When I saw that this course was going to be centered around research, I
was extremely apprehensive. I was
a history minor during college so my interpretation of research was just going
to the library and looking through books, newspaper articles, the Internet,
etc. It required many hours of
just sitting and reading. This is
why I agree so strongly with the quote from the Dana text, “images that the word research conjures up come mostly from
the process-product paradigm” (Dana, 2009, p. 6). However, as I continued reading and watching the videos, I
quickly realized that this course was not going to be this way. While researching through books and
articles would be required, the research I would be doing was actually more
action based. I like the use of
the word inquiry instead of research
because I actually feel like I am not conducting research but looking into a
problem and trying to determine how to fix it.
Another
thing that really caught my attention during this course were the videos from
current superintendents and the information they had to share. The one that stood out the most was Dr.
Johnny Briseno. The advice he gave
was when you have an issue with your school, look to see if there is research
that pertains to the same topic.
He says, “Why re-invent the wheel?” Since watching his video, I have been looking up different
areas of interest and have found a wealth of information. It has really been an eye opening
experience to see how much research there really is when it comes to the
educational system and what techniques/strategies different schools have tried
and been successful with.
Through this course, I also learned how to create an actual research
action plan. This course showed me
the steps and tasks that are necessary to create an action research plan and
actually put it into action. I had
never heard of an action research plan until I started taking this class so I
was extremely overwhelmed when I read that we had to create one. However, after reading Chapter 3 from
the Dana text, I was way more relaxed.
It outlined the four areas that you should focus on when conducting
research: Providing Background Information, Sharing the Design of the Inquiry, Supporting
the Learning and Supporting the Statements with Data, and Providing Concluding
Thoughts. These steps really help
to organize your thoughts and allow you to layout your plans for your research.
I also learned different strategies to use while conducting my research
like the Force Field Analysis, Delphi Method, Nominal Group Technique and CARE
Model. I really like the Delphi
Method because it is an “important strategy for identifying ways to sustain
improvement and looking futuristically at school needs” (Harris, 2010, p.
95). I really like this method
because it allows for input from teachers or administrators who are involved in
the day-to-day running of the school system. It allows those people to state issues they have within the
school, but is also allows for them to be the ones to come up with solutions
for those same exact problems.
