Action Research in Education

Action Research in Education Brown Bag Luncheon 2/12/08
Edwin D. Bell
Department of Education
Winston-Salem State University

What is it?
Action Research
A group of research methodologies that
pursue change and understanding. It is a cyclical process that alternates between action and critical reflection.

What is It? (continued)
Action research is a particular type of descriptive research that can be carried out by educators. (Slavin, 2006)

Why Do We Use It?
What is the relationship of Action Research to the Education?
It is grounded in constructivism
It supports the Scholarship of Teaching from Boyer’s Scholarship reconsidered (Boyer, 1990)

How Does the Process Work?
Look at the situation:
Gather relevant data
Define and describe
Build a picture to describe the situation, e.g., force field analysis
(Stringer, 1999)
(This concept emerged from the work of Kurt Lewin )

Process (continued)
Think about the situation:
- Explore and analyze
- What is happening here
- Interpret and explain
- How and why are things the way they are (Stringer, 1999)

Process (continued)
Act:
- Plan, i.e., develop a logic
Model
- Implement
- Evaluate (Stringer, 1999)

What Tools Do We Use?
True and Quasi-Experimental Research designs (Gribbons & Herman, 1997)
Triangulation
Quantitative Methodology
Qualitative Methodology

What tools Do we Use? (continued)
Grounded Theory: A thumbnail sketch
Always try to use field notes as part of your triangulation.

What Do We Do Next
Look at the situation through a conceptual framework that you develop.
I encourage people to use Karl Weick’s loosely-coupled systems perspective (Weick, 1976)
I encourage them to collect and use analytical, empirical, and intuitive data in the decisions that they make about teaching and learning.
I encourage them to submit their written analysis to peer review, i.e., publish.

Questions

References
Boyer, E. (1990) Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. Retrieved on 2/8/08 from http://www.sfsu.edu/~acaffrs/faculty_manual/d ocs/other/Scholarship_Reconsidered.doc
Dick, B. (2005). Grounded theory: A thumbnail sketch. Resource Papers in Action Research, Retrieved from http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/grou nded.html
Gribbons, Barry & Herman, Joan (1997). True and quasi-experimental designs. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation , 5(14). Retrieved May 31, 2006 from http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=5&n=14

References (continued)
Slavin, R. E. (2006). Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice, 8 th Edition, Boson, MA: Allyn and Bacon
Stringer, E. T. (1999). Action Research, 2 nd Edition, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Weick, K. (1976) Educational organizations as loosely coupled systems, Administrative Science Quarterly, 21. Retrieved on 2/8/08 from http://faculty.babson.edu/krollag/org_si te/org_theory/Scott_articles/weick_lcs.html

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Action Research in Education

by WSSU CETL on Feb 18, 2008

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