Action Research

Action research is a systemic cyclical system for comptemplating opportunities for school improvement.     Reflective practice is the cornerstone of action research, the practitioner, the administrator, wonders about an issue in their particular school.  The cycle continues with the administrator developing a question based on the wondering and then develops a plan to research the question.  At every stage of the process the practitioner reflects on the information they have collected and decides what additional action to take.  Action research can be an independent activity the administrator completes on their own, or it can involve many stakeholders in the school.  I can think of many ways to use action research can be used to improve my current school.  My focus is on how technology can be used to improve teaching and more importantly learning.  I wonder how the use of technology can improve the learning of math and science students.  Establishing a link between computer access and improvement on standardized test in my school could have a positive impact on the amount of funds we could acquire for implementing the latest technology in our school.  Most of the research I have done so far has been informal; I am looking forward to establishing a more formal qualitative research protocol.