Cycles of Research

Three Cycles of Action Research

Cycle 1: Digital Photography

My first cycle has been about encouraging participation in Tech Club. I started with an information session in the library to get students excited about past projects and projects for this year. I chose to use digital photography as the first unit because it fit with the ubiquitous technology project on which I worked for Professor Solomon's course last term. Turnout was exceptional, and I created a more free-form, constructivist learning situation in which students captured abstract and concrete images of their school and peers. We are currently finishing the project by building web pages and will mount an exhibit of the photographs for students. I will be presenting my findings and a selection of the students 1600 photographs for the parents.

Cycle 2: Increasing Participation

The second cycle was an attempt to continue participation by students who have worked on the digital photography project. Additionally, I took the opportunity to incorporate another student on the Autism Spectrum into the project. Of course, any student who has seen our work and who is interested may join. We were going to be making podcasts about our school. I hoped to work with the school counselor's lunch clubs to have them produce short segments about the issues they discussed in club. Another student on the Autism Spectrum was going to produce MIDI music sequences for the intro, transitions, and conclusions. A few will be recording engineers. Poetry, short stories, and jokes were welcome! I sought to create another project that de-emphasizes the technology part of the activity but emphasizes what we do with the technology. These students come from a privileged community and many have iPods of their own. It was interesting to see if this format is approachable by these younger students, and whether news of the show spreads. I saw part of the second cycle as working to retain the core group of students who I have attracted to Tech Club and to create new learning opportunities for them. However, in working to continue participation, I hoped to incorporate additional students into the Club.

Cycle 3: Movie Making

The third cycle was to publicize our efforts. This coincided with movie making, and one student already has a finale to a trilogy of space epic films on which he has worked for the past three years. It promises to be brilliant. However, I wanted other students to make other films, and I see this as the perfect opportunity for documentary efforts by one student in particular, but also in conjunction with other students. We attempted to explain what we have done in Tech Club this year, why participation in Tech Club is fun, and why the school district ought to consider better funding and establishing such clubs in other elementary schools in the district. The third cycle will be a complete documentation of the efforts I have made in my action research.

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