CAR,it easy..

What is Action Research?

Action Research is a process in which participants examine their own educational practice systematically and carefully using the techniques of research. It is based on the following assumptions:

*teachers and principals work best on problems they have identified for themselves;
*teachers and principals become more effective when encouraged to examine and assess their own work and then consider ways of working differently;
*teachers and principals help each other by working collaboratively;
*working with colleagues helps teachers and principals in their professional development.
Heidi Watts, Antioch Graduate School

What Action Research Is Not
1.It is not the usual things teachers do when they think about their teaching. Action Research is systematic and involves collecting evidence on which to base rigorous reflection.
2.It is not just problem-solving. Action Research involves problem-posing, not just problem-solving. It does not start from a view of problems as pathologies. It is motivated by a quest to improve and understand the world by changing it and learning how to improve it from the effects of the changes made.
3.It is not research on other people. Action Research is research by particular people on their own work to help them improve what they do, including how they work with and for others. Action Research does not treat people as objects. It treats people as autonomous, responsible agents who participate actively in making their own histories by knowing what they are doing.
4.It is not the scientific method applied to teaching. Action Research is not just about hypothesis-testing or about using data to come to conclusions. It is concerned with changing situations, not just interpreting them. It takes the researcher into view. Action Research is a systematically-evolving process of changing both the researcher and the situations in which he or she works. The natural and historical sciences do not have this aim.
Henry and Kemmis

Techniques for Gathering Data
1.Interviews with students, parents, teachers
2.Checklists of skills, behaviors, abilities, movement, procedures, interactions, resources
3.Portfolios of a range of work from students of different abilities around a particular topic; a representation of a total experience; a collection of documents for analysis
4.Individual files of students' work (e.g., tapes, samples of work, art work, memos, photos of models/projects, reports), of students' opinions; of student attitudes, of students' experiences
5.Diaries/journals written by teachers, students, parents, class groups, teachers
6.Field notes/observation records - informal notes written by a teacher
7.Logs of meetings, lessons, excursions, school expectations, material used
8.Student-teacher discussion/interaction - records of comments and thoughts generated by students
9.Questionnaires of attitudes, opinions, preferences, information
10.Audiotapes of meetings, discussions in class or about data gathered, games, group work, interviews, whole class groups, monologues, readings, lectures, demonstrations
11.Videotapes of classrooms, lessons, groups, demonstrations, a day in a school, lunch times
12.Still photography of groups working, classrooms, faces, particular students over time, at fixed intervals in a lesson
13.Time-on-task analysis of students, teachers; over a lesson, a day, a week
14.Case study - a comprehensive picture/study of a student or a group of students


A Process for Analyzing Your Data

In using qualitative research, you will be collecting and analyzing at the same time. These processes inform each other. Be open to new ways of thinking as you learn more from your data.
1. Go through everything you have collected. Make notes as you go.
2. Look for themes, patterns, big ideas. Key words and phrases can trigger themes. Determine these themes by your scan of the data, not on your preconceived ideas of what you think the categories are.
3. Narrow the themes down to something manageable. (3-5 of your most compelling and interesting)
4. Go back through all of your data and code or label information according to the themes in order to organize your ideas. Some ideas may fit into more than one theme. Create sub-groups under each theme.
5. Write continuously. Jot down what you are seeing, what questions are emerging, and what you are learning. Keep notes on those new ideas which are unanticipated. These may be findings or surprises which you had not planned.
6. Review your information after it is coded/labeled to see if there is

*a frequency of certain items and/or
*powerful, interesting, unusual comments or behaviors which are of particular interest to you. This may be an incident which gives you a new insight, and it may be one of the most important to hold on to.
7. Identify the main points which appear most frequently and are the most powerful. It will be hard to let go of some of your information, but it is important to sift through it.
8. Write up your major points. You can write them up by
* theme,
* chronologically, or
* the different modes you used for collecting information.

9.Draw the information together to include some of the evidence which supports each of your themes. The reader should be able to draw conclusions based on the evidence you have presented.