{"id":1113,"date":"2017-11-01T12:38:10","date_gmt":"2017-11-01T18:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/?p=1113"},"modified":"2019-09-10T17:28:55","modified_gmt":"2019-09-10T23:28:55","slug":"sip-6-5-action-research-in-the-classroom-using-your-classroom-as-a-research-lab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/sip-6-5-action-research-in-the-classroom-using-your-classroom-as-a-research-lab\/","title":{"rendered":"SIP 6.5 Action Research in the Classroom \u2013 Using Your Classroom as a Research Lab"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Thirsty for a Strong <span style=\"font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif\">Instructional<\/span> Practice?<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/educationinc.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Depositphotos_48458965_m-2015.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">With teaching, service, and increasing research expectations, we are all stretched thin. One way to \u201ckill two birds with one stone\u201d is to turn your classroom into a research lab \u2013 and to bring students along for the journey. You can do this by conducting action research in your classroom.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Take a SIP of This: Action Research in the Classroom \u2013 Using Your Classroom as a Research Lab<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Using your classroom as an action research lab can help you increase educational access for your students by allowing you to critically approach the aspects of your teaching that may currently present learning barriers to some students.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Action research is usually designed and conducted by the instructor. The instructor analyzes the data with the goal of improving their teaching practices. Action research usually includes examination of programs, students, or instructional practices. You can research student outcomes (dispositions, achievement); curriculum (instructional materials, learning outcomes, frameworks); instruction (teaching strategies, use of technology); departmental or classroom climate (student morale, teacher morale, relationships between teachers and students), etc.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Action research follows these steps:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Choose a research question<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Design the study<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Collect data<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Analyze data<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Use the findings to improve teaching practice<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Return to more questions<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Action research is a great opportunity to evaluate and improve your teaching for equity and inclusivity. Some possible research questions include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">What is working or not working in your classroom?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Who is learning? Who is being left out?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Disaggregate your data by race, ethnicity, Pell Grant eligibility, veteran status, first generation, gender, etc. So all groups succeed at similar rates in your class? If not, there might be something to study related to inclusive practices.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">How does your curriculum provide opportunities to learn?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">How do you know when your instruction is effective?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Which students do you talk to most? Least? How does that correlate to their grades?<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">How representative are the readings in your class? For example, do the people and situations that illustrate the materials you use in your classroom reflect the identities of your students (racial, ethnic, economic, etc.).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">To get started on action research make a list of \u201cI wonder\u201d statements about concerns you have related to your classroom. Then choose one of those statements and turn it into a research question. Run your research question by a colleague. See what questions\/ ideas\/ thoughts your colleague brings to your question.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Then decide on the evidence you need to answer your question (and determine if you need to complete an <a href=\"https:\/\/msudenver.edu\/irb\/forresearchers\/\">Institutional Review Board (IRB)<\/a> application. You may need approval from the Institutional Review Board to conduct research with your students. Contact MSU Denver&#8217;s Human Subject Protection Program office to discuss your ideas well before you want to begin your data collection. They will be able to provide you with guidance on whether or not your study will need to be reviewed. Remember, IRB can take a while, so make sure to plan the project out in advance in case you need IRB review time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Here are some inquiry tools you might use for data collection (an explanation for each can be found at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.naeyc.org\/files\/naeyc\/Action_Research_Booklet.pdf\">https:\/\/www.naeyc.org\/files\/naeyc\/Action_Research_Booklet.pdf<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">classroom maps<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">anecdotal records<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">time-sampled observations<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">samples of student work<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">drawings &amp; photographs<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">interviews &amp; conversations<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">surveys<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">teacher research journals<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">It is a good idea to use several tools to triangulate your data. Once data are collected, analyze it by looking for patterns across the data.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Decide how to change your practice based on what you learned. Then write up the research and send it off to a journal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Ask new questions!<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Still Thirsty? Take another SIP of Action Research in the Classroom \u2013 Using Your Classroom as a Research Lab<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">On the Web:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching &amp; Learning <a href=\"http:\/\/www.issotl.com\/issotl15\/\">www.Issotl.com<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Lilly conference series on college and university teaching and learning <a href=\"http:\/\/lillyconferences.com\/\">http:\/\/lillyconferences.com\/<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Books:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Action Research in Higher Education: Examples and Reflections.<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">By Zuber-Skerritt, Ortrun<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">Action Research: Theory and Practice for Higher Education<\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">By Lesley Willcoxson<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? With teaching, service, and increasing research expectations, we are all stretched thin. One way to \u201ckill two birds with one stone\u201d is to turn your classroom into a research lab \u2013 and to bring students along for the journey. You can do this by conducting action research in your &hellip; <\/p>\n<p><a class=\"more-link btn\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/sip-6-5-action-research-in-the-classroom-using-your-classroom-as-a-research-lab\/\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[133,132,131,73,134,14],"class_list":["post-1113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sip-post","tag-classroom-as-laboratory","tag-institutional-research","tag-irb","tag-research","tag-research-in-the-lab","tag-student-engagement","item-wrap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1113\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/sips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}