Transcript What is Teacher Research? (From Marian M. Mohr) Inquiry

A Working Session on Action
Research for Literacy Educators
Karen Erickson (and David Koppenhaver)
Bridges to Learning 2010
May 15, 2010
Introduction & Overview
• Center for Literacy & Disability Studies
• Engaged Scholarship
• You?
– What experience do you have with research?
– What experience do you have with action research?
Does Wilfrid Gordon do the things
that teacher researchers do?
• Develop questions based on their own interest in their
students’ learning and their teaching.
• Determine effective methods for answering their
questions.
• Systematically document what happens.
• Observe and reflect on observations.
• Examine their assumptions, beliefs, and theories.
• Discuss their research with their colleagues to validate
their findings and interpretations of their data.
• Present findings to others.
• Write about their research (school-wide publication,
national).
What is Teacher Research?
(From Marian M. Mohr)
Inquiry that is intentional, systematic,
public, voluntary, ethical, and
contextual.
.
Action
Problem solving and
intervention that is not part
of a research effort.
Action
Research
Investigations that are
planned primarily to
address practical problems.
Research
Investigations that are
planned with specific
hypotheses, plans and
procedures.
Action research definitions
• Family of research methods which pursue action
and research outcomes simultaneously.
• Trying out ideas in practice as a means of
increasing knowledge about and/or improving
curriculum, teaching, and learning (ERIC Digest)
• Process used by educators to reflect on what they
do in the classroom and improve their practice.
(Action Research for Teachers Website)
Action research is…
• Cyclic
– Plan, act, observe, reflect, repeat
– Throughout career
– Data collecting, data interpreting, decision-making
• Participatory
– Involve yourself
– Doing--carrying out yourself
– Participant-observation
• Qualitative
– Does not require numbers and statistics
– Language/writing—themes
– Less confining--more wiggle room to change & adjust
than in traditional research
Action research is (cont.)…
• Reflective
– Constant refinement, active involvement,
commitment to understanding
• Responsive
– What you observe, continue/change/document
• Emergent
– Break down repeatedly (interpretability)--in sharing
– Where you start and where you finish might differ
– Multiple data sources revisited, evolving questions
Example of Action Research
Identify the steps of action research
as we work through the process.
http://www.slideshare.net/chewybar05/action-research-1353367
Annie’s Example
What steps did you identify?
Example of Action Research
Identify the steps of action research
as we work through the process.
http://www.slideshare.net/marqueA2/technology-integration-through-teacher-trainingaction-research-proposal-presentation
Developing a Research Question
• Look for things that are interesting to YOU.
• Think in open-ended ways:
– "how" or "why" or "under what conditions”
• When possible focus on questions that
address a group rather than an individual
student
• The questions you ask should focus on:
– teaching and learning;
– something in your control;
– something you’d like to change or improve; and
– something you feel PASSIONATE about.
Before identifying questions,
identify the problem you wish to
address.
What problems do you need to
address in your work?
Low reading & writing test scores
Once you have the problem
identified, it is easier to identify the
question.
What makes a good research question?
Effective Action Research Questions
• Are open-ended
– “How does word prediction influence writing for my
students?”
• Are focused on your students and classroom, practical in
nature
– “What are the effects of picture-supported text on
reading motivation?”
– “How does my Smart Board influence interactions
during group time?”
• Aren’t oriented to quantitative designs and statistical
solutions
After you have your question, you
have to figure out what we already
know about the topic.
Literature Reviews
Literature Reviews
• Guiding direction of your research
– What is known, what has been tried, is your question
already thoroughly answered?
• Challenges
– Finding relevant studies
– Focus, focus, focus
– Reconciling/synthesizing different findings
• Conducting
– Define topic/questions
– Identifying sources of info (journal list)
– Limiting review (when is enough, enough?)
Literature Reviews
• Keeping records
– PDF or photocopies
– Notecards, Inspiration, databases
– ZOTERO (www.zotero.com)
• Reading/note taking
– Background book on topic is often a good starting place
– Search for patterns in what you read
– Look through the reference list of everything you read
• Writing up
– Clear, readable, concise
– Intro, description of each study and main findings,
conclusion leading into your research question(s)
– Reference list:
• http://www.noodletools.com/tools/freetools.php
Write something!
Because you’re going to share this
eventually, take some time to write
about what you learned doing the
literature review.
What data do you need?
Where will it come from?
Example Measures
• What will you measure to gather data to answer
your question(s)?
• – Multiple measures for triangulation
• – e.g., reading motivation
–
–
–
–
–
Msre #1: Garfield test
Msre #2: Observation of student behaviors during SSR
Msre #3: Student interviews
Msre #4: Anecdotal records
Msre #5: Transcript analysis of student conference
about SSR
Questions about data
Question 1
• Why are we collecting this data?
• How is the data related to the focus area and
question?
• What will the data tell us about student
learning and teaching strategies or client
benefits?
Question 2
• What exactly are we collecting?
• What kind of data will give us the best
information about students learning and
teaching strategies? Gather data on the same
question in different ways, from different
sources, and at different times (triangulation).
Question 3
• When are we going to collect it and for how
long?
• How much data is needed?
• How periodic should the collection be?
Question 4
• Who is going to collect it?
• Is this data being collected by an individual
teacher-researcher, study group members, or
extended school-wide?
Question 5
• How will data be collected, analyzed and
findings shared?
• Has a time-line been established?
• Where and how will the data be stored?
• Has the criterion for analyzing the data
(rubrics, implementation logs) been
established before the data is collected?
• What is the system for recording and sharing
the findings?
Staying Organized
• Develop a system to organize data as you
collect it.
• Don’t wait to figure out what you are finding.
– Look at the data as it is collected.
– Write in a journal, start a blog, but find a place to
write and reflect upon what you’re learning
• Share your thinking with others – seek the
input of others.
Visually Display Your Findings
• Numeric Findings:
– Charts in Excel
– http://www.nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/
• Text-based Findings:
– Inspiration
– Draft:Builder
– Blogs
Share it!
http://educationprogram.duke.edu/Research/StudentAction-Research
http://www.slideshare.net/