OCNW Level 5 Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector Pt 2

NAME: OPTION UNIT: Action Research LECTURER: DATE DUE: LINDA HARRADINE 6th November 2008 SUBMITTED: TASK : AR/1

THE CANDIDATE MUST COMPLETE THE SECTION BELOW (Ensure that the assessment criteria are listed) I certify that this is my own work and not plagiarised and understand that copied work from any source will be treated as a FAIL. In this work I am claiming the following assessment criteria 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4. Signed (student): LECTURER FEEDBACK and OVERALL DEVELOPMENTAL ADVICE: (please continue on a separate sheet if necessary)

PASS or Signed:

REFERRAL for work on the following criteria: (Lecturer) Date:

..............................................

date for RESUBMISSION: Signed:

After Resubmission Date: Date: Date:

PASS FAIL

............................................. (Lecturer)

Internal Verification (See V10 for comments) Signed : External Moderation Signed: ..

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Unit title: Action Research - Level 5

Learning Outcomes The learner will: 1 Understand the key features and purpose of action research. Assessment Criteria The learner can: 1.1 Analyse the key features and purpose of action research. 1.2 Analyse key features of the action research cycle. 1.3 Identify and evaluate the implications of a model for action research. 2 Understand and demonstrate procedures to be used when initiating action research. 2.1 Select and justify choice of an appropriate area of own practice for action research. 2.2 Plan and demonstrate implementation of a clear intervention strategy. 2.3 Justify the chosen intervention strategy and timescales. 2.4 Discuss ethical and political considerations and issues of confidentiality, explaining how these will be observed in practice. 3 Understand and apply action research methodology. 3.1 Identify and draw on appropriate and relevant literature, demonstrating use of standard referencing methods. 3.2 Evaluate a range of methods of qualitative and quantitative data collection, comparing advantages and disadvantages. 3.3 Explain and justify choice of methods selected for own research 4 Understand and demonstrate how to collect, present and analyse appropriate data. 5 Understand and demonstrate how to present research conclusions. 6 Understand how to evaluate the effectiveness of own practice 4.1 Discuss ways in which collected data may be analysed. 4.2 Collect, present and analyse appropriate data.
COURSEWORK TASK

AR/1 AR/1 AR/1& AR/5 AR/1 AR/1 AR/1

AR/1

AR/2

AR/3

AR/3 AR/3 AR/3, 4 AR/4 AR/4 AR/5 AR/5

5.1 Report clearly and objectively on results achieved, identifying and discussing conclusions reached. 5.2 Recommend and justify action to be taken based on these conclusions. 6.1 Evaluate own approaches, strengths and development needs in relation to action research. 6.2 Plan opportunities to develop and improve own skills in action research.

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Indicative content
Opportunities to explore different approaches to data collection methods Action research cycle: e.g. identifying an appropriate issue, formulate the hypothesis, explore suitable methodology, undertake a pilot study (if appropriate), collect primary data, analyse the evidence, draw conclusions, modify the hypothesis, plan further research etc. Appropriate area of study Intervention strategies and time scales: e.g. planning strategies and drawing up schedules, structuring and timing of primary data collection, sources of evidence etc. Ethical, political and confidentiality issues Relevant literature and referencing Qualitative and quantitative data collection: e.g. qualitative (statements, perceptions, values) quantitative (statistical data), questioning as a research tool etc. Selecting methods appropriate to research Data collection and presentation: e.g. recording findings in appropriate format, collect and review data using appropriate methods etc. Data analysis: e.g. comparisons of variables, trends, forecasting; comparison of results, graphs, charts etc. correlation between data sets (mean, median/ mode, standard deviation) Results and conclusions: e.g. clear and objective reporting on results, conclusions, implications for improvement Recommendations and actions: review approach to research methodology, suggest improvements, identify unanswered questions, issues considered through the research, any side issues, recommendations for implementing professional practice Strength and development needs: e.g. evaluation of the knowledge, skills and understanding developed through undertaking the research Opportunities to develop and improve own practice: e.g., staff development opportunities etc.

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COURSEWORK: ACTION RESEARCH

AR/1: PROPOSAL 1. Identify an area for research that will allow you to investigate an aspect of your practice. This topic should be something that is in your control and lead you to do active reflective-practice. 2. Produce a 500-word outline that identifies the following: Name and course Proposed area of investigation How the area of investigation will be clarified An explanation of the action research model to be used (if a graphic is available, please append it) What research methods will be used at the early stages of the investigation and why Who the participants will be How the data will be interpreted Possible problems with the data collection If problems arise, what contingency plans are in place Ethical issues that apply to the investigation Actions to ensure ethical research

3. Draw up a table that clearly shows your timetable of events from now until the presentation date in Mid-late May AR/2: LITERATURE REVIEW Review primary and/or secondary sources to craft an academic story that contextualises your topic (1000 words). AR/3: DATA COLLECTION Collect and critically analyse appropriate data. You should critique the the action research model and your research methods. (500 words). AR/4: PRESENTATION Report on the outcomes of the research, clearly stating your conclusions and recommendations. You should have a 500 word summary paper with bibliography to distribute to all in the group. AR/5: SELF EVALUATION From your research experience, critically evaluate your own approaches, strengths and development needs. Plan opportunities to improve your skills. Your account should be linked to the SVUK professional standards.

Remember : You must show skills of critical evaluation in your writing.

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Recommended Reading
Bassey M (2002) Case Study Research in M.Coleman & Briggs eds. Research methods in Educational Leadership and Management Paul Chapman, UK Best J & Kahn J: (2003) Research in Education Allyn & Bacon Cohen et al: (2000) Research Methods in Education Routledge Falmer Coleman M & Briggs A eds: (2002) Research methods in Educational Leadership and Management Paul Chapman Publishing Denscombe M: (2002) Ground Rules for Good Research Open University Press McNiff J, Lomax P, Whitehead J: (2004) You and Your Action Research Project Oxford: Routledge Falmer Robson C: (2005) Real World Research Oxford: Blackwell Wragg T (2002) Interviewing. In: M Coleman & Briggs, (eds.) Research Methods in Educational Leadership and Management Paul Chapman Publishing

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COMPARATIVEEVALUATIONOFELICITATION METHODOLOGIESINASSESSMENTFORLEARNING WITHINACLASSROOMENVIRONMENT ANACTIONRESEARCHPROJECT ByNeilHateley,BSc.(App.Phys.),MSc(Business Computing)

Submittedinpartialfulfilmentoftherequirementsforthe qualificationof

Level5Diploma in TeachingintheLifelongLearningSector

Periodofstudy: 20072009 HuntingdonshireRegionalCollege November2008

ActionResearchProjectProposal

Proposedareaofresearch:
Theevaluationoflearningformsakeypartoftheeducationprocess,thisisanarea in which the author considers their own teaching needs improvement, the investigationwillfocusontherelativemeritsofarangeoftechniqueswhenusedina classroomenvironment.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority have published a document entitled Assessment for learning: beyond the black box (Beyond the black box, 2008), in thispublicationthefollowingassessmentforlearningmethodologieswereidentified:

observingpupilsthisincludeslisteningtohowtheydescribetheirworkand theirreasoning

questioning, using open questions, phrased to invite pupils to explore their ideasandreasoning

setting tasks in a way which requires pupils to use certain skills or apply ideas

asking pupils to communicate their thinking through drawings, artefacts, actions,roleplay,conceptmapping,aswellaswriting

discussingwordsandhowtheyarebeingused.

It is the intention to make use of a range of these techniques during the research activity, and to compare the relative merits of the technique when applied to two groupsoflearnersbothstudyingthesamecourse.

Howthetopicofinterestwillbeclarified
The research activity will clarify the effectiveness of a range of available and applicabletechniqueswhichtheauthorwouldbeabletouseaspartoftheroutinein

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ActionResearchProjectProposal

class assessment techniques. By comparing similar assessment techniques an optimum assessment strategyfor the lecturerand subjectarea may bediscovered. Themainbenefitwouldbetoidentifyandoptimisetheuseofassessmenttechniques duringlessons.

Actionresearchmodeltobeused
It is intended to utilise a spiral model for the action research method (Special Pedagogies,2008),thiswillideallycovernolessthanthreecycleswitheachstudent cohort,allowingeachofthethreetechniquesbeinginvestigatedtobeusedwitheach cohort.

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ActionResearchProjectProposal

If the opportunity presents its self then the experiment will be extended to include repeateduseofthetechniqueswithineachgroup.

Researchmethod(s)ateachstage:
Usewillbemadeofthefollowingtechniques:
q

Method 1: questioning, using open questions, phrased to invite students to exploretheirideasandreasoningquestionsandresponseswillberecorded usingelectronicrecordingequipmentandtranscribedforthepurposesofthe report.

Settingtasks in a way which requires students to use certain skills orapply ideasthiswillincludethefollowingtwomethods: o Method 3: On line assessment via the virtual learning environment, marked on line using the scoring systems within the virtual learning environment. o Method4:Papercopiesoftheonlineassessmentassessedaspaper testsandmarkedeitherbythelecturerorbyfellowstudents..

Itisenvisagedthatthesethreetechniqueswillbethemostapplicabletothecohort, in terms of the learners motivation to engage and perform during the assessment, other techniques as outlined earlier would be difficult to compare in a controlled mannerorwouldresultinlimitedlevelsofacceptancebythestudentcohort. Inordertoprovideafaircomparisonbetweenassessmentmethodologies,acommon set of questions will be developed for each of the six weeks of the project. These questionswillbepresentedintwoofthethreeformsdescribed. Whenopenquestioningisbeingused,asetofPowerPointslidesmaybepreparedto display the question set, this should assist with adherence to the prescribed set of questions.Theotherformsofquestioningwillmakeuseofpaperoronlinequestion setsasappriopriate.

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ActionResearchProjectProposal

Participants:
TwogroupsofBTECFirstdiplomastudentsaretimetabledfortwodiscreteunitswith the author, it is intended that the students be used alternately for one type of assessment whilst the other cohort are assessed using a different method of assessment. The assessment method will alternate in accordance with the grid in table1:
Week1 Learnergroup1 Learnergroup2 Method1 Method2 Week2 Method3 Method1 Week3 Method2 Method3 Week4 Method1 Method2 Week5 Method3 Method1 Week6 Method2 Method3

Table1:Assessmentdeliverygrid Atotalofthreedifferentassessmentmethodswillbeused,thesewillincludethe methodsdetailedpreviouslyinthisdocument.

Secondarysources:
The workofBlackandWiliam (Teachingexpertise, 2005) and the work ofthe QCA assessment reform group (QCA, 2008) provide major tracts of research within the domain,furtherworkbyPetty(2006)addsinterpretationtotheotherliterature.

Datainterpretation:
Direct comparison of results from similar tests in varied domains provides one possible method of comparison between the assessment techniques, another technique would be to conduct a simple surveywith the students to ascertain their appreciationofthemethodsused. In addition, the delivery experience of the tutor is key to the success of the assessmentmethods,foroptimalsuccessassessmentshouldbeeasytoadminister and to score or mark. The relative comparison between each of the proposed

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ActionResearchProjectProposal

methodologiesshouldallowthetutortoevaluatetheimpactontheirworkloadofthe techniquesbeinginvestigated.

Timescale:
Itisanticipatedthatthebulkofthequestiondevelopmentanddatacollectionwillbe conductedbetweenNovember2008andFebruary2009,analysisoftheresultsand the subsequent presentation of data in a final report will be completed between FebruaryandApril2009.

PossibleProblems:
Possible problems may include the lack of acceptance of the techniques with the learnergroups. Questioningmethodologiesrequirethatthegroupmembersarekeentoparticipate, reluctantstudentscan easily beallowed tofall into the shadows and notoffer their opiniononthesubjectunderdiscussion. Students responses could be recorded using a voice recorder with a wide area microphone. This may cause some students to become shy but not more than normal, this recording method will however require explanation, which means this partof theassessment cannotbe conducted without explainingto students that an experiment is being conducted and giving the students the opportunity to withdraw fromtheexperimentshouldtheydesire. Test papers whether on line or in paper form can cause anxiety amongst learners who find reading or writing difficult. The mitigating factor here is that the questions beingplannedaremultichoiceformatandthisprovidesthestudentswithaneasier optionthananopenwritingresponse.

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ActionResearchProjectProposal

ContingencyPlan:
Other assessment techniques may be considered in the event that one technique fails to effectively assess each cohort. Technical failure of the online assessment system mayposeaproblem shouldthisoccur, trial assessments will be conducted withotherstudentgroupsbeforethemethodisusedwiththetargetstudentgroup.

Ethicalissues:
Most ofthe assessment will be conducted in a blind trial neithergroupof students will be informed of the nature of the assessment before results are obtained. The resultswillbeanonomisedtoremovestudentnamesfromtheresultantanalysisfor the study. However, the questioning techniques will need to be voice recorded to allow students responses to be properly transcribed, this will require authority from thestudentsandstudentswillbeallowedtoacceptordeclinetotakepart.

Actionstoensureethicalresearch
Anonomisation of data which is included in the final report will be used to remove traceabilityofsubjectsfromthestudy.Studentswillbedebriefedaftertheexperiment toshowtheoverallresultoftheinvestigation.

Bibliography
Assessment Reform Group.1999. Assessment for learning: beyond the black box, (University of Cambridge School of Education, 1999) Available at:

www.qca.org.uk/libraryAssets/media/beyond_black_box2.pdf[accessed28/10/2008].

Petty, G. (2006) Evidence Based Teaching A practical approach, Cheltenham:

NelsonThornes.

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ActionResearchProjectProposal

QCA(2008)AfL:Overviewdocuments.[online]availablefrom:http://www.qca.org.uk /qca_13440.aspx[accessed28/10/2008]

Special Pedagogies (2008) Action research cycle [online] Available from: http://www.det.nt.gov.au/education/special_education_wellbeing/initiatives/images/ action%20_research_cycle.jpg[accessed28/10/2008]

Teachingexpertise (2005) Black, Wiliam and assessment for learning [online] teachingexpertise.com. Available from: http://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/ blackwilliamassessmentlearning118[accessed13/04/2008].

NeilHateley

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