This course gave me a major benefit of being giving structure to wonderings. I constantly have tons of diverse thoughts running through my mind in education. Does “x” effect “y” and how? Could this have a positive effect on that? If _____ changed how would that affect student achievement? How can we change to better reach our children? My mind naturally roams through subject matter and is naturally inquisitive into how we can change and be better. I have the attitude of always seeking to improve upon what we are and do so in the most effective yet beneficial methods possible. Before this course, I never knew quite how to deal with these notions, or “wonderings”. I would discuss this in the appropriate company but never really knew how to make them gain any substantial recognition and analysis. In the first week of this course that curiosity was answered with the definition of action research. I think I always had kind of had some sort of knowledge of what action research was but had no real organized understanding of it and how to use it effectively. Throughout this course, I gained a strong hold on what action research is, how to conduct it, how to use it and its implications on the field.
One of the parts of this course I found the most beneficial was the section where we learned HOW to conduct the research. I have so many things I would love to conduct action research on, however, lack direction on how exactly to do it. The tools afforded to us through the two texts I feel were a major benefit to me. This helped me categorize the steps of the project and then in each step, separate the different aspects of the steps. The needs of the step, how it would be evaluated and measured etc. This was a huge benefit to me, because this was a major deficit in the knowledge I brought to the table. While I have several things I would love to conduct research on I lack direction and focus on how to actually administer the project. After the two weeks we spent composing, working on and finalizing our research plans I feel like I have a much stronger hold on this area. I now feel equipped with the necessary skills and tools to conduct the research itself.
In the assigned readings and the course my understanding of how I can grow in the depths of the research and methods of research really began to come clear. There are several tools I would never have considered using, for example blogging and certain types of surveys. I have always felt surveys were not a very good data collection tool but throughout the course I have seen a couple examples of surveys which I feel would be beneficial to the research. I began to see it wasn’t necessarily what you used at times, but how you use it. I am also glad the reading/course stated the importance of dealing with data in a respectful way and also articulating to the audience and participant how the data is being gathered and analyzed. It is crucial that there is transparency throughout the project to all involved and all audiences so this protects the integrity of the project and ensures the survival of the results.
In conclusion, the class as a whole was definitely relevant and valuable to me as it gave me the means to deal with my wonderings which I was already having.
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