Final Reflection for EDLD 5301

I have been a part of the education community for twenty plus years. I was not familiar with the term action research until this class. Based on what I have read and learned, I like the idea using action research to facilitate change.  According to Dana (2009), “action research refers to research intended to bring about change of some kind, usually with a social justice focus, whereas practitioner research quite often has a goal only of examining a practitioner’s practice to improve it or better understand what works “(p. 6).  As a software specialist, I believe it is important to strive to improve or better understand what works for me on the job.  By using action research strategies, it will be easy to determine how the technology department impacts student performances.  It makes sense for the technology department and teachers to collaborate on activities that impact student learning. It also makes sense to systematically collect data about the effectiveness of an activity and technology tools used to enhance the activity.  As I reflect on what I learned from this class, I can apply various techniques of collecting data. Ongoing data collection will indicate the maximum use of technology tools used for developing and implementing   interactive lessons. 

There is an eight step guideline for school leaders to gauge school improvement processes and boost student achievement (Harris, Edmonson and Combs, 2010). I summarized from the reading, school leaders must have continues improvement plans. It is important for schools to move beyond the maintenance strategies and plan for the future. 

Another thing I learned from this class is how to be an online learner.  I consider myself to be more of a one-on-one person who likes seeing facial expressions when talking.  At first, I was a little frustrated with using the discussion board, blogs and wikis. I am beginning to feel more comfortable using these Web 2.0 tools. I enjoyed posting messages about my action research plan and having others respond. Action research provides an opportunity to give support and encouragement while developing a plan; collecting and analyzing data; and communicating findings to show how and why your services or tools are important to optimizing student learning. 

I am ready to revise my action research project to address the comments and questions given by my site mentor and colleagues.

References

Dana, N. F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2010). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont, NY: Eye on Education

Action Research Plan -- Week 4

What specific challenges do you foresee in implementing and sharing your action research project?

How do you plan to address those challenges?

The main challenge that I see in implementing my action research study is time management. The months of March and April require me to spend time updating the labs for TELPAS and End-of-Course testing. Another concern is that I do not want my inquiry to take away from classroom instruction or interfere with student learning. Since my inquiry is classroom-based research and will involve collecting data and photographing participants’ use of the Ladibug document camera, it is with upmost importance that the building principal, teacher, parents and students are fully aware of the goals of my project. In addressing the issues of time, all participants will need to agree upon a scheduled time for observing, interviewing, surveying and photographing. Also, prior to collecting data, I will get parent consent.

This week I also received comments and feedback from the class colleagues. All comments were appreciated and helped me adjust my plan. If there are any other concerns or challenges, I will address them as they arise by re-planning my action research.

All comments are valued, so please continue to monitor my plan.

Action Research Plan

Ladibug – Action Research Plan
Goal: To determine if using document cameras in classroom will influence student learning and teacher instruction.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
1. Determine focus group	Myself, building principal and mentor	March 21, 2011	Discuss with mentor; also notify building principal I will be conducting action research project with a kindergarten class	Defined and selected group
2. Create  to questionnaire to determine the frequency of use since the kindergarten classroom received the document camera	Myself	March 22 - 23, 2011	Questionnaire  created by me	Record data in spreadsheet
3. Create simple survey to determine the students thoughts about the Ladibug	Teacher, students and myself	March 24-25, 2011	Survey created by me	To determine the pulse of student thoughts/record data
4. Create and implement an interactive lesson aligned with kindergarten curriculum to use with the document camera	Myself and teacher approval	March 24 - 28, 2011	Lesson plan and document camera	Visual and engaging lesson plan
5. Record teacher practices and student participation during the interactive lesson	Teacher, students and myself	March 31, 2011	Lesson plan and document camera	Photos of the opportunity, teacher and student reflections
6. Provide survey to students again to determine thoughts about the Ladibug	Teacher, students and myself	April 4 - 6, 2011	Survey created by me	To determine the pulse of student thoughts/record data
7. Provide survey to teachers again to determine if interactive lessons impacted teaching methods and strategies	Teacher and myself	April 4 - 6, 2011	Survey created by me	Recorded data from spreadsheets
8. Finalize action research project	Myself, teacher, building principal and mentor	April 11 - 15, 2011	Time, effort and observations	Recorded data from spreadsheets, interviews, journals and observations used as evaluation tools

Format based on Tool 7.1 from Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools

(Harris, Edmonson, and Combs, 2010)

Understanding Action Research

This week’s readings presented several examples of action research. After reading and reflecting on the examples, I realize action research is not a project where I learn more about a topic or try to solve a problem for a right or wrong answer. I learned that action research is quest for knowledge about how to improve teacher instructions, foster effective leadership and management skills, promote social justice, and enhance school performances. Action research involves all stakeholders working together and having a shared vision to determine how we can do things better to impact student achievement. 

References

Dana, N. (2009). Administrator Inquiry Defined. Leading With Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher (p. 1-27). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.