My Research Action Plan

Gleanings from Week 2

I guess I could say that I gleaned a bit of information from the required Dana reading in regards to the different types of action research being done. Times have changed: when my husband took his Master's classes, his research class was a true "research" class. He had to pour over tons and tons a numbers and statistics to "prove" his research. I have learned that through action research this is not always the case. You hear a lot of talk about qualitative research. This is the "stuff" that is not measurable in numbers, making it hard for me to grasp the entire action research process. This week's readings did open my mind to what action research involves and how it can be used to benefit a campus and staff.

Educational Leaders Using Blogs

There are many ways that educational leaders could use blogs. One beneficial way that I see blogs being used would be to publicize information and solicit other's responses to that information. For example, a new curriculum could be adopted for a specific class. The details of that curriculum could be presented in the educational leader's blog with key concepts and changes being the hi-light of the post. Others reading the blog could post their personal ideas and feeling about the new curriculum in an informal manner. I feel that more people would respond in this manner instead of having to go face-to-face with an administrator. I do realized that this can open up many bad cans of worm in that people do feel at liberty to say more than they often should when they "type" a response instead of vocalizing it in person; however, a with all information gathered, there will always be the good with the bad, and you just have to learn to sort through to the good stuff. Not only can information be blogged to the stakeholders of a school, but they could also be used to get information out to faculty and staff. The format of the blog allows others to see all posts, and this might work better instead of one-to-one emails being sent from one administrator to a group of teachers and then that administrator having to sift through 100 different, individual responses. With multiple individuals being able to view and comment to blog posts, more opinions will be seen, and possible more solutions given.

What I've Learned About Action Research

Usually, when one thinks of the word “research”, he pictures stacks of books, many hours spent in a library, and even a multitude of pages printed from various Internet sources. When talking about “action research”, however, this is not the case. To me, action research involves more than just the scientific approach to research. It is not just a fact of finding facts and statistics that support you research; instead, it involves actions, those things that can be done to reach a certain outcome. According to Kemmis & McTaggart (1988) and cited in Eileen Ferrance’s text Action Research, action research is the “deliberate, solution-oriented investigation that is group or personally owned and conducted. It is characterized by problem identification, systematic data collection, reflection, analysis, data-driven action taken, and problem redefinition” (p. 26). Dr. Arterbury goes on to explain action research as a “systematic approach to collecting data and solving a problem” (p. 2). I see action research as a blend of the two: data and solution. Data must be used in order for valid, realistic solutions to be developed. I have also learned that action research involves the participation of many. In order for outcomes to change, the involvement of more than just the researcher is necessary.


Resources:

Arterbury, Elvis and Jenkins, Steve. EDLD301 Research. Lamar University.
Week One Lecture Notes. July 2010.

Ferrance, Eileen. Retrieved from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/themes_ ed/act_research.pdf retrieved on July 9, 2010.