Action Research: FETC Conference Session

I attended an Action Research session at FETC in Orlando, Florida entitled Online Learning and Action Research: Taking the University to School. The workshop was conducted by Margaret Riel and Paul Sparks. Margaret Riel is the director of the Center for Collaborative Action Research at Pepperdine University and teaches the action research sequence in the online program in the Masters in Educational Technology Program. Based on the discussion of the panel, action research is a process of deep inquiry into one’s practices and is a systematic, reflective study of one’s actions and the effects of these actions in a workplace environment:
Action research is a process of deep inquiry into one's practices in service of moving towards an envisioned future aligned with values. Action Research is the systematic, reflective study of one's actions and the effects of these actions in a workplace context. As such, it involves deep inquiry into one's professional action. The researchers examine their work and look for opportunities to improve. As designers and stakeholders, they work with others to propose a new course of action to help their community improve its work practices. As researchers, they seek evidence from multiple sources to help them analyze reactions to the action taken. They recognize their own view as subjective and seek to develop their understanding of the events from multiple perspectives. The researcher uses data collected to characterize the forces in ways that can be shared with practitioners. This leads to a reflective phase in which the designer formulates new plans for action during the next cycle. Action Research is a way of learning from and through one's practice by working through a set of reflective stages that helps a person develop a form of "adaptive" expertise (Center for Collaborative Action Research, 2007, p.1).

Pepperdine offers an online Master’s and PhD program in Educational Technology. They discussed the importance of action research, collaboration, and communities of practice. According to Riel, “Over time action researchers develop a deep understanding of how forces interact to create a series of complex patterns. Action research is a process of living one’s theory into practice” (Riel, FETC 2008). Action research is a systematic method of study that allows practical and relevant discoveries. Critical reflection is key to the success of action research. The goals of action research include: improving practice through continual learning and progressive problem-solving; developing a deeper understanding of practice and designing a well specified theory of action; and improving a community in which your practice is embedded through participatory research. Critical reflection should be based on a careful examination of evidence from multiple perspectives; therefore, action research can provide excellent strategies for improving an organization’s way of working and also affect the climate of the company. According to Mitch Townsend, a member of the panel, he used action research to reorganize a company and totally turn around a failing program and develop a positive climate within his corporate community. Also, he re-emphasized the importance of communities of practice for sharing ideas, discussing thoughts and feelings, and reflecting on processes. After completing his M.A. Ed Tech at Pepperdine, he started working at a company called MindShare Learning. He is totally convinced of the significance of action research and MindShare allows him to participate in action research around the world.
In action research, questions the researcher asks guide the process. Quality questions inspire the researcher to study the setting and to collect evidence that will help find possible answers. Riel stated that “good questions often arise from visions of improved practice and emerging theories about the change that will move the researcher closer to the ideal state of working practices” (FETC, 2008). Weak action research questions are generally questions that have known answers and the goal is simply to prove the known answer to others. Also, questions that can be answered with a yes or no are considered very weak action research questions. And, if questions can be answered by simply reading the literature on the problem, then the questions have already been addressed and are not good action research questions.
Action research should also include a final report. The final report should be detailed and written to inform others within the research community of practice of the findings. It is important to share this information with the community of practice as they will appreciate and value the knowledge you gained in the study. Deciding what to include in the report is a very important component of the action research process. Riel recommends including an introduction that provides a description of the context of the research and an explanation of how the researcher fits into the community of practice. Also, a literature review can be included in the introduction. The research questions should be stated after the introduction and the cycles of the research should be described in detail. Also the evidence that will be collected to study how others react to your action should be stated and your intentions for analyzing the data should be included in this section. Reflections and final reflections allow the researcher to conduct a serious review of what has been learned. “A reflection provides a deep understanding of why things happened as they did and how those outcomes help you address your overarching question. At the end of writing a good reflection, you will know more than you did when you started it” (Riel, FETC, 2008).
My impression from the information shared in this workshop and from their website is that action research offers an exciting way to study distance education. The presenters in this session encouraged me to look at distance programs that include collaboration and social presence and to think about qualitative research for conducting my study. They provided several educational settings that offer distance courses that include a constructivist approach and collaborative activities in their design. I plan to spend some time looking at the resources they suggested. It was a great workshop.