Bethlehem Moravian College
Education Department
Action Research Workshop
Presentation
Abrilene Johnston-Scott, EdD
Research Coordinator
September 11, 2014
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Action Research
 Any systematic inquiry conducted by
teacher researchers, principals, school
counselors, or other stakeholders …
 in the teaching/learning environment …
 to gather information about how their
particular schools operate, how they
teach, and how well their students learn.
 Research done by teachers for
themselves
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-2
Goals of Action Research
 To improve the lives of children
 To learn about the craft of teaching
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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The Process of
Action Research
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Mills’ Dialectic Action Research
Spiral
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Ethics
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Informed Consent
 Ensures that research participants
 enter the research of their free will
 understand the study
 are aware of any possible dangers
 Intended to reduce the likelihood
that participants will be exploited
 Ongoing dialogue between
participants and teacher-researcher
 Written permissions if necessary
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-7
Freedom from Harm
 Students must not be exposed to
risk
 anonymity: researcher does not
know identity of participants
 confidentiality: researcher does
not release personally identifiable
information
 There is no place for deception in
action research!
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-8
Parental Permission
 Required if
 students are underage
 data identify students
 Not required if
 school personnel have “legitimate
educational interest”
 records are anonymous
 Request must specify
 what data may be disclosed
 for what purposes
 to whom
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-9
Deciding on an Area of Focus
 Clarify your area of focus.
 Do reconnaissance.
 Review related literature.
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-10
Clarifying an Area of Focus
 General idea: statement that links idea
to action and refers to a situation to
change or improve
 Area of focus: explicit question or
problem to investigate




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involves teaching and learning
focuses on your own practice
within your locus of control
something you feel passionate about
something you want to change or
improve
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-11
Reconnaissance
 Preliminary information gathering
 Taking time to reflect on your own
beliefs
 Taking time to understand the nature
and context of your general idea
 3 forms
 self-reflection
 description
 explanation
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Self-reflection
 Reflect on
 theories that affect your practice
 educational values you hold
historical contexts
 how your work in schools fits into
the larger context of schooling and
society
historical contexts
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Descriptive Activities
 What evidence do you have that this
is a problem?
 Which students are affected?
 How is the content currently taught?
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Explanatory Activities
 Develop a hypothesis
 focus on the why
 try to account for critical factors
that have an impact on the
general idea
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Review of Related
Literature
 Systematically identifying,
locating, analyzing documents
related to the topic/area of focus
 major themes
 promising practices
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-16
Data Collection Techniques
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Data Collection
 Largely determined by the nature
of the problem
 qualitative
 quantitative
 mixed method
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Qualitative Data Collection
Techniques
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Using and Making Records
 Archival documents
 attendance and retention rates
 discipline referrals
 standardized test scores
 Journals
 Maps, video and audio recordings,
photos, film
 Dictation software
 Other artifacts
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-20
Quantitative
Data Collection Techniques
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Teacher-made tests
Standardized tests
School-generated report cards
Questionnaires
etc
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Triangulation
 Use of multiple sources of data
 “multi-instrument” approach
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-22
Triangulation Matrix
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Realigning Your Focus
 Other directions appear more
interesting, relevant, or
problematic
 That’s fine —
 Action research is intimate, openended, unforeseen
 Action research is done to benefit
you and the students
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-24
Validity
 Degree to which data collection
methods measure what they are
supposed to measure
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Reliability
 Degree to which a test consistently
measures whatever it measures
 expressed numerically, usually as
coefficient
 high coefficient (near 1.00)
indicates high reliability
 no test is perfectly reliable
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-26
Reliability in Qualitative
Action Research
 Degree to which data would be
consistently collected
 same techniques utilized
repeatedly
 same techniques used by different
researchers
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Generalizability
 Degree to which behavior of one
group can be used to explain the
behavior of a wider group
 Generalizability is not the goal of
action research. Instead, it is to:
 understand what is happening in
your school or classroom
 determine how to improve things
in that context
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-28
Data Analysis and Interpretation
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-29
Ongoing Analysis & Reflection
 Is your research question still
answerable and worth answering?
 Are your data collection techniques
catching the kind of data you want
and filtering out unwanted data?
 Conduct interim analysis
 Avoid premature action
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-30
Analysis & Interpretation
 Data analysis
 summary of data
 technique determined by type of
data
 Data interpretation
 finding meaning in the data
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Organizing Qualitative Data
 Reading/Memoing
 record initial thoughts
 Describing
 include context, actions,
interactions
 Classifying
 develop themes
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-32
Data Analysis Techniques
 Identify themes
 work inductively
 Code surveys, interviews,
questionnaires
 try to find patterns, meaning
 Analyze interviews
 annotate and identify themes
 Ask key questions
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-33
Data Analysis Techniques
 Concept map
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Data Analysis Techniques
 Display findings
 matrixes, charts, concept maps,
graphs, figures, audiovisual media
 State what’s missing
 avoid making unwarranted assertions
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-35
Analyzing & Interpreting
Quantitative Data
 Descriptive statistics
 shorthand way of giving lots of
information about a range of
numbers
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-36
Analyzing & Interpreting
Quantitative Data
 Descriptive statistics
 central tendency
mean (average)
median (middle)
mode (most frequent)
 variability
standard deviation (spread)
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-37
Qualitative Data
Interpretation
 Extend the analysis
 raise questions
 note implications that might be
drawn, without actually drawing them
 Connect findings with personal
experience
 Seek advice of “critical” friends
 take time to build relationships
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-38
Qualitative Data
Interpretation
 Contextualize findings in literature
 Turn to theory
 link to broader issues
 provide rationale, sense of meaning
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-39
Action Planning
for Educational Change
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Developing Action Plans
 Reflect: “Based on what I have
learned from this investigation,
what should I do now?”
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-41
Steps to Action
Summarizing findings
Recommending action
Determining responsibilities
Sharing findings with colleagues
Ongoing monitoring (data
collection)
 Creating timeline
 Developing resources
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Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-42
Levels of Action Planning
 Individual
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curriculum development, implementation
instructional & assessment strategies
classroom management strategies/plans
community involvement
 Team
 teachers, administrators, parents
 Schoolwide
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-43
Action Should Be Ongoing
 Taking action is a regular part of
teaching
 based on formative feedback
 often intuitive and informal
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-44
Reflection
 What were the intended and
unintended effects of your actions?
 What educational issues arise from
what you have learned about your
practice?
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-45
Challenges Facing Teacher
Researchers
 Lack of resources
 Resistance to change
 Reluctance to interfere with others’
professional practices
 Reluctance to admit difficult truths
 Finding a forum to share what you
learned
 Making time for action research
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-46
Writing Up Action Research
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-47
Format and Style
 Format: general pattern of
organization and arrangement
 Style: rules of grammar, spelling,
capitalization, punctuation, and
word processing
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-48
APA Style Manual
 Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association
 most widely accepted by colleges,
universities, journals
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-49
Outline, Action Research
Report
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Area-of-focus statement
Related literature
Definition of variables
Research questions
Description of intervention or innovation
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-50
Outline, Action Research
Report
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Data collection
Data considerations
Data analysis and interpretation
Action plan
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-51
Conclusion
 This Concludes my presentation.
 Thank you for your attention.
No action without research; no
research without action.”
—K. Lewin, cited in Adelman,
1993, p. 8
Mills
Action Research: A Guide for the Teacher Researcher, 5e
© 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1-52