EDLD 5301 Week 5 Reflection

       Upon completing the last few weeks of assignments, readings, videos, web conferences, and exercises my greatest insight was that Action Research is and can be the impetus for change.  Action Research was to me like discovering that your friend had written a book about how to be a good friend.  As the concept of Action Research was taught, I realized that I knew “Action Research” but had never studied it or known it by its name, and it was my friend.  I had participated in the process of Action Research many times; sometimes with “criteria for evaluating the relation between effort and achievement” and sometimes without (Lewin , 1946).  I had used the Action Research process in my community work, church work, and schoolwork.  However, I had never studied the process or even known that it had a name.  I also had experienced the use of Force Field Analysis, the Delphi Method, and the Nominal Group Technique through the years, but again did not know the names of these tools for group research.  During our course and while I was doing  “a certain fact-finding” about Action Research,  what really caught my interest was a certain person and his ideas about the need for Action Research, the techniques for Action Research, and the practicality of Action Research; Kurt Lewin.  Our two texts reflected his work and gave me a framework for creating and experiencing Action Research.

 

Lewin, K. (1946). Action research and minority problems. Journal of Social Issues, 2(4), 34–36.

EDLD 5301 Week 4 Reflection - Delphi Method, Nominal Group Technique, and Force Field Analysis

      In reflecting on the possible strategies that could be used to draw out future needs of schools thereby sustaining improvement, I considered that I was familiar with some group discussion strategies.  Further, I considered how I could possibly utilize these strategies for my research.  The strategies that I reflected on were the Delphi Method, Nominal Group Technique, and Force Field Analysis.

       In the past, I felt that I had been on the receiving end of the Delphi Method.  Many times, I have responded to questionnaires that were summarized and narrowed to a point of consensus.  Decisions were made.  Sometimes, when working with city planners, I have felt that this process was a foregone conclusion.  Facilitators had solutions in mind and led respondents to those solutions.  However, I have seen the Delphi Method work in other situations. 

       One of the best experiences I have had with structured group discussions that were designed to solve a problem occurred using the Nominal Group Technique.  My school was having discipline problems due to overcrowding of disciplinary removal students.  We had an inordinate number of students assigned to us and we needed to make adjustments (crowd control). Our faculty assembled one Saturday and our counselor facilitated a brainstorming session using this technique.  He told everyone that we were to come up with ideas and any idea was a valid idea.  Judgments were not allowed.  He recorded the ideas and then we discussed the ideas.  It was very democratic.  The usual assertive voices had their say, but so did others.  All members felt satisfied that they had participated.  We prioritized the ideas by ranking them and decided which to implement.  The school building climate settled down and discipline referrals decreased.  It worked so well that, even with the high numbers of students, the school atmosphere (or school climate) felt as if we had far fewer students than we actually did.

       I have not used the Force Field Analysis developed by Kurt Lewin, but feel that I could use this analysis strategy to better plan how I conduct my research.  Some teachers and staff are resistant to technology and a school website may mean change for them.  We do have many teachers and staff that want to have a school website.  It would be beneficial to weigh the forces for change and forces against.  The results could lead to adjusting my research plan as it relates to the website committee’s work.  Further, I would like to use the Delphi Method to clarify some of my research.

EDLD 5301 Week 4 Reflection on Week 3 Comments

       In reviewing the comments made on my Action Research Plan published in my blog in  Week 3, I discovered four different topics discussed.  One topic was characterized by the following quote, “Your plan seems well thought out and constructed.  I will be watching to see how it turns out.”  Several were interested in seeing the research progress as it is.  They thought that it did not need any big changes.  (I hope that that will be the case.)  Another common area that was discussed concerned the need for a well thought out website at a DAEP campus.  Several thought that a good website at a DAEP campus would be a good resource for students and parents.  That it would take some of the mystery and anxiety out of their initial experience. I concurred with their sentiments. Another topic that was written about had to do with the common elements of school websites.  It was mentioned that a large district might have design guidelines that would dictate the elements that would be used in a new school website.  I immediately remembered that my district had some design guidelines, but were minimal and that it would not affect the action that would be taken after the research.  Lastly, a comment or a question was posed; “I wonder if you find that parents of students at a DAEP school access the website often or use it as a primary source of information.” I have had the same wondering.  I would like to consider that as a follow up to the present action research.

       The comments seemed to encourage me to continue with my action research plan and that my school would benefit from the research.  Further, the comments pointed to a future wondering that could be researched.  Overall, I thought the comments were constructive and beneficial.

EDLD 5301 Week 3 Action Research Plan

Action Research Plan
Goals What is the frequency of appearance of common elements in alternative education school websites? What are the stakeholders’ judged values of the common elements in school websites?
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Review literature for best website design for school websites as it relates to common website elements and visit award winning school websites.	James Hawks	Start:  2/6/12 End: 3/16/12	Research tools: Internet, library, EBSCO Database	Make a comprehensive list of elements.
Make a representative checklist for evaluating disciplinary alternative education program (DAEP) websites.	James Hawks TPJH Website Committee	Start:  3/19/12 End: 3/22/12	Best practice data from the literature review and surveying of school websites.	List of committee chosen common elements
Construct school website survey to gather data on the most common school website elements found in DAEP websites.	James Hawks TPJH Website Committee	Start:  3/26/12 End: 3/30/12	List of committee selected common school website elements.	Created survey/checklist to use to gather data from DAEP websites
Create a definition of what constitutes and DAEP school.	James Hawks TPJH Website Committee Carolyn Alexander	Start: 3/19/12 End: 3/22/12	Internet, Texas Education Agency	Working definition of DAEP.
Survey 30 DAEP websites using the checklist survey to gather data to ascertain the most common elements found in DAEP school websites.	James Hawks TPJH Website Committee	Start:  3/26/12 End: 4/5/12	Created Survey Check list of common elements seen in school websites used to gather data on each website.	Completed Surveys 30 completed surveys of at least 30 DAEP school websites.
Evaluate the data from website surveys.	James Hawks TPJH Website Committee Carolyn Alexander	Start:  4/9/12 End: 4/13/12	Completed surveys and   statistical analysis	Compile results for review by TPJH Website Committee and Site Supervisor.  Develop report on common DAEP school website elements.
Construct survey for parents, students, and staff.	James Hawks TPJH Website Committee	Start:  4/16/12 End: 4/20/12	Statistical analysis of most common elements found in DAEP school websites.	Created survey for students, parents, and staff using a scale of 1 to 5; one being described as not very important and five being described as very important.
Survey parents, students, and staff.	James Hawks TPJH Website Committee Carolyn Alexander	Start:  4/23/12 End:  5/18/12	Surveys Designated times and places for conducting surveys.	Collection of Completed Surveys
Evaluate data from student, parent, and staff surveys of common components desired to be seen in an disciplinary alternative education program school website.	James Hawks TPJH Website Committee	Start:  5/18/12 End: 5/25/12	Statistical Analysis of common components desired and to what degree they are desired.	Report – TPJH Website Committee and site supervisor.
Apply research results to the design of Turning Point Junior High’s school website.	Turning Point Junior High School Website Committee	Start:  5/29/12 End: 7/31/12	Web design tools, online web space, apply results of the research.	Published Website
Reflect on lessons learned.  Discuss future research questions as it pertains to the use and improvement of TPJH school website.	TPJH Website Committee Administration	Start:  8/15/12 End: 9/15/12
Complete Action Research Report	James Hawks	Start:  2/6/12 End: 9/20/12	Formatted Action Report in APA Style	Completed Action Research Report

Format based on Tool 7.1 from Examining What We Do to Improve Our Schools

(Harris, Edmonson, and Combs, 2010)

EDLD 5301 Week 3 Reflection

      This week I learned a great deal from working through the process of creating an actual action research plan.  I believe the plan helps to put into words the process that many educators understand intuitively.  The formalization of the steps necessitates operational definitions, definitions of sample sizes, dates for collaborative meetings, formal collection of data, time for analyzing that data, putting that information into common statistical language, reporting on that information, more collaborative meetings.  Further, I think this process brings to light the understanding that informal, intuitive, analyzing and postulating can lead to misleading assumptions.  When we find small errors in logic or discover that some of our assumptions based on informal research were wrong, it shows us that we are better served to do some formal research on the important matters that concern our students!

       I also learned this week that the Action Research Project Process Overview concerning cell phones is a very useful document.  It was mentioned by Dr. Abshire in our web conference.  The overview explains step by step the action research process as outlined by Dr. Arterbury and Dr. Jenkins in this week’s video lesson.  In addition to outlining the process, it outlines the process by overlaying it according to the five weeks of our course.