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Planning for action research

Planning for action research. Chapter 3. Craig A. Mertler SAGE Publications, 2014. Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators (4/e). Planning for Action Research. Initial planning for action research includes: Identifying and limiting a topic

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Planning for action research

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  1. Planning foraction research Chapter 3 Craig A. Mertler SAGE Publications, 2014 Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators (4/e)

  2. Planning for Action Research • Initial planning for action research includes: • Identifying and limiting a topic • Gathering information related to the topic • Reviewing related literature • Early stages are crucial in any research project • Lays the “groundwork”for all that follows

  3. Identifying the Topic for Research • Nothing shapes the remainder of a study as much as specifying the topic or problem • Problems with being too broad or vague, or being too narrow • Possible topic areas: • A teaching method or instructional materials • Classroom management • Identifying a problem • Examining an area of interest

  4. Preliminary Considerations • Once a topic has been identified, it should be evaluated against several practical considerations: • Personal interest in the topic • Importance of the topic • Time requirements for conducting the study • Anticipated difficulty of the study • Potential monetary costs • Issues related to ethics in conducting research

  5. Problem identification template • 5 Why Process

  6. Gathering Preliminary Information • Begin by talking with other teachers, administrators, counselors, etc. in your building or district • Assess their perceptions of your ideas for action research • Also, critical to examine your beliefs, knowledge, and context for your ideas • Process known as reconnaissance • Taking time to reflect on your beliefs and to gain a better understanding of the nature and context of your research problem

  7. Gathering Preliminary Information • Engaging in reconnaissance can take three forms: • Self-reflection—examination of: • Educational theories that affect your instructional practice • Values you hold about education • Historical context of your school and your teaching • Description—complete description of what you want to change or improve • Focus on who, what, where, when, and how of the problem • Explanation—based on your description above • Explain why this problem occurs • Development of a hypothesis typically follows

  8. Reviewing Related Literature • Literature review—examination of research articles, documents, books, etc. related to your topic; used to: • Identify a topic • Narrow the focus of a topic • Gather information related to research designs • Locate examples of data collection and analysis techniques • Can connect your project to what others have done before you

  9. Reviewing Related Literature • Things you should be aware of: • Empirical research articles versus opinion pieces • Objectivity of related literature • Timeliness of the literature you locate • Primary versus secondary sources (and problems associated with the difference) • Variety of methods of locating related literature • Primary sources • Search specialized indexes or databases • ERIC * • Google Scholar * • ProQuest • Search engines

  10. Reviewing Related Literature • ERIC—Educational Resources Information Center • More than 1.1 million citations; more than 107,000 full-text articles • http://www.eric.ed.gov • Searching ERIC…

  11. Reviewing Related Literature • Google Scholar • http://scholar.google.com • Explore related works, citations, authors, and publications • Many search options; search “by author”

  12. Writing a Literature Review • No easy, prescriptive, step-by-step process • Every body of literature is different • Suggestions: • Remember the purpose—to convey the historical context of the topic, any associated trends, connection between theory and practice • Briefly summarize each study, reflecting its relevance to your topic (emphasizing the findings) • Develop an outline using subheadings that focus the review • Include an introduction and a summary

  13. Writing a Literature Review • Suggestions: • Organization of sub-topics within a literature review:

  14. Literature Review template • Planning Your Action Research Literature Review

  15. Action research checklist 3 Action Research Checklist 3: Planning for Action Research ☐ Identify several possible topics for action research and evaluate them for viability as action research projects against the various preliminary considerations. ☐ Using one of your identified topics, engage in reconnaissance to gain insight into your action research topic. ☐ Using ERIC, Google Scholar, or other databases, find several sources of published literature related to your topic; identify each as either a primary or secondary source. ☐ Develop an outline for summarizing the literature related to your topic. ☐ Determine if you need to add more resources to your review of literature.

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