Action Research (Educational)

1. Background
This paper will answer the question What is Action
Research?, giving an overview of its processes and principles. The
evolution of the approach will be described, including the various
kinds of action research being used today. The role of the action
researcher will be briefly mentioned, and some ethical
considerations discussed. The tools of the action researcher,
particularly that of the use of search conferences, will be
explained. Finally three case studies will be briefly described, two of
which pertain to action research projects involving information
technology, a promising area needing further research
2. Definition of Action Research
Action research is the term which describes the integration of
action (implementing a plan) with research (developing an
understanding of the effectiveness of this implementation). Put
simply, action research is learning by doing. The original concept
is sometimes attributed to Kurt Lewin (18901947). As distinct from
academic research, those involved in action research participate in
an ongoing testing and monitoring of improvements in their
practice. They work in a collaborative way to identify issues in their
organisation and develop processes for improvement. In education,
action research is also known as teacher research. It is one method
teachers use for improvement in both their practice and their
students learning outcomes. The central goal of action research is
positive educational change. It is a never-ending study as it called
cycical because action research always identify new issue that will
be face in practice-based activity that continuously change or
dynamic.
Action research aims to study a system and issue that arise in
it by concurrently collaborate with members of particular system or
environtment together in order to achieve the desirable direction.
The focus is on turning the people involved into researchers, too people learn best, and more willingly apply what they have learned,
when they do it themselves. Action research not only view on the
education but also other world environment but in this paper it the
action research will be focus on explaining more in educational
context.
3. Types in Action Research
In general there are four types if action research, including:
a. Traditional Action Research

Traditional Action Research stemmed from Lewins work within

organizations and encompasses the concepts and practices of Field
Theory, Group Dynamics, T-Groups, and the Clinical Model. The
growing importance of labour-management relations led to the
application of action research in the areas of Organization
Development, Quality of Working Life (QWL), Socio-technical
systems
(e.g.,
Information
Systems),
and
Organizational
Democracy. This
traditional
approach
tends
toward
the
conservative, generally maintaining the status quo with regards to
organizational power structures.
b. Contextural Action Research (Action Learning)
Contextural Action Research, also sometimes referred to as
Action Learning, is an approach derived from Trists work on
relations between organizations. It is contextural, insofar as it
entails reconstituting the structural relations among actors in a
social environment; domain-based, in that it tries to involve all
affected parties and stakeholders; holographic, as each participant
understands the working of the whole; and it stresses that
participants act as project designers and co-researchers. The
concept of organizational ecology, and the use of search
conferences come out of contextural action research, which is more
of a liberal philosophy, with social transformation occurring by
consensus and normative incrementalism.
c. Radical Action Research
The Radical stream, which has its roots in Marxian dialectical
materialism and the praxis orientations of Antonio Gramsci, has a
strong focus on emancipation and the overcoming of power
imbalances. Participatory
Action
Research,
often
found
in
liberationist movements and international development circles, and
Feminist Action Research both strive for social transformation via an
advocacy process to strengthen peripheral groups in society.
d. Educational Action Research
A fourth stream, that of Educational Action Research, has its
foundations in the writings of John Dewey, the great American
educational philosopher of the 1920s and 30s, who believed that
professional educators should become involved in community
problem-solving. Its practitioners, not surprisingly, operate mainly
out of educational institutions, and focus on development of
curriculum, professional development, and applying learning in a
social context. It is often the case that university-based action
researchers work with primary and secondary school teachers and
students on community projects.
Since this paper will focus on explaining about educational
action research, the types of action research includes:
a. Individual Teacher research

In individual teacher research, a single teacher takes it upon

him/herself through the process of a research study. The time spent
in this task depends in the teacher and the type of research being
developed. The area of research being investigated by the teacher
other professionals usually result in the discovery of a problem at
that school.
b. Collaborative Action Research Model
Through collaborative action research a study team of two or
more researchers is formed for. Members may include teachers,
principal, university professor, school board officials and so on. This
study group will meet on a regular basis for usually about a few
hours every 2-4 weeks the total of the year. For examplee, if the
school feels that it is technologically challenged this may be looked
at to see where the problem lies.
c. The school-wide action research
This process involves the entire faculty in conjunction with a
school consortium. In this, school typically commit to a three-year
program focus on long-term school renewal in one student academic
area. These study group meets approximately two hours every two
weeks for collective study.
4. The Characteristics of Action Research
Action research is characterised as being:
1. Integrated,
It is conducted as part of a teachers normal daily practice
2. Reflective
It is a process which alternates between plan implementation and critical
3. Reflection
It is related to flexible methods, data and interpretation are refined in the light
of the understanding gained during the research process
4. Active
It is a process designed to generate change in small steps
5. Relevant
It meets the needs of teachers and or their students
6. Cyclical
It is involving a number of cycles with each clarifying issue leading to a
deeper understanding and more meaningful outcomes
7. Focused
It is focus on a single issue of school improvement
8. Collaborative
It is teachers and leaders working together to improve student outcomes
9. Planned
It is an organised approach to answering a question
10. Learning
It is simultaneous construction of new knowledge by teachers about
their practice.

5. The Action Research Process

Gerald Susman (1983) distinguishes five phases of action
research. Initially, a problem is identified and data is collected for a
more detailed diagnosis. This is followed by several possible
solutions, from which a single plan of action emerges and is
implemented. Data on the results of the intervention are collected
and analyzed, and the findings are interpreted in light of how
successful the action has been. At this point, the problem is reassessed and the process begins another cycle. This process
continues until the problem is resolved.
The action research cycle
Steps in Action Research Ferrance (2000)
a. Identify a problem area
Teachers often have several questions they wish to investigate;
however, it is important to limit the question to one that is meaningful and
doable in the confines of their daily work. Careful planning at this first stage
will limit false starts and frustrations. There are several criteria to consider
before investing the time and effort in researching a problem. The question
should be a higher-order questionnot a yes/no, be stated in common
language, avoiding jargon, be concise, and be meaningful.
b. Collection and organization of data
The collection of data is an important step in deciding what action
needs to be taken. Multiple sources of data are used to better understand
the scope of happenings in the classroom or school.
Portfolios, interviews, photos, diaries, field notes, videos, journals, case
studies, checklists, surveys
Appropriate, easy to collect, and readily available
Triangulate data (i.e. use three or more sources)
Organize to identify themes; can be arranged by gender, classroom,
school, grade level, age, etc.
c. Interpretation of data
Analyze and identify major themes. Depending upon the question,
teachers may wish to use classroom data, individual data, or subgroup
data.
a. Analyze and identify major themes
b. Quantitative or qualitative
d. Action based on data
a. Use the data collected complemented by current
develop a
plan of action
b. Alter only one variable
c. Document and collect data during action phase

research to

e. Evaluate the result (Reflection)

a. Evaluate the results
b. Was the intervention successful? Can the positive
directly attributed to the variable addressed?
c. If unsuccessful, what could be done in subsequent
elicit more favorable results?

results be
attempts to

The process begins with reflection on current practice in order

to identify what to improve; reflection is also essential to effective
planning, implementation, and monitoring, and the cycle ends with
reflecting on what happened.
6. Advantages of Action Research
Action research helps educators use data to guide improvement efforts.
This makes the process of action research more scientific in nature,
proposing ideas and theories that can be back up by data. This gives teachers
something more concrete to work with instead of just relying on the principles
that teachers have used in the past.
Addresses as the both the quality of students educational and the
professional growth of teachers.
This would be the ideal strategy in order for students to learn most
effectively and for teachers to teach most effectively. By actually reflecting on
what a teacher is doing in the classroom, it becomes easier to see what
problems are there, and there is usually some indication of how to go about
solving the problem.
Leads directly to actions that change the enviroment.
Once a teacher begins reflecting on the classroom situation, a
thoughtful educator will usually not waste much time in implementing actions
based on the action research he or she conducted.
Plays an important role in improvement of specific pedagogical practices.
There have been a lot of changes to the way subjects are taught in
schools because of action research. One example that illustrates how action
research has changed a curriculum would be in the physical education
program.
Developing a culture of inquiry in the school and reflective
educational.practice on the part of classroom teacher.
Through action research, several new techniques have developed
which help increase the level of inquiry in the classroom. One of these new
techniques is concept mapping, where students take a major concept and, in a
web or chart format, break down the major concept into smaller concepts and
link all these concepts together with the use of connecting words.
7.

Disadvantages of Action Research

 Lack of Time

Action Research is demanding of space and time, both of which are

stretched to their limits.
Validity

Inevitable research bias

Results are not Generalizable

Although a researchers findings may be tested by

another teacher in their own classroom
Range of Models and Process

Action Research is a messy process and the constraints of the models

may trap teachers

REFERENCES

Brydon, M., Greenwood, D., and Maguire, P. (2003) Why action research? Action
Research. 1(1): 928. USA: University of Cincinnati.
Departement of Education and Training. (nd). Action Research In Education. New
south wales. Retrived From httpswww.det.nsw.edu.auproflearndocspdfactreguide.pdf
Hine, G.S. (2013) The importance of action research in teacher education programs.
Educational Research, 23(2). Australia: The University of Notre Dame
Tripp, D. (2005) Action research: a methodological introduction. Murdoch University.

Case Study

Computer Conferencing In a Learning Community

Comstock and Fox (1995) have written about their experiences in
integrating computer conferencing into a learning community for midcareer working adults attending a Graduate Management Program at
Antioch University in Seattle. From 1992 to 1995, the researchers and
their students made use of a dial-up computer conferencing system called
Caucus
to
augment learning
outside
of
monthly
classroom
weekends. Their findings relate to establishing boundaries to interaction,
creating a caring community, and building collaborative learning.
Boundary setting was a matter of both defined membership, i.e.,
access to particular conferences, and actual participation. The
architecture of the online environment was equated to that of a house, in
which locked rooms allowed for privacy, but hampered interaction. They
suggest some software design changes that would provide more cues and
flexibility to improve access and usage.

Relationships in a caring community were fostered by caring talk,

personal conversations and story telling. Over time, expressions of
personal concern for other participants increased, exemplifying a more
tightly-knit group. Playful conversations of a personal nature also
improved group relations, as did stories of events in individuals
lives. These processes provided the support and induced the trust needed
to sustain the more in-depth collaborative learning taking place.
Students were expected to use the system for collaborative learning
using three forms of conversation - dialogue, discussion and critical
reflection. Dialogues were enjoined as a result of attempts to relate
classroom lessons to personal situations at work, with a better
understanding provided by multiple opinions. Discussions, distinguished
by the goal of making a group decision or taking an action, required a fair
degree of moderation, insofar as participants found it difficult to reach
closure. The process of reflecting critically on ideas was also difficult participants rarely took the time to analyze postings, preferring a more
immediate, and more superficial, conversational style.
The authors conclude with four recommendations: 1) be clear about
the purpose of the computer conference and expectations for use; 2)
develop incentives for widespread and continuous participation; 3) pay
attention to affects of the software on the way the system is used for
learning; and 4) teach members of the community how to translate faceto-face collaborative processes to the on-line environment.