Project #1 – Action Research Plan

1. Research Problem
 State your research problem. What problem/question do you see in your practice?
How can you assess student learning if the focus is on the only the end product?
How can you document what students have learned even if the product did not turn
out as intended? Currently, the grading policy in my school focus on the end product
to evaluate what students have learned, however the process would provide deeper
insight into the learning that took place. Current research suggests that art journals
in support of portfolios, are crucial for documenting process and growth in a way
that can be evaluated both formatively and summatively. Looking at assessment in
visual arts, supported by the International Baccalaureate (IB), portfolios provide the
flexibility for students to showcase their intellectual footsteps, provide insight into
their reflective practices, encourage exploratory learning through the freedom of
making choices about content and reflect student’s capacity to work independently
through research. Eisner (2002), in support of documenting the process, points out
that projects may be in fact an educational success story even if the student discards
the project he or she created. Therefore, the attention should not be solely in the
finished product but the thinking and practice that took place throughout the
project. Portfolios and journaling will provide documentation of the practice and
process of learning that is taking place.
 State your purpose. What is your reason for doing this research?
There is a lot of valuable information pertaining to learning that is represented in the
process that is lost when the focus is only on the finished product. The purpose of
this research is to include process work as summative assessment, evaluate and
assess the process of creation, encouraging student risks and exploration, even if the
creation does not turn out, while documenting student learning through reflective
grading. It is the process that holds value in learning and development. Therefore,
journaling will allow freedom for students to make choices about content and
explore ideas and have an awareness and active role in their learning. Currently
within the Austin District, there is a grading philosophy called “Grading for
Learning”. Within this grading philosophy, practice work accounts for 10% of the
students grade while final exams and assessments account for 90%. With this
grading system, and the percentages assigned, there is little weight given to the
importance of practice as the focus is the outcome and not the process. This
philosophy has been implemented for many years in the district and its has been
observed that students have stopped moving forward when the task at hand has
been achieved/met.
 What evidence do you have explaining the cause of the problem?
The evidence I have explaining the cause of the problem is that of personal
experience, observation and reflection as well as current research on journaling.
When teachers only collect and assess the completion of a studio project, they decide
both the content and the outcome of each project, limiting student exploration and
creating monotonous portfolios that show projects meeting criteria demanded by
 the teacher (Boughton, 2004). Students will complete a task at hand, checking off
the required “boxes” for a project, while not fully challenging themselves to explore
and take risks. In addition, students even though working through many trial and
errors and experimentation of materials in a project, might not score well on the
final piece. The process should be embraced and assessed, showing the learning
that took place even if the end product did not turn out as intended.
 What opinions do you have about this problem?
Through personal reflection and evaluation of my own art creation and teaching
assessment, I have come to realize that for every finished art piece I’ve created I had
20-30 sketches, material explorations, and notes about what was working and what
needed to be readdressed. Even though many pieces didn’t get completed, I
showcased my knowledge and unintendedly provided documentation of the learning
that took place throughout the process. Why should this be any different from
students working and exploring the arts?
 What assumptions do you make about this problem?
My assumptions about this problem is that many students, when providing the
opportunity to showcase and explore aspects of the arts, will embrace the process of
creating without the pressure of focusing on a completed piece. The completed
artwork will come in time and the personal growth through exploration will create
ownership over their work. I also believe that students are being trained to follow
instruction like an assembly line, producing the same results as other students, not
allowing for exploratory learning to take place.
 What preconceptions and biases do you bring to the study of this problem?
Initially, through my practice, I have always focused on the quality of the final piece
determining student knowledge and understanding. The final artwork does provide
insight into the technical ability of each student but does not represent the growth
that took place. I have seen many students increase their ability when looking at a
project from the start of the semester to the end of the semester, but the
documentation of growth is missing as well as their reflection on their growth. In
this sense students do not hold value in their practice work where they struggled,
explored, and experimented, as practice work currently consists of 10W% of their
grade.
 What assumptions do you have about those who will participate in your study?
The participants within this study will vary from self-driven to complacent. It will be
interesting to see what students are able to freely explore the creation aspects and
document their growth through art journaling. While taking the pressure off of
having a set amount of completed pieces, art journaling will be implemented to all
students for the course and being a part of the class, I foresee participation in the
action research project high. This openness may cause a sense of anxiety in some
students and I will make sure so help guide and facilitate students through their
individualized process.
2. Plan
 What will be the context of your research (school/community, class, projects,
students, etc.)?
 This research will take place in Austin, MN involving high school level students. The
class(es) that would participate in the study would mainly be derived of senior
students that vary in their high school art experience. The study aims to have 20-25
participants. The projects will follow the established curriculum for the selected
class, specifically drawing and painting, with the introduction of daily art journals
and reflections. (We have not received our class list/numbers for this fall as of yet,
only the classes we are teaching. From the class list I will also break down the
demographics of the class in comparison to the demographics of the high school)
 What are possible teacher actions (interventions/strategies) to address the
problem?
The action that will take place is the implementation of a daily art journal where
students will use the journal for all their inquiry and pre-sketches of ideas while
adding daily reflections of the process that took place during the class hour. This
reflection may include but not limited to, the materials used, the success, struggles,
compositional thoughts, personal attitude, exploratory designs and open-ended
questions. It is key to also create an environment that promotes active learning,
inquiry and investigation showcasing multiple perspectives and representation. In
addition, there will be teacher field notes that will be taken daily, documenting
observations and insights that day. At the end of the research period, student
interviews will take place.
 What is the justification for the selection/creation of this plan or intervention?
With an aspect of the theory of constructivism, student knowledge is constructed by
the students experience and prior knowledge while being active in the learning
process. The process is messy, unpredictable and chaotic while in development. It is
crucial to document the process to provide insight into the learning that took place.
The creation of this plan is to represent and showcase student learning throughout
the process that may have been lost if only looked at a completed piece. Learning
can take place even if the product did not turn out intended as planned whether that
be quality or aesthetics. The selection of students/class that would be used in the
research was chosen as such due to the range of ability and experiences the students
will have. The senior art class is designed to allow all seniors, of all ability levels and
experience to be able to take the class. With the removal of prerequisites, the
importance of documenting the learning process is key to representing student
growth and learning as they will all have different experiences and training.
 What data will you collect/observe during this time and how will you obtain it?
Through my action research project students will be exploring the use of process
journaling, where they can gather research, develop artistic skill, reflect on meaning
and explore ideas. They will do this daily within their journaling sketchbooks that are
provided. Additional pedagogical documentation to process journaling that
documents ideas, explore topics and contain their pre-sketches, students will
document their process of creating art through photographing their work daily and
upload it to their class account. This would allow for a visual documentation of the
process that is taking place within the classroom, providing insight into student
learning. At the completion of the project, students will be interviewed where
 discussion of their journaling, visual documentation of their project and final artwork
would be assessed and documented. There will be additional qualitative data
collected through student interviews that would take place at the end of the
research and teacher field notes that would be documented daily.
 What is your timeline for implementing the intervention/strategies, collecting data?
The timeline for implementation of the art journals and collecting data will be
dependent on the program and the location of the program. With the selected time
period, the focus will be on 1-2 specific projects, showcasing the process from start
to a finished piece. Interviews itself will take 1-2 days based on the participants.

3. Reflect on this plan

Consider your research questions, problem, and proposed plan, list the data you will collect and
consider its purpose. What could this data address/answer?
The data that is collected will be qualitative in nature and would provide a visual guide
showcasing the learning and knowledge development. With reviewing the collected data, it
would address whether documenting the process through art journaling provides insight into
student learning and development within the arts or if the final product is an appropriate
representation of learning and development. Students with the addition of journaling will work
towards a completed project, that would be assessed using the established rubric.
Data Purpose of this data
Journaling Record daily reflection, development of artistic skill, document the process of
learning, and student work.
Reflective An interview will take place with the participating students, (up to 20-28
Student students) about the journaling process and the learning/skill
interviews development/knowledge, and if they saw any relationship/correlation with
their artmaking process and the final product. The participating students will
be at a senior level with mixed art experiences.
Teacher Field Classroom observation, student work evaluation and documentation
Notes

Do you have a plan that includes data that should speak to your questions/problem? Based on
your response, revise as needed.

4. Consider acting on this plan

What are your worries? What are you confident about? How will you monitor and adjust as
needed?
I am concerned with the “data” collection itself as it will be qualitative data that is constantly
changing. To support the action research process there will need to be visuals showcasing
student’s process throughout the work duration as well as student reflection and teacher
observation. An additional concern would be that of accountability of students in daily
journaling. I don’t necessarily see this as problematic as the journals, being individualized in
nature, will still document the students work throughout the project. The final concern I would
have in collecting data would be that of daily observation and teacher field notes. If learning
were to take place online, I would have to implement daily journal uploads or possibly an online
art blog, where students would still use the physical art journal as their source of
documentation while being able to photograph and upload their journal to an online format.
The uploads may switch to weekly to decrease the burden depending on how the online process
is established.
I am confident that students will be engaged and excited to be a part of this research. Many
times, students have been frustrated with the end product but do not realize how much they
learned and discovered throughout the process. The evaluation and reflection of the process
will be encouraging to students as it will showcase that every aspect in the creation holds
meaning and value, even if the end product does not turn out.
Further modifications may be needed once guidance from the state is in place in response to
Covid-19. With every student in our district having a 1-1 device, the online aspect will be
implemented, and I would still be able to provide each student with an art journal and supplies.
Field notes and observations would have to be adjusted, if online, to a reflective process where I
would analyze student journal entries daily.