Classroom action research

• What is classroom action research?Classroom action research begins with a question or questions about classroom experiences, issues, or challenges. It is a reflective process which helps teachers to explore and examine aspects of teaching and learning and to take action to change and improve.

• Who is it for?Any teacher who:

• wants to understand more about teaching and learning

• wants to develop teaching skills and knowledge

• wants to take action to improve student learning

•What are the benefits?

• provides a framework for trying out different approaches and ideas

• helps develop reflective practice• enables teachers to make choices and decisions about

their teaching styles• helps develop confidence• helps teachers improve student learning•

• How to do ... Classroom action research1 ReflectConsider your current classroom practice. Think about questions you have about teaching, topics you are interested in, problem areas, or aspects of teaching/learning you are unsure about. Make a list. From your list, decide what you would like to research. To help you decide, think about why you want to do it. What are the benefits to you and your learners? When you have decided, write a research question.

• 2 ExploreReflect on your research question. Where can you find information to help you plan your research? It may help you to discuss your question with colleagues. You may need to consult published materials or the Internet for information and ideas. Find out as much as you can about your question topic to help you plan how to do the research.

• 3 PlanDraw up an action research plan which states your question, how and why you are going to carry out the research. Things to think about: how long it will take? What tools will you use in your research? How will you record your research? There are different ways of doing research. It can be as simple as just writing down your own reflections after each lesson or it could include questionnaires, observations, audio recordings and so on.

• 4 ResearchCarry out your research using your chosen method. Some tools are:

• Peer observation• Teacher diary• Learner feedback• Lesson evaluation• Recording lessons• Reflecting on learners' work• Surveys• Choose the method which best suits your research

question.

• 5 AnalyzeThis stage helps you to make sense of the data you have collected in your research. It is a process of reflecting on, organizing and reviewing your data to help you answer your research question. What have you found out? What insights have you gained from the research? What does your research show you?

• 6 ActReflect on your results. Look at your teaching practice - what changes will you make?Take action based on what you found out from your research.

• 7 ReviewWhen you have implemented changes, it is important to review. How successful were the changes? Do you need to take any follow-up action? Has your research indicated other areas you could explore? In other words, you begin a new reflective cycle.

• http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/transform/teachers/teacher-development-tools/action-research

Action research plans

• How to do .... An action research planOnce you have written your research question, the next step is to plan how you will organize your research to find the answer or answers to your question.

Why plan?•

A good plan will save you time and help to keep you focused. A plan provides a timeframe for organizing your research and helps you to identify any resources you may need. There are different ways of collecting data - the information you collect during your research. Planning will help you to think through the direction of your research, so that you can select the most appropriate tools for collecting and analyzing your data.

Guidelines•

Here are some focusing questions to help you develop your plan:

• What is the purpose of my research?• Why do I want to do the research? How is it going to

benefit me? How is it going to benefit my learners? How is it going to benefit the school? How will it help me to make changes?

• How much time will it take?• How much time do I need? Will I be able to do it in one

week? Is it better to do it over a term or even a whole school year?

• Who will be involved?• Will I ask my colleagues to participate? Which

classes will I involve? Will a whole class of students be needed, or should I make selections? Do I need to involve parents?

• What resources do I need?• Is it easy to access any publications I need to

consult? Do I need a computer? Do I need any space apart from my classroom?

• What is the best method for finding answers?• Will you ask a colleague to observe you? Will you

observe other colleagues? Will you conduct questionnaires with your learners? Will I carry out interviews? Will I keep a journal?

• When will the research take place? Before lessons? During lessons? After lessons? All three?

• How will I analyze my data?

• How will I record, sort, organize and understand the data I collect? Will anyone be able to assist me?

• What do I need to find out before collecting data?• How can you develop your knowledge about your topic

area to help you make your research more focused? Can your colleagues provide any insights from their experiences? Are there any books you could read which would provide you with background information?

•

Example plans

There are no set formats for designing classroom action research plans. Some teachers like to use calendars to provide a framework for what, how and when they will do the research. Another method is to complete a grid. You can download examples of both research plans below.

• How you decide to design your plan will depend on your research aims and purpose as well as on whether you prefer to work with an open, loose plan or something more formally structured. What is important is to know how much time you have available and how you will use that time to conduct your research.

Teacher diaries• What is a teacher diary?

It is a bit like a personal diary where you record events, thoughts and observations. With a teacher diary you write about your experiences as a teacher.

Why should I keep a teacher diary?It provides a focus for reflecting on things which happen in your class and why they happen in the way that they do. Look at this example of how a teacher records and reflects on a difficulty she was experiencing with group discussion work.

• Tuesday 3 JuneDid another discussion activity - disaster! Changing the way I usually group students didn't work. As usual, Paolo took over and imposed his ideas on the rest of his group. Prin sulked and refused to contribute. Petra and her group mostly stuck to the discussion but kept breaking into mother tongue. Anka and Lotty as usual said very little. What can I do? I feel I am not helping them to use English. I am getting demotivated with this.

• Thursday 5 JuneReflecting on the problem of discussion work - maybe it isn't a problem of group formations, since trying new groupings didn't work either. Maybe instead it is that students don't know how to discuss topics in groups, as there is a lack of co-operation and not all of them participate. I need to explore this.

• Friday 6 JuneHad a very useful chat in the staffroom. Joan advised me to look at group roles such as facilitating, encouraging, co-operating, attention seeking, harmonizing etc. Jo suggested a couple of books. I feel more motivated now.

• Tuesday 17 JuneTried some activities on group roles. I think they worked. I told class we would try out some new ideas for the way we do group work and they seemed receptive to this. Next lesson I will select an observer for each group and give them something to fill in about the actions that take place, eg helping, contributing, arguing etc. Then we'll use this to establish some rules for making discussions more effective and getting everyone to participate.

•

• The diary helped her to state the problem and explore why the difficulty was occurring. By recording her approach to the problem, she is building a bank of ideas which she can refer back to in the future and also use to guide other teachers.

• http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/transform/teachers/teacher-development-tools/teacher-diaries

HOW TO DO CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH

• Adapted by Julian Hermida from Gwyn Mettetal, “The What, Why and How of Classroom Action Research”, JoSoTL Vol. 2, Number 1 (2001).

•

• Classroom Action Research is a method of finding out what works best in your own classroom so that you can improve student learning. There are many ways to improve knowledge about teaching. Many teachers practice personal reflection on teaching, others conduct formal empirical studies on teaching and learning. Classroom Action Research is more systematic than personal reflection but it is more informal and personal than formal educational research.

• The goal of Classroom Action Research is to improve your own teaching in your own classroom, department, or school. While there is no requirement that the findings be generalized to other situations the results can add to knowledge base. Classroom Action Research goes beyond personal reflection to use informal research practices such as a brief literature review, group comparisons, and data collection and analysis. Validity is achieved through the triangulation of data. The focus is on the practical significance of findings, rather than statistical or theoretical significance.

• Findings are usually disseminated through brief reports or presentations to local colleagues or administrators.

•

Steps to conduct Classroom Action Research

• Identify a question or problem:• o What is the effect of X on student learning?• o The question or problem should look at

something under the teaching control.• o The problem should also be an area which

you are willing to change.• o It should also be feasible.

• Review Literature• o You need to gather two types of

information: background and data.• o It may be much less extensive than

traditional research.• o The use of secondary sources is usually

sufficient.

• Plan a research strategy• o It may take many forms: pretest, posttest, a

comparison of similar classes to a descriptive case study of a single class or student.

• o Both qualitative and quantitative methods are appropriate.

• o It relies on triangulation of data to provide validity.• o To triangulate collect at least three types of data,

e.g., student test scores, teacher evaluations, and observation of student behavior). If all data point to the same direction, you have some assurance of validity.

Gather data

Make sense of the data

• o Analyze your data, looking for findings with practical significance.

Take action

• o Use your findings to make decisions about your teaching strategies.

Share your findings

• o There are many ways to share findings with your peers: journals, conferences, workshops, teaching tips, websites, newsletters, etc.

• http://www.julianhermida.com/algoma/scotlactionresearch.htm

Integrating Technology into the Mathematics ClassroomAn Action Research Study

• http://teach.valdosta.edu/are/Artmanscrpt/vol1no1/souter_am.pdf

Action Research in One's Own Science Classroom in Higher Education

• http://conference.nie.edu.sg/paper/Converted%20Pdf/ab00445.pdf

RESEARCH PAPER

• http://etd.eprints.ums.ac.id/3931/1/A320050020.pdf

ACTION RES EARCH: A TOOL FOR IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITYAND CLAS SROOM PRACTICE

• http://www.nipissingu.ca/oar/pdfs/v911e.pdf

Empowering teachers through classroom research

• http://www.culi.chula.ac.th/e-Journal/bod/David%20Nunan.pdf

Can busy classroom teachers really do action research: An action research study in an EAL tertiary setting

• http://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/bitstream/10292/588/1/DennyH02.pdf

Research Paper Organization

• http://etd.eprints.ums.ac.id/5523/1/A320050151.pdf

Figure 1: Action Research Process

• http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/09377.pdf