In ECI 523, Teacher As Researcher, Dr. Wiseman challenged us to complete an Action Research Project.
1. The first step of this project was to write a description of context, including the purpose and demographics of the educational organization in which I work, the typical occurrences for a day at the organization, a description of my daily routine, the problems and concerns of my school (including why I think the problem exists, the ways in which it negatively affects the organization, and the implications for addressing the issue), and my own role in this setting, including my professional background and how I understand the different problems I had identified. Due to confidentiality concerns, I will not be making my description of context available here.
2. The second step of this project was to identify a specific problem to focus on and describe it, sharing why it is important to me, describing the connections to my own professional identity and why this is something I want to investigate, and considering how my own experiences shape what I understand and question about the problem. I also was required to describe the different perspectives related to my problem and and "sub-topics/issues" related to this problem and possible outcomes. I identified the high number of drop outs among students with disabilities, a problem close to my heart since I teach special education. See below for my completed problem identification assignment.
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3. The third step of this project was to complete a literature review. This step required me to review the research related to my problem and potential solutions. I gathered information from 10 research-based sources and effectively explained how other researchers have contributed to my knowledge of the topic. See below for my completed literature review assignment.
4. The fourth step of this project required me to develop and implement an action research plan based on the prior steps of the process. This plan included an abstract, a description of the problem, evidence explaining the cause of the problem, my interventions to address the problem, research questions for the first action research cycle, a description of the intervention, justification for the selection/creation of the intervention, methods and timeline for data collection, findings and conclusions based on data analysis, and reflection/implications that detailed what I learned about my chosen topic, the action research process, yourself as a researcher, and remaining questions/queries about research, and future directions. See below for my completed action research plan.
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5. At the end of the semester, Dr. Wiseman asked us to present our process and findings to our classmates using the Pecha Kucha method. See below for my Pecha Kucha images that I paired with my oral presentation of my action research project.
Project-Based Inquiry: Book ClubsIn this class we also engaged in Book Clubs where we read one of three choice texts about teacher research, engaged with group members face-to-face and virtually, and created a book trailer to share with the group. Click here for the book trailer my group created for our book, What About Rose? by Smokey Wilson. |