Fourth Action Research Course 653

Overview of the Course

"There is no one who can take our place. Each of us weaves a strand in the web of creation. There is no one who can weave that strand for us. What we have to contribute is both unique and irreplaceable. What we withhold from life is lost from life. The entire world depends upon our individual choices." - Duane Elgin

653 COLLABORATIVE ACTION RESEARCH -- PRESENT ACTION RESEARCH

Faculty: Margaret Riel, (mriel@pepperdine.edu)

Synchronous meeting day and times: Weekly Tuesday, Time determined by Learning Circle

Asynchronous meeting space: Courses (Sakai)

Description

The theme of this semester is leadership and one's role in larger organizational change. You will be working on the leadership themes in the conceptual tools course which will be directed towards helping you develop projects that extend your thinking about action research. In this course, you will complete one or more cycles of action research cycles and then focus on developing an online portfolio of your work. You will prepare a presentation of your year-long process to be included in the Action Research Conference at Pepperdine University in June. After the conference in July, you will transform your work to prepare for other presentations, a publication or project proposals for the coming year.

This is the fourth part of a 4-course sequence. Action Research is a form of self-reflective systematic inquiry directed by you on your own practice. You will work with new "learning circle" partners as you all carry out the cycles of your action research.

Discover (Summer 1)

Understand action research in relationship to other forms of research
Explore values and research ethics in the workplaces
Conduct inquiry in their workplace with the explicit goal of improving their practice.
Develop a logic model of change

Understand (Fall)

Develop personal reflective knowledge through problem finding
Develop observational and ethnographic skills
Contextualize a problem in the workplace and in the literature
Learn how to structure and develop a review of literature
Formulate a plan for solving the problem and begin implementing it

Apply (Spring)

Implement the plan in a series of progressive problem solving in cycles
Learn how to collect and analyze data
Understand workplace dynamics through systematic inquiry into change
Build knowledge through sharing findings and methods with other action researchers.

Leverage (Summer II) (This Course-653)

Reflect on how to extend the reach of their ideas to different contexts
Lead from different positions with the reach of technology
Present their findings a conference format in June the week before graduation.

Student Learning Outcomes 653:

Understanding Action Research 650 - 1 unit

Collaborative Action Research 651 - 3 units

Progressive Problem Solving 652 - 3 units

Sharing Action Research 653 - 3 units

Thinking with People

You have come a long way. We have been giving you feedback in a the public forum and you have not only accepted it but some of you have even expressed gratitude suggesting an understanding that we are all trying to get better all of the time. This development of a culture of critique is very difficult and you all deserve a great deal of credit for developing the mutual trust and willingness to to participate in this process. More than any other marker, this willingness to work collaboratively toward expertise is a marker of your status as graduate students. This course in many ways is about learning how to learn in a community.

Some of you are still tentative. You don't yet trust yourself and the wealth of knowledge that you bring to the setting. You are not yet willing to give yourself permission to be an expert. I hope that this semester, that will happen for all of you. Part of your gradeis based on your feedback to others (see activities for more on this). The actions that you take with each other are likely to have an effect on the action you take within your community of practice. Everything in this program works at a meta level as well as the physical level.

Your Action Research Website

You should have a home for your action research on a website. You will be revising work as we go along. The site will evolve with your work. By the end of this semester you should have the following on your websites. The parts that come from each semester are noted.

Introduction (home or splash page)

An inviting overview of your project with graphics or use of a metaphor (653) (an inviting introduction page that speaks to readers outside of the cadre)
A description of the problem that you are researching with action (650, 651)
Some information about you (digital portfolio) (453)

Context of the research local and global-- links to each of these might have short summaries linking to long or more detailed information

A review of literature as part of a planning process (651) (references moved to the end in their own section)
A detailed description of the field of action (the context)(650 and 652)
The Overall Action Research Question(s)/ logic model

Plan of Research

Description of Action Research (651 and 652)
help you audience learng about action research. Consider links to CCAR or other resources
Overview of cycles

Your Cycles of Research

A set of cycles reports (652 and 653) (including
- cycle action Description
- research questions,
- data analysis
- reflections

Final Reflections

Your final reflection (started in 638c)(638d) (integrative...what did you learn?)

References and Resources

Starting with the references from your lit reveiw and adding any that you refer to in other parts of your work.
Links or other things... Gallery of photos or....

And you will continue to write your research notes and reflections in your Action Research Blog. This is linked from the blog listing in courses for 650.

Thinking about the Future

In this final course on action research we will be thinking about where you are going with your new identity that you have been crafting. Some of you have already made a move. Others are refashioning the roles in current positions. It might mean looking for new roles in new positions. So that will be the focus of our thinking this term.

You will be a doing a number of things to prepare you for thinking about your new roles or new position.

You will be preparing an electronic portfolio--This was started in Melissa's class and should include your action research. You action research portfolio is a part of your larger professional portfolio.
You will be making a brochure to distribute at exhibitions--this is a one page (you can use both sides) document. There are many online brochure making programs and templates and you are welcome to use any of these templates. It can be the small scale design of your backboard.
We will be talking about how you might use a metaphor to characterize your work. The final version of your master's thesis will be printed as well as presented online.
If you don't have a business card, you will need to design one. The internet and word processing programs will make this very easy. The layout of the information is not difficult.
You will be writing a job prospectus for your perfect job. This will take a bit of thinking. We don't often know what we want.
You will be writing interview questions from another job prospectus (from a peer).
You will be interviewing for your idea job and you will be the interviewer for one of your peers. (This is optional and can also be done with career counseling)

WRITING PROFICIENCY/SUPPORT: GSEP offers writing support to students in the form of various seminars as well as one-on-one consultancy. For more information, please contact Dr. Michelle Rosensitto at mroseni@pepperdine.edu or at (949) 223-2365. Alternately, visit the GSEP Writing Support Program website at http://gsep.pepperdine.edu/gsep/as/writing.

MAINTAINING COPIES OF ASSIGNED COURSE WORK FOR PROGRAM EVALUATION: The Graduate School of Education and Psychology evaluates its programs on an ongoing basis. The data from such evaluations provide us with information to help improve the quality of the educational experience we provide our students. In addition, the data are used by our accrediting bodies, such as the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). California Council on Teacher Credentials, and the American Psychological Association (APA), to make decisions as to whether we can maintain our accredited status with these respective associations. To this end, we may archive copies of the papers, examinations, exercises, etc. that students complete as part of their required course work so that we can track if students appear to be meeting the objectives of the program in which they are enrolled. Names will be removed from the assignments we opt to archive for evaluation purposes. If you prefer that your course work not be archived for evaluation purposes, please let me know immediately so that I can make such a notation in the files I keep for each student who enrolls in my courses.

CODE OF CONDUCT: The Graduate School of Education and Psychology strives to create a learning environment which is respectful of the rights and dignity of all members of our learning community. Students are expected to conduct themselves in a collegial, respectful, and professional manner while participating in all activities associated with this course. Students are expected to exhibit behaviors and attitudes consistent with appropriate ethical-legal standards, and to refrain from any fraudulent, dishonest, or harmful behaviors such as plagiarism, cheating, or harassment, which compromise the integrity of the academic standards of the university and/or impact the safety and security of fellow students, staff, and faculty. Failure to comply with appropriate standards of conduct may result in a grade of “F” in the course and dismissal from the program.

RESPECTFUL DISCOURSE: The Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology values and respects the perspectives and diversity of our students in regard to ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, religion, age, and ability status. Thus, it is critical that classroom discussions include respectful dialogue about any issue that impacts the lives of our students, and the individuals, families, and communities that our students serve.

PLAGIARISM: Plagiarism is commonly understood in the academic community to involve taking the ideas or words of another and passing them off as one’s own. When paraphrasing or quoting an author directly, one must credit the source appropriately. Plagiarism is not tolerated at the Graduate School of Education and Psychology.

DISABILITY STATEMENT: Any student with a documented disability (physical, learning, or psychological) needing academic accommodations should contact the Disability Services Office (Malibu Campus, Tyler Campus Center 225, 310.506.6500) as early in the semester as possible. All discussions will remain confidential. Please visit http://www.pepperdine.edu/disabilityservices/for additional information.

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