The document discusses action research. It states that action research involves: 1) Identifying an issue or problem in one's practice that needs to be addressed. 2) Involving coworkers or others as coresearchers to work through a cyclical process of planning action, taking action, observing the results, and reflecting on the process. 3) Using reflection on one cycle to plan further cycles of research, with the goal of bringing about positive changes in practice.

1. Action Research
DISSERTATION AND PRACTICE AS RESEARCH
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2. Action Research is useful for…
• Developing changes in classroom practice
• Managing effects of programme restructuring
• Developing new understandings of students or self as teacher
• Developing new professional relationships with colleagues and students
• Teaching a new process to the students
• Seeking a quantifiable answer (to what extent are portfolios an
appropriate assessment tool for nursery children?)
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Dissertation and Practice as Research

3. Questionnaires
Disadvantages
 It is more difficult if you are not already skilled
to some extent in working collaboratively with
others
 It is challenging, as you are seeking to effect
change as well as study it
 It is demanding in terms of your own integrity
when describing results
 Findings will be specific to that group and are
therefore unlikely to lead to generalisations
 Workplace conditions tend to change for a
variety of reasons outside the researchers’
control.
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Dissertation and Practice as Research
Advantages
 There are several different models to choose
from (see Hart and Bond, 1995)
 It is useful for researching into the impact of
teaching delivery
 It is useful for providing a chance to research
in a way that makes a difference to your own
workplace
 It can give a sense of ‘shared ownership’ of
the research
 It can develop reflective and team-working
skills

4. Action research is:
 Practical as it involves making chance to practice
 Theoretical as it is informed by theory and can generate new
insights
 Collaborative as it encourages engagement with others in the
process
 Reflexive as it requires practitioner researchers to keeps their own
knowledge, values, and professional activities under review
 Contextual as it acknowledges institutional, national, historical and
societal influences
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Dissertation and Practice as Research

5. Steps involved in
action research
Identify issues or
challenges in
practice
Review possible
interventions and
select a course
of action
Implement
action
Collect data to
evaluate the
action
Reflect on
learning
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Dissertation and Practice as Research

6. Steps involved in action researcher
 The researcher:
 Identifies an issue or problem that needs to be resolved
 Involves co-workers or other relevant people as co-researchers
 Works as part of this group in a 5-stage cyclical process of (1)
identifying issue (2) planning for action (3) undertaking action (4)
observation (5) reflection
 Uses the reflection on the first cycle to review how far the solution is
working, still pertinent or applicable to other contexts, and develop
the odea for further action through a second cycle of active research;
this might continue for many cycles
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7. Steps involved in action researcher
 The researcher:
 Is part of the change process rather than an outside investigator
 Devises ways of measuring the change that occurs as a result of the
action taken, evaluating its impact
 Can utilise diverse research methods, as relevant to the project
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8. Reflexivity
 Reflexive practice
 Looking at our own thinking and decision making and asking questions
 Thinking about how we perceive and understand issues and situations
 Keep our approaches, beliefs and ways of seeing the practice landscape
under review
 Take our subjectivity into account as an important part of making meaning
from our findings
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9. Data collection and interpretation
 Methods
 Semi-structured interviews
 Observations
 Reflections on your own practice
 Focus groups
 Informal interviews
 Questionnaires
 Artefacts (student assessment work or discussion posts)
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10. Data collection and interpretation
 Data collection
 To enable practitioner researchers to assess the effectiveness of an intervention
 “How do I…?” rather than hypothesis questions (“This will do that”)
 Data analysis and interpretation
 Should be aligned with the research methods and the research question
 Open coding of interview transcripts to inform findings
 Summarising key themes from interviews without transcription
 Creating individual stories from each of the interviews by condensing the interviewees
words into a short summary narrative
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11. Reliability
 Action research is unlikely to produce consistent results through repeated
studies
 Must still demonstrate quality and rigour
 Trustworthiness (validity)
 Transparency in design and reporting
 Contribution to knowledge
 Paradigmatic considerations (theoretical and practical – praxis-based
paradign)
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12. Generalisations
 Action research in about developing our practice in our context, rather
than creating generalisable rules for other practitioners
 Relatability
 Being explicit what has worked for us in our context will resonate with other
practitioners in theirs
 Open up discussion and debate with others
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13. Research questions
 What issues are influencing my students’ success or experience? What
issues arise from student feedback? What areas of student performance
are of most concern?
 After reflection or systematic self-review, what are my personal
development needs? What development areas fit with my career
aspirations?
 What are the challenges that the face the institution or department? How
could my research contribute to these? What are the strategic priorities of
my institution?
 What areas of practice do I find inherently interesting? What inspires me?
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Dissertation and Practice as Research