Action Research Title

What is in a title?  Should the title for the action research paper be a factual statement, a catchy attention grabber or in the form of a question?  Up to this point I have only referred to the work I am doing as my action research.  Any thoughts?

Action Research Update

My action research is coming together very nicely.  At this point I feel like one thing I have not addressed is the title.  I am not sure if the title should be a statement, something catchy or in the form of a question.  Other than that, I feel like the research is going well.  I spent time over the summer gathering background information on the upside of writing to learn and writing to retain what is being taught.  There is a lot of research available on this topic.   Our campus is focusing on writing this year.  Our week of in-service was directed at different ways to write in all subjects.  I could not help but smile as I already planned to do this. 

I am spending the fall semester running my “experiment” and will spend the spring semester going over the data I collected and writing my paper.  My classes spend two parts of the period writing.  We write in the beginning of class to get us thinking about what we did the day before and then again at the end of class to process what we learned that day.  I started reflection journals the second week of school.  I gave each one of my students a composition book that is kept in the classroom so everyone has a place to write. 

After my students took the first unit test I was able to analyze some preliminary data.  When I compared my data from the first test this year to last school year I already see a vast improvement.  I scored the highest average in our department, something that did not happen last year.  I originally planned to have half of my classes write and then compare them to the other half that did not write.  I changed my plan just a little to have all classes write and then compare this year's test averages to last year's test averages.    I did not want to help one class and not another.  Our chemistry department works very closely. We plan together and all teach the same lessons leading up to our collaborative unit exams.  Due to this fact I am also able to compare my test averages to others in the department. 

With each passing week I have my students write more and incorporate various styles of writing.  Sometimes they write summary sentences, draw Venn diagrams, write three to five sentence summaries, justified true/false statements and other formative assessments I can use to gauge comprehension.  Overall I feel like the implementation of the writing journals went smoothly and are progressing nicely.  

EDLD 5301 - Week 5 Reflection

As I reflect back on this course I realize that EDLD 5301 has opened my eyes to a whole new method of research. Before this class I had not even heard of “action research” and now I feel confident it is a task I can do successfully. The books, lectures, blogs, and discussion forums have been particularly helpful during the entire duration of the course and in my current action research. The structure of this course coupled with the sequence and pace are nicely designed. I look forward to utilizing action research in my classroom and on my campus when I become an administrator. The Dana text states that “Action research refers to research intended to bring about change of some kind.” As educators we are all about change. We work to change the curriculum, change test scores for the better, and change the future for our students. This course provided me with knowledge it takes to do action research. The hands on approach has been very beneficial. It is exciting, that because of this course, I have taken on a leadership role on campus and am doing research that will benefit my career now as well as in the future.

One of the many highlights of this course was getting the opportunity to work closely with administration on my campus and begin my very own action research. Together we built upon ideas I presented to reach a common topic for my action research. Through email and many face-to-face meetings, we ironed out the details and came to a consensus about the design of my plan. I also learned how action research is used on our campus in both an informal as well as a formal setting.

Narrowing down my action research topic was, by far, the hardest part of the course. There are so many avenues I felt I could take and it felt impossible to pick a few and then just one. Once we, my site supervisor and I, decided on final topic everything else fell into place. Figuring out the steps and creating my plan was easy once I knew what I wanted to research. Hands-down the most useful reading of the course was in the Dana text, chapter 2, The Passions That Drive Your Journey. This chapter was very enlightening. The nine passions helped me break down the components and directed me in finding areas of interest on my campus. There were so many things I was interested in but this chapter helped me focus on just one area. I was crossing into multiple passions, causing difficulty in simplifying the topic to research. The sample inquiry questions were very helpful and guiding.

The discussion board, weekly web-conferences and blogs were extremely beneficial in this course. I used all avenues to bounce ideas back and forth with others, clarify expectations, meet others in my cohort, tweak plans and learn how to better my research. During the web-conferences we could ask questions and get immediate feedback which was extremely helpful in this course. The blog and discussion board allowed for the same channels of discussion and sharing but at a slower pace. I enjoyed picking my classmates brains and seeing how they interpret or react to various topics. During the week 2 web-conference I was very unsure where to take my action research. After that hour I had several ideas to get my brain moving in the right direction. Dr. Abshire was able to quickly tell us if something could work or if we should go back to the drawing board. It was a comforting feeling after sharing to go into the week knowing we were moving forward in the right direction rather than spending that time on something that may not work.

The world of blogging has opened so many doors in this course as well as other aspects of my educational life. I have gained a wealth of information through sharing my blog and reading other blogs. In an instant I am connected to others with similar interests. I recognize the value in sharing information and and also experiences with my classmates. It is my intention to continue to read other blogs, comment and share my own discoveries. I also plan to do a mini action research into blogging in the classroom. If I build a blog for my students and parents, would they use it? By doing so, would they, my students and parents, be more involved and dialed into what is going on at school?

In closing, this course has been wonderful. I find that the readings, discussions and weekly assignments have been extremely relevant to my professional growth and future career. EDLD 5301 has enriched my professional outlook in numerous ways. Action research is a tool I feel is designed to help me move forward and grow as a teacher and professional.

EDLD 5301 - Week 4 Reflection

This week was much more relaxed when compared to last week.  I really enjoyed the readings.  The insight into supporting and sustaining action research in the school was very eye opening.  The research I am conducting is very controlled and I am the one responsible for the implementation and data collection.  Once it is over I plan to use one of the methods, the Delphi or Nominal Group method, to collaborate and design a way to introduce my findings and resulting change campus wide.  I look forward to the end and sharing what I find and seeing what changes result. 

EDLD 5301 - Week 3 Reflection

I enjoyed creating the "how to" this week.  I stressed over the initial question/topic phase but now that I know what I am researching I am excited to design how I am going to do it.  I have found a lot of interest in the other topics being presented through the discussion board.  I look forward to seeing what they discover.  Our reading assignments this week were very insightful.  The Dana text was very educational on sharing our data.  There are a lot of ways to disseminate the data.

Action Research Plan - 4/26

  

Background Information

I have struggled this year with getting my kids to connect what we are learning and without connection there is no retention. If the kids do not retain what they are learning then they do not perform well on tests. I started searching through educational journals and found a lot of research about reflection journals and their impact in the classroom. I want to conduct a study in my class next year comparing test scores of students who take time to reflect on what is going on in class versus those that do not.

Design Plan

Action Research Plan
Goal: The goal of this action research is to determine if the use of reflection journals increases test scores.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Discuss Action Research Plan with Site Supervisor	M. Van Vossen D. Papadimitriou	March 2013/March 2013	Topics	This step will help identify my action research topic and supporting inquiries.
Perform background research	M. Van Vossen	March 2013/August 2013	Internet, library	This step will help review relevant information to aid in beginning formulating action research inquiry objectives
Develop additional inquiry questions	M. Van Vossen	August 2013	Research	This step will help identify any additional inquiry to identify in my research.
Develop the plan to be carried out, determine the data to be collected and how it will be collected.	M. Van Vossen	August 2013	Research	This step will help identify the steps needed to conduct the research in the classroom and what type of data that will be used.
Develop an analysis plan	M. Van Vossen	August 2013	Computer, Data	This step will help determine how to anaylse the test scores collected.
Determine the participants.	M. Van Vossen	September 2013	Course listing	This step will help identify three classes to keep journals and three classes that do not.
Interview students in both groups to evaluate student perception.	M. Van Vossen	September 2013	Survey Monkey	This step will provide qualitative data for which to compare students who kept reflection journals to those that did not.
Gather baseline data on all six classes. This will include last years benchmark scores, STAAR scores and semester averages for both groups.	M. Van Vossen	September 2013	Eduphoria and gradebook	This step will provide qualititative data as the starting level so we can compare back to this in the end.
Gather comparison data over the course of the first semester. This will include benchmark scores, STAAR scores and semester averages for both groups.	M. Van Vossen	September 2013/December 2013	Eduphoria and gradebook	This step will provide qualititative data througout the semester to compare.
Interview students in both groups to evaluate student perception.	M. Van Vossen	December 2013	Survey Monkey	This step will provide qualitative data for which to compare students who kept reflection journals to those that did not.
Prepare a report that will explain comparisons of the two groups of students. Report will include quantitative and qualitative data gathered throughout the semester.	M. Van Vossen	December 2013	Data collected, Microsoft Office	This step will present data collected to justify the decision to retain or cancel the reflection journals.
Share the report, the data and decisions.	M. Van Vossen	May 2014	Data, Report	This step will provide a comprehensive collection of my findings.

EDLD 5301 - Week 2 Reflection

This week in EDLD 5301 has been enlightening.  At first, I had no idea where to begin when coming up with my action research plan.  There were a million different directions I could take and it was hard to focus on a few.  The Dana reading was extremely helpful as was talking with my site supervisor.  I also found the interviews informational as well.  It is nice to hear from professionals who have been on both sides "field" and what their experiences are now that they are in an administrative role.  The most help came from our web conference.  I was able to hear a lot of different ideas and get immediate feedback from Dr. Abshire.  I look forward to the weeks ahead and seeing all of the projects start to take shape.