Professornotes.docxWEEK 2 INSTRUCTOR GUIDANCE
Welcome to Week 2 of EDU 694:Capstone 1: Educational Research. Please be sure to review the Week 2 homepage for this course to see:
· The specific learning outcomes for the week
· The schedule overview
· The required and recommended resources
· The introduction to the week
· A listing of the assessments
Next, be sure to read this entire Instructor Guidance page.
Overview
Recall that in Week 1 you discussed the overarching understanding of Action Research in relationship to the education profession. Week 2 is designed to ensure expansion upon your early understandings of Action Research.
As part of the Week 1 Discussion 1, you were encouraged to review the weekly homepages for the course and take note of the assessments each week. Now is an appropriate time to revisit the Week 6 Final Project instructions and Grading Rubric to be sure you understand the scope of what you will do in that assessment and how your participation in Week 2 supports your success.
Intellectual Elaboration
Why Bother with Research?
It would be so much easier, in our post-modern world, to self-appoint ourselves as experts based on our experiences, our intuitions, our “gut feelings.” After all, who knows better than we do about the things we have experienced, thought, and felt? Further, and more to the point, there are many people who would be just fine with this. The presence of the internet, as it is with many things, is in part is responsible for this. (Visit this website for a lengthy explanation of post-modernism (Links to an external site.) . Go to this website for a much shorter explanation of post-modernism (Links to an external site.) ). In the post-modern world, everyone can be their own “expert.” Long held notions of expertise and scholarship have been called into question, and thus must be defended. Research relies on following a well-worn path, developed over several centuries by scholars, scientists, and others, to find answers to questions. In essence, the researcher seeks, through following this path, to satisfy curiosity, to advance thinking, to devise and invent solutions, and to make the world better. Research, then, is vital to human progress, and is equally vital in advancing professional practice in education. Of course, there are many aspects to research, for our purposes in this class, we will focus more on Action Research, a type of research that educators can use well for their professional purposes.
Action Research.
Action Research is a key type of research aimed specifically at what I call “street level practitioners.” O’Brien (1998, paragraphs 23 and 24) notes that Kurt Lewin is generally considered the ‘father’ of Action Research. A German social and experimental psychologist, and one of the founders of the Gestalt school, he was concerned with social problems, and focused on participative group processes for addressing conflict, crises, and change, generally within organizations. Initially, he was associated with the Center for Group Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, but soon went on to establish his own National Training Laboratories. Lewin first coined the term ‘Action Research’ in his 1946 paper “Action Research and Minority Problems”, characterizing Action Research as “a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action and research leading to social action”, using a process of “a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action, and fact-finding about the result of the action.” Action Research, when considered from an education viewpoint, is tied with the work of John Dewey (Links to an external site.) , as noted in the Week 1 Instructor Guidance, whose experiential view of education was suited to both students and teachers. As such, it is very versatile. Teachers, while conducting Action Research, seek to find solutions to practical classroom problems. Some examples of Action Research can be found in all curricular subjects, student management issues, improvements of teaching technique(s), etc. Action Research can also be conducted by individuals, teams of teachers, or entire schools. In sum, Action Research works well for educators.
Closing Remarks
Understanding the conduct, potential value, and professional necessity of research in general, and Action Research in particular, arms you with the necessary tools to not only conduct your own research, but to enhance our profession. By offering a substantial alternative to post-modern modes of thinking as applied to education, you can proceed with your professional practice with renewed confidence.
Assessment Guidance
This section includes additional specific assistance for excelling in the discussions for Week 2 beyond what is given with the instructions for the discussions. If you have questions about what is expected on any discussion for Week 2, contact your instructor before the due date.
Discussion 1: Action Research Selection
For this discussion, you will be choosing the Action Research proposal in which you will review during this course and for your final assignment. It is important that you choose a proposal that is in keeping with your topic you chose during Week 1 Discussion 2. As well, that the proposal you choose is also one that you identified as a peer-reviewed sources from Week 1 Assignment 1.
Journal: Reflection
This journal assesses your ability to apply collaboration and cooperation as it relates to Action Research proposals. You will be reflecting on the value of Action Research within the education profession. Be sure to support your reflection with information from the Lloyd (2002) article provided in the course and your textbook. It is important with this journal assignment to really reflect on how Action Research can have an impact on and within the education profession.
References
Aylesworth, G. (2005, September 30). Postmodernism (Links to an external site.) . Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2013/entries/postmodernism/
Encyclopedia Britannica. (n.d.). John Dewey (Links to an external site.) . Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/160445/John-Dewey
O'Brien, R. (1998). An overview of the methodological approach of Action Research (Links to an external site.) . University of Toronto. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjqrd7l4KfqAhXVIDQIHV6pBXkQFjAAegQIBRAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fyouthsextion.files.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F04%2F14action-research.pdf&usg=AOvVaw00Ue9wcIH5FsoZtCn0UKEO
PBS. (n.d.). Postmodernism (Links to an external site.) . Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/gengloss/postm-body.html
