1. ACTION RESEARCH
Trudy Thorson & Kendra Beliveau
ED 800
November 19th, 2012

2. ACTION RESEARCH
 “Action research is characterized as research that
is done by teachers for themselves” (Mertler,
2009).
 Teachers examine their own classrooms,
instructional strategies, assessment procedures,
and interactions with student learners in order to
improve their quality and effectiveness.

3. WHAT ACTION RESEARCH IS AND IS NOT
What it is… What it is not…
• A process that improves • Problem-solving
education through change
• Collaborative • Doing research on or about
people
• Cyclical • Linear
• Practical and relevant • Conclusive
• Within context of teacher’s • Generalizing to larger
environment populations
• How we can do things better • Why we do certain things
• Explores, discovers and seeks • The implementation of
to find creative solutions predetermined answers
• A way to improve instructional • A fad
practice by observing, revising,
and reflecting

4. VIDEO: ACTION RESEARCH MADE SIMPLE
 Action Research Made Simple
Key Characteristics
 Addresses Real Life Problems
 Constructs Knowledge
 Promotes Change
 Collaborative / Participatory

5. A BRIEF HISTORY OF ACTION RESEARCH
FERRANCE (2000)
 Kurt Lewin, a social psychologist and educator, first
formulated the idea of performing research in a “natural”
setting in the 1940s.
 No distinction between the research study and the
problem to be solved.
 Proposed that research should be cyclical rather than
linear.
 Stephen Corey was among the first to use action
research in education and he stated the following:
We are convinced that the disposition to study…the
consequences of our teaching is more likely to change
and improve our practices than is reading about what
someone else has discovered of his teaching (Corey,
1953, p. 70).

6. MODELS AND TYPES OF
ACTION RESEARCH

7. MODELS OF ACTION RESEARCH
 Many models exist but all share the same basic
principles which are:
 A central problem or topic
 Observation or monitoring takes place
 Collection and synthesis of data
 Some type of action is taken
 Next stage of action research (varies)

8. CENTRAL FEATURES OF PARTICIPATORY ACTION
RESEARCH (KEMMIS & WILKINSON, 1998)
 It is a social process – people individually and
collectively attempt to discover who they are and
redevelop these identities in order to make
improvements
 It is participatory – people can only do action
research “on” themselves and not “on” others
 It is practical and collaborative – It is research
done “with” others where people strive to
reconstruct their interactions in a more productive
way.

9. CENTRAL FEATURES OF PARTICIPATORY
ACTION RESEARCH (KEMMIS & WILKINSON,
1998)
 It is emancipatory – It helps people break loose
and recover from the constraints of unproductive
social structures which limit self-development and
the ability to determine actions. If not possible to
be released from limitations, how best to work
within them and around them.
 It is critical – A way in which people can
deliberately set out to change something in their
teaching and learning environment that is irrational,
unproductive or unjust.
 It is recursive – Helps teachers examine reality in
order to change it and continually try to make it
better. A process of learning by doing with others to
improve interactions in our social world.

10. ACTION RESEARCH INTERACTING SPIRAL
(ERNEST STRINGER, 2007)

11. LEWIN’S ACTION RESEARCH SPIRAL
(MERTLER, 2009)

12. CALHOUN’S ACTION RESEARCH CYCLE
(MERTLER, 2009)

13. BACHMAN’S SELF-REFLECTIVE SPIRAL IN
ACTION RESEARCH (MERTLER, 2009)

14. RIEL’S ACTION RESEARCH MODEL
(MERTLER, 2009)

15. PIGGOT-IRVINE’S ACTION RESEARCH MODEL
MERTLER (2009)

16. TYPES OF ACTION RESEARCH (FERRANCE, 2000)

17. VIDEO: WHAT “NAGS” YOU ABOUT
YOUR TEACHING PRACTICE?
 Video: What nags you about your teaching practice?

18. STEPS IN ACTION RESEARCH

19. STEPS IN ACTION RESEARCH
(FERRANCE, 2000)

20. STEPS IN ACTION RESEARCH
FERRANCE (2000)
 Identify a problem area
 Meaningful, attainable and within teacher’s influence
 Higher order question that is specific and concise
 Collection and organization of data
 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.
 Interpretation of data
 Analyze and identify major themes
 Quantitative, qualitative or mixed methods

21. STEPS IN ACTION RESEARCH
 Action based on data
 Use the data collected complemented by current
research to develop a plan of action
 Alter only one variable
 Document and collect data during action phase
 Reflection
 Evaluate the results
 Was the intervention successful? Can the positive
results be directly attributed to the variable addressed?
 If unsuccessful, what could be done in subsequent
attempts to elicit more favorable results?

22. EXAMINATION OF
AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY
 Action Research: Using Wordles for Teaching
Foreign Language Writing by Baralt, Pennestri, and
Selvandin (2011)

23. CONTEXT
 Eighteen students in an intermediate-level Spanish
Foreign Language class at a private research
university
 Attended class three times per week for fifty
minutes each
 Studied Spanish writing and grammar
 Students wrote four major compositions per
semester

24. IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM
 Two main issues in students’ writing:
1. Continuous repetition of errors
2. Reliance on high frequency words without
attempting to use new vocabulary in writing

25. GATHER DATA
 Reviewed literature on the use of data
visualization.
 Acknowledged there is little or no research and
ideas for teachers are mostly found online. For
example, The Clever Sheep Website (Lucier, 2008),
provides 20 ideas for using Wordle.
 Analyzed students’ writing compositions for word
variety and grammatical accuracy
 Consulted with instructional technology consultant
and decided to use wordles as a teaching tool

26. INTERPRET DATA
 Noted word frequency counts from students’
compositions and a whole-class-based word cloud
 Teaching reflection about the class discussion
 Students were excited to see the whole class
Wordle each week and interpreted their own data
 The procedure was used for all four compositions

27. ACT ON EVIDENCE
 Instructor collected compositions and created a
whole class Wordle
 Shared the image with the class and had a group
discussion
 Set goals for the next writing assignment;
attempted to use a wider range of vocabulary and
higher level words
 Teacher asked for students’ overall perceptions at
the end of the semester

29. EVALUATE RESULTS
 Wordles helped to show students’ progress
 Students used more vocabulary in their compositions
 Facilitated class discussions about the writing process
 Both the students and instructor agreed that using
Wordles created excitement about writing.
 Effective, novel, and enjoyable.
 Students incorporated more varied vocabulary, used
grammar more accurately, and had more content in their
writing.
 Workshop days became more student-centered

30. NEXT STEPS
 Share results with other educators
 Encourage others to use Wordles in different
teaching contexts and across different languages
 The instructor and students both found the use of
wordles to be beneficial so one would presume a
continuation of its use although the study report did
not clarify this.

31. LIMITATIONS
 Lack of generalizability
 Findings of action research are typically only
relevant to the specific classroom being
investigated, its students and its own unique
characteristics
 It may yield different results in other classrooms,
contexts or languages.
 As with any technology, teachers must ensure that
the software works with their computer systems;
Wordle requires a Java-enabled web browser

32. WRITING THE ACTION RESEARCH
REPORT

33. WRITING ACTION RESEARCH REPORTS
 Reports vary depending on the variables, context,
and action involved but most include:
 Introduction
 Area of focus
 Defining the variables
 Research questions
 Review of related literature
 Description of the Intervention or Innovation
 Data Collection and Considerations
 Data Analysis and Interpretation
 Conclusions
 Reflection and Action Plan (Mertler, 2009)
 Examples of Action Research Reports written by
teachers who participated in a school-wide project

34. 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 researcher’s 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”

35. ACTIVITY: WHAT NAGS YOU?

36. PASSION IS INTEGRAL TO ACTION RESEARCH
 Potential passions for coming up with a research
question (Yendol-Hoppey & Dana 2008):
 Helping an individual student
 Improving the curriculum
 Developing more knowledge of the content
 Experimenting with teaching strategies
 Exploring the relationship between your personal beliefs
and classroom practice
 Exploring the connection between your personal and
professional identities
 Advocating for social justice
 Understanding the teaching and learning environment

37. TIME TO REFLECT!
 After viewing our presentation on action research,
what nags you about your teaching practices that
you’d like to change?
 At your table groups, use the questions on the next
slide to come up with a possible research
question(s) that you could test in your own
classroom.
 Examples include but are not limited to: teaching
method, identifying a problem, examining an area
of interest, classroom environment, classroom
management, evaluation, etc.

38. EXAMPLES OF ACTION RESEARCH QUESTIONS
 What happens to the quality of student writing when
we implement a coding system for grammar errors?
 What happens to my students’ ability to do basic
multiplication facts when we do a two minute review
drill at the start of each class?
 How does teaching about gender inequalities affect
the perceptions of students towards gender
constructs in our society?

39. ACTIVITY AND CLASS DISCUSSION:
WRITE ACTION RESEARCH QUESTIONS
PINE (2009)
 I would like to improve by __________________.
 I am perplexed by _____________________.
 I am really curious about ____________________.
 Something I really think would make a difference is
_______________________.
 Something I would really like to change is
____________________.
 What happens to student learning in my classroom
when I ___________________?
 How can I implement ______________________?
 How can I improve _______________________?

40. CONCLUDING POINTS
 Professional development is an important part of
being a teacher and action research is a slightly more
formalized version of the professional development
process used with pre-service teachers.
 Action research is a way in which educators can work
collaboratively in a teacher-directed professional
learning community.
 For more resources, check out our blog!
 www.teachactionresearch.blogspot.ca

41. REFERENCES
Baralt, M., Pennestri, S., & Selvandin, M. (2011). Using Wordles to Teach Foreign
Language Writing. Language Learning & Technology, 15(2), 12-22.
Ferrance, E. (2000). Action Research. Providence, RI, USA. Retrieved November
14, 2012 from http://www.lab.brown.edu/pubs/themes_ed/act_research.pdf
Kemmis, B., & Wilkinson, M. (1998). Participatory Action Research and the Study
of Practice. In B. Atweh, S. Kemmis, & P. Weeks, Action Research in Practice: Partnerships
for Social Justice in Education (pp. 21-37).
Lucier, R. (2008). Top 20 uses for Wordle. Retrieved November 18, 2012 from
http://thecleversheep.blogspot.ca/2008/10/top-20-uses-for-wordle.html
Mertler, C. (2009). Action Research. Thousand Oaks, California, USA: Sage
Publications, Inc.
Pine, G. (2009). Teacher Action Research. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage
Publications, Inc.
Stringer, E. T. (2007). Action Research (3rd ed.). London: Sage Publications, Inc.
Yendol-Hoppey, D. & Dana, N. (2008). The Reflective Educator’s Guide to
Classroom Research. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.
Waters-Adams, S. (2006). Action Research in Education
Retrieved from http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/actionresearch/arhome.htm