RES61204 The Reflective Practitioner: Teachers Investigate Their Work - Assessment Task 2 - Reflective Writing
Week 1 - Week 2 / 29.03.2022 - 10.04.2022
For the first two weeks of the module, we looked into the introduction of Action Research (AR), focusing on learning what an action research project is as well as determining the action research problems, objectives and questions. In the context of this particular module, I understand action research as a systematic method of inquiry for researchers (i.e. teachers) to evaluate their teaching practice in a real-life classroom. Action research is not exclusive to pedagogical studies, researchers of other fields can conduct action research as means to solve an existing issue and seek transformative change on a particular phenomenon. In addition, I learned about the four general stages of AR and the general steps in the AR process in the Independent Learning Task of Week 1. One of the questions in this week’s Independent Learning Task asked how many steps there are in the AR process and I answered incorrectly by stating six steps. The correct answer should be seven steps. After rewatching the given video, I found out the step that I missed was ‘collecting data’ which is objectively a crucial step that should not have been overlooked. I should pay more attention to the content and review my study notes to ensure that the key learning points are well-recorded. However, I must say that despite having been given supporting materials for the Independent Learning Task, I had difficulty understanding the purpose of an AR project. Therefore, I had to look up more articles and sites on the internet to gain a better understanding. Other than the action research proposal, another assessment task of this module was a group assignment that involves designing action research based on a given case study. Before forming our groups, we were allowed to share our expectations of our new group mates. Based on my past grouping experiences, we often just get together and discuss the work, rarely did the group ever talk about the expectations toward the group members. Therefore, I believe it is a great way for communicating and setting up the expectations for not only other members but also for myself. I will make my best effort to meet those expectations and be a supportive, responsible, cooperative and proactive group member.
For our second Independent Learning Task, we were tasked to start compiling ideas and issues for our AR topic. It was suggested to us that we dedicate 5 minutes a day to journal as many issues as possible and narrow them down to two research problems (RP). Then we would need to write a research objective (RO) and research question (RQ) for each problem. The research problem describes the issue students face in a classroom, whereas the research objective states the problem and the proposed solution/strategy to solve the problem within a specific classroom context. It is noteworthy that the RP should be a topic that I am truly interested in exploring so that I will be supported with the motivation to conduct the AR project. Reviewing the issues noted down in my journal, I observed patterns of ‘motivation’ and ‘retain learning’. Throughout my study as a student teacher, I have been questioning why some students lack motivation in learning and how teachers could help enhance their motivation. I could see myself learning towards the theme of motivation, yet I would develop ROs and RQs for both issues about motivation and retaining learning for comparison. In addition, I was introduced to the KWL chart during my last practicum and I am interested in exploring its use in different classroom settings. The two potential research POQs were compiled in a Google Sheet and we reviewed them together with the whole class in Week 2’s lecture. The feedback given to my research POQ was that the RP was too general and I could contextualise the problem better by providing more details and context. Naturally, after the amendment of the RP, I would need to revise the RO and RQ if necessary.
Week 3 - Week 4 / 12.04.2022 - 24.04.2022
In Week 3, I attended the first briefing with my AR project supervisor alongside other supervisees. During the meeting, our supervisor clarified our questions regarding the AR project and advised us on how to choose an AR topic. The next plan of action was to come up with one to three potential research questions and present them in the next meeting. Back then, I was still drafting the research POQs and I did not want to present half-done work. Therefore, I continued to refine the research POQs after the meeting. In Week 3, we reviewed each student’s research POQs in class; lecturer and peer feedback were provided to each student for their improvement on their work. The feedback given to my research POQ was that the research problem (RP) was too general and I could contextualise the problem better by specifying the context (e.g. subject, student demographic, etc.). Naturally, after the amendment of the RP, I would need to revise the research objective and research question if necessary. During the review of research POQs, I learned that we need to pay careful attention to the wordings of our ROs and RQs due to the nuances and connotations of the words used. Using an example from the Independent Learning Task (Figure 1.), the words ‘would’ and ‘enhance’ used in RQ1 suggest that there could only be a definitive ‘yes or no’ answer to the question, whereas RQ2 uses ‘how would’ and ‘influence’ which leave more space for elaboration on the topic and anticipate potential positive and negative outcomes. I believe both RQs can be valid only if it is in-line with the researcher’s intention and objective to carry out the action research. Relating the learning task to my own research POQ write-up, I think that my RQs were well written and ready to be presented in the next supervisor meeting.
This week’s second Independent Learning was related to the group assignment where each group had to update their key issues and proposed solutions to the given case study. In order to complete the task, our group held the first meeting to break down the given case, identify the key issues and propose a few solutions to the issues. At first, we were quite clueless as to what we needed to do for the group assignment but after much discussion and clarification between the members, we were finally on the same page. Our group was not all confident with our proposed strategy as we were concerned about whether they were suitable for the case. Therefore, the next action plan was to clarify our concerns with our lecturer in the following lecture session.
|
| Figure 1. As part of the Independent Learning Task, we are asked to choose one out of the two Potential RQs as shown in the image and provide our justification. Week 3 (13/4/2022). |
Week 4 was a public holiday, therefore, students were required to carry out independent learning with the given materials and complete the weekly Independent Learning Task as per usual. The topic of the week was related to the second chapter of our AR proposal – a literature review. A literature review is a comprehensive summary and critical evaluation of available academic publications related to the researcher's chosen research topic. A literature review is essential because it helps to identify the gap in the research (what the researcher does not know about the topic), therefore, allowing the researcher to do more reading to fill in the gap. It also enables the researcher to identify what has been done in the field of research and how the results are relevant in supporting the chosen research topic. Writing a literature review can be broken down into five general steps, the first step is brainstorming and determining the ideas and concepts surrounding the chosen research topic. My way of doing this step was to highlight essential keywords from my research objective. Next is to search and read through related literature (e.g. academic articles, books, government publications, reports), as well as annotate and summarise the readings into a write-up. In the summary, we should compare the information with each other to look for similarities and differences so that we can group the relevant information under multiple themes/categories. Finally, the most important part of a literature review is to evaluate and critique the reading materials. We should be able to critically justify why certain articles are included in the literature review, explain the relevance of the articles and critique the approaches adopted in said academic articles.
Week 5 - Week 6 / 26.04.2022 - 08.05.2022
Further Exploration of Literature Review and Learning Framework of Design
In Week 5, we began the lecture with the discussion about the Independent Learning Task from Week 3 (choosing between two potential research questions). The most significant insight that I gained from the discussion was that rationale for choosing either one of the potential research questions is valid as long as the research questions are in-line with the research objectives and the wordings are suitable and precise. Afterwards, some students were randomly picked to present the literature map done in last week’s Independent Learning Task. A literature map is a graphical tool that helps researchers to organise a large amount of information in their research. It also helps researchers to clarify the relationship between the gathered information. One way of creating a literature map is mapping with keywords obtained from the research topic or research question; this was the method used for this particular task. I was called out to present my literature while I was making some amendments to the literature map. I was caught off-guard and honestly speaking I was not fully prepared to carry out the presentation. However, I tried my best to explain each keyword and how the literature keywords came about during my process of gathering reading materials. The feedback given to my literature map was to use arrows to clearly indicate the reading flow of the map. The initial literature map had only regular lines connecting each keyword (Figure 1.1) which made the relationship between each keyword unclear. I did not realise this was an issue because it was definitely clear to me. Nevertheless, I took into consideration the feedback and made the necessary adjustments. As for my literature review, I would continue to dedicate at least an hour a day to look up and read through relevant academic articles to build up my reading library.
 |
| Figure 1.1 Initial literature map. Week 6 (25/4/2022) |
- What are the differences between the strategies of inquiry and method?
- Is it necessary to prove our knowledge claims through action research?
Week 7 - Week 8 / 10.05.2022 - 22.05.2022
Data Collection and Professional Development Week
After learning about the research design, we moved on to learn about data collection. Data collection is defined as a systematic procedure of collecting, evaluating and analysing information to enable the researchers to answer the research questions. For this part of the AR proposal, we had to identify the participants and method of data collection to design an intervention plan. However, we must first understand the three main approaches to collecting data which include quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method data collection. The action research project in the context of our assignment usually collects qualitative data which. There are many ways of collecting data and different methods are carefully utilised to achieve different types of data. For example, quantitative data can be collected through questionnaires (i.e. ‘yes or no’ questions, multiple-choice questions and ratings) and interviews, whereas qualitative data can be collected through interviews (asking more open-ended questions), documentary evidence (e.g. students’ work, curriculum documents, etc.), field notes and observations. For my AR, I decided to conduct interviews with about 8 to 10 students who have low motivation in literature reading, take down field notes and examine students’ work as my data collection methods. I believe conducting interviews and asking open-ended questions allow me to better gauge students’ understanding of their motivation to read literature, as well as to probe and address any misunderstanding about the questions.
I have also begun drafting Chapter 1 Introduction and Chapter 2 Literature Review. Now that I have learned about data collection, I would start drafting an action plan and data collection method as part of the write-up of Chapter 3 Methodology.
Reflective Writing for Professional Development Week
Week 9 - Week 10 / 24.05.2022 - 05.06.2022
Finalising the Group Assignment
Since Week 11 would be the submission deadline for our group project, our group realised that we had to pick up the pace and start addressing the group work that was previously put aside for other assignments. During our latest meeting, we first briefly recapped the case study and research objectives to ensure that we were advancing in the same direction. Next, we had a quick review of each member’s write-up and provided feedback to each other to make amendments. To be honest, the write-ups already went through several adjustments prior to the meeting, thus, not many amendments were needed. The group had an agreement that whenever and whoever had any issues or questions regarding the group task, one must immediately raise the question(s) in the group chat or direct it to the group leader (me). So far the members have been following the agreements and most issues were addressed in a timely manner. However, I do hope that the members can be proactive enough to check on each otther's work regularly to ensure everyone is on the same page. Sometimes the members may not realised that they were producing work that was below expectations, not until it was pointed by other members. Therefore, before the dismissing the meeting, I made sure to remind the members to take initiative in keeping everyone on the right track. During the consultation with the lecturer, we realised that our group had a serious misunderstanding of the group assignment all along. We thought that we need to carry out the data collection and data analysis in real life; we even prepared actual questionnaires to be sent out to the public. Fortunately, the misunderstanding was clarified on time so that we did not have to go through unnecessary work and focus on creating the presentation slides. Afterwards, we allowed each member one week to work on their parts of the presentation slides and then gathered again for a dry run prior to the actual recording of the presentation.
After exploring the different methods of data collection, we moved on to the discussion of data analysis. The purpose of analysing the data collected is to break down large pieces of raw data into smaller and manageable sizes of information, as well as to provide answers to the research questions. Depending on the type of data collected, the researcher may adopt either a quantitative or qualitative data analysis techniques, or utilise both to analyse the data. In my case, I would use a qualitative data analysis technique which involves conducting inductive analysis. An inductive analysis is mainly characterised by the process of reducing the mass volume of information by identifying and categorising the data into common patterns and themes. This approach reminded me of the thematic approach of organising the literature review which is to group similar readings under the corresponding key themes and ideas. The qualitative analysis can be broken down into three steps, known as organisation, description and interpretation. So far I have understood the theoretical aspects of conducting a data analysis but I might need to do more independent research on the actual step-by-step process of analysing data.
Week 11 - Week 13 / 07.06.2022 - 26.06.2022
For my AR proposal, I have completed the write-up for Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, what is left to complete is Chapter 3. Although Chapter 3 is still unfinished, I have presented the draft in the individual proposal presentation. During the presentation, each student was paired up with a presenter and they had to provide two comments or questions to the presenter regarding their AR proposal. Below shows the peer feedback for my AR proposal:
- How will the intervention plan be conducted as you are focusing on students with low motivation instead of the entire class?
- Suggestion: Try incorporating the KWL chart in Week 3 as a pilot study before the intervention plan in the following week.
There was no lecture in Week 11 so that we could have more time to finalise the group assignment. The presentation video of my group has been recorded and submitted in time. I would say that my group did a decent job in completing the group assignments. I appreciated each member’s cooperation and support toward each other when some of us were facing difficulties in their task. However, I believe that we can still improve on the time management and work out a suitable timeline to ensure all tasks were completed in time. Although we did not have lectures for this week, we still had to complete the intended independent learning on ethical considerations and the issues of validity and reliability of action research. When conducting an action research project, the researcher should demonstrate good ethical practices such as minimising the risk of harm, obtaining consent, ensuring participants’ anonymity and confidentiality and avoiding deceptive behaviours.
Comments
Post a Comment