Research
Action Research
Action Research is defined as "any systematic inquiry" that educators conduct in order to gather information about how their particular class, program, or school is doing and how their students are learning (Mills, 2011). This way they can find out if there is any existing educational problem out there, and make informed decisions to improve the quality of their instruction.
Mertler (2016) identifies 4 main stages of Action Research with each stage consisting of specific steps;
PLANNING STAGE
Identify and limit the topic --> Gather information --> Review related literature - -> Develop a research plan
ACTING STAGE
Collect the Data --> Analyze the Data
DEVELOPING STAGE
Develop an Action Plan
REFLECTING STAGE
Share the Results
Traditional Research
Unlike action research, traditional research is conducted by researchers who are not in the field that they are carrying out the research for. They are separated from the classroom, and their work is based more on a theory, and more related to the typical “scientific method” process. In this type of research, there is no immediate problem to solve. John Dewey describes it in the following steps although not every researcher follows these steps exactly (Mertler, 2016);
- Clarify the main question inherent in the problem
- State a hypothesis
- Collect, analyze, and interpret information
- Form conclusions
- Use the conclusions to reject or verify the hypothesis
A Comparison of Action Research and Traditional Research
ACTION RESEARCH TRADITIONAL RESEARCH
Educators concerned about how they teach, how students learn Researchers somewhat removed from the environment being studied
Inquiry into one's own practice Inquiry into what others do
Ongoing, cyclical process Linear process
Personal connections to the subjects No personal connections to the subject
Sampling is not random Sampling is random
Practical significance Statistical significance
Positive educational changes at a specific setting Conclusions can be generalized to larger populations
Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Methods in Research
Depending on the nature of study, a researcher might use a quantitative method or a qualitative method, or a mix of both in order to collect data to make conclusions.
Quantitative (Numerical) This method of research deals with numerical, measurable data to generalize the results to a larger population. Data collection methods include closed-ended question techniques such as test scores, surveys, questionnaires, polls, opinion ratings , and attitude scales. The data collected through these methods can be analyzed statistically (Mertler, 2016). It's an efficient way of gathering information, but doesn't explain the question of "why".
Qualitative (Narrative) Qualitative method of research deals with open-ended and narrative data that enables the researcher to see relationships between and patterns of responses and behaviors in order to make conclusions. Data collection methods include journal entries, interviews, observations, case studies, focus groups and story-telling. In this method, the data cannot be expressed as a number, rather it is grouped into categories and trends. Contextual information is gathered and the reasons of a phenomena can be explained, but this method could be time consuming.
Mixed: This research method uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to provide a better understanding of a research problem. It capitalizes on the strengths of each and most closely aligned to action research. Qualitative method would be implemented to help provide context for the quantitative results that needs further explanation. Data collection instruments can be a mix of tests, surveys, interviews, and observations.
A Comparison of Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
QUANTITATIVE METHODS QUALITATIVE METHODS
Sampling is large. Sampling is small.
Deals with statistical data. Deals with feelings, attitudes, beliefs.
Reasoning is deductive. Reasoning is inductive.
Data is numerical. Data is narrative.
Closed ended questions. Open ended questions.
Tests hypotheses. Discovers ideas.
Results are objective. Results are subjective.
Research - Coursework
In ETEC 543, we worked as a group to carry out an action research on the topic of online health education. We tried to seek an answer to the following research question; “What am I doing to promote good posture, and what can I do to change perceptions of both good and bad posture?”
543 presentation.pdfETEC 543 - Research Report Presentation
ETEC 543 Bibliography Good Posture.docxETEC 543 - Annotated Bibliography
ETEC 543 Action Research Posture Practices of College Students.docxETEC 543 - Research Paper
My Reflections on Research
Having taken a graduate level course at a university in Turkey 6 years ago, I had an experience doing an action research on “the teachers’ use of classroom language and code-switching between English and the students’ native language”, so I’m pretty familiar with how an action research looks like, but working on a new topic made me feel like I am doing it for the first time and I found the textbook (Mertler, 2017) of great help during the process. Personally I have found the topic of having and maintaining a good posture really interesting and wanted to have more information as I was working on it. Most importantly, working as an ESL instructor at an adult learner setting, I must cover this topic in our curriculum under the “Health” unit in our textbook, and I know students are also eager to learn more. The textbook offers only a short paragraph about it, and I always felt the need to enrich my lesson with something that will be more engaging and effective than the mere text and my superficial knowledge about it.
Initially, I was thinking of sharing both the video and the surveys with my adult learners on Google Classroom, the platform we frequently use to share classwork and relevant resources. Then I thought it would be better to do it in the actual classroom as it would lead to more interaction and would turn into an engaging mini lesson, something that was lacking when our topic is health related in the classroom. The video proved to be very effective and all my students reported that they found it useful. The data from the surveys also indicate that.
My main take-away from all the readings and this research process is that technology, especially mobile applications, social media and YouTube are really effective tools for formal and informal learning. In this research our topic was about health, but I am sure if we, the teachers, can utilize the tech tools effectively and in a structured way as part of our instruction, we can achieve better learning outcomes no matter what subject we teach. This experience has given me better insights into my classroom and students, and encouraged me to learn more and make a collection of videos and other online materials relevant to the topics I need to cover in my class. I have already started to explore Ted-Ed website for similar videos on other topics. As a graduate student majoring in Instructional Technology, I truly understand that technology is there to help us in our efforts in making learning effective and meaningful.
References
Mertler, C. A. (2016). Action research: Improving schools and empowering educators (Fifth edition.). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications.
Mills, G.E. (2011). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson.