Collaborative Action Research

Collaborative Action Research a scientific method for practitioners Dr. Leslie Patterson University of North Texas June, 2008

Think of your question as a grow light. When shined upon your students you should see them flourish. Here is where the potential effect of teacher research on student learning is made most visible.

JoAnn Portalupi Curtis "Balance the Basics: Teaching and Learning" Teacher Research, Vol. I, No. 1, p. 62

Think about . . .

A student who was particularly challenging for you; a student from whom you learned something important.

Think about a specific incident with that student, an incident which was critical in your relationship with the student.

Visualize one incident.

Write. . . Interpret. . . Question. . .

Share.

Think some more. . .

In one sentence, summarize what happened with that student.

So what might it mean that it happened in just that way?

Now what would you do differently because of what you learned from that student?

. . .in real language situations the roles of researcher and teacher potentially converge. We thus conclude that the traditional gap between researcher and teacher is . . . dysfunctional and fails to serve the profession. Harste, Woodward, and Burke Language Stories and Literacy Lessons , p. 85

Good Teaching IS Inquiry

Action

Reflection

Inquiry

Action

Reflection

Inquiry . . . . . . . .

Questions to Drive Inquiry What is happening? or What do you know? So what does it mean? Now what shall I do about it?

What is happening?

What are my students doing? Saying?

What am I doing? Saying?

How do I feel about it?

What does the published research say?

What are the curricular expectations?

How am I working with parents?

How am I working with colleagues?

So what does it mean?

To my students?

To people outside the classroom?

For my theory base?

In relation to cultural expectations and practices?

In relation to schoolwide decisions?

In relation to social and political realities?

Now what shall I do?

How will I change my instruction?

How will I change the way I work with people outside the classroom?

What are my new questions?

How will I gather data to answer my questions?

What makes it RESEARCH?

Critical reflection

Reading & using published research

Systematic data collection

Documentation your process

And (some people say)

Sharing your findings

Action Research

Systematic

Deliberate

Fully Documented

Repeatable or Replicable

Often made public

Traditional Approach to Research

Identify problem

Ask question/State hypothesis

Select data sources

Develop a plan for gathering data

Gather data

Analyze data to address problem

Report findings and conclusions

An Alternative: Collaborative Action Research

Observe Closely; Read the Published Research to Frame the Issue & Make an Action Plan

Implement and Document

Make Sense and Move Forward

Use What You Are Learning AND

Write It Down & Offer It Up

Observe Closely, Read the Research, & Frame the Problem Implement your instruction Document what happens, gather data, & reflect Write it down & offer it up. . . Make sense & move forward. . . Use what you’ve learned as you continue teaching… and

Questions to Drive Inquiry What is happening? or What do you know? So what does it mean? Now what shall I do about it?

Review: Essential Elements of Collaborative Action Research

Clear focus on significant issue or question

Integration of Action, Inquiry, & Reflection

Integration of Theory & Practice

Clear and rich descriptions of multiple data sources

Clear explanations of researcher’s role

Explanations of data collection and analysis

Enough evidence to be credible and compelling

Final reports vary in format

Teacher Researchers Use the Published Research Literature

to generate research questions

to suggest data gathering

methodologies and research designs

to suggest categories for data analysis

to compare with the conclusions suggested by your own data

to explain your findings

Possible Research Questions

• How does _________ happen?

• Why does _________ happen that way?

How do participants perceive what’s happening?

• What would happen if _____________?

• How would _______ affect _______?

(We aren’t trying to PROVE anything!)

What data sources are helpful?

• Teacher’s observations

• Anecdotal records

• Field notes

• Teacher’s journal or log

• Audio & video tapes of students

• Interviews/conferences

Other data sources?

• Student work products

Writing folders

Portfolios

Journals

Other?

Other data sources?

Products of Testing or Experimental Situations

Test scores

Questionnaires

Surveys

Writing samples in response to prompts

Performance tasks

As teachers we avoid abstract theoretical statements when we talk with one another about our professional work because such statements seem disconnected from what actually occurs in our classrooms. Anecdotal accounts, filled with meaning and significance, seem to serve us better as we research the interactions that constitute teaching and learning in our classrooms. (p. 184) Patricia Lambert Stock "The Function of Anecdote in Teacher Research“ English Education , Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 173-187

Valid? Reliable? OR Credible ?

Clear explanations of researcher's decisions

Detailed descriptions

Multiple data sources

Peer debriefing

Member checks

Ethical treatment of participants

Analyzing the Data

Look for patterns and connections

Comparisons

Before and after

Girls and Boys

Younger and older

Low and high achievers

Recurring patterns or themes among similar groups over time

What are you actually doing when you analyze data?

• Comparing

• Contrasting

• Aggregating

• Ordering

• Establishing links and relationships

• Speculating

Common Forms of Research Reports

Traditional research report

Statement of problem

Review of the research literature

Description of the methodology

Findings and Conclusions

Implications for further research and/or practice

Documented essay

Narrative

Multi-Genre Paper

Research is not only a product and a process, but an attitude. The attitude of research, highlighted by the shift in the profession to ethnography, is "I can find out." This attitude is as important for teachers as it is for researchers. The attitude of ethnography suggests that good teachers act like good researchers and good researchers act like good teachers." Harste, Woodward, and Burke Language Stories and Literacy Lessons , p. 87 Begin again Esc to End

Literature Response Journals