EDU675: CHANGE LEADERSHIP FOR THE DIFFERENTIATED EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
EDU675: CHANGE LEADERSHIP FOR THE DIFFERENTIATED EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT
As you have learned throughout your program, action research is primarily about encouraging teachers and other leaders to be continuous and reflective learners in their specific practice. Action research is considered a work in progress. It is iterative. Action research has strong implications for various types of organizations and can be an incentive in improving student learning, specifically. As part of becoming a reflective practitioner, you will engage in the process of deep thought and deliberation of the ways that you can become problem solvers and change agents (Buczynski & Hansen, 2014). Initial Post: Prepare for your initial post by reflecting on all you have learned through this course. In your post, explain in at least one paragraph and using scholarly resources to support your assertions how the continuous improvement efforts through the use of action research can inform progress of a school/community/organization. Then, in at least two paragraphs, describe how the action research implemented in this study will generally improve student learning.
More Inform
Overview
| Activity | Due Date | Format | Grading Percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Impact Reflection | Day 3 (1st Post) |
Discussion | 4 |
| Final Project | Day 7 | Assignment | 24 |
For help with the Course Calendar, review the overview video in 
Learning Outcomes
This week students will:
- Analyze proposed action research intervention/innovation for purpose, value, appropriateness.
- Apply ethical standards to data collection.
- Make decisions based on outcomes.
- Evaluate personal leadership qualities as a means to improve practice.
- Construct conclusions from research data.
- Determine next steps for continued improvement and sustainability.
- Explain ways that action research can be a catalyst to improve student.
- Propose a plan for continued improvement to support long-term success in teaching 21st century skills.
Introduction
Congratulations! Now is a time to start reflecting on all you have experienced in our course. You have accomplished plenty of new learning through the implementation of your action research and the development of your leadership skills! The past five weeks have addressed the implementation of your action research as well as learning more about your own leadership qualities. This week you prepare your final project consisting of a comprehensive, formal presentation of the action research process including your intervention, and sharing your findings. As indicated below, we have now explored all the phases of the Action Research cycle except the final phase, which is the focus of this week. In Week Six, we focus on the final phase, Share Process and Results:
- Research Proposal
- Implementation and Data Collection
- Data collection and Initial Data Analysis
- Data Collection and Apply Changes
- Data Analysis and Interpretation
- Share Process and Results
Instructor Guidance
Week 6
Introduction
You are almost there! We are now in the final week of the course. Last week was spent analyzing the data collected during your intervention or innovation. From this information you had the chance to interpret the meaning of this information in order to prepare for the formal written presentation of the findings.
This week you will submit your final project and reflect on the continuous process of action research and how it will inform the change process.
As with prior weeks, let’s begin this guidance by first reviewing and reflecting on our learning expectations for this week. These learning outcomes are aligned to the discussions and the assignment for Week Six. They can be found in the Week Six overview page, which is the first page seen when the name of unit in the navigation menu for the course is selected
This week’s final assignment is a culminating paper. Each of the above outcomes has been explored in previous weeks. Now, we are putting it all together.
Week Six Overview
You have made it! You are in the last week of your course. This is an exciting time and it is suggested that you don’t give up now! Keep up the momentum as the final presentation of findings is due this week. This is the fun part of your action research project.
Figure 7: EDU675 Action Research Cycle, Week Six Focus
Week Six Elaboration
As you enter the end of the course, it is valuable to reflect back on the learning process you’ve experienced. In Week One you reviewed the benefits of collaboration, ethical and historical considerations of research, as well as the process of collecting data. During Week Two you officially began implementing the intervention of your study. Additionally, you learned about the specific steps to take and questions to ask yourself when collecting data.
In Week Three you learned about your own leadership motivation and how to inspire others. You also became knowledgeable as to why some change initiatives fail. You developed a digital presentation using contemporary software to share these new ideas as well as began to identify the early themes from your data. During Week Four you had the opportunity to discover opposing viewpoints regarding action research and obtained valuable feedback from your peers regarding your data collection strategies. Week Five required you to make sense of the data leading to the overall implications of your study and subsequent formal presentation of your findings.
Typically and as presented previously, action research includes more than one cycle of intervention and data collection focusing on the same or similar research question. It is a recurring process conducted to effect positive change in any setting that is studied. “Action research is research done by teachers for themselves” (Mills, 2014, p. 8).
When the research is engaged in multiple cycles of research, planning will occur before the action is applied. The researcher then uses critical analysis and reflection after the completion of the next cycle. This procedure will produce layers of data to further inform the data analysis and implications of the study. The conclusions will emerge slowly over time and through the course of the study. Alternatively, you have conducted a single cycle of action research, which will yield valuable information to your research. This information will be presented in the final project for the purposes of this course.
Action research often leads to a better understanding and improvements in behavior that may also lead to new questions to examine. These new questions can translate into new cycles of the research to be initiated, thus continuing the action research cycle (Brydon-Miller, Greenwood, & Maguire, 2006). Practitioners can create their own knowledge and understanding of a situation and act upon it, thereby improving practice and advancing knowledge in the field (Buczynski and Hansen, 2014).
Action research is exactly what it sounds like – action oriented. It’s about taking progressive, deliberate steps based on the research to make informed decisions and improvements in the school, community, or other organization.
Week Six Assessment Summary
In this final week, you will prepare a formal written paper that incorporates all of your findings. Be strategic in this process. The previous week’s assignments have been prepared as groundwork for this final project. This paper will be the final, culminating assignment for this course. You will also reflect on the process of action research itself.
Discussion 1: Impact Reflection
Reflecting on all that you have learned in this course, you will explain how the continuous improvement efforts through action research methodology can inform the progress of a school, community, or other organization. Your guided response will elicit further exploration and conversation using the lens of the teacher, administrator, or other personnel that was involved in the study. Follow the instructions for this assignment closely and use the Grading Rubric as a checklist to ensure you have all of the required components addressed in your initial post as well as your responses.
Assignment 1: Action Research Formal Presentation of Findings
This is the final project of the course and provides the opportunity to answer the essential questions of the course as a scholarly practitioner. This assignment is the formal presentation of findings of the action research project. Please review the assignment rubric prior to submitting your paper to ensure that you are meeting each of the set criteria in order to earn full credit. Be sure to include relevant professional, personal, and other real world experiences in a manner that is rich in thought and provides valuable insight to the contents of your paper.
Recommendation
This project is one to save for use in EDU 695: Capstone. Save your work in personal and/or cloud based storage for extra assurance you can access it later. For example, in EDU 695: Capstone, you will construct an ePortfolio where this project is likely to be included. Additionally, you may want to save your work for potential use beyond course completion such as for publishing or professional opportunities. It is strongly encouraged you save your coursework on a flash-drive (e.g., a USB removable drive) or store in a cloud based option such as Dropbox, GoogleDrive, or something similar.
References
Brydon-Miller, M., & Greenwood, D. (2006). A Re-Examination of the relationship between action research and human subjects review processes. Action Research, 4(1), 117-128. Retrieved from http://www.sagepub.com/isw6/
Buczynski, S., & Hansen, C. B. (2014). The change leader in education: Roles and strategies in the differentiated environment. Bridgepoint Education.
Solution Preview
Action research is among the practices that have proven on being able to deliver results when they are expected to. In the different social places where many people are involved in the day to day running of activities, it is often clear that there is a need for continuous improvement………………………….