Sharing My Research Findings

At this point in my action research plan, I hope to share my action research plan with my interning principal, assistant principal and the teachers in my school. Sharing the findings of my action research with the teachers is something that I will need to confirm with my administrators on my building. Since this is my first action research project, and I feel very green with the process. My goal is to not only search and process the data that can answer my leading question of whether interactive science notebooks are effective with students’ learning, but to walk away from this experience with new knowledge of how the action research actually works and learning its’ process. This new knowledge is what I want to share with my administrators and teachers. If I can prove my research question with the supporting data that can answer the leading question of my research, then I can share that result with a sense of confidence that I have increased my knowledge and their knowledge as well, which will increase the success of the student. This is one of the most prevalent reasons educators should be conducting research; to help increase student success. On the other hand, if my research falls short of being able to answer the leading research question, then all of the processes and data gathered hopefully will bring about new questions and learning regarding my research. Either way, I am learning and growing as an educator. These shared new learnings might be just enough to intrigue the teachers to think about how and why they are using the interactive science notebooks, which will increase their knowledge and thus, lead to an increase in student success.

Another Action Research Update

I have reviewed the four critical tasks that I used in sharing my action research project, and I want to briefly explain why these tasks will be covered. According to Dana (2009), the first of the four critical tasks is “providing background information” (p.163). It will be important for me to share the background information so that I can tell others why I am intrigued by the topic I chose. I am curious how others feel about my action research topic and what I hope to gain from their insights. The second critical task is “sharing the design of the inquiry (procedures, data collection, and data analysis)” (p. 163). So that I don’t just reflect on what I did, I will include the systematic way of how I performed my action research, and why I chose the particular methods of what I did including the data collection and the analysis of that collection. The third critical task is dealing with “stating the learning and supporting the statements with data” (pg. 163). This is where I will prove my case or build my argument. I will need to support the findings by providing the evidence from my data. I will use as much data as possible so that I have a running record of evidence to support my statements from my learning. The more sources I have, the stronger my case becomes. The fourth and last critical task from Dana (2009) is “providing concluding thoughts” (p. 168). I will need to remember that after I complete my action plan, I may or may not have the answers to the initial questions or leading question of my research. All of my work will not be done in vain, as I will have answers to my questions, or now I will have additional questions and new areas for inquiry towards my research.

References

Dana, Nancy F. (2009). The travelogue: Sharing your work with others. Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher (pp. 135-170). Thousand Oaks, CA:Corwin.