IUPEJ Flashcards
What is action research?
It is a process in which teachers investigate teaching and learning to improve their own and their students’ learning.
Why should teachers do action research?
- to help them notice what they and their students do
- to get feedback
- to help them tailor teaching and learning
- to justify the teaching and learning choices they make
- to increase their knowledge and become less dependent on textbook
writers and school administrators - to ensure that they don’t become bored with teaching
What are the steps in the action research process?
- plan (narrow and identify the problem, think about the solution)
- teach / act (implement your solution)
- observe (whether the solution was successful or not)
- reflect (has the problem been solved; what are your next steps)
Where can your research question come from?
Observing the teaching and learning processes in your classroom, something you have read, previous research.
What evidence can you collect to see whether your solution has worked or not?
You can collect many types of evidence; examples: students’ exercises, essays, assignments, tests; your lesson plans, notes to students’ parents, minutes of meetings; personal notes; observation schedules; peer observations; audio recordings; video recordings; interviews of learners, their parents, teachers, administrators etc.; questionnaires; student journals; teacher journals.
What is a research question?
A research question is a question that a research project or one’s action research sets out to answer
Essential element of every research
Usually narrow and specific, accurate and clear
The investigator must identify the type of study (quantitative, qualitative, mixed) before forming a research question
Explain the FINER criteria!
o highlights useful points that may increase the chances of developing a successful research project
o F = feasible, I = interesting, N = novel, E = ethical, R = relevant
Explain the PICOT criteria!
o tend to be used to frame questions used in evidence-based studies, such as medical studies
o such research may focus on assessment or evaluation of patients or problems, as well as what may be the causal factor(s) with control and experimental groups
What’s the main difference between qualitative and quantitative research?
- Quantitative studies rely on numerical or measurable data
- Qualitative studies rely on personal accounts or documents that detail how people think or respond within society
- Qualitative research – interviews, focus groups, open-ended questions, individual’s experiences
- Quantitative research – compiling numerical data to test causal relationships among variables; numerical analysis, quantifiable data
Name quantitative research methods!
- Experiments
- Questionnaires
- Surveys
- Database reports
Name qualitative research methods!
- Interviews
- Focus groups
- Documents
- Personal accounts or papers
- Cultural records
- Observation
Provide some more differences between qualitative and quantative research! (the questions they answer, what kind of data they produce, the size of the data sample, ways of presenting data, analysis, etc.)
QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH: data are analysed numerically to develop a statistical picture of a trend or connection (TRENDS, POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS), WHAT AND HOW, produce objective data, and their
results can be communicated through statistics and numbers, large data sample, large pool of participants, participants cannot tailor their responses or add context; charts and graphs; the data can be evaluated using either descriptive or inferential
statistics
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH: often addresses the “why” behind a phenomenon, correlation, or
behaviour (REASONS); allows for creativity, varied
interpretations and flexibility; more subjective; smaller sample size; content analysis, discourse analysis,
thematic analysis
Zagreb PROJECT of early FL Teaching & Learning took place in two different periods, when?
- in the 1970s → it had several stages
- in the 1990s
What was the aim and results of the first stage of the research - in 1973?
in 1973, a pilot project was organised in Zagreb to investigate possibilities of FL introduction at an earlier age → at that time FLs in Croatia were taught as obligatory from grade 5 → professor Vilke’s concern was when and how to start learning a FL to ensure a sound basis for reaching their goal: a competent bilingual speaker
in the first stage, completed in the school year 1973/74, research was conducted to find out to what degree (if any) children learn English more easily before puberty than learners who have passed Lennenberg’s critical period (1967) → the findings were consistent with Lennenberg’s statement about language learning blocks which become frequent after puberty
➢ post-puberty: more insight into the functioning of the language, intellectual maturity – faster learning of structures and vocabulary; on the level of pronunciation the deviations from the norm were such that they sometimes blurred the meaning of utterances
➢ pre-puberty: more superior in mastering the phonetic system and the pronunciation; authentic English phonemes and intonation patterns
What was the aim and results of the second stage of the research - in 1975?
in 1975 the aim was tofind out at what age between six and nine would it be best to start a FL and what factors play a role in the learning process at
this age
RESULTS: a tentative answer that eight to nine would be the optimum age; an easy relationship and a positive emotional link with the teacher accounted for the success of individual children; acquiring a second language and learning a foreign language are two different processes
