This presentation was focused on action research for community college mathematics faculty.

1. Lights, Camera, Action Research!Research as Faculty Development Series Sponsored by AMATYC’s Research Committee Dr. April Strom, Scottsdale Community College 1

2. 2 Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher (Geoffrey Mills, 2000)

3. Question for the Audience… Which one of the following best describes your experience with action research? 3

4. My story… How has research changed my practice? Why is research needed/desired in community colleges? 4

5. Webinar Agenda What is action research? Origins Affordances Action research process Identifying an area of focus 5

6. What is action research? “…any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers…to gather information about…how they teach and how their students learn” (Mills, 2000, p.6). 6 Teacher as Researcher Teacher as Learner

7. What is action research? “…any systematic inquiry conducted by teacher researchers…to gather information about…how they teach and how their students learn” (Mills, 2000, p.6). 7 Teacher as Researcher Teacher as Learner

8. Research Paradigms 8 Mixed Methods

9. Origins of action research Kurt Lewin (coined the phrase “action research” circa 1940’s) Rooted in John Dewey’s progressive education movement 9 John Dewey Kurt Lewin

10. Action Research Process 10

11. Action Research Process 11

12. Action Research Process 12

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18. 18 Write down 3 possible phenomena that you would like to investigate…type one idea in the chat room!

19. Identifying Area of Focus 19

20. Identifying Area of Focus 20

21. Identifying Area of Focus 21

22. Identifying Area of Focus 22

23. Identifying Area of Focus 23

24. Question for the Audience… Which one of the following journals do you read regularly? 24

25. Identifying Area of Focus 25 Research Question(s)

26. Developing Research Questions Examples: In what ways do students think about exponential growth? What are developmental students’ mathematical beliefs and affect? What are the problem solving behaviors of College Algebra students? 26

27. Data Collection 27

28. Data Collection Methodology Survey students Use developed survey (VAMS, for example) One-minute paper Code open-ended tests, homework sets, other student artifacts Open & axial coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) Conduct semi-structured student interviews (Goldin, 2000) 28

30. Internal & External Reflection

31. Create research question(s)

32. Present findings of action research project

33. Form small groups, if possible

34. Obtain IRB approval

35. Conduct investigation

36. Analyze dataTimeline May 6 March 4 March-May

38. Internal & External Reflection

39. Create research question(s)

40. Present findings of action research project

41. Form small groups, if possible

42. Obtain IRB approval

43. Conduct investigation

44. Analyze dataTimeline May 6 March 4 March-May

46. Internal & External Reflection

47. Create research question(s)

48. Present findings of action research project

49. Form small groups, if possible

50. Obtain IRB approval

51. Conduct investigation

52. Analyze dataTimeline May 6 March 4 March-May

54. Internal & External Reflection

55. Create research question(s)

56. Present findings of action research project

57. Form small groups, if possible

58. Obtain IRB approval

59. Conduct investigation

60. Analyze dataTimeline May 6 March 4 March-May

61. Question for the Audience… Which one of the following best describes your interest level for engaging in an active research project? 33

62. Resources AMATYC Research Symposium Videoshttp://www.amatyc.org/Events/conferences/2010Boston/ 34

63. Resources RMETYC Newsletter Blog http://rmetyc.blogspot.com/ Note: Research resources will be posted on blog! 35

64. References Goldin, G. (2000). A scientific perspective on structured, task-based interviews in mathematics education research. In A. E. Kelly & R. Lesh (Eds.), Handbook of research design in mathematics and science education. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Mills, G. (2000). Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. 36

65. Thank you!Questions? Dr. April Strom april.strom@sccmail.maricopa.edu 37