2010 National Chinese Language Conference, DC

LOOK, THINK, ACT: A Proven Recipe for Meeting the Research Needs of Teacher Practitioners

Deborah W. Robinson, Ph.D.

Ohio Department of Education

Debbie.robinson@ode.state.oh.us

What IS Action Research? Way for teachers to explore their own

practice. An attitude. Situational or Context-Based Knowledge. Empowerment.

Action Research Framework: Look, Think, Act

Purposes of action research Problem solving Improving circumstances Innovating (e.g., implementing new skills and

methods following a workshop) Heightening self-awareness Providing a systematic approach to

improving practice. Improving communication between teachers

and researchers

Presupposes skill in: classroom observation; data collection; and analysis.

Minimally, any research needs… A question, issue, problem, or puzzle

Data

Interpretive Analysis

Formulating Questions What do you want to find out? Must be worth asking AND capable of

being answered. Questions are not value free. Reflect

beliefs and attitudes we hold about teaching and learning.

Example:

The effects of two teaching techniques on language achievement of MS students

Do two different teaching techniques have differing effects on Chinese achievement scores of MS students? (too broad)

Will MS students form addresses correctly more often if I use an inductive or deductive grammar presentation to introduce and practice the concept?

Other Possible Topics

Types of pair and group activities (i.e., cooperative learning) that promote proficiency.

Strategies for encouraging the use of Chinese both inside and outside the classroom.

Kinds of authentic listening and reading texts that promote proficiency.

Other Possible Topics

Kinds of homework assignments that are conducive to promoting achievement or proficiency.

Utility, benefits, and/or practicality of incorporating technology into lessons.

The effects of incorporating multiple intelligence or learning style theories into instruction.

Other Topics The impact of alternative assessment practices

on student communication and/or performance

Types of physical class configurations that best promote speaking.

Kinds of authentic materials that are beneficial in promoting cultural awareness.

Other Possible Topics The effect of process writing (prewriting,

multiple-drafts, peer editing) on my students' writing proficiency.

Methods that benefit  inclusion students in the FL classroom.

The benefits of participating in peer (non-evaluative) supervision for FL teachers.

Strategies to encourage "equal time" for boys and girls to participate orally

Your Ideas?

LOOK: Matching Data Collection Methods and Methods of Analysis to Your Question 1. Methods

Experimental Ethnography or Case Study or Field Study Classroom Observation Introspective Methods Interaction Analysis

If causal>>experiment or quasi-experimental design.

If behavior in context >>>descriptive or interpretive research.

Look 2. Elicitation Techniques:

Production Tasks (oral or written samples) Surveys Questionnaires Interviews

If you ask…

Is there any effect on test scores? >>pre/posttest

What are attitudes of students? >>surveys, questionnaires, interviews, journals

What happens to language if students are in small groups? >> audio/videotapes

What helps students write descriptive paragraphs? >>introspection, think-alouds, brainstorming

Look 3. Questions “while looking” need to be unflavored by you:

Global: Tell me about how you study for a test. What works best for you? What do you do to learn vocabulary?

Visual: Could you show me what you do? Prompts:

Extensions: Tell me more about… Encouragement: Go on, yes? Example: Can you give me an example of that?

Use audio, video, or notes to record answers

Look 4 Look through observation: Field notes for descriptions of places,

people, objects, acts, activities, events, times, purposes, and feelings (verify!)

Looking at documents: plans, materials, newsletter, curriculum guides, IEPs (be selective or it’s overwhelming!)

TriangulationWhat is the relationship between student enjoyment of writing and quality of their writing?

Student surveys Analysis of first, second, and final drafts

Comparison with work on previous assignments

TriangulationWill providing students an advance scoring rubric have an effect on the quality of their final product?

Student interviews

Contrast between revisions made in assignments with/without rubrics

Third-party ratings of finished products

TriangulationTo what extent are final products different when peer editing is employed?

Student interviews

Contrast between revisions made in assignments with and without peer editing

Third-party ratings of finished products

THINK: Interpreting & Explaining 1

Interpret your findings to understand the problem/issue/question better.

Make better sense of experiences based on what you found out.

Take “taken-for-granted” meanings, conceptual structures, and working theories and reformulate them into improved, matured, expanded, and elaborated constructions and understandings.

Think 2 Analyze: organize information into categories

Strategies for coding: Color coding like ideas (“study strategies that use

visuals”) Sorting based on common characteristics (“making

flashcards,” “writing word ten times,” “using word in a sentence”).

Classifying to identify and describe the category: “Context-embedded vocabulary learning strategies” (meaning from text, word in a sentence) & “context-reduced vocabulary learning strategies” (flashcards, copying 10 times).

Think 3

Others ways to develop an interpretation:

Ask interpretive questions, such as “why, what, how, who, where, when”.

Make a concept map with all the aspects that influence the construct under investigation.

Concept MapReading comprehension

pre-teaching

vocabulary eliciting background

knowledge

guessing meaning from context

ACT

Prioritize Issues Restate as Goals

Make instructional modifications Try different techniques

Evaluation

What worked? What didn’t work that I need to try again?

Documenting the Process Conceptualization, data collection,

interpretation/analysis, conclusion. Researcher log of your adventure:

includes facts, decisions, timelines, feelings, dilemmas.

Conclusions “I looked at, thought about, and acted thusly.”

Be careful of common pitfalls: Lack of Time Lack of Expertise: Formulating research

questions, determining appropriate research design, statistical tools.

Ethical Questions Unwieldy Growth of the Research Project Writing up Results

Final Thoughts

The uniqueness of each classroom setting implies

that any proposal—even at the school level—needs to be

tested and verified and adapted by each teacher in his/her

own classroom. The ideal is that the curricular specification

should feed a teacher’s personal research and development to

increase his/her understanding of his/her own work and

hence better his/her teaching. … It is not enough that

teachers’ work be studied. They need to study it themselves.