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UNIVERSIDAD CENTRAL DEL ECUADOR

PHILOSOPHY SCHOOL
ENGLISH MAJOR
GROUP NAMES: CLASS: Ninth “A”
Chicaiza Luis DATE: November 29nd, 2021
Echeverria Valentina SUBJECT: Diseño
Granizo Gabriela PROFESSOR'S NAME: MSc. Tania
Manosalvas Nathaly Trujillo

● Questions

1. What’s Action Research?

The term action research is considered as an approach to educational

research that is commonly used by educational practitioners and professionals to
examine, and also improve, their pedagogy and practice.

Nonetheless, according to Ferrance (2000), action research is a process in

which participants examine their own educational practice systematically and
carefully, using the techniques of research. Furthermore, it is based on the following
assumptions:

- Teachers and principals work best on problems they have identified for
themselves.
- Teachers and principals become more effective when encouraged to examine
and assess their own work and then consider ways of working differently.
- Teachers and principals help each other by working collaboratively.
- Working with colleagues helps teachers and principals in their professional
development.

Another definition that can be taken into account is the one that is provided by
Naz & Khatoon (2014), who consider that action research is a reliable source for
generating solutions of everyday practical problems. Besides, action research
generally needs careful planning, deep observations, sharp listening skills, evaluation
and critical reflection.

2. How is it applied in the educational field?

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According to (The glossary of education reform, 2015) since action research refers to
a wide variety of evaluative, investigative and analytical research methods designed
to diagnose problems or weaknesses—whether organizational, academic, or
instructional—and help educators develop practical solutions to address them quickly
and efficiently. Action research may also be applied to programs or educational
techniques that are not necessarily experiencing any problems, but that educators
simply want to learn more about and improve. The general goal is to create a simple,
practical, repeatable process of iterative learning, evaluation, and improvement that
leads to increasingly better results for schools, teachers, or programs.

So action research should be apply in many situations taking into consideration the
following process by adapting it to our educational needs.

● Identify a problem to be studied

● Collect data on the problem
● Organize, analyze, and interpret the data
● Develop a plan to address the problem
● Implement the plan
● Evaluate the results of the actions taken
● Identify a new problem
● Repeat the process

3. What’s the teacher’s role in those projects?

According to Smith & Sela (2005) action research is based on deep reflection and
divided into several stages creating a circle or a spiral through which the teachers-
researchers examine their work and try to come up with ways of improving it.

Teachers continuously study their work in an intuitive manner; they ask themselves
questions regarding their work, collect data regarding their pupils through tests,
different projects, learning logs, etc., and come to conclusions based on the collected
data.

In order to design a project Teacher use to:

1. IDENTIFY A PROBLEM
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Teachers often have several questions they wish to investigate; however, it is

important to limit the question to one that is meaningful and doable in the confines of
their daily work. Careful planning at this first stage will limit false starts and
frustrations. There are several criteria to consider before investing the time and effort
in “researching” a problem. The question should

● .be a higher-order question—not a yes/no

● be stated in common language, avoiding jargon
● be concise
● be meaningful
● not already have an answer

2. GATHER DATA

The collection of data is an important step in deciding what action needs to be taken.
Multiple sources of data are used by teachers to better understand the scope of
happenings in the classroom or school. There are many vehicles for collection of
data:

● performances interviews
● portfolios
● diaries
● field notes
● audio tapes
● photos
● memos
● questionnaires

Teachers must organize the data in a way that makes it useful to identify trends and
themes.

3. INTERPRET DATA

Depending upon the question, teachers may wish to use classroom data, individual
data, or subgroup data. Some of the data are quantifiable and can be analyzed
without the use of statistics or technical assistance. Other data, such as opinions,
attitudes, or checklists, may be summarized in table form.

4. ACT ON EVIDENCE

Teachers use the information from the data collection and review of current literature
and they design a plan of action that will allow them to make a change and to study
that change.

5. EVALUATE RESULTS
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Teachers assess the effects of the intervention to determine if improvement has

occurred. If there is improvement, does the data clearly provide the supporting
evidence? If not, what changes can be made to the actions to elicit better results?

Finally, action research was found to help teachers develop as reflective

professionals, able to collect and analyze data which is used to help students to have
a better learning process.

4. What are the advantages of AR projects?

Advantages for students:

Action research projects can develop important academic and social skills of
students, especially for hard-to-reach youth.

They can also help students access higher education, add valuable information to
school reform efforts, and help foster a civic identity among students that connects
young people to their communities, revitalizing the civic purposes of education.

In addition, student action research projects are one way to harness this energy and
creativity for the benefit of the school community at large.

Advantages for Teachers:

● It facilitates teacher empowerment.

● It offers a way for teachers to reflect critically on their practice.
● It stimulates change in the teachers‟ thinking and practice.
● It promotes self-improvement and self-awareness.
● It can empower teachers to take leadership roles in their local teaching
contexts.

5. What English Language areas can be worked/improved by implementing AR

projects?

(Whankhom, 2016) study titled ''Development of the Instructional Model of Reading

English Strategies for Enhancing Sophomore Students' Learning Achievements”

Investigated the use of action research in developing and verifying the effectiveness
of an instructional model of English reading strategies for students. The study used
four instruments: questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, reading comprehension
achievement, and the 5-lesson plans.According to the results of the reading
strategies application, average score of total reading strategy used was moderate
practice. The developing instructional model comprised of informs, model and
practice. The results concluded that the application of the reading strategy was
effective.
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Action research also help to find solutions to particular problems the can be found in
the teaching-learning process regarding languages since there are several blanks in
the educational process, it could help us to fix it and increase the quality of teaching
a second language
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● References

Ferrance, E. (2000). Themes in Education: Action research. LAB at Brown

University. The Education Alliance. https://www.brown.edu/academics/education-
alliance/sites/brown.edu.academics.education-alliance/files/publications/
act_research.pdf

Naz, S., & Khatoon S. M. An Analysis of College Teachers’ Awareness about

Conducting Action Research for Effective Teaching. International Journal of
Secondary Education. Vol. 2, No. 1, 2014, pp. 7-10.
https://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo.aspx?
journalid=193&doi=10.11648/j.ijsedu.20140201.12

Rubin, B. C., & Jones, M. (2007). Student Action Research: Reaping the Benefits for
Students and School Leaders. NASSP Bulletin, 91(4), 363–378.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192636507310316

Smith,& Sela (2005). Student Action Research: Reaping the Benefits for Students
and School Leaders. NASSP Bulletin, 91(4), 363–378.
http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1657-
07902016000100003

Whankhom, P. (2016). Development of the Instructional Model of Reading English

Strategies for Enhancing Sophomore Students' Learning Achievements. Educational
Research and Reviews. https://mobt3ath.com/uplode/books/book-31396.pdf

The glossary of education reform. (2015, May 14). Action Research Definition. The
Glossary of Education Reform -. Retrieved November 28, 2021, from
https://www.edglossary.org/action-research/