Viviane VladimirschiEDDE 802

Assignment # 2March 11, 2014

Viviane VladimirschiEDDE 802Assignment # 2March 11, 2014

Image courtesy of Google

Agenda

• Defining action research• Why action research• Origins • Paradigms • Types of action research• Strengths and weaknesses• Action research process/cycle • Examples • Questions for discussion

Defining action research

“A participatory, democratic process concerned with developing practical knowingin the pursuit of worthwhile human purposes, grounded in a participatory worldview.It seeks to reconnect action and reflection, theory and practice, in participationwith others, in the pursuit of practical solutions to issues of pressingconcern to people. More generally it grows out of a concern for the flourishingof individual persons and their communities” (Reason and Bradbury, 2001, p. 1).

• grounded in lived experience;• developed in partnership ;• works with, rather than simply studies, people;• develops new ways of seeing/theorizing the world;• leaves infrastructure in its wake.

(Bradbury & Reason, 2003)

Why action research?

Action research can be a corrective to the deficiencies of positivist science:

A.R. is future oriented.

A.R. is collaborative.A.R. implies system development.A.R. generates theory grounded in action. A.R. is agnostic. A.R. is situational.

(Susman & Evered, 1978)

Origins Kurt Lewin -1946

“ If you want truly to understand something,

try to change it."

Reference: http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologyquotes/a/lewinquotes.htmImage courtesy of Google

Paradigms Postmodernist tradition – knowledge claims

must be set within the conditions of the current world and in multiples perspectives of class, race, gender and other group affiliations.

Critical theoryPragmatism Hermeneutics Existentialism Phenomenology Participatory

(Cohen et al., 2011)

Types of action research

• Technical/scientific/collaborative 1

• Practical/mutual collaborative/deliberative 2

• Emancipating/enhancing/critical science3

(Berg, 2001)

Strengths Weaknesses

Theory + practice = can benefit from combining

action and research

Facilitates the development of techniques - "practics"

Promotes the development of action competencies

Ability to use earlier infrastructure efforts as models

True emancipatory approaches are a “tough sell” in schools.

How can the researcher both “observe” reality as well asbeing part of it and thus be implicated in its continual creation and recreation?

Localism and the difficulty of intervening in large-scale social change efforts.

Improvement of practice is not equal to practice with emancipation.

Action research process

1. Develop a plan of action to

improve what is already

happening.

2. Act to implement the

plan.

3. Observe the effects of action in the context in which it occurs.

4. Reflect on these effects as a basis

for further planning,

subsequent action and so forth.

Key stages of action research methodology (Kemmis, 1982)

Other action research models or cycles

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Example # 1 Ochsner (2010) conducted an action research study

using mixed methods ( pretest/posttest science

content test, KWL chart, project evaluation rubric:

quantitative data collection; 21st century learning

skills student surveys: focus group and open ended

survey questions: qualitative data collection) to

investigate if didactic moviemaking could help eighth

grade students learn physical science content

incorporating 21st century learning skills of

collaboration, problem solving and critical thinking

skills through their group production. During 5 weeks,

students were asked to research lessons, write scripts,

act, record a video and edit a didactic movie that

contained a narrative plot to teach a science strand in

physical science. Ochsner (2010) concluded that

students perceived that creating a didactic digital

movie helped them use collaboration,

communication, problem solving and critical skills

throughout their production.

Example # 2

Draper (2011) carried out an action research mixed methods study to describe the instructional needs of teachers (N= 1,313), as well as the related support efforts provided in Canyons District public schools. Draper (2011) utilized a quantitative needs assessment survey and focus group discussions for data collection and analysis. The results of Draper’s (2011) study show that adjustments within support models for instructional technology to teachers are needed. Findings helped fashion a plan for providing educational technology support to Canyons District teachers in the years to come.

Action research demands a lot of time, availability, cooperation, collaboration and commitment from stakeholders. What are strategies or techniques that could be used to engage and obtain cooperation from participants? What are the underlying ethical dilemmas?

How can rigor be ensured in an action research study?

How much time should be spent in the field to ensure change or transformation has been achieved?

References Berg, B. L. (2001). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Bradbury, H. and Reason, P. (2001) ‘Conclusion: Broadening the Bandwidth of Validity: Issues and Choice-points for Improving the Quality of Action Research’, in P. Reason and H. Bradbury (Eds.) The Handbook of Action Research, pp. 447–56. London/Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Bradbury, H., & Reason, P. (2003). Action Research An Opportunity for Revitalizing Research Purpose and Practices. Qualitative Social Work, 2(2), 155-175. Retrieved from http://0-qsw.sagepub.com.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/content/2/2/155.full.pdf+html

Brydon-Miller, M., Greenwood, D., & Maguire, P. (2003). Why action research?. Action research, 1(1), 9-28. Retrieved from http://www.civitas.edu.pl/pub/nasza_uczelnia/projekty_badawcze/Taylor/Brydon-Miller.pdf

Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2011). Research methods in education. London: Routledge.

Draper, D. E. (2011). Improving the quality of teacher support in anticipation of the instructional use of technology: An action research study. (Order No. 3457880, Utah State University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, pp., 232. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/docview/873954972?accountid=8408. (873954972)

Kemmis, S. (Ed.). (1982). The action research reader. Geelong, Victoria, Australia: Deakin University Press.

Newton, P., & Burgess, D. (2008). Exploring types of educational action research: Implications for research validity. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 7(4), 19-30. Retrieved from http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/IJQM/article/viewFile/1804/3819

Ochsner, K. (2010). Lights, camera, action research: The effects of didactic digital movie making on students' twenty-first century learning skills and science content in the middle school classroom. (Order No. 3407089, Arizona State University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, pp., 96-n/a. file://localhost/Retrieved from http/::0- search.proquest.com.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca:docview:304667975%3Faccountid=8408. (304667975)

Susman, G. I., & Evered, R. D. (1978). An assessment of the scientific merits of action research. Administrative science quarterly, 582-603. Retrieved from http://0-www.jstor.org.aupac.lib.athabascau.ca/stable/2392581

Thank you!