I have learned that action research is a process that helps
a person reflect on one’s own practices and develop better methods that are
more efficient. Traditional research does not include the person doing the
research therefore the person cannot provide insight into their own practices.
The benefit of this is not only does it provide principals more powerful
information into the questions being asked but it gives the staff and school a
great role model to follow and practice their own action research. Another
benefit to action research is the fact that it can be used on a wide range of
topic and from as little as one person to a campus issue. Some of these issues
include school performance, professional development, or even the material
being focus on in a classroom. This process is cyclical so that once a person
has reviewed the research and made adjustments it is still possible to
reevaluate the question and reflect on the new adjustments and make even more
improvements. Action research is not always an easy process and does require the
person to take time and make the commitment to review and reflect. Since they
are reflecting their own processes it should also be stated that one must be
honest in their review of their processes as not to make unnecessary or biased
adjustments.
As an upcoming second year teacher I feel I can use action
research to analyze many of the staff development training's I have attended
over the summer. After having my data from last year and making the transition
to interactive notebooks this coming year I can use action research to see how
this differentiation is affecting overall student performance. I could also use
action research to see how discipline issues are changing by using the new
style of teaching with interactive notebooks. There may be little to no change
in discipline but it’s always something to look at and the results may be surprising.
Without action research I would have no data to support any of these claims.
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