This course has helped me to understand the purpose of an Action Research Plan and how to implement it properly. I felt the discussion boards were extremely beneficial during this class because of its topic. Having to come up with a topic to research within your school and implement a plan of action based on needs for improvement seemed overwhelming to me. Having the support of fellow classmates and the suggestions that they provided during discussion boards was beneficial for me in the design of my plan.
Having a site mentor that is in my school setting and knows the needs of our faculty and instructions as well as I do also aided in the creation of the Action Research Plan. My site mentor as well as my administration have been supporting and have allowed me to use my creativity and knowledge to help make improvements at our school. This has also given me a boost of confidence, which I feel is needed when conducting a research plan that involves peers as well as yourself.
In addition to the support of classmates through the discussion board and site mentors, some of the readings “opened” my eyes to the process and benefits of the Action Research Plan. The reading for Week 2, The Passions that Drive Your Journey: Finding a Wondering (Dana, 2009, 29 – 68), provided me with the background needed to feel positive in the development of my Research Plan. According to Dana (2009, 30), I needed to look at the following areas to determine a question to ask: staff development, curriculum development, individual teachers, individual students, school culture / community, leadership, management, school performance, and social justice. I looked at each of these areas, in particular staff development, curriculum development, individual teachers, and school performance. Each of those areas fits into my question or wondering of, “What are the math teaching practices within the school and what are some professional development activities that would help to improve the instruction provided to our students to help improve their math comprehension?” Another beneficial article to read was In Week 3, Action Research an Effective Educational Leadership Skill for Future Public School Leaders (Ringler, 2007, 27 – 36). This article outline the steps needed to conduct a meaningful Action Research Plan either in the classroom setting as an educator or in the school setting as an administrator. It states the four phases to an Action Research Plan as:
I. Define an issue to study.
II. Review of Professional Literature
III. Take Action
IV. Use and Share Results
Within these four phases are little phases that must be done to make that step valuable. Before an issue can be defined, I had to use my readings from Week 2 in the Dana text to determine a useful issue. Before I can take action, I had to outline my plan to take action. I had to determine what steps would be necessary to be able to take the action needed to improve the issue being studied. When it comes to using and sharing the results, I have to compile all the results and present it in a manner that would be beneficial to all persons involved in the study.
In conclusion, I have found this class very interesting and useful in developing my Action Research Plan and in preparing myself for roles as an administrator. Having the support of fellow classmates and site mentors at my school level and the availability to the various articles provided during this course has helped in broadening my knowledge on Action Research Plans and their benefits.
No comments:
Post a Comment