Week 6 Discussion 1 Why Educators Should Conduct Research

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Your written response to this discussion prompt is your time to reflect on the action research cycle. This discussion also supports your achievement of Course Learning Outcome 4.

Educators need to conduct research in order to make effective decisions about student learning and student achievement. In addition, teachers must be reflective about their practice in order to make appropriate changes and accommodations, especially for diverse student populations.

*Note: there are two parts to this discussion.

Initial Post: Post an initial response that addresses the following areas:

Week 6 Discussion 1 Why Educators Should Conduct Research

Your written response to this discussion prompt is your time to reflect on the action research cycle. This discussion also supports your achievement of Course Learning Outcome 4.

Educators need to conduct research in order to make effective decisions about student learning and student achievement. In addition, teachers must be reflective about their practice in order to make appropriate changes and accommodations, especially for diverse student populations.

*Note: there are two parts to this discussion.

Initial Post: Post an initial response that addresses the following areas:

Part A:
Read the following articles about being a reflective practitioner:

· “

The articulated learning: An approach to guided reflection and assessment

“

·
“The Role of Reflection in the Differentiated

Instruction

al Process”

 

(Links to an external site.)

Using information you gathered from the articles, provide an analysis of the following questions:

· What does it mean to be a reflective practitioner?

· Why should teachers be reflective?

· How would you describe yourself in regard to being a reflective practitioner?

Part B:
Provide an evaluation of this question from Barth (as cited in the Phelps, 2008): “How much are you prepared to risk of what is familiar, comfortable, safe, and perhaps working well for you, in the name of better education for others?” (p. 122). Reflect on current practices and how you can be a reflective change agent. Think about the following questions:

· How will you use research to improve your practice in order to facilitate student achievement?

· What two areas of practice in your educational environment do you think need researching and why?

Guided Response: After reviewing the initial posts, substantively reply to at least two peers. Asking clarifying questions and sharing personal experiences are excellent methods of extending the discussion.

Though two replies are the basic expectation, for deeper engagement and application of the material, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you (including your instructor) before Day 7. This ongoing engagement in the discussion will deepen the conversation while providing opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real-world experiences with this topic.

 Learning Outcomes

This week students will:

1. Explain stakeholder responsibilities involved in action research innovation/intervention.

2. Investigate action research principles to current educational challenges and issues.

Introduction

This is the last week of our class. Congratulations!

Last week you discussed the role of the teacher leader and teacher researcher. This week you have a final reflection on how conducting action research can positively impact the education profession. Action research, as you know, opens up avenues of knowledge and experiences that we may not have previously considered. Reading research also causes us to do our own original thinking. And out of this original thought can grow ideas that ultimately can help our students. As you can see, there is a clear value in research to positively impact students.

This week is the culminating project, which involves conducting a peer review of the research proposal you chose in Week Two.

In preparation for this week’s activities, it is recommended that you review the course textbook and the weekly assignments so that you have a global understanding of the expectations and pacing. It is suggested that the resources shared in this week be saved in your “link library” to be used for reference later in the class, future course work, and professional practice.

Please be sure to take about an hour to review this week’s Instructor Guidance. There you will find a wealth of useful information that will supplement your understanding as you progress through the week’s discussions and assignments. This document can also be used as a scholarly reference in this week’s assignments. If additional guidance is needed, please access the Ask Your Instructor section of your course.

It is important to note that the Instructor Guidance has been developed to directly compliment the learning outcomes in each week of this course. As in any course, the Instructor Guidance supports the required texts and other readings but does not replace it. For your continued success in this program, it is highly recommended that you are prepared for each week’s instruction by accessing all of the available resources.

Required Resources

Text

Mertler, C. A. (2017).

Action research: Improving schools and empowering educators

(5th ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/

· Chapter 8: Writing an Action Research Report

· Chapter 9: Sharing and Reflecting

Recommended Resources

Article

Ash, S. L., & Clayton, P. H. (2004). The articulated learning: An approach to guided reflection and assessment. Innovative Higher Education, 29(2), 137-154. doi:10.1023/B:IHIE.0000048795.84634.4a

· This journal article provides a basis for the importance of reflection and assessment across disciplines. This resource will be used to support your work on the discussions this week (i.e., Why Educators Should Conduct Research) and this week’s assignment (i.e. Peer Review).

Minott, M. (2009).

The role of reflection in the differentiated instructional process (Links to an external site.)

. College Quarterly, 12(1). Retrieved from http://collegequarterly.ca/

· This journal article provides a basis for the importance of reflection and assessment in education. This resource will be used to support your work on the discussions this week (i.e., Why Educators Should Conduct Research) and this week’s assignment (i.e. Peer Review).

WEEK SIX INSTRUCTOR GUIDANCE

Congratulations! And, welcome to the final week of EDU 694:  Capstone 1: Educational Research. Please be sure to review the Week Six homepage for this course to see:

· The specific learning outcomes for the week

· The schedule overview

· The required and recommended resources

· The introduction to the week

· A listing of the assessments

Next, be sure to read this entire Instructor Guidance page.

Overview

Now is the time to reflect upon all you have learned and experienced in this course. You have formed a foundational understanding of Action Research. In Week Six you will prepare your Final Project consisting of the requirements in the guidance.  Also, you have the opportunity to reflect deeply on your learning from Weeks One through Five in the discussion forum.

Intellectual Elaboration

Research is concerned with many things: Finding out answers to important questions, satisfying personal and professional curiosity, developing solutions for complex problems, etc. Educational research, naturally enough, is concerned with these same things, but due to the unique nature of education, goes about addressing these concerns in defined ways, and addressing specific perspectives. Lets take a look at five perspectives as they relate to our profession and Action Research: curriculum, instruction, evaluation, technology and policy.

Curriculum

Curriculum is often concerned with the “what” of teaching—What is worth knowing? What should we teach our students? What forms should it take? As noted above, how we respond these questions should tell us a lot about what we value as educators. And this is reflected in the amount of time we spend on curriculum development, renewal, and decision-making. The Common Core State Standards movement is an excellent contemporary example of how important curriculum is in education.

Instruction

Instruction is often concerned with the “how” of teaching—How should we teach our students? How can we tailor our lessons to match our students? How should we approach student learning for students who are struggling, or who excel? Instruction is at the heart of what teachers do with students, how they serve them, so this is necessarily a topic that gains significant attention. One thing to bear in mind here is the ways that individual teachers respond to these questions has a lasting impact on students. Classroom teaching matters, and great classroom teaching matters now more than ever.

Evaluation

Evaluation can be viewed in two ways: Student evaluation and program evaluation. In student evaluation, we are looking at not only the different ways to evaluate students (formative and summative assessments, standardized test scores, portfolios and other alternative assessments, etc.), but what we should do with the information we obtain as a result of these evaluations.
With program evaluation, the aims are similar, but not the same—the scope is larger, and is aimed at the entire system, whether it is a classroom, school, or school district. Program evaluation looks at all aspects of the education program– curriculum, instruction, student management and safety, counseling services, library, etc.—and should be focused on improvement. Educational systems, even at the individual classroom level, have many moving parts, and getting these parts to work together requires periodic evaluation for improvements to occur.

Technology

Technology takes on an outsized aspect in our perspectives on research. Not only does technology help us immensely in our research, but more to the point, technology is fundamentally changing education right in front of us. Teaching 2030 (Berry, et.al., 2011) looks ahead at the education system, and imagines a future in which “digital tools will allow students to learn 24/7” and “teachers whose expertise is spread in and out of cyberspace” (“The Big Ideas,” Teaching 2030 website, para. 2 and 4).
Technology holds a lot of promise, as yet fully unrealized. But it is difficult to imagine an education future in which technology does not figure prominently. For that reason, education research needs to be concerned with technology’s impact on education.

Policy

Education policy matters. Policy is the governance framework supporting what we do in schools. While often decided at the district level (or higher), teachers and principals in individual schools can influence policy makers and policy making by involving themselves in the work of creating and implementing policy. From a research perspective, policy matters because the research findings we uncover will be of greater value if education policy supports it. Looking at research from a policy perspective, then, should provide us with some guidance about how and why we conduct research.
These five perspectives (curriculum, instruction, evaluation, technology, and policy) are well worth considering in our research work. In doing so, we give our research work greater weight and purpose.

Conceptual Framework, Theoretical Framework, (and Methodology)

The conceptual framework of a research project refers to the possible  courses of action a researcher might decide to take in researching a  problem. In determining the conceptual framework, the researcher is deciding about the purpose of the research
The researcher is seeking to answer questions like “Is it a descriptive study (often about an emerging phenomenon)?” “Is it an exploratory study?” “Will it explain a process?” “Will it offer a hypothesis?” Beginning researchers sometimes confuse the conceptual framework with the methodology. This is similar to, but not the same as, methodology.
Methodology refers more to the various “how’s” of research How am I going to gather my data? How am I going to analyze my data? What form will my report take? Etc. These are important considerations, to be sure, but come after the big decisions have been made about the study.
The theoretical framework differs from the conceptual framework in that the theory underpins the ideas to be presented in the study; it is the structure the study is built on. And there are many theories to choose from, as the theoretical framework is already available in the form of theories that have been previously presented. The key for the researcher is to identify what he/she wants to research and select appropriate theory(ies) to base their work upon

Why Reflect?

Through reflective practice, a practitioner of any type can reframe a troubling situation so problem-solving actions may occur. Reflection is part of the learning process, whether a novice or an expert. It allows one to utilize a repertoire of understanding, images, and actions so as to respond most effectively (Merickel, 1998).  Progressing into the Week Six Discussion and Final Project requires you to contemplate your learning experiences, the weekly assessments, and the concepts examined during the course and determine their overall impact on you.

Assessment Guidance

This section includes additional specific assistance for excelling in the discussions for Week Six beyond what is given with the instructions for the assessments. If you have questions about what is expected on any assessment for Week Six, contact your instructor using the Ask Your Instructor discussion before the due date. Both the Discussion and Final Project are opportunities for you to further demonstrate mastery with the four course learning outcomes, which are noted on the course Syllabus.

Discussion: Why Educators Should Conduct Research

The self reflection allows you to evaluate your own learning from the course work by establishing connections between your learning and your current and/or anticipated role in the education profession in relationship to Action Research. It is the final opportunity for you to make your learning authentic and to make meaningful connections with your own professional goals.  It also provides the chance to communicate with one another and gain additional insight to others’ learning, bringing up points you may not have considered in your own original responses and introductions during the early weeks of the course.  As you prepare for and ponder this final week’s discussion, consider how your learning in this course may contribute to the work you do or will do in the education profession.
Remember to follow the Guided Response prompt when responding to at least two peers. By following the prompt, discussions are likely to be more in-depth and specific to the responses your fellow classmates have provided as well as promote critical thinking and increased participation—both components included on the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric.

Final Project: Peer Reviewer

Each weekly assignment (Discussion and Assignments) built upon your knowledge of  Action Research. In this final assignment you will be assuming the role of a Peer Reviewer using the rubric provided, analyze the research report you chose in the Week Two Discussion. Be sure to complete both sections of this assignment ( part one the peer review rubric and part two the narrative/reflection).

References

Merickel, M. (1998). 

Reflective Practice: The reflective practitioner (Links to an external site.)

. Retrieved from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/pte/module2/rp.htm
Berry, B., et.al. (2011). Teaching 2030: What we must do for our students and the public schools–Now and in the future. New York: Teachers College Press
CommonCoreStateStandardswebsite. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org

Teaching 2030 website. Retrieved from http://www.teachingquality.org/publications/teaching-2030- book

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