Looking at the media lately it's very depressing – every bit of news seems to be some level of doom peddling. More that I have ever encountered before, so I have found the work of Frank Furedi really enlightening; it seems to make sense of the daily injection of media fear. We are becoming a hysterical nation and it's unhealthy. The stuff in the media about bird flu for example has claimed inevitably that 50,000 will die, well 12,500 die every year and 30,000 in 89-90. Yet we weren’t peddled fear at every turn. Furedi (thankfully) adds commentary of reality on the topic, he is the voice of reason in a hypertensive sea of panic mongering. I found this article so, so very refreshing! Fuerdi says “Promiscuous use of terms such as 'plague', 'epidemic' or 'syndrome' inflate anxieties. The adoption of a high-tech, apocalyptic vocabulary helps turn acts of misfortune into a crisis of human existence”.

Another topic is considered by Furedi in the same way – Weather & climate. The weather is one good example of this lately – we have a wet & windy day (we camped in it!) – paper say big freeze, we’ll all die of cold! A few days later it gets warmer, paper says – tropical weird weather – link to global warming. Everything is linked to fear. Weather is always linked to climate, climate change and doom. The two things though related are very different.

“Fear is fast becoming a caricature of itself. It is no longer simply an emotion or a response to the perception of threat. It has become a cultural idiom through which we signal a sense of unease about our place in the world.”

His site is well worth a visit.

Definitions

Action research is seen widely as a bridge between research and practice. Allowing research to actually impact on practice (Somekh, 1995).

Cohen & Manion (1994: 186) see action research as ‘a small scale intervention in the functioning of the real world and a close examination of the effects of such an intervention ‘. Kemmis & McTaggart (1992: 10) explain ‘to do action research is to plan, act, observe and reflect more carefully, more systematically, and more rigorously than one does in everyday life’.

Models

Action research can be seen as a series of steps, a cycle or spiral. There are different models outlining the steps of AR. Lewin's perhaps being the most established, along with Kolb. Though it is an either or choice here. Following one model or another. Ultraversity's Level 1 template provides the guidance a different version of the stepping stones to action research, though there is no reason why other models such as Lewin or Kolb may not be used too.

 

Types
Action research may be seen as being concerned with individual practice and also with society and improving social conditions.

Kemmis (1997: 177) takes the view that there are in fact two clear factions in Action Research. Firstly the reflective practitioners are concerned with local change, changes related to individual practice for example at the classroom level, they are concerned with practitioner empowerment. Secondly 'critical theorists' may undertake action research as part of an society wide movement to make society fairer.

In terms of Ultraversity undergraduate research, the research then fits in to Kemmis’s Reflective Practitioner brand of action research. Change is researcher based, localised and often (although not always) display themes of practitioner empowerment. The grand scale (referred to by Kemmis as critical theorist research) version of action research has been seen by many as impractical and idealistic (See Cohen, Manion and Morrison for critique account) .

As well as seeing action research in either of these two categories, finer divisions may be seen, here given with examples:

Emergent action research is characterised by its blue sky approach – emergent action research is characterised by plans which unfold with reconnaissance. For example an initial fact finding, need assessment exploration results in a hypothesis about computer network user needs. The action is then articulated in the light of the initial explorations.

Technical action research (see Grundy, 1987) is concerned with increased efficiencies and effectiveness. For example an ICT technician increasing the efficiency of a network user registration system. This form of action research has been critiqued for its isolation.

First person research is firmly routed in the notion of practitioner research, it is as its name infers it is based around the researcher considering their own practice. For example a teacher researcher examining there own use of a behavior rewards system.

Emancipatory action research has political as well as practical aims. It is underpinned by notions of fairness, evening out power relations and establishing freedom from constraints. This type of research may be related to Argyris’s double loop learning.

Cohen & Manion, L & L (1994) Research Methods in Education 4th edition. Routledge: London

Cohen, Manion & Morrison, L, L & K(2000) Research Methods in Education 5th edition. Routledge: London

Kemmis, S & McTaggart, R (1992)The Action Research Planner. Deakin University Press: Victoria.
Somekh, B (1995) The contribution of action research to development in social endeavors. British Educational Research Journal 21 (3) 339-55

I’d set some time aside today to undertake some reading in to personalised learning. However a paper dropped through my letterbox this morning.

“Learning about the Educational Uses of the Internet by Producing an Educational Web Site in an Interdisciplinary Team” by Taconic, Verheoff & Bakx from the journal “Technology, Pedagogy & Education” Vol 12 no. 3, 2003.

I don’t know who sent it or why. Bit weird really! Anyway I thought I should read it and try to figure out why this one. It was an odd experience reading something without a purpose. I usually choose my own reading, or know the reason why someone thought something may be of interest to me. I didn’t know what I was looking for, but this did allow me an agenda-less read!

Briefly ,18 student teachers engage in a programme to of professional competence via productive learning projects, one of which was to build web resources for school children, whilst remaining geographically distributed. Essentially the competences being build here were collaboration and ICT skills. The cohort of student teachers under the coordination of the researchers evaluated different dimensions of the remote project.

I did learn about story line graphs – used here to look at individual student progess. Graphs charting the (perceived) change in competence (or other variable) to act as a stimulus for discussion of the journey, peaks & troughs.

The data analysis was a little dubious – in a sample of 13 – 8% (that’s 1 person by my Maths) found knew knowledge about finding web sites … Why not just say 1 person! The use of statistics, numbers and formulaic averages, deviations and other calculations is Mathematically unsound when n=13!!!!!! I do subscribe to qualitative & quantitative methods, Choice though depends on appropriateness! Maybe this is a lesson for our Action Enquiry analysis, though I doubt this is the reason I got the paper!

Of the findings one which seems pertinent today for me is the notion of co-located vs. dislocated (interesting term) teams. An odd remoter can be isolated in a largely co-located team, whereas fully remote led to less isolation.

I know not why I read this. I’m glad I did though. Be good to get more through the post! Perhaps away to prevent dislocation, promote reading and share reviews. The radomness was quite cool!

When considering Action Enqiry and potential topics for research where do you start?

Action Enquiry is not a reconnaissance mission to find out ‘about’ but is much more participartory. Lewin in his description of action research shows how reconnaissance is a part of the process of Action Research, but it is a step and not a complete piece of action research. Finding out about ... is perfectly sensible reconnaissance but not complete AR or AE.

When choosing an action enquiry issue/topic or later and more specifically hypothesis/question a rule of thumb to ensure research follows the tradition would be identify one verb, a simple future verb which describes the action in the research.
I will implement a reward system …
I will monitor user logs …
I will change the record keeping system for …

Perhaps some of the confusion arrises over the difference beteween AE & AR.

Action research- systematic enquiry designed to yield practical results capable of improving a specific aspect of practice and made public to enable scrutiny and testing.

Bob Dick summarises and explores what AR is :
Action research tends to be...
* cyclic -- similar steps tend to recur, in a similar sequence;
* participative -- the clients and informants are involved as partners, or at least active participants, in the research process;
* qualitative -- it deals more often with language than with numbers; and
* reflective -- critical reflection upon the process and outcomes are important parts of each cycle.



Fundamentally (though not exhausively) Action Research is an ongoing, cyclical process whereas Action Enquiry is just one cycle, implementing and evaluating one action. Where does that cycle end, well in Lewin's model it begins with the idea and ends with an ammended plan - i.e. future research. Finding out about something completes only step two in Lewin's model. Carr & Kemmis (1986) refer to this single cycle as arrested action research.

One of the tasks which I find most satisfying in my job is producing resources for modules. My place as an LF in each of the three cohorts has given me good insight in to (I hope) how resources can be used, be made effective & accessible. How resources for modules has evolved has been tribute to the collective knowledge & experience gained amongst the UV team.

I think my personal history with resources stems back to when my own Mother was forced to retrain in nursing after health service reform (basically she had to upskill or downgrade to stand still). Anyway she (at 40 something, maybe 50 something) was sent to Keele to do a diploma. Though she relished the challenge she got in to a total state. Basically because the keys to knowledge were hidden. She was ready & willing to study but no-one would take the time to walk her through where to begin. They assumed much about prior knowledge, or more so skills. Writing essays - it was assumed that this was an innate skill. the same for accessing resources, referencing & understanding the coding that is academic language & jargon.
After some time spelling out the basics, she was fine and as a Granny pipped her peers in grade terms.
It maddens me that we assume knowledge & skills. I think it degrades tryers, it puts hurdles in the way of very able people and flies in the face of open access to education.

For me resource production involves stepping in to the shoes of someone else. Without a prior academic background. Stripping assumptions. For me it's not about imparting knowledge, but making the first steps to discovery and independent learning much easier, so deeper discovery and research can begin.

After a rather weak attempt to keep two blogs I return to plan A: pick up here. I struggled, I probably still do, with balancing personal and professional thoughts.

In the end I have had a summer of niether - though I did enjoy some lovely time out. I seemed to have a summer of wine, music and camping (caravaning actually but it feels still a tad beyond my years to shout about this :-) We actually stayed outside our local three times - saves walking home right???!

Back to work now though with a slightly changed domestic situation as < Spencer started school a few weeks ago. As a result of first days at school I missed the face to face meetings in Chelmsford, though I didn't miss the journey I did miss everyone. Thanks to isight though I was able to participate for some of the time (selectively).

I also lost a stone over the summer which is cool - pleased to be back in my old jeans:-)

August is my birthday - which I always hate - so forward planning for next year I bought tickets for the V festival. That should lift next years birthday blues. Funny really, love other people's birthdays - hate my own. V should fix it tho!

I've been meaning for sometime to link together disparate bits and bobs which are getting lost in my ever growing and increasingly disorganised web folders.

Research Methodology - MA assignment (Word Doc)

 

Course Resources: Reflection Module Portal (was experimental) | Audio version | considering ethics

AE Module Portal