Week 2 Reflection

Action research plays a vital role in the growth of an educator. Determining which research project is most important, viable, and doable can be difficult. This week's lesson provided insight into making such decisions by interviewing experienced educators and defining common areas of educational research. The piece of information that I found most productive was from the interview of Dr. Lewis. He stated that an action research plan should be practical, applicable to your situation, and be interesting to you — more interest, leads to more focus, which ultimately leads to greater benefits for students (Lewis). When dealing with individual student action research projects, Mr. Briseno stressed that all decisions need to be data-driven. Data should be qualitative which includes a student's environment not only at school, but outside factors that might affect to the research outcome (Briseno, 2010). All three interviews provided valuable information in selecting and fine-tuning an action research plan.

          Part two focused on nine common action research topics in education. My limited experience in the classroom led me to do research on teacher development because that is the area where I have been most involved. My experience in the advertising/marketing field will help me succeed in this area. I understand the basic problems in introducing new technology tools or software to teachers. It's not that teachers don't want to use new tools, it is because they are unsure how it will benefit the student or afraid that it will detract from the lesson. Administrators will need to provide appropriate instructions and have fair expectations for teachers. I hope in my action research that I will be able to introduce technology to teachers more successfully.

References

Briseno, J. (2010). Interview 2: Johnny Briseno [Video]. Lamar Academic Partnerships: EDLD 5301 Research for Teachers (Week 2/Videos). Retrieved January 22, 2011.

Lewis, K. Interview 2: Dr. Kirk Lewis [Video]. Lamar Academic Partnerships: EDLD 5301 Research for Teachers (Week 2/Videos). Retrieved January 22, 2011.