ACTION RESEARCH

The experiment should be based on classroom

problems or the concerns of the teachers in their
practices with the aim of improving their strategies,
practices and knowledge of the environments
within which they practice and the experiment
should be conducted under normal conditions of
the schools.

It demands specific solution however; the
solutions cannot be directly applied to other
contexts, but can be made accessible to others
teachers as hypothesis to be tested.




ACTION RESEARCH
The results should not be generalized to other
classrooms or schools but the idea or
conclusions can always be tried out by other
teachers in their own practice to see if it work for
them and unless the experimental group is a
representative of a large population.

The results should be interpreted with utmost
caution because it is difficult to control so many
variables. Thus, the teacher should not reflect
her/his personal bias for a particular method or
factor during experimentation.
Problems/Issues/Practices
Students dont engage in discussion/class recitation
Irregular attendance
No assignment
Cut classes
Keep up with changes in technology in the
classroom
Parents not attending meeting
least mastered skills
high dropout rate, failure rate, repeater rate
most appropriate method/ approach in teaching
slow learners
Prepare new and exciting lessons
Suitable review scheme

Intervention/ Treatment

A procedure, technique or strategy that is
designed to modify an ongoing process.
Most interventions in education are designed to
modify directly or indirectly the student-learning
process.
In research studies, the intervention also is
referred to as a treatment.
In an experimental research study, the
treatment is the independent variable.

Example
special reading program for low-achieving
students

Hypothesis
serve to direct / guide the research
indicate the major independent and dependent variables of
interest
suggest the type of data that must be collected/ type of analysis
that must be conducted to measure the relationship among the
variables.
Null Hypothesis
A statement that an independent variable or treatment will have
no effect.
Research Hypothesis
A statement about the researchers expectations concerning the
results of a study.
Directional research hypothesis: A new standards-based
mathematics curriculum will benefit elementary students at all
grade levels.
Non-directional research hypothesis: A new standards-
based mathematics curriculum will have different effects on
elementary students depending on grade level.

Variables

something that can change, characteristics or
features that vary/change
Independent Variable
In experimental research, the variable that the
researcher varies or manipulates to determine
whether it has an effect on the dependent
variable
treatment/intervention variable, or the cause
Example
As part of an experiment, a researcher
randomly assigns teachers in a large elementary
school to receive one of three types of
professional development:
1) a class on instructional strategies,
2) a training program on how to increase student
motivation,
3) a teacher discussion group.
Variables
Dependent Variable
also known as a "response variable", "measured
variable", "responding variable", "explained
variable", "outcome variable", "experimental
variable", and "output variable".
influenced by the manipulation of the
independent variable.
observed aspect of the behavior
the effect


Variables
Control Variable
It must neutralized to ensure that it does not have a
moderating effect or regulate the effects of variables
that are not intended to influence the results or
conclusions.
Example
A researcher conducts a study of two courses on how
to teach mathematics. The researcher controls for
differences among students by randomly assigning
students to one of the two courses
Latent Variable
An unobserved and unmeasured variable that is
hypothesized to have an influence on a dependent
variable..
Variables
Extraneous Variable
Variable that is not intended to influence the results or
conclusions.
Example
A researcher conducts a study of the effects of two
different reading curricula on 1st-grade reading
achievement.
Intervening Variable
An unmeasured variable that is assumed to intervene
between a treatment or independent variable and a
behavior or dependent variable. Most intervening
variables are internal and cannot be observed.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
EXPERIMENTAL METHOD
The procedure test the hypothesis to reach
valid conclusions about relationships between
independent and dependent variables.
Characteristics
1) an independent variable is directly
manipulated to measure its effect on a
dependent variable, and
2) participants are randomly assigned to
different groups that receive different amounts
of the independent variable, or
3) comparison groups on characteristics that
relate to the dependent variable.

The essential characteristics of
experimental method are
Control
Manipulation
Observation

Steps in Experimental Method
1. Determining the Problem
2. Stating the Hypotheses
3. Preparing the Experimental
Plan
4. Executing the Experimental
Plan
5. Analyzing the Data

3. Preparing the Experimental Plan
Select sample of subjects.
Identify and control non experimental
factors and decide the procedure of
control
Select or construct and validate
instruments to measure outcomes
Determine place, time, and duration of
the experiment.
Prepare time schedule
Conduct pilot study.
Decide the statistical procedures

Preparing the Experimental Plan
Group Pre treatment Treatment Post Treatment
Experimental
Group
O1 X O2
Control Group O3 O4
Data Analysis
Data Presentation
Polygon Frequency
Histogram
Bar Graph

Measures of Central Tendency
mean
median
mode.
Measures of Dispersion
range
interquartile range
variation ratio
standard deviation.

Measures of Dispersion
range, interquartile range, variation
ratio, and standard deviation. These
measures indicate whether the scores
in a given condition are similar to each
other or whether they are spread out.