“Action research has become a viable way for educators to not only examine what is, but to imagine what might be possible.” – Sheri R. Klein, Chapter 1 Action Research: Before You Dive In, Read This! p. 3
With challenges and changes in education, such as increased availability of and access to information, creation of new modes of communication and evolving cultures of learning, educators must be constantly questioning and reflecting on their own methods, practices and general classroom environment in order to ensure they are current, relevant and effective. Klein’s summaries characterize action research as systematic, intentional, practical, innovative, connective, collaborative, multidimensional, multipurposeful, insightful and flexible. It is a methodology, not a method (Klein, p 5).
My understanding of action research is found in its label: taking ACTION in order to better understand and change the educational setting in which you currently reside. “Action research implies change,” (Klein 5) and a commitment to change. This commitment is played out through “questioning, assessing, investigating, collaborating, analyzing, and refining.” H. Smith used her art, more specifically the canvas, to work out “practical action research” in order to “think through the complexities” of the issues she wanted to better understand, visualize and make known. Action research is a vehicle by which educators explore, find meaning, and seek change within their own environment. “The desire to change practice begins with self-awareness and a deliberate process of reflections and question posing” (Smith 6).
My personal dilemma: I am currently teaching courses that are not my own design. As an instructor of entry-level art history courses, I teach a course that is essentially created by someone else and “prescribed” to me. My courses are exclusively online with very little built in student/instructor interaction. Many days, I simply feel like the facilitator of a correspondence course. This is not what I envisioned as an instructor. My previous on-campus courses involved open ended discussion and continual dialogue in addition to discourse. How can I as an instructor move from a (intentionally) passive sphere into a more active participatory role in my online instruction? Does action research have to elicit change that is for the common good or can it be just for the intentional gain of one educator? Is this exploration of new ways to interact in my particular sphere considered action research?
I would feel the same way you do Martee; we have been learning that interaction and communication are necessary ingredients in order for learning to occur. This definitely sounds like an action research topic waiting to evolve. It would be interesting to see if you could get support to take more of an active role in your course and compare it to what you are currently practicing. What age group do you teach?
ReplyDeleteDeb, I teach two age groups: high school students seeking college credit and college age students (their ages vary from 17 to 60s as lots of non-traditional students take online courses). I believe my dept chair would be open to proposals. The courses I teach are not poorly written. But, considering the content and the students that traditionally take the course, I am afraid they might be a bit boring.
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ReplyDeleteHaha this is me. I have two google accounts, and I don't know why my smelachrinos@gmail.com shows up as Art-astic! That's a funny name...guess I should figure out how to change that. Safari is logged in to that and Firefox to artabroad@gmail.com
DeleteI deleted the comment and reposted in Firefox but didn't realize it would leave the Art-astic reference...
I teach AP Art History. I have a small class size of 5 eleventh and twelfth graders. We sit around together and try to make connections across time and throughout cultures, connecting big ideas from one culture to another. How does one honor a hero? What is the appropriate way to commemorate the dead? What is your cultural ideal of beauty? Etc.
ReplyDeleteAre you familiar with VoiceThread? Could you use that as a tool to encourage discussion? My students taught each other about medieval art. They were assigned images and a format related to the picture book "The Important Book" by Margaret Wise Brown. We had required postings, such as comments and questions, and then required times for voice thread creators to respond to the questions. It was only about two weeks, but I am thinking about creating a one or two month version for this semester, looking at a theme such as images of rulers, motherhood, views of nature, etc. and having students engage in continual dialogue in this platform.
Here's two examples of my students' voicethread "conversations in the cloud"
http://voicethread.com/share/5200865/
http://voicethread.com/share/5200886/
Stephanie,
DeleteI am familiar with VoiceThread and love the idea to use it as a "visual essay" for my students. I have only used VoiceThread once (last semester when I was introduced to it). My courses range from 25 students to 80. I also teach summer courses...I will put this into works for one of my summer sessions.