Several issues make the problem of Action Research hydra-headed. In no particular order:
1. Stringer, and others, mention Action Research being coupled with social change. If, however, society as a whole sees schools as agents of institutionally mandated maintenance of the social order, the two would necessarily be at odds.
2. The areas of Reflection and Participation parallel the Transcendalist idea of reforming oneself, and having society follow. While this neatly couples with the idea of modeling behavior, students will necessarily at times need more explicit guidance (a condition I am likely to model after posting this).
3. The cyclical nature of Action Research, while valuable to a profession (and world) which is constantly changing, also suggests the fallacy of ever expecting such research to be done. As communties are crucial to Action Research, and as school communities are always changing (ask any high school or college coach), results (if they can be called such) will be fluid.
4. The collaborative nature of Action Research necessitates the acknowledgement of the biases of all stakeholders, most notably the framers of the study. If the framers are like minded, without dissenters, results would have the limitations of such a condition.
5. The use of Naturalistic Inquiry presupposes that the way people interpret events in their lives is realistic. Faced with an irrational interpretation of an event may require an irrational action to make sense to the subject.
As I get further into the book, I expect this entry will become less tongue-in-cheek, and more flat-out ridiculous.
As to possibilities for projects: I have two (one from each job). The first deals with the effect of participation in Developmental courses on retention at Gaston College. The difficulty here is the potential to rely too much on quantitative research. The other is reading related, and somewhat difficult to nail down. What relevance is there to reading/ what is the delivery method of text/ is there such a thing as a professional writer/ what makes good writing?
If you read all this, thanks!
Help!
Conrad Martin
Comments (4)
Conrad: I think your idea would be great. I know that looking and trying to make somthing of all of this research is overwhelming. It is going to take a lot of work from all of us to get through. According to Stringer, the research should be something that would help your community (your school in this case). I think that the idea about Gaston College is going to be a positive influence on the lives of people here in Gaston County. Don't forget also how Stringer tells us to think, look, and act. I like the idea that it is a continues effort to always be thinking, looking, and acting. I also think the next two articles we have to read will give us some other insights.
Scott Harrill
Posted by Scott Harrill | January 17, 2009 3:15 PM
Posted on January 17, 2009 15:15
Conrad,
Your critique of action research is really thought-provoking. I was particularly interested in point 3, regarding the fluid nature of action research results. While you see this as something problematic, I think it's one of the benefits of action research. The text mentions that there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to teaching, and I think this is also true of communities. As every community IS constantly changing, one must keep returning to the cycle to analyze current practices and explore how they can be modified to accommodate the changes. If a researcher were to devise a study, come up with a strict plan, and then try to apply the same tactics to a fluid community, there would be a point at which the original plan would no longer apply.
I also think your idea about retention at Gaston College can benefit the community, as Scott said, and it could definitely use an action research approach. While there will inevitably be consideration of quantitative research (I thought Stringer's footnote on p. 22 was particularly interesting regarding how those methods can still be used in naturalistic studies), I think there are plenty of people-based elements that factor into retention. Would you include those students who have taken Developmental courses in your research community? They may have some insights as to the specific factors that influenced them.
Posted by Tara Smith | January 19, 2009 7:05 PM
Posted on January 19, 2009 19:05
Conrad, I think you can conduct the retention study without relying on "inhuman" numbers. Tara has already suggested a target population. Remember that we are just doing a 4-week study that is intended to give you some pilot, or preliminary, data that can lead to larger and more longitudinal work. But seeking the students' perspectives would have some real benefit for curriculum and for coming up with other retention strategies used by the college.
Posted by Alecia Jackson | January 21, 2009 2:10 PM
Posted on January 21, 2009 14:10
One of the methods I was looking at using was exit interviews for those students who graduate, as well as those who do not return. However, tracking those that drop out is often a difficult (if not Herculean) task. Further, the level of questioning (which I expect we will develop in the upcoming weeks) will be crucial.
Defining retention (until graduation? transfer to a university?) is also something we need to investigate.
As we currently have approximately 3300 students in Developmental courses (with retention at about 60-65% in the past), getting a significant number of interviews is an issue.
Posted by Conrad Martin | January 22, 2009 9:15 AM
Posted on January 22, 2009 09:15