Reflections on 5 weeks of Action Research

Having a strong background in the biological sciences and having participated in primary research projects in the past, I was very interested in how research techniques would be approached and addressed in this class. I found the interaction between Dr. Jenkins and Dr. Arterbury to be very effective on the video lectures for this class. I can understand the trepidation that many students would face it they had never experienced a class of this type in the past. Both lecturers made a real effort to put viewers at ease with the process of beginning to learn Action Research. It was clear that they understood that students would need a great deal of reassurance as they worked through this learning process. The emails that were sent our during the first weeks of the course telling students to TAKING DEEP BREATHS, SEEKING STRESS RELIEF OF ANY SORT, RELAX, BE PATIENT, BE FLEXIBLE, THINK EMPATHY AND FOCUS ON HELPING US PROBLEM SOLVE, PLEASE gave reassurance that the professors and IA’s were empathetic and were working to get problems resolved.

Unlike many textbooks, I enjoyed reading both the Dana text and Harris et al texts. I found the Dana text to be particularly interesting in its approach to what is basically social science research. Many of the ideas expressed in the Dana text were very thought provoking for me. I was surprised to find some of the same research techniques used in the applied sciences being explained and used in action research. I found the whole process of developing a wondering around which a question or questions could be ask to be an effective way to work through the development process.

Coming into this course I had a fairly good idea as to what I wanted for my research project. This is due in large part to several discussions I had had earlier with my building principal who is serving as my site supervisor. We had settled on further developing a project I had used with a group of 5th grade students in the previous school year. For this reason I had done a great deal of my background searching.

During two weeks of the course I had some very serious hardware issues that prevented me from participating fully in the discussion boards and in completing some of my assignments on time. What complicated matters even more was the fact that I was four hundred miles away from home and having to rely on a very tenuous connect to the internet. I really appreciated the support and encouragement from my IA during that time in allowing me the opportunity to complete the assignments and get everything submitted even if a bit late in some cases.

One activity that I have not yet fully adopted is blogging. I think perhaps it is because of my age that I do not seem to see the need for doing this. I have had to post blogs in several of my classes and as the process moved forward I have begun to see a use for the blogging process. Perhaps if I continue using the blogs I have created in this program I will further develop my appreciation for the blog.

In all I have found this to be one of the most interesting courses in the Education Technology curriculum even though the aim of the course was definitely more toward the educational administration pathway. Perhaps in the future a research course can be developed that addresses the specific needs and interests of the ET curriculum – just a thought!