What if I told you that there is a tool to give any innovator relevancy and to convert any given experiment to usable data? What if I told you that an any grassroots innovation could become a catalyst for much larger organizations around the globe? Although most innovators are motivated to some extent by bettering themselves, their peers, their subordinates, etc., how many would jump at the chance to make a worldwide difference? These questions lead to a common answer - action research.

 

Simply put, action research is research in action.  It is doing something to develop a greater understanding of a topic.  Action research puts educators in the driver’s seat of their own future. It gives them keys to leave a legacy.

 

Action research includes 4 main phases:

1. Planning

2. Acting

3. Developing

4. Reflecting

 

 

While Action Research takes research from labs and libraries to the streets, it still requires a significant amount of planning and a sense of intentionality behind the workings of the project.  There are "burning" questions that need answers at every step of the way.  Let's take them one phase at a time.

 

Planning:

 

For the background and design behind my entire action research plan, please click here:

 

It addresses fundamental questions, such as:

 

What? (The topic as well as the fundamental research question)

Why? (The purpose)

How? (The research design and research methods)

How will we know? (The type of data and measurement instruments)

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For a summation of academia's take on the flipped classroom concept in schools and in the corporate arena, please review my literature review, What the flip? here:

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Acting:

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This quote is one of my favorites and I have showcased it elsewhere on my ePortfolio.  These wise words from one of the greatest innovators of all time remind us the futility of planning without moving to action.  In that vein, we move on to the action phase of action research - the meat and potatoes of the innovative dinner, if you will.  During this phase I will actually be doing live-action research, in the form of a flipped classroom.  My role and scope within the company will likely determine the scope of the project I will complete.  If I am not able to lead a full class, I will implement the flipped classroom concept for a topic / lesson.  Of course, I would gauge knowledge of that topic from a prior class and a control group to compare it against the individuals who flipped.

 

Once the course(s) have come to a close, I will begin gathering data.  I will gather performance data from the class (exam scores), performance data from post-class (to verify if the training has long-term impact), as well as survey results from the group. 

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Developing:

 

Once the experiment itself is complete, we could take one of two paths.  The first is to relax and enjoy any fruits of the hard work.  After all, one should feel proud of moving a plan from an idea to fruition, right?  While that is an appropriate feeling to have, it is a shortsighted step that, if all innovators make, keep true change from really happening.  The entire mantra of action research is walking away from an innovation with usable data to both prove the validity of the project and serve as a tool in the hands of fellow educators worldwide.  Action research has two phases after the actual action is complete.  The first of those phases is developing [an action plan].  Once the data is collected through the project, it is time to compare the data and draw conclusions.  This is where an innovator would outline any improvements they observed or the data describes post-implementation.  Questions one would ask in this phase include:

 

How can educators use this action research in the future?

Is there a clear plan for successful implementation of the action?  If so, how can the way be paved for generations to follow?

Is the conclusion clear or is more research needed?

 

I expect this phase to be one of the shorter phases, based on my data-heavy background and concrete way of thinking.  I enjoy drawing conclusions and assessing whether hypotheses worked or failed.  I will present my findings in a clear presentation, in Word or PowerPoint.

 

Reflecting:

 

After assessing and preserving the data, the time will come to share my findings.  This phase is similar to the last in that a traditional experiment may not implement it.  In a traditional experiment, an educator would make a change and study basic, simple data (such as test scores).  If they saw an improvement, they would continue to utilize the new process or change.  They might run down the change to their superior or a peer, but rarely would it go farther than that.  With action research, now, an innovator shares both the process of the experiment and the results with a wide community – the wider, the better.  When reviewing the experiment, the best innovators will look for opportunities to perform the experiment better in the future. 

 

As my forum to share the hopefully-positive results of the action research, I look forward to this stage more than any other.  I enjoy writing and hope to share this action research via blog and discussion boards.  I also hope to find a forum to reach a wide audience; I doubt I will ever be published in an academic journal but a guy can dream, can’t he?

 

I hope you enjoy this action research journey and hope that you will also have the opportunity to embark on a similar journey of your own.  I will gladly update this page as I begin implementing this plan.