Action Research Outline

ACTION RESEARCH PLAN OUTLINE

Action Research

What I’ve Done - My Study

In order to create an effective plan for implementation, research is necessary. An Action Research Plan helps the researcher answer the questions about the topic, analyze data, and determine the results that experts found on the topic. My study took a look at different schools, as well as different programs, focusing on students taking ownership and noticing the results. The short term results showed that students were more creative and really used their ePortfolio to showcase accomplishments. Long term results showed a large student decline in maintaining an ePortfolio after college, when students did not have take ownership of building their own ePortfolio. Studies showed that students liked to create an online persona in drama, as well as having their own ePortfolio. Looking ahead at the

Research Topic helps narrow down the Research Questions. As Dr. Mertler pointed out in video 3.1. the idea is to end up with data that is helpful to the overall outcome of the project. It is

important to collaborate with others to bounce ideas around and get insight from different perspectives. There should be reflecting back while developing a viable plan moving forward. The design and data analysis should be parallel and be constantly re-asessed. It is imperative

that the researcher has data that is not skewed. Action research is assessing and adjusting the lesson as an ongoing process. Teachers do this everyday by reflecting on the lesson and making adjustments to improve.

ACTION RESEARCH PLAN OUTLINE

Action Research Question:

What is the impact of home video lectures, virtual collaborations, and learning artifacts on student engagement and acquisition of learning concepts

Statement of Purpose
1. The purpose of this sequential explanatory, mixed methods action research study will be to explore and determine the effects at-home lectures via computer-based video presentations and discussion board assignments have on student engagement and acquisition of knowledge-based content using field observations, artifact collection, and one-on-one interviews. Then, based on the findings, the researcher will develop and employ a lecture style that is most beneficial for students. The rationale for using both quantitative and quantitative methods is that the quantitative data can be more accurately understood if students are allowed to discuss their experiences in more detail through interviews.

2. Literature Review Focus

Over the past 50 years, research has proven the correlation between student engagement and student achievement. From Lahaderne’s 1968 study of sixth graders’ attention levels to Samuels and Turnure 1974 study of first graders’ attention during reading instruction to Finn and Rock’s 1997 study of upper middle and high school students’ preparedness for class (Dyer, 2015), results have consistently shown that active engagement in the learning process produces better academic results for learners. However, in a 2016 Gallup poll of nearly a million students, only 50% reported feeling engaged in school. Additionally, a fifth reported being actively disengaged and about 10 percent classified themselves as both disengaged and discouraged (Brenneman, 2016). What does this mean? It means there are many today’s learners who attend school every day yet fail to achieve their academic best because they are simply existing in class rather than being active participants. A dramatic shift needs to happen in how students are taught that will allow learners to fully engage in the learning process in a meaningful and fun way so that valuable, deeper learning can take place. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of implementing home-based video lectures as a possible start to solving this problem.

3. Description of the Problem

Ms. W., has noticed that many of her students do not seem to be very engaged during lecture time. And their grades are proof. For many of the knowledge-based concepts that are taught in lecture, students' daily work and quiz scores have shown that they are not acquiring this knowledge with the current style of lecture. Ms. W. knows there needs to be a shift in how students are taught lecture so that they are more engaged in acquiring knowledge-based content. Therefore, researchers decided to conduct a sequential explanatory, mixed methods research study on her homeroom class.

4. Data Collection: The data for this action research study will be collected using a mixed-method design. By utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods for collecting data, a more well-rounded and accurate understanding of findings can be determined.

Quantitative Data Collection
- 1. At-Home, Online Lecture After Change
    - Observe number and frequency of logins to websites
    - Observe number of times Google Forms attendance sheet is signed and submitted
    - Observe number of online assignments turned in a
    - Observe number and frequency of posts to discussion boards about the topic posts

B. Purpose of Study: This action research will examine whether the use of ePortfolios increases or decreases exposure towards potential institutions or employers for HS students, over those who use no type of system to showcase their learning and expertise towards particular areas.

C. Fundamental Research Questions

1. Does a student with an established ePortfolio have a better platform to display their talents and expertise as a potential candidate for Colleges and Universities as opposed to a student without an ePortfolio?

2. What perception do high school juniors and seniors have on using ePortfolios to help showcase their learning and expertise opposed to collecting paper based material to have for examples?

II. Research Design: Qualitative

A. Qualitative

B. Why? The nature of ePortfolios is to showcase the learning and development of a person through artifacts and reflection, prompting me to choose to use a qualitative design for my research. I chose qualitative as my design for both research questions because I can measure data for those questions with interviews and polls.

III. Appropriate Data to Collect

A. Type of Measurement Instruments

Student Interviews(Qualitative)
Student Polls (Qualitative)

B. Google Forms Surveys(Qualitative)

IV. Focus of Literature Review

The focus of my literature review will be a look into ePortfolios specifically within the high school classroom. This research aligns with my innovation plan and will focus its attention on the benefits of ePortfolios.