Description

Action Research provides support for teachers, lecturers and trainees going through the action research process. It is written in a clear and accessible style and is suitable for those studying for academic qualifications or researching for professional development, offering practical and academically sound guidance.

 

Each chapter is written so you can quickly get on with your own action research, while also going on to encourage further exploration of the theory and concepts underpinning action research. Structured using a clear four-stage cycle of Action Research, this book illustrates that action research is a flexible research methodology that responds to individual context and individual needs.

 

Features

• 'Case studies' illustrate the theoretical concepts in practice in order to enhance understanding
• 'Key Concepts' to help develop understanding of the action research cycle 
• 'Tensions in the theory' are brought to light and discussed to encourage further reading and deeper understanding

Table of Contents

Phase 1 Finding a focus
1 What is Action Research?
2 Ethics
3 Collaboration
4 Finding a focus

Phase 2 Clarifying the focus
5 Data collection techniques
6 Data collection considerations: validity, reliability, and generalisability
7 Data analysis and interpretation

Phase 3 Implementation
8 Action planning for educational change

Phase 4 Evaluation and dissemination
9 Evaluating Action Research
10 Disseminating Action Research

 

Appendices

Back Cover

 

‘Highly recommended reading for any student or teacher undertaking action research. It provides readers with helpful and comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the action research process.’

Dr Janet Rose, Award Leader, MA Education, Bath Spa University, UK

 

‘Easy to navigate…offers concrete advice…and provides a good balance between theory and practice.’

Audrey Beaumont, Educational Consultant & Academic Researcher

 

 

Written in a clear and accessible style, this book provides practical guidance for teachers, lecturers and trainees doing research. Whether studying for qualifications or researching for professional development, Action Research contains everything you need to know in a single straightforward guide.

 

 

•   Practical approach ideal for those combining work and study

•   Simple navigation which breaks the process into four stages

•   Key concepts that define essential knowledge

•   UK & European case studies which help illustrate theory

•   Focus on collaboration, a central element of UK practice

 

 

Professor Geoffrey E. Mills is Professor of Education at Southern Oregon University, USA, where he has previously held the position of Dean in the School of Education. He has worked in education for more than 25 years and in addition to this book, is the only active author of Educational Research: Competencies for Analysis and Applications, now in its 10th edition.

 

 

Dr Robert Butroyd is currently course leader for the Masters in Action Research for Education, and project manager and principle investigator for the Action Research model for school-based research. He has also taught Economics in secondary schools for fourteen years before coordinating the PGCEs in Business Education and History at the University of Huddersfield, UK.

 

Reader Review(s)

'This book is highly recommended reading for any student or teacher undertaking action research.  It provides readers with helpful and comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the action research process and is both pragmatic and academically challenging.  Its main strength is the way in which it guides and scaffolds the reader through the practical elements of the action research cycle whilst also engaging the reader with key methodological, conceptual and ethical issues related to action research.  It does so by containing many innovative features which provoke the reader to enhance their critical insights into conducting action research.  It also offers illustrative case studies which are used effectively to exemplify the action research process and raise some of the common dilemmas and challenges facing action researchers.  This book is essential reading for any student or teacher wishing to improve educational practicethrough action research.'

 

- Dr Janet Rose, Award Leader MA Education, Bath Spa University, UK.