feel passionate about Something you would like to change or improve Take a statement/observation and turn it into a Research Question.

12. Steps to create a good Area of Focus • Identify a problem or situation you would like to change or improve. Example: My ESL students don’t like to read in English. • Turn that problem into a question.* Example: What can a ESL teacher do to motivate her students to enjoy reading in English? * This question will guide yourreconnaissance and eventually your development of final research questions.

13. 2. Criteria for Reconnaissance: • Explore your own understanding of your Area of Focus. • Write a Reflective Memo

14. Reflective Memo

15. Steps for writing a goodReflective Memo Based on your Area of Focus, … • Self-Reflect on your own understanding of the general situation • Describe the specific situation to clarify the focus area (who, what, when, where, how) • Explain how and why the specific situation can be improved (why)

16. Self-Reflection(Background Knowledge) Discuss own understanding of the general situation based on… • Beliefs about teaching and learning • Educational values • Known theories or research • Historical or school contexts Example: “I believe that the ESL students in my class don’t have good reading strategies in L1, and therefore find reading difficult in L2. This is…”

17. Description(Context) Describe the specific situation you wish to change or improve by answering : • Who • What • When • Where • How Example: “The ESL students at my school come from very poor areas and most have had interrupted schooling in their L1. We know this from… Their weak education background has… ”

18. Explanation(Hypotheses and Bias) Explain what you think can improve the situation and why… • Answer: Why? • Give possible explanations (hypotheses). Example: “If we were to teach our ESL students reading strategies, we should see improvement in their reading in L2.”

19. SAMPLE: Reflective Memo By Barbara Noel Self Reflection Basedon my experience in higher education, it is very difficult to have professors approach their practice with humility and admit they have a lot to learn.[n1]Oftentimesprofessors spend a lot of time building their knowledge. They then receive a heavy teaching load. It is therefore, difficult to have energy left over for further learning. Their careers are also built on a reputation of their expertise in a certain area.Having to admit lack of knowledge then goes against their reputations and time for further learning.[n2] When people come together to learn through research change inevitably ensues and learning is heightened.Many theorists such as Morris (2002) suggests that change in learning institutions occurs more deeply through collaboration between teachers and research projects. n1]Topic sentence[n2]Examples[n3]theories

20. Description At UNICA professors teach English and content as they prepare students to be bilingual teachers. While many professors are highly skilled in teaching English, the idea of teaching students to learn through a new language is new. They need tools to know how to deliver curriculum in a way that is not confusing tothem[n4]. Often[n5]our students do not understand important concepts because they are explained in a language they are still learning. For example, when students learn about cognitive theories in pedagogy such as those of Bruner (1990) they miss parts of the explanations because they have insufficient vocabulary. When[n6]students do not fully understand important concepts they develop gaps in their practice and their ability to build on prior learning. [n4]situation [n5]evidence [n6]critical factors, why it is a problem

21. Explanation The SIOP model is a way of delivering lessons to second language learners through content courses. It has been validated on the K-12 level and now we are validating it on the higher education level.I predict that professors and students will find this to be a clear and tangible tool to support their learning process.[n7] I’m interested in finding out about professors’ experience as they learn to apply this model. Students at UNICA will learn how to learn through their second language in a more efficient and comprehensible manner as they develop strong pedagogical skills and deep bilingual proficiency.[U8] References Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of Meaning, Boston, Mass:Harvard University Press Morris, M. (2007).The New Meaning of Educational Change, New York, NY: Longman [n7]hypothesis[U8]convince the reader the study has practical value.

22. 3. Review of Related Literature: • Search for others’ theories and research on your topic. • Write a Theoretical Framework of theories that support your study. • Write a Literature Review of research studies that pertain to your study. * These will help you narrow your area of focus and create good research questions for your Action Research study.

23. Theoretical Framework

24. What is the difference between Theory and Research? “It is theory that decides what can be observed” (Albert Einstein, Retrieved March 01, 2009). • What can beobserved can besupported and demonstratedthroughresearch. • - Florencia Montes, María Patricia Botero, and Tracy Pechthalt (2009)

25. Steps for writing a goodTheoretical Framework Based on your Area of Focus … • Search for Theories of other people that relate to your area of focus. • Make a Cluster Diagram with the area of focus in the center extending out to theories and their details • Write the Theoretical Framework paper which connects the theories with your study.

26. Search for Theories Like buying a new car… 1. Find information on theories/theorists related to your topic from: • Friends, teachers, experts • The internet • Books, journal articles, textbooks

27. Worksheet for References • Copy the references exactly from left to right from the Reference Worksheet onto your reference page. (Make sure that you copy every comma, period, etc.) • Use your computer to make a hanging indent, and put the references into alphabetical order. • Any missing information is not included. Ovando, C. J., & Collier, V. P. (1998). Bilingual and ESL classrooms: Teaching in multicultural contexts. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.

28. Theories Summary Worksheet

29. 3. Take notes on your sources. 4. Put them into a Cluster Diagram, with your area of focus in the center, and the theories and details extending out. detail Theory Theory detail detail detail Area of Focus detail detail detail Theory Theory detail detail detail

30. 5. Turn your Cluster Diagram into a Theoretical Framework*. * Hint: Write the body first, then the introduction and conclusion Introduction: Tell the readers what you are going to tell them… • Gives the paper a context • States the. area of focus • Explains the structure of the paper (how theories will be discussed) • Introduces the theories that will be discussed • Briefly explains the connection between the theories and the area of focus • Introduces next paragraph

31. The SIOP model of Sheltered Instruction was new to second language teaching in Colombia, until it was adopted by UNICA. It is therefore important to research the effects of the model as used at UNICA. In order to identify the contributions this study can make to the field, faculty and co-researchers positioned this study by reviewing relevant theories that are summarized below. A good way to structure a discussion regarding second language learning in academic contexts is to refer to Virginia Collier’s Prism model (1995) for understanding the interconnections between conceptual learning, linguistic learning, and academic development in both languages through a specific social context. Vygotsky’s (1962) social cultural model indirectly validates Collier’s work. As does Stephen Krashen’s (1982) Input Hypothesis and Jim Cummins’ (1981), description of communication that occurs within varying context embedded and context reduced environments. Finally, the work of Benjamin Bloom (1956), and his colleagues regarding higher order thinking skills contributes to our understanding of the ways in which cognition is mediated by language and socio-cultural influences. A brief review of each of these contributions follows along with an explanation of the ways in which these contributions help us build a foundation for understanding why the various components of Sheltered Instruction are effective for second language learners. We will start with Bloom’s theory and work backwards respectively.

32. When somebody asks you about your language ability you would probably give an answer like, “I speak English” instead of saying “I read English! Or “I listen to English”. In my job… I help them with the websites or software that we have for them to improve their pronunciation and speaking skills. …At the end I can see that the practice in the lab for speaking or pronunciation is not the best, and the students leave the lab without further improvement in their speaking skill. That is why with this research study I would like to let the reader know what would be the possible strategies that can be used in order to take the best out of computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), and make it really useful when learning to speak a second language. For this research study I will provide the most relevant theories available which have to do with learning a second language. Here I would include theories from Krashen, Cummins, and Reed and Railsback.

33. Describe & Explain Theory Author date Area of Focus Example of a Cluster Diagram

34. Body: Tell them… Each paragraph… • Discusses a different theory (Although, 2 theories can be in 1 paragraph or 2 paragraphs can be about 1 theory) • States the theory, author of the theory, and year of publication. • Describes/explains the theory • Connects the theory and the area of focus • Gives examples

35. theory, author, yr. of publication Example #1 Describe/explain Jim Cummins (1981), describes this process of reaching automaticity as also lying on a continuum where certain activities occurring in schools are gradually more cognitively demanding at a certain point in time for a learner. …When students are learning to cook, for example, the items the teacher refers to are usually in sight and easy to touch or at least point to, thereby being “context embedded”. … Teachers who precisely identify their learners needs for “context embeddedness” and “cognitive demand” on these two continua of communicative environments will provide instruction that is comprehensible. Connect to AofF Describe/explain theory, author, yr. of publication Example #2 Another theory that fits my research study is Krashen’s affective filter. This theory says that a student’s emotions can directly interfere or assist in the learning of a new language (Krashen, 1981). According to Krashen… … This theory is also great for my research study because the practice in the lab makes the student interact with the computer or repeat sentences or words aloud. What I have noticed with this kind of practice… That leads me to think that before using … it is very important to know what kind of students you have in order to create a friendly environment in which they feel confident practicing their new language. ex. ex. Connect to AofF

36. Conclusion: Tell the readers what you already told them… • States the area of focus. • Summarizes the theories that were discussed • Briefly explains the connection between the theories and the area of focus

37. Example #1 Sheltered instruction seeks to continuously merge language, cognition, and academic development in both language during the school program. Therefore, Cummins’ (1981) continua of “context embeddedness” and… In this sense, Vygotsky’s work reminds educators that students… Only then will students socially construct their learning to the maximum of their potential. Area of Focus Area of Focus Thoeries Thoeries Connection Connection Example #2 Although there have been many research studies about CALL and its uses for learning a second language, … that is why it is very important for me to go back to the theories that talk about second language acquisition and then relate them to the main target to see how they can be taken into consideration and then applied for the best use of CALL. With these theories that I wrote about, now I have a wider perspective of how my project will be developed to make the best out of using CALL.

38. Transitions when you compare/contrast Hogue, A. (2003). The essentials of English: A writer’s handbook. NY: Longman

39. Literature Review

40. (See Other Power Point for Writing Process) Steps for writing a goodLiterature Review

41. Pre-Writing for a Literature Review • Choosing one area of focus • Developing a question to research • Writing a reflective memo • Searching for literature • Reading on the topic • Taking notes and summarizing • Writing a Reflective Memo • Forming a Literature Matrix • Creating an outline

42. 2. Create a matrix of studies to variables Literature Review 3. Create a brief summary of each variable. 4. Create an outline of variables & studies with APA style citation: (Name, year) Search, read and summarize the studies. 5. Write a draft which is a review of the studies that support important variables that emerge. • Compare/Contrast studies • Note which studies are newer/older than others to see changing trends.

43. 1.Study Summaries • Summarize the importance of each study (see summary worksheet). • Be sure to include answers to the following questions: • Who did the research? (Author, year of publication) • What was the research study about? What did the researcher DO? • When, where, about whom was the study performed? • Why was the research done? • What were the findings & conclusions of the study? • This will help you later with the body of your literature review.

44. Literature Review Summary Worksheet

45. 2. Literature Review Matrix Write the authors & titles down the first column. Write variables that are considered in the studies across the top. (Start with the main variables, and then continue adding if new ones arise.)

46. Literature Review Matrix 3. Mark and X under the variables that were considered in each study.

48. Look For Patterns • Look at Matrix: What patterns are there? • What variables are considered by most/few studies? • Which studies considered each variable? • Look at Year of Studies • Which studies came first for that variable? • Which followed?

50. 3. Variable Summaries • Quickly write 1-2 sentences about the importance of each variable based on all the research studies regarding that variable. • This will help you later with your introduction to that variable within your literature review.