Action Research
Research questions should emerge from a teacher’s own immediate concerns and problems.
Trying out ideas in practice as a means of improvement and as a means of increasing knowledge about the curriculum, teaching and learning.
The teacher as researcher vs. research done to emancipate individuals from the domination of unexamined assumptions embodied in the status quo.
The results of the research must be communicated to those involved and to other interested parties. The intention of the report is to lead to immediate action.
If the results are to be applied, they must be reliable, valid and trustworthy.
Its contents should, however, be disseminated (as research is not research unless communicated-Stern 1983). A range of alternatives to the academic journal article exist (for example, conference presentation, teacher-center poster), most of which are probably more effective in disseminating the information contained in such a report .
Summary
The radical wing of action research deserves our support for the following reasons: its results are actually as relevant to the immediate needs and problems of teachers as any research can be; it supports the process of teacher reflection, which is vital for educational renewal and professional growth; engaging in action research may facilitate teachers doing other kinds of research and using the results of such research; and because of its basis in critical theory, it faces up to the unquestioned values embodied in educational institutions which regularly threaten to cut the ground from under teachers, ‘deprofessionalizing’ them and preventing the delivery of true education.
Research should not be presented as something that people other than teachers do, and it should not be written in a language teachers do not read or speak. The conducting of action research as a means of critical reflection on teaching and on the socio-political context in which teachers find themselves has the potential to be a major component in the continuing struggle to improve SL teaching. (Revised version received October 1992)
Short link to this page: http://bit.ly/MAELT_AR
Taken from this ole site of mine.
Notes on the left from Crookes, Graham (1993) Action research for second language teachers: going beyond teacher research. In Applied Linguistics Vol.14, No.2 Oxford OUP
Ten Stages of Action Research
Adapted from Burns, R B (1997) Introduction to Research Methods. Longman (Chapter 20)
Identification, evaluation and formulation of the problem, issue or general idea
Fact finding – give a full description of the situation. This helps to clarify the nature of the issue and generate categories and classifying different types within your situation.
Read any current research literature on the issue.
Formulate a hypothesis.
Gather information relevant to testing the hypothesis.
Selection of research procedures, e.g. materials, resources, teaching method, allocation of tasks.
Implementation of the action plan
Decide on evaluative procedures. Monitor how well the course of action is being implemented. Monitor any side effects (intended or not).Consider what is happening from various points of view. Recording and reporting are usually done by
Diaries, analytic memos, document analysis, audio/video tape, outside observer, interviewing, questionnaires.
Interpretation of the data and evaluation of the project.
Write the report.