Action Research proposal

By Mikael Persson

Action Research QuestionIf I produce video tutorials and make these available online for my students, will this improve the student learning experience, and if so will creating these tutorials justify the time and effort that it will take to create them in comparison to the added learning experience?

The learning and teaching issues the research will set out to

address• How I provided course materials to the

students• How I receive feedback on that material• Structure of the BM and VM unit. 2/3

taught lessons with written exercises, 1/3 independent work and FMP

• Reflecting on and change my practice by introducing additional ways of sharing information

The interventions that the action research project plan to apply

• Video tutorials• Create an online space for video tutorials• Create an online area for feedback and

questions

Rational for this intervention

• Added support for students• Added feedback from students• Greater support of differentiations • E-learning would be a new territory for me

and a natural approach in relation to what I teach

How the effectiveness of the intervention will be monitored

• Self reflective journal• Online feed back• Feedback from tutorials, peers and

colleges

Action Plan

By Mikael Persson

Developed by Jack Whitehead

What issues am I interested in researching?

• Ways of broadening and improving my teaching approach

• Ways of improving course materials. • Potential of video tutorials • Potential of E-learning • Exploring additional ways of receiving

ongoing feedback

Why do I want to research this issue?

• Being mostly self taught in the area that I teach from a personal point of view I have found online tutorial extremely valuable for my learning. And as such feel this could also greatly benefit the students that I teach.

What kind of evidence can I gather to show why I am interested in this issue

• Journal• Student feedback • Course committee meeting minutes

What can I do? What will I do?

• Create video tutorials • Set up a basic e-learning environment

where the students can ask questions, give feedback and assist each other with issues.

What kind of evidence can I gather to show that I am having

an influence?• Online feedback • Surveys (anonyms?) • Focus groups• Assessed work

How can I explain that influence?

• Demonstrate that certain changes took place as I changed my practice, particularly in myself and my understanding of my own practice by documenting and reflecting on the progress of the project.

How can I insure that any judgments I might make are

reasonably fair and accurate?

• By providing reasonable evidence that the intervention that I am about to make will hopefully have a positive influence on my own practice

• To have the focus group and work colleagues critically consider my claims.

How will I change my practice in the light of my evaluation

• If I find that creating video tutorials will be an improved way of working and that it does improve the student learning experience sufficiently I will continue working in this way

• Setting up a supporting online e-learning zone • Could have an affect on how I plan my lessons

and write course material • Could lead to another action research project.