MODULE 7

CLASSROOM-BASED ACTION
RESEARCH

Lesson 1 Performing Professional

Readings

Lesson 2 Preparing Reflection

Papers on CBARs

Lesson 3 Preparing a CBAR

Proposal

Module I
 2

MODULE 7

CLASSROOM-BASED ACTION RESEARCH

 INTRODUCTION

With the ever-increasing need for better accountabilty and research-

based solutions, educators may find themselves at wit's end at where to
even begin to identify potential solutions to their classroom and school-
based problems.

Although there are many excellent libraries and repositories of

research-based solutions, a more immediate and appropriate solution is
classroom-based action research.

In this module, you will learn the nature, importance, and impact of
classroom-based action research (CBAR) in your development as a life-long
learning educator.

As future educators, you should begin to take interest in knowing how

students learn, making innovations in curriculum design, and in improving
teaching practice.

OBJECTIVES

After studying the module, you should be able to:

1. familiarize yourself with what classroom-based action research is

all about;
2. conduct professional readings on completed CBAR related to the
teaching-learning process; and
3. learn how to write a CBAR proposal.

Module I
 3

 DIRECTIONS/ MODULE ORGANIZER

There are three lessons in the module. Read each lesson carefully
then answer the exercises/activities to find out how much you have
benefited from it. Work on these exercises carefully and submit your output
to your instructor/professor.

In case you encounter difficulty, discuss this with your teacher during
the prescribed consultation hours.

Good luck and happy reading!!!

Lesson 1

 Doing Professional Readings on

Different CBARs

Nature of Classroom-Based Action Research

Action research is a systematic process of inquiry conducted by those

with a direct impact, influence, and interest in the teaching-learning
process of a particular school or institution. According to Mertler (2012), it
is a process that allows teacher to study their own classrooms in order to
better understand them and to be able to improve their quality and
effectiveness.

Action research provides a structured process for customizing

research findings, enabling educators to address specific questions,
concerns, or problems within hteir own classrooms, schools, or districts. The
best way to know if something will work with your students is to try it out,

Module I
 4

collect and analyze data, to assess its effectiveness, and then make
decisions about your next courses of action based on your experience.

In order to better understand the nature of CBAR, you should be well

versed in the styles and techniques previously used in completed CBARs.
This is where the importance of reading and reviewing related literature
comes into full view.

Purposes of Conducting Professional Readings/Review of Existing CBARs

1. To obtain background information and knowledge of your problem

area or research topic
2. To be able to relate your research ideas or study to the current
condition or situation of your school, community, or the world.
3. To be aware of opportunities to expand, prove, or disprove the
findings of previous CBARs
4. To increase your understanding of the theories, principles, styles, and
techniques potentially usable in your own research.
5. To explain technical terms
6. To emphasize the significance of your work with the kind of evidence
in gathered and to support your conclusions.
7. To avoid redundancy with existing completed CBARs
8. To identify the need for further research for specific areas.

How should you conduct your reading/review of CBARs? Here are some
steps you can follow to guide you in your search and review of completed
CBARs.

Step 1. The Search

This is the stage where you allocate the majority of your time looking
for sources of knowledge, data, or information related to the problem you
are trying to make an action research on. Three basic types of literature
sources come into play here:

-general sources: these will direct you to the location of other

sources

-primary sources: these directly report or present a person’s own

experiences

-secondary sources: these describe or report other people’s

experiences or views.

Secondary sources provide the bigger bulk of materials. These are

found in various sources such as the internet, books, peer-reviewed articles
in journals, published literary reviews, unpublished and non-peer reviewed

Module I
 5

works like theses, dissertations, conference proceedings, leaflets, and

posters, research studies in progress among others.

Step 2. Reading

Consuming, reading, assimilating, understanding. This is the second

stage of your professional reading. You will get the best results out of your
reading process only if you engage your HOTS or higher order thinking skills.

Step 3. Reflection

The third part is writing your reflection papers on the CBARs that you
were able to read. We will dive deeper in this step as we move to the next
lesson of this module.

LEARNING ACTIVITY: Explore

Conduct an online search of completed Classroom-Based Action Researches.

Start searching for local CBARs, and then branch out to international ones.
Make sure to engage your inquiry processing so that as you search online,
you are already starting to formulate in your mind how you will go about
writing your own CBAR.

Use the table below to make an inventory of the CBARs you have found.
Look for at least five (5) titles.

TITLE of CBAR Author/s

Example: Differentiated Instruction Mary Joy Olicia
in Teaching English for Grade Four
Classes
1.

Module I
 6

2.

3.

4.

5.

SELF-ASSESSMENT. Choose the best answer for each question/item.

1. Every future teacher should do action research because ________.

A. It is a requirement for teachers in the field
B. It has huge potential to enhance teaching practice
C. It rewards teachers with points towards their performance
D. It is part of the teacher’s standard

Module I
 7

2. Identifying a problem area in the teaching and learning process will

____________.
A. Spur an idea of performing a CBAR
B. Induce more confusion to the teacher
C. Add complexity in everyday teaching
D. Add unnecessary burden to teacher’s daily routine

3. Which of the following statements motivate a teacher to do a CBAR?

A. Problems I encounter in class will soon go away.
B. For every problem in the teaching-learning process, there will
always be a solution.
C. Let the other teachers solve the problem.
D. There are more important things to do than solve problems in the
classroom.

4. “Every teacher should be an action researcher.” This statement is

________.
A. Applicable only to teachers in big schools
B. Impractical and very idealistic
C. The call for teachers in these current times.
D. Appropriate only for honor graduates.

5. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Action Research problems is created by the teacher.
B. Noticing helps a teacher spot problem areas.
C. Much of the teaching time should be spent in conducting
classroom-based action research.
D. Action research is an optional teacher activity.

Module I
 8

Lesson 2

 Preparing Reflection Papers on the

Studied CBARs

Why Write Reflectively?

As you begin to search and read related literature, and other completed
action researches, you will be exposed to many problems, solutions,
techniques, and strategies. You may or may not agree with everything you
encounter, but it is very essential that you document how you feel, or
react, towards whatever information or knowledge you find. This is where
reflective writing plays a huge role.

Reflective writing offers you the opportunity to consider how your personal
views, values, experiences and observations shape the way you think and
accept new information and ideas. Some of your teachers or professors
occasionally require you to write reflections on certain activities, such as
after a film showing, after reading a book or article, or after an event. We
do this in order to encourage you to explore your own ideas, feelings or
emotion about the movie, article, book or event, and allow you to express
your own opinion instead of summarizing or paraphrasing the opinion of
others.

This is also the reason why you will be required to prepare and write your
own reflection papers about the professional readings you have made about
completed CBARs.

Reflective writing can help you improve your analytical skills because it
requires you to express what you think, and more importantly, how and why
you think or feel that particular way. Moreover, reflective analysis asks you
to acknowledge that your thoughts are shaped by your own assumptions and
ideas, and while doing so, you can appreciate the ideas of others and notice
how their assumptions and ideas may have shaped their thoughts, and
perhaps recognize how your ideas support or reject what you have read.

Types of Reflective Writing

Experiential Reflection

This type of reflective writing is prevalent in professional programs, like

business, nursing, social work, forensics and education, reflection is an
important part of making connections between theory and practice. When

Module I
 9

you are asked to reflect upon an experience in a placement, you do not only
describe your experience, but you evaluate it based on ideas from class. You
can assess a theory or process based on your observations and practice and
evaluate your own knowledge and skills within your professional field. This
opportunity to take the time to think about your choices, actions, your
successes and your failures is best done within a specific framework.
Abstract concepts can become concrete and real to you when you
considered within your own experiences, and reflection on your own
experiences allows you to make plans for improvement.

Reading Reflection

To ensure that your readings provide you balanced, useful and integrative
assessments and insights, some of your courses may require you to submit a
reading reflection—this subject included. Often we, your teachers, will tell
you what we expect of a reflection, but the general purpose is to get your
informed opinions about ideas presented in the text and to consider how
they affect your interpretation. Reading reflections offer an opportunity to
recognize – and perhaps break down – your assumptions which may be
challenged by the materials you have read.

Critical reflection requires thoughtful and persistent inquiry. Although basic

questions like “what is the thesis?” and “what is the evidence? ” are
important to demonstrate your understanding, you need to interrogate your
own assumptions and knowledge to deepen your analysis and focus your
assessment of the text. Here are some guide questions to help you write
your reflections.

Assess the text(s):

-What is the main point of the CBAR you have just read? How is it
developed? Identify the purpose, impact and/or theoretical framework of
the research.
-What ideas stood out to me? Why?

Develop your ideas:

-What do I know about this topic?
-Where does my existing knowledge come from?
-What are the observations or experiences that shape my understanding?
-Do I agree or disagree with the findings? Why?

Make connections:
-How does this text reinforce my existing ideas or assumptions? How does
this text challenge my existing ideas or assumptions?
-How does this text help me to better understand this topic or explore this
field of study/discipline?

Module I
 10

Writing Assignment:

Using the five CBARs you have made readings on, choose two (2) and write
your reflection paper for each.

Upload your submissions via your instructor’s google classroom.

Module I
 11

Lesson 3

 Preparing a CBAR Proposal

Now that you have read a few examples of completed action researches and
have written your reflection papers, it is now time to write a CBAR of your
own.

Use the following guide questions along with the outline below to prepare
your CBAR research proposal. This outline uses the DepEd 2017 model.

Action Research Key Components Action Research Process

I. CONTEXT AND RATIONALE
II. ACTION RESEARCH QUESTIONS
III. PROPOSED INNOVATION,
INTERVENTION AND STRATEGY
IV. ACTION RESEARCH METHODS
a. Participants and/or other
sources of data and information
b. Data gathering methods
c. Data analysis plan
V. ACTION RESEARCH WORK PLAN
AND TIMELINES
Identifying the problem
1. Why am I doing this?
2. What is the background of my
action research?
3. What problems/questions am I
trying to solve?
4. What do I hope to achieve?
Proposed plan
1. What do I plan as a solution to
the problem I identified?
(Describe)
2. What Innovation will I
introduce to solve the
problem? (Describe)
3. What strategy should I
introduce? (Describe)
Plan of Action Research
1. Who will be participating? (my
students, peers, myself)
2. What/who are my sources of
information?
3. How shall I gather
information?
4. How will I analyze my
data/information?
Action Research Work Plan
1. What should my work plan
contain? (targets, activities,
persons involved, timeline,
cost)
2. How long will I conduct my
intervention?

Module I
 12

VI. COST ESTIMATES Action Research Cost

1. Estimate the cost of materials
(bond paper, printer ink,
transportation, honorarium,
etc)
VII. PLANS FOR DISSEMINATION AND Sharing Results
UTILIZATION 1. How will I share the result of
my action research? (publish,
present, create flyers or
posters, etc)
VIII. REFERENCES References
1. What reading materials and
references are included in my
review of related literature?

Module I
 13

 MODULE SUMMARY

In Lesson 1, you have learned about the definition and purpose of

Classroom-Based Action Research.

In Lesson 2, you have learned the importance of conducting

professional readings on existing CBARs, and how to conduct professional
readings.

Lastly, Lesson 3 talked about writing reflection papers on the CBARs

you were able to obtain and read about.

Congratulations! You have just studied Module I. now you are ready
to evaluate how much you have benefited from your reading by answering
the summative test. Good Luck!!!

Module I
 14

References:

Lucas, M., Borabo, M., Bilbao, P., Corpuz., (2021). Field Study 1:
Observations of Teaching-Learning in Actual School Environment. Lorimar
Publishing

Lucas, M., Borabo, M., Bilbao, P., Corpuz., (2021). Field Study 2:
Participation and Teaching Assistantship. Lorimar Publishing

Fiorella, L., Mayer, R. (2015). Learning as a Generative Activity:

Eight Learning Strategies That Promote Understanding. Cambridge
University Press

Mino, J. (2014). Now You See It: Using Documentation to Make

Learning Visible in LCs. Holyoke Community College

Rinaldi, C. (2001). The pedagogy of listening: The listening

perspective from Reggio Emilia. Innovations in Early Childhood: The
international Reggio Exchange

Module I