Ashford University EDU 671 Complete Course

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EDU 671 Week 1 Discussion 1 Understanding Action Research

Part One: According Eileen Ferrance (2000) in Themes in education: Action research, action research

“involves people working to improve their skills, techniques, and strategies. Action research is not about

learning why we do certain things, but rather how we can do things better. It is about how we can

change our instruction to impact students” (p. 9). Considering this perspective as well as the

information in Chapter 1 of Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, what factors bring

value to action research, differentiating it from traditional educational research? Include at least three

factors that are beneficial or lend credibility.

Part Two: Ferrance (2000) adds, “One of the drawbacks of individual research is that it may not be

shared with others unless the teacher chooses to present findings at a faculty meeting, make a formal

presentation at a conference, or submit written material to a listserv, journal, or newsletter” (p. 9).

Considering that your Final project will be an action research proposal presentation, how will this lead

you to improve your practice and make changes to instruction to positively impact students?

Part Three: Visit the Ashford University Library. Locate a full-text article that addresses Part One,

providing additional comparisons between action and traditional research, or find an article that

discusses Part Two, sharing research findings. Share at least one point from your article that adds to

what you learned from our assigned readings. Be sure to cite your article according to APA standards.

Guided Response: Locate and respond to two classmates’ posts which contain differing perspectives on

the value of action research or that which is different than your own. What new or different

perspectives regarding action research do you now have as a result? Provide specific feedback regarding

their ideas to improve their practice and how their concepts will impact students. *It is expected for you

to follow up by the last day of the week to provide a secondary response to any comments or questions

your instructor may have provided. This is part of the grading criteria as a demonstration of critical

thinking.

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Understanding-Action-Research-34075

EDU 671 Week 1 Discussion 2 Early Action Research Ideas

Familiarize yourself with the nine steps that Mills (2014) presents in Chapter 3, pp. 69-70, in order to

complete the first three steps of your Final Project, Action Research Plan. Follow the directions below as

they differ from the steps on page 69. As well, review Mills (2014) Informed Consent and Protection

from Harm in Chapter 2, pp. 32-36, in order to discuss the need for completion of informed consent as it

relates to your action research proposal.

At this point, you are presenting early ideas that are not concrete, as you have not conducted a review

of literature yet. Therefore, your responses should be in outline form only. (You will make these three

steps more concrete and formal in structure in Week Three). For now, you will briefly explain the

problem or situation.

1. Current Work Setting

o Describe your current professional setting, if applicable, whether you are working in a school

setting, other educational setting, or organization not related to education.

2. Potential Population Effected

o Keeping the focus relatively small, describe whether the potential population of interest

includes a group of students and what their grade or age level includes. If you currently work with adults

in a non-educational setting, include who in your workplace is impacted. If you are currently

unemployed, include who may benefit from a potential change or intervention (i.e. your child, a related

child, an adult in the family, etc.). Avoid the use of specific names, rather describe the group or

individuals who would be influenced or involved in the action research project.

o Based on what you learned by reading the selection in Mills, discuss the importance of and need

to communicate and acquire informed consent. When contemplating where your study may occur and

who it may involve, who (person’s professional role) do you anticipate will need to sign an informed

consent form for your study? If no signatures are needed, clearly state why not.

3. Area of Focus

o Identify your early idea of what the purpose of your study may be.

4. Explanation of Problem

o Statement of problem or situation that led to this interest or why you want to pursue this topic,

including trends in education or educational research.

5. Define Variables

o Describe the population (age/grade, quantity of participants, students/or adults). Briefly explain

why you have chosen them.

6. Research question(s)

o What do you wonder? Consider your area of focus statement. What do you hope to answer?

Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates, one with a different topic idea than your

own. Ask a question that will encourage them to expand their thinking, consider another point or

perspective, or explain more deeply what is appealing about the topic. Make a recommendation to help

them narrow their focus or expand their scope. *It is expected you follow-up by the last day of the week

to provide a secondary response to any comments or questions your instructor may have provided. This

is part of the grading criteria as a demonstration of critical thinking.

Attention MATLT Students: To keep aligned with your program’s emphasis on technology, we strongly

suggest that you choose a research area and/or problem involving teaching, learning, or training with

technology. Examples may include technology use in the classroom, technology teacher training,

technology tools used for evaluation or assessment, or other technology related areas applicable to your

place of work.

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Research-Ideas-F-34078

EDU 671 Week 1 Assignment Trends in Educational Action Research

Instructions: For this assignment, you will create a document that includes both the Early Action

Research Plan and criteria for your area of focus. The plan you share is the same one posted in the Early

Action Research Ideas discussion from this week. Please be sure to consider the feedback you received

from peers and your instructor and make necessary changes before including this plan in your

assignment submission. For the criteria part of the assignment, consider what you read in "Themes in

Education: Action Research" and “Current Trends in Education.” What topics did you see and read about

that lead you toward clarifying a general idea and establishing an area of focus for research? Please

refer to the “Research in Action Checklist Three – One” (Mills, 2014, p. 44) to establish criteria for your

area of focus. Note that writing in the first-person voice during the criteria section of this assignment is

acceptable.

Content

The assignment needs to include the following areas of content.

• Plan – Area of Focus (1 point): In no more than two paragraphs, describe your early idea of what

the purpose of your study may be.

• Plan – Explanation of Problem (1 point): In no more than two paragraphs, explain a statement of

the problem or situation that led to this interest or why you want to pursue this topic.

• Plan – Population (.5 point): In no more than a paragraph, describe the population (age/grade,

quantity of participants, students or adults).

• Plan – Population Choice (.5 point): In no more than a paragraph, explain why you have chosen

your population for this study, including details about why this population is appropriate for this study.

• Plan – Research Questions (1 point): Develop two to three research questions that align with the

area of focus and address what you hope to answer in this study. The questions need to be answerable

and presented in list format, and they must appropriately represent the population/participants you

identified.

• Idea – Teaching and Learning (.5 points): In at least one paragraph, evaluate whether your idea

is an issue that involves teaching and learning. Use relevant literature to support the evaluation.

• Idea – Locus of Control (.5 points): In at least one paragraph, evaluate whether your idea is

within your locus of control.

• Idea – Passion (.5 points): In at least one paragraph, describe whether your idea is something

you feel passionate about and where this passion originates from for you (e.g., life experiences or

professional practice).

• Idea – Inspiration (.5 points): In at least one paragraph, describe how your idea inspires you to

implement change or improvement.

Written Communication

The assignment needs to adhere to the following areas for written communication.

• Page Requirement (.5 points): The assignment must be two to three pages, not including title

and references pages.

• APA Formatting (.5 points): Use APA formatting consistently throughout.

• Syntax and Mechanics (.5 points): Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax

and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Your written work should contain no errors and be very

easy to understand.

• Source Requirement (.5 points): Use no less than two scholarly sources in addition to the course

textbooks, providing compelling evidence to support ideas. All sources on the reference page need to be

used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

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Educational-Action-37745

EDU 671 Week 2 Discussion The Literature Review Debate

In Chapter 3 of Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, the debate over the role of the

literature process is discussed. Mills (2014) remarks,

Some researchers have argued that reviewing the literature curtails inductive analysis—using induction

to determine the direction of the research—and should be avoided at the early stages of the research

process. Others suggest that the review of related literature is important early in the action research

process because it helps action researchers identify underlying assumptions behind their research

questions and helps the researcher refine research questions and embed them in guiding hypotheses

that provide possible direction to follow (p.74).

At this early stage of action research as you prepare to search for credible sources of information to help

you build an action research proposal, discuss which viewpoint on these two perspectives you lean

toward and why. How do you intend to use what you learned concerning best practices for research

from the chapter and the web-based resources to help you search effectively and efficiently?

Guided Response: When reading your peers’ responses to the question, identify a peer who has

responded with a perspective that is different from your own. Now, instead of countering their analysis,

attempt to support it. Then, find someone who agrees with your point of view and challenge his/her

perspective. *It is expected you follow up by the last day of the week to provide a secondary response

to any comments or questions your instructor may have provided. This is part of the grading criteria as a

demonstration of critical thinking.

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Review-Debate-In-34080

EDU 671 Week 2 Assignment Literature Review Matrix

Instructions: You will conduct a web search on your area of focus using Google, Bing, Yahoo, or any

other major search engine. Be sure to take the time to inform yourself on sound research sources

including use of peer reviews as listed in the recommended and required resources for the week. To get

you started, view What is a Scholarly Journal Article?. Next, you will analyze the first five results that

appear from your search in a table format using Microsoft Word. Then, using the same keywords you

used to search the Web, you will conduct a search in the Ashford University Library using one of the

academic databases (ERIC, ProQuest, EBSCOhost, and so forth) and create a table using Microsoft Word.

Finally, you will select two sources from either table that you feel are the best overall based on currency,

credibility, authority, and academic integrity and construct a summary. For each article in your tables,

use the following format:

APA Citation

Source Type (e.g., journal article, magazine article, book, and so forth)

Annotation (e.g., two to three sentences summarizing the contents of the source)

Content

The assignment needs to include the following areas of content.

• Web Search (2 points): Construct a table that includes an APA citation, source type, and a two-

to three-sentence annotation for five scholarly sources gathered from an open Web search.

• Library Search (2 points): Construct a table that inclides an APA citation, source type, and a two-

to three-sentence annotation for five scholarly sources gathered from a library search.

• Summary – Source Selection (1 point): State the two sources you have selected and in one

paragraph evaluate what factors influenced your decision to select these articles over the others from

your search results.

• Summary – Learning (5 points): In a paragraph, explain what you learned through this process of

selecting articles and what was most informative for you about this experience.

• Summary – Adaptations (.5 points): In a paragraph, explain the adaptations you will make in

your search and evaluation process as a result of what you located during this assignment.

• Summary – Application (.5 points): In a paragraph, explain how you will use the information you

found to help inform your ideas about your action research proposal.

Written Communication

The assignment needs to adhere to the following areas for written communication.

• Page Requirement (.5 points): Your assignment must be three to four pages, not including title

and references pages.

• APA Formatting (.5 points): Use APA formatting consistently throughout.

• Syntax and Mechanics (.5 points): Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax

and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Your written work should contain no errors and be very

easy to understand.

Review and Submit the Assignment

Review your assignment with the Grading Rubric to be sure you have achieved the distinguished levels

of performance for each criterion. Next, submit the assignment to the course room for evaluation no

later than day 7 of the week.

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Review-Matrix-Ins-37748

EDU 671 Week 3 Discussion 1 "Why Diversity in our Schools?" Please respond to the following:

• Review the article titled "Florida Passes Plan for Racially-Based Academic Goals". Next, argue for

or against Florida's plan to alter academic goals for students based on their race. Answer the following

questions:

o Why would Florida pass this plan?

o Do you think that other states will begin to follow suit?

Provide a rationale and support for your position. Respond to at least one other student.

• Based on your professional experiences, identify two (2) challenges confronting diversity and

education, and explain how they are the same as or different from the main challenges of the last

century. Provide a rationale for your response. Respond to at least one other student.

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discussion-Why-Diver-34082

EDU 671 Week 3 Discussion 2 Ethics in Research

Briefly describe the population from which data will be collected from during future implementation of

the action research study. View the Belmont Report, Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection

of Human Subjects of Research. Then watch the following videos*:

*WARNING: The following videos contain strong or potentially offensive language.

a. Obedience to Authority_Stanley Milgram Experiment

b. Feature Film – The Stanford Prison Experiment (Documentary)

c. Apology to survivors of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment

According to Mills (2014), “all research studies involve ethical considerations. Therefore, all researchers

must be aware of and attend to the ethical considerations related to their studies” (p. 27). Therefore,

identify the potential ethical concerns associated with the topic you selected in Week One in collecting

the type of data you plan to collect from this particular population. How will you address those ethical

concerns when designing your action research project around this topic? Be sure to keep in mind the big

three ethical principles: respect for persons, beneficence, and justice, as well as informed consent,

assessment of risk, and selection of subjects as discussed in the Belmont Report and to refer to them in

your response. Having no ethical considerations is not an option.

Guided Response: Take on the role of fellow teacher, building or district/regional administrator, parent,

IRB, or other role. Respond to at least two of your classmates, and imagine you are listening to your co-

worker explain via their initial post the ethical issues they need to be aware of and/or address when

framing their action research study. What insight can you provide based on what you learned from your

study of ethical rules and procedures in research involving human subjects? What did they miss? How

might they handle a potentially sticky ethical concern? *It is expected you follow up by the last day of

the week to provide a secondary response to any comments or questions your instructor may have

provided. This is part of the grading criteria as a demonstration of critical thinking.

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Research-Briefly-40535

EDU 671 Week 3 Assignment Draft Action Research Plan

Instructions: You will construct the draft of your action research plan using the headings provided in the

Content section below. Remember to write clearly and succinctly using active and not passive language

and to write in a professional tone.

Content

The assignment needs to include the following areas of content.

• Area of Focus Statement (1 point): In two to three sentences, describe the purpose of your

study. Begin by writing a statement that starts with, “The purpose of this study is to…”

• Problem - Interest (.5 points): In half of a page, describe the observations that led to your

interest in this action research project (e.g. student interactions, review of data, etc.).

• Problem – Background (1 point): In one page, explain the background or history of the situation

in your classroom/school context or work place.

• Problem – Prior Interventions (1 point): In half of a page, explain what you have tried or what

others have tried in relation to the problem and what has worked or not worked.

• Participant Description (1 point): In no more than one page, describe each participant selected

for this study.

• Participant Justification (1 point): In no more than one page, justify why you are working with

these participants in this study.

• Research Questions (1 point): List two to three research questions that are answerable and, if

applicable, include a definition following the list for any technical terminology used in the questions.

Written Communication

The assignment needs to adhere to the following areas for written communication.

• Page Requirement (.5 points): The assignment must be four to five pages, not including title and

references pages.

• APA Formatting (.5 points): Use APA formatting consistently throughout.

• Syntax and Mechanics (.5 points): Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax

and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Your written work should contain no errors and be very

easy to understand.

Review and Submit the Assignment

Review your assignment with the Grading Rubric to be sure you have achieved the distinguished levels

of performance for each criterion. Next, submit the assignment to the course room for evaluation no

later than day 7 of the week.

Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

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Research-Plan-I-37750

EDU 671 Week 4 Discussion 1 Data Analysis Practice

Mills (2014) shares in Chapter 6, “the interpretation of qualitative data is the researcher’s attempt to

find meaning, to answer the ‘So what?’ in terms of the implications of the study’s findings” (p. 133). He

adds that data analysis and interpretation is “. . . a process of digesting the contents of your qualitative

data and finding related threads in it” (133).

Analyze the middle school scenario, Flipped Math Class. Explain your process for coding and

categorizing the qualitative data. What patterns and/or themes did you discover? Answer the “So

What” for your team of teacher-researchers based on your findings. What steps does your team need to

take to address these issues before implementing the innovation of a flipped classroom?

Pages 138-139 in Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher provide an example of coding

from a transcript.

Guided Response: Consider the analysis and interpretation of at least two of your classmates. Did you

find similar themes or patterns? Examine their interpretation of the data. Did they discover something

you didn’t? Is there something you think is lacking in their interpretation? Provide specific feedback by

asking a probing question and/or providing your interpretation of their analysis and next steps. *It is

expected you follow-up by the last day of the week to provide a secondary response to any comments

or questions your instructor may have provided. This is part of the grading criteria as a demonstration of

critical thinking.

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Practice-Mil-37753

EDU 671 Week 4 Discussion 2 Your Intended Intervention/Innovation

Consider first, the written assignment for this week. Following the same outline, but with less detail at

this point, share your intervention plan with the class including:

a. Your research question(s)

o What do you want to answer in the study?

b. A brief overview of your intervention and how students will benefit

o This reinforces your identified problem.

c. How you propose to implement it

o How much time will it take and in what sequence?

d. The ethical considerations you will address

o “None” is not an option. There are always ethical considerations, some smaller/larger than

others.

e. How you plan on collecting data

o Both quantitative and qualitative?

Guided Response: Read and respond to at least two classmates and provide specific, constructive

feedback that may help guide them in their process and present their formal assignment with clarity,

accuracy, and depth. What questions are you left with as you read their plan? What suggestions can

you make to perhaps, give a different perspective? *It is expected you follow-up by the last day of the

week to provide a secondary response to any comments or questions your instructor may have

provided. This is part of the grading criteria as a demonstration of critical thinking.

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Intervention-In-37754

EDU 671 Week 4 Assignment 1 Intervention/Innovation Method

Instructions: For this assignment, you will write a method paper than contains the items listed in the

content below.

Content

The assignment needs to include the following areas of content.

• Intervention - Overview (.5 points): In no more than one page, explain your proposed

intervention.

• Intervention – Literature Review (1 point): In no more than one page, discuss your literature

review and how it informs your proposed intervention.

• Intervention – Benefits (.5 points): In no more than one page, explain why you think your

population will benefit from the intervention. Ensure your explanation draws on the literature you are

using to support this choice of intervention.

• Intervention Plan (2 points): In one- to two-pages, describe in chronological order how you will

implement your intervention and provide a hypothetical yet practical timeframe for these steps.

• Ethics – Philosophy (.5 points): In one- to two-paragraphs, explain how this intervention fits

within your philosophy of teaching. You may have written a philosophy in EDU623 or another prior

course.

• Ethics – Social Principles (.5 points): In one- to two-paragraphs, explain how this intervention

relates to your social principles as an educator.

• Ethics – Harm (1 point): In one- to two-paragraphs, explain how the literature you reviewed

leads you to believe what you are doing is an appropriate intervention.

• Ethics – Protection (.5 points): In one- to two-paragraphs, explain your planned measures to

ensure you are protecting the study participants and doing no harm.

• Ethics – Bias (.5 points): In one- to two-paragraphs, explain your planned measures to ensure

the study yields unbiased results.

• Data Collection Procedures (1 point): In one page, revise your triangulation matrix from the

Week Three Triangulation discussion adding a column that includes how and when you will collect your

data. This timeline will be hypothetical and approximate. The Data Collection Procedures section can

follow this example:

Research Questions Data Collection Tool Why this tool? Justify its use in your study. How does it

match with what you are attempting to find and to measure? Timeframe:

How and when data will be collected.

What are students’ perceived confidence levels with learning new math concepts through digital/virtual

learning forums exclusively? One

pre-assessment Likert survey

Allows students to rate their level of perceived confidence with learning math concepts through

digital or virtual learning forums as opposed to a live teacher. Provides multiple question types to gather

wider breadth of potential student concerns. Phase 1:

Given for up to first three days of study depending upon attendance in the first 15 minutes of class-

computer lab.

Written Communication

The assignment needs to adhere to the following areas for written communication.

• Page Requirement (.5 points): The assignment must be four to six pages, not including title and

references pages.

• APA Formatting (.5 points): Use APA formatting consistently throughout.

• Syntax and Mechanics (.5 points): Display meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax

and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Your written work should contain no errors and be very

easy to understand.

• Source Requirement (.5 points): Use no less than two scholarly sources in addition to the course

textbooks, providing compelling evidence to support ideas. All sources on the reference page need to be

used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

Review and Submit the Assignment

Review your assignment with the Grading Rubric to be sure you have achieved the distinguished levels

of performance for each criterion. Next, submit the assignment to the course room for evaluation no

later than day 7 of the week.

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EDU 671 Week 4 Assignment 2 Informed Consent Form

Complete the required Informed Consent Form or Informed Consent Alternative Form and submit the

form to Waypoint for grading.

a. All students, regardless of program (MAED or MATLT) will align with one of three categories to

plan and/or conduct their action research study. The only difference is that MAED students will apply

their intervention in the next course: EDU675. Consider the following categories and determine which

most accurately represents your current situation as well as the situation you will be in as you begin

EDU675 immediately following successful completion of EDU671:

o Are you currently employed in a classroom setting?

o Are you currently employed in a non-classroom setting:

o Are you currently not employed but could implement one strategy with family members or

individual’s children OR change a personal practice or approach to a situation / need / problem?

b. MAED students in all three categories must provide verification of approval by submitting the

Informed Consent Form with “LIVE” signatures, it must be an actual signature not a typed in name.

Those in the third category if the intervention/innovation involves the student’s own child, then the

student-researcher will sign the informed consent form as both the parent and the researcher. The

completed form will state their intent to participate in a single intervention or innovation lasting

approximately three weeks in a specified setting with a specified group of student or adult participants.

c. MATLT students must submit the form and clearly mark at the bottom why a signature is not

required and describe their proposed study.

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EDU 671 Week 5 Discussion 1 Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond

to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your

responses. Reference the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric for guidance on how your discussion will be

evaluated.

Mock Action Research Proposal Presentation

As you prepare for your Final Project, take this opportunity to create a mock presentation using

PowerPoint, or other professional presentation software and present your action research proposal to

your peers through Jing, Present.me, or PowerPoint to create your presentation with both a visual and

audio component.

Your visual presentation must include all nine components of the action research plan and follow the

guidelines for creating effective presentations as discussed in the required and recommended video

tutorials located in the recommended and required readings section.

In order to ensure your viewers experience the full effect of your mock proposal, it is imperative that

your voice and a visual presentation complement each other as you explain all nine of its components.

Therefore, it is a requirement you include the video component with audio as you share your action

research proposal.

You must keep your presentation under five minutes. Keep in mind, the emphasis is more on you and

your ability to share your knowledge, heart, and passion about your topic, while leading your viewers

through the nine components of your mock action research proposal. Your visual presentation will

provide the main points of each of the nine components, as you follow the seven by seven rule. But

your oral complement will elaborate to fill in the blanks between those main points. Thus, you will have

the opportunity to provide all the details, important information, and passion behind it to your audience

verbally. This will not only appeal to both visual and auditory learners, simultaneously, it will make your

presentation more enjoyable and enriching for both you and your viewers. Include a link to your

presentation or attach it to your discussion post.

Guided Response: View and respond to at least two peers. As you move through the forum, if you see

that some classmates’ posts do not have any posted responses, please view their video and respond so

everyone receives feedback. Provide each other with the following constructive feedback:

• Areas of strength regarding their action research plan itself

• Areas of strength regarding their presentation (think of the tutorial tips)

• Pose a question regarding what you saw and heard in their presentation. Were there any

components that were not entirely clear?

• Make a recommendation for improving or enhancing an element of their work so as to be better

prepared for their final action research proposal project.

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EDU 671 Week 5 Discussion 2 Writing Rituals and the Value of Writing About Action Research

Consider the image/quote below.

Interpret what this quote means to you in light of this week’s readings on personal writing rituals. What

conclusions can you make from this simple statement?

Considering Chapter 8 of Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, develop a list of up to

five of your current personal writing rituals and how they help or hinder your writing. What ideas did

you gain from chapter 8 that could help improve your writing practice as you progress through your

Master program?

Guided Response: Select at least two of your peers’ to respond to. What differences or similarities are

there between your interpretations of the quote? Consider their list of writing rituals. What new or

different ideas did you gain from their list? Provide them with another helpful suggestion to add to their

list or to replace a point they may have included that is more of a hindrance than a help. *It is expected

you follow-up by the last day of the week to provide a secondary response to any comments or

questions your instructor may have provided. This is part of the grading criteria as a demonstration of

critical thinking.

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Rituals-and-the-Value-39889

EDU 671 Week 6 Discussion 1 Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond

to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your

responses. Reference the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric for guidance on how your discussion will be

evaluated.

Action Planning for Education Change

In Chapter 7, Mills (2014) discusses a variety of challenges action researchers face with implementing

positive change.

What potential challenges or obstacles do you predict facing in your current or future role as an

educator when implementing positive change (lack of resources, resistance to change, reluctance to

interfere with others’ professional practices, reluctance to admit difficult truths, difficulty finding a

forum to share what you have learned, lack of time for action research endeavors, unsupportive

administration, other)?

Describe how you would apply what you have learned regarding the challenges of implementing

educational change to overcome potential obstacles that you may encounter in taking action.

Guided Response: Respond to a minimum of two classmates. Provide suggestions for overcoming their

potential obstacles. What is something they shared that you hadn’t considered in your own future

endeavors? *It is expected you follow-up by the last day of the week to provide a secondary response

to any comments or questions your instructor may have provided. This is part of the grading criteria as a

demonstration of critical thinking.

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EDU 671 Week 6 Discussion 2 Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond

to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your

responses. Reference the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric for guidance on how your discussion will be

evaluated.

Final Self-Reflection

Describe some of your take-aways from this course. Consider all of the topics including use of digital

tools when responding. Do not respond in list form. These are merely prompts to get you thinking:

a. What concepts or principles have you learned from this course that you might use in your work

setting?

b. How do you feel about conducting action research now, compared to before you started this

course?

c. Describe how you perceive the value of qualitative and quantitative data when considering

improvements.

d. How do you plan to use the knowledge you gained in this course to be a positive change agent in

your own work setting? In other words, what are your next steps?

e. Include a new, different quote than you did in you r week one introduction. Why does this

quote inspire you?

Guided Response: Respond to a minimum of two classmates. *It is expected you follow-up by the last

day of the week to provide a secondary response to any comments or questions your instructor may

have provided. This is part of the grading criteria as a demonstration of critical thinking.

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EDU 671 Week 6 Final Project Action Research Proposal The final project for this course is an Action Research Proposal, which will be created and shared in the

form of a formal presentation in PowerPoint, including detailed speaker notes for each content slide.

The purpose of the final project is for you to culminate the learning achieved in the course by

demonstrating the ability to effectively present an Action Research Proposal.

As you create the presentation, imagine that you are given approximately ten minutes to present this

information to your fellow teachers in your school during a staff development day, to your school board

to solicit support for their ideas, or to your managers as part of your organization’s continuous

improvement program. Your goals are to gain approval to conduct this study and implement your

proposed innovation or intervention in your place of work.

To create your presentation, use your current, updated action research plan outline that was originally

submitted during Week Four. Additionally, you may want to use your mock presentation from Week

Five as well as the feedback acquired from your classmates in the discussion forum to build an

improved, more complete presentation for a wider, more important audience.

Content

The assignment needs to include the following areas of content.

• Presentation – Design (6.5 points): Create a presentation that is professionally designed in 15 to

20 slides, including title and references slides, and has no more than seven bullet points per slide and no

more than seven words per point. You must use images to add value to the slide content and high-

contrast colors for readability and include detailed speaker notes for each content slide.

• Presentation – Content (12 points): In addition to a title and references slide, the presentation

must include the following twelve areas:

1. Area of Focus,

2. Explanation of Problem,

3. Variables, including defined factors, contexts, including recognition of diverse learners, and

variables of the proposed study,

4. Research Questions, which are answerable given your expertise, time, and resources,

5. Locus of Control,

6. Intervention/Innovation, which is a succinct description of the proposed action to address the

identified issue/area of focus,

7. Group Membership, including the identified importance, role, and responsibility of each

member,

8. Negotiations, including potential obstacles (e.g., permissions established),

9. Ethics, including a statement of how you address the potential ethical challenges,

10. Timeline, which is the anticipated schedule for each phase of the intervention,

11. Statement of Resources, which is a list of what is needed to enact the proposed plan, and

12. Data Collection, including whether the proposed data collection techniques are justified and

whether you are proposing appropriate data collection techniques to answer the study’s research

questions (chart from Week Three may be used here).

Written Communication

The assignment needs to adhere to the following areas for written communication.

• APA Formatting (0.5 points): Use APA formatting consistently throughout.

• Syntax and Mechanics (0.5 points): Display meticulous comprehension and organization of

syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Your written work should contain no errors and be

very easy to understand.

• Source Requirement (0.5 points): Use no less than three scholarly sources in addition to the

course textbook, providing compelling evidence to support ideas. All sources on the reference page

need to be used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.

Review and Submit the Assignment

Review your assignment with the Grading Rubric to be sure you have achieved the distinguished levels

of performance for each criterion. Next, submit the assignment to the course room for evaluation no

later than day 7 of the week.

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