Day+1+-+What+is+Research?

=Outline=

 = = =What is research?= = =  //Research is … // //Research is something that requires … // //Research is done by … // **Note down some research which has either influenced your own practice or your own learning, or has influenced another area of your life. Who did this research? Why was it influential?**  = =  = What is already known?= = = **Question: How do we go about looking for research in a specific area?** 
 * What is research?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">What is already known?
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Finding current research //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Looking at school-based research articles //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Reviewing literature //
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">What do I want to find out?
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Generating and developing ideas //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Giving a rationale for your research question //
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Ethical considerations
 * Complete the following sentences: **
 * Searching for research:**

Books <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> Journals <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> Internet <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> Tracking citations in other articles
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Library catalogue Voyager //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Search by title, author, keyword //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Narrow focus, specific //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Peer reviewed //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Commonly only last 10 years available //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Search by journal title, author or keyword //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Search engines such as Google //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Be careful - anyone can create a website! //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Search engines for academic research - [|http://scholar.google.com], ERIC Education Resources Information Centre ([|http://eric.ed.gov]) //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Multiple citations in other work - can assume researchers attribute value //

=What is action research?= <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> Action research can be described as the process of a teacher or TA investigating their own practice (action) and the consequences of their actions. They will critically analyse practice and use this to inform their own professional development

"Action research … is more than just doing activities. It is a form of practice which involves data gathering, reflection on the action as it is presented through the data, generating evidence through the data, and making claims to knowledge based on conclusions drawn from validated evidence." (McNiff, 2002, p.16)


 * Why carry out action research?**

You want to change your practice. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> You know that practice is always influenced by context. <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> Carr and Kemmis (1986) describe action research as being about:
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">You may be concerned that things might not be going as you wish //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">You may need to implement a new initiative but are unsure how to do it effectively. //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">You know that someone else’s solution may have merit, but that it is never quite right for the individual situation within which you work. (Steve Waters Adams, UoP) //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">the improvement of practice; //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">the improvement of the understanding of practice; //
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">the improvement of the situation in which the practice takes place. //

= Activity = <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> What aspect(s) of your practice are you currently considering developing? Give reasons for each chosen aspect ....

=What do I want to find out?= = = <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Begin to brainstorm one of the areas of your practice you have identified/another area you would like to research
 * Read 'Getting Started', pages 29-31 in //Doing Your Research Project//** [|(Bell, 2005)]

What do you want to find out?

Try to develop this idea into a researchable question (or questions) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">

= Activity = =<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> = <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> Look at this research article:

//<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Can you identify the question the researcher is seeking to answer? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Is this limited to a single question? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Why have they chosen this question/area for research? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">What range of sources of literature have they used? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">

Also .... //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">What methods have they used and why? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">What are the findings from the research? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">How widely can they be applied? //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Evaluate the implications identified in the article and make any further suggestions. //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">

=Ethical Considerations=

**Activity: What would you do?**

Read the examples on the handout and give a response What are the ethical considerations/issues you have made/faced in previous assignments? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">
 * Revisit the University's Ethical Principles statement**

Making promises - confidentiality and anonymity perhaps not the same? <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">“Confidentiality is a promise that you will not be identified or presented in an identifiable form, while anonymity is a promise that even the researcher will not be able to tell which responses came from which respondent” (Sapsford and Abbott, 1996) //<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">

Video - Teacher's TV - [|Pupils as Researchers]
=**<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">See Directed Task: ****<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Research Proposal **=