Ashford 2: – Week 1 – Discussion 1

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses.
 

Early     Action Research Ideas

103 responses (94 unread) 

 Familiarize yourself with the nine steps that Mills (2014) presents in Chapter 3, pp. 69-70, in order to complete the first three steps of your Final Project, Action Research Plan.  Follow the directions below as they differ from the steps on page 69. As well, review Mills (2014) Informed Consent and Protection from Harm in Chapter 2, pp. 32-36, in order to discuss the need for completion of informed consent as it relates to your action research proposal.
 

At this point, you are presenting early ideas that are not concrete, as you have not conducted a review of literature yet.  Therefore, your responses should be in outline form only.  (You will make these three steps more concrete and formal in structure in Week Three). For now, you will briefly explain the problem or situation.  Current Work Setting  Describe your current professional setting, if       applicable, whether you are working in a school setting, other       educational setting, or organization not related to education. Potential Population Effected  Keeping the focus relatively small, describe whether       the potential population of interest includes a group of students and       what their grade or age level includes. If you currently work with adults       in a non-educational setting, include who in your workplace is impacted.       If you are currently unemployed, include who may benefit from a potential       change or intervention (i.e. your child, a related child, an adult in the       family, etc.). Avoid the use of specific names, rather describe the group       or individuals who would be influenced or involved in the action research       project.  Based on what you learned by reading the selection in       Mills, discuss the importance of and need to communicate and acquire       informed consent. When contemplating where your study may occur and who       it may involve, who (person’s professional role) do you anticipate will       need to sign an informed consent form for your study? If no signatures       are needed, clearly state why not. Area of Focus  Identify your early idea of what the purpose of your       study may be. Explanation of Problem  Statement of problem or situation that led to this       interest or why you want to pursue this topic, including trends in       education or educational research.  Define Variables  Describe the population (age/grade, quantity of       participants, students/or adults). Briefly explain why you have chosen       them.  Research question(s)  Develop two to three research questions that align       with the area of focus and address what you hope to answer in this study.       The questions need to be answerable and presented in list format, and       they must appropriately represent the population/participants you       identified. 

 Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates, one with a different topic idea than your own. Ask a question that will encourage them to expand their thinking, consider another point or perspective, or explain more deeply what is appealing about the topic.  Make a recommendation to help them narrow their focus or expand their scope. *It is expected you follow-up by the last day of the week to provide a secondary response to any comments or questions your instructor may have provided. This is part of the grading criteria as a demonstration of critical thinking.
 

Carefully review the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate this Discussion Thread.
 

Attention MATLT Students: To keep aligned with your program’s emphasis on technology, we strongly suggest that you choose a research area and/or problem involving teaching, learning, or training with technology. Examples may include technology use in the classroom, technology teacher training, technology tools used for evaluation or assessment, or other technology related areas applicable to your place of work.