Action Research and Action Planning

Video Transcription

In this tutorial, I'll first introduce you to the basics of action research. Then, we'll take a closer look at the steps involved in action research. Finally, we'll examine the similarities and differences between action research and action planning.

Let's get started. Let's begin with the basics of action research. In action research, practitioners in the field focused their work around an identified problem of practice.

Research from professional education organizations, including the Association of School Curriculum Directors, tells us that action research builds teacher empowerment and teacher self-efficacy. This results in improved instructional practices and improved student achievement. So this tells us that action research can be a very powerful inquiry tool that we can put to use in our PLCs and in our site-based management teams since these teams are focused on continuous improvement.

Let's examine the steps that are involved in action research. The first step in action research is to identify the problem. In the case of a PLC C or a site-based management team, the members of the team will be reflecting on what areas of instructional practice they might want to focus on and why. So in my high school math classroom, I might identify a problem that my students have in working with fractions, so I would like to find some instructional practices that I could implement to help my students become more effective and efficient at working with fractions.

The next step in action research is to identify some possible research or theories that might guide your inquiry. This can help you to determine what research based strategies might be effective in addressing your identified problem. So in my example situation, I might do some searching online for strategies that other teachers have implemented that have helped their students to become more successful in working with fractions.

I might also do some research into theories behind the problem. Why do students seem to have so much trouble universally working with fractions? Are there some explanations out there that might help me understand the problem in more detail?

The next step in action research is to write the problem as a research question. So my question might read, what research based instructional strategies will help my students to become more successful in using basic operations with fractions? The next step in action research is to collect valid and reliable data. This data should be used to establish a baseline, and also to verify that the research question you written is relevant. So at this point, I would give my students some baseline assessments that focus on their use of those four operations with fractions.

The next action research step is to analyze that data, determine the current reality based on the results of the data, and use the data to develop a deeper understanding of the problem that you identified. So looking at these two data based steps, if I gave my students this baseline assessment and found that actually all of them passed the assessment with flying colors, I might want to pick a different topic for my action research.

However, if my students do not perform very well on this baseline assessment, that would justify for me that this is indeed something that I should pursue using the action research steps, and then I can also dig more deeply into those results in order to gain an even better understanding of the problem. Are there some operations that students struggle with more than others, for example? Are there any patterns that I see in the way that students are working with these fractions that might help me to find a solution?

The next action research step is to review and discuss that data with the team. You should ask questions like, are there trends in the data that we all are seeing? Is the data the same across the results from all teachers? Are there particular team members whose students are showing strengths in areas where other students are showing weaknesses?

Does the data indicate why this might be the case? Could we maybe learn from each other in our team, or do we need some external professional development? So the next step is to refine the goal as needed based on that data.

You may find at this point that you want to leave the goal as is, but you may choose to take a little different direction based on your discussion of the data with your team members. Next, you'll outline action steps that will allow you to achieve your goal. Your action steps should include methods for measuring progress and a timeline for review.

So here I might indicate that I would like to try one strategy that I have learned about from one of my colleagues. And perhaps I want to try another strategy that I read about online. And then, I would set up a timeline for reporting my results back to the members of my PLC. And also, I would state exactly how I'm going to measure my students progress. For example, I may wish to use a combination of formative and summative assessments to track their progress in these skills.

The next step in action research is to implement your action steps. In following the implementation, you'll want to review your student progress data with your team. So for this step, I would bring those results from my formative and summative assessments so that I can discuss with my team what I'm seeing and what type of progress my students are making.

The next step will be either to continue work as is or to revise the steps if the data is showing me that that is needed. And finally, after all of these steps have been implemented, it's important to reflect both individually and with the other members of the team. Your reflection should include questions like, why did this work or maybe why didn't it work?

How did the plan help me to improve both my teaching and my students learning? Did I learn anything from my plan that could inform future action plans? Maybe action plans in other areas of instruction. And finally, how did my students feel about the action plan? How did they respond to these strategies that I implemented or to the action steps that I carried out?

It's important to understand that there are specific differences between action planning and action research, even though sometimes you will hear the two terms used interchangeably. Action research is the umbrella process that I just outlined for you. The end goal in this process is to create improvements in both teaching and student achievement.

Action planning is one of many integrated components in action research. A good way to think about it is that while you might engage in some action planning without that larger action research process happening, it'll never go the other way. You'll never find action research without action planning being part of the process.

Another important item to note is that in both action research and action planning, SMART goals should be used because in both action research and action planning, you want your goals to be specific and measurable and attainable and relevant and time bound. You may find that action planning might be a good fit if you have identified a problem or a need of an individual student or a group of students in your classroom, and so in that case within the context of action planning, you might want to implement the PDSA, or Plan, Do, Study Act improvement cycle.

In this cycle, you develop an improvement plan based on the goals that need to be met. In the do step, you carry out the actions that you'd planned. These actions should specify who is going to engage in each action and how you're going to measure the success of each action.

You'll then study or analyze the data and act based upon the results of your analysis. Based upon whether or not students have achieved the goals you've set for them, your decision might be to continue with the actions as planned or to adjust the actions to better meet the needs of the students.

So in my endeavor to help my students be more successful in working with fractions, I might plan to implement a few new instructional strategies, then carry out those strategies, use formative and summative assessment data to make a determination about what my next steps should be. Should I keep using these strategies? Should I try something new?

So now it's your tread to stop and reflect. Consider how action planning can be not just a helpful component in action research, but also a valuable standalone tool for use in your classroom. For more information on how to apply what you learned in this video, please view the additional resources section that accompanies this video presentation.

The additional resources section includes hyperlinks useful for applications of the course material, including a brief description of each resource. Thanks for watching. Have a great day.