Familiarize yourself with the nine steps that Mills (2014) presents in Chapter 3, pp. 69-70, in order to complete the first three steps of your Final Project, Action Research Plan. Follow the directions below as they differ from the steps on page 69. As well, review Mills (2014) Informed Consent and Protection from Harm in Chapter 2, pp. 32-36, in order to discuss the need for completion of informed consent as it relates to your action research proposal.
At this point, you are presenting early ideas that are not concrete, as you have not conducted a review of literature yet. Therefore, your responses should be in outline form only. (You will make these three steps more concrete and formal in structure in Week Three). For now, you will briefly explain the problem or situation.
Current Work Setting
Describe your current professional setting, if applicable, whether you are working in a school setting, other educational setting, or organization not related to education.
Potential Population Effected
Keeping the focus relatively small, describe whether the potential population of interest includes a group of students and what their grade or age level includes. If you currently work with adults in a non-educational setting, include who in your workplace is impacted. If you are currently unemployed, include who may benefit from a potential change or intervention (i.e. your child, a related child, an adult in the family, etc.). Avoid the use of specific names, rather describe the group or individuals who would be influenced or involved in the action research project.
Based on what you learned by reading the selection in Mills, discuss the importance of and need to communicate and acquire informed consent. When contemplating where your study may occur and who it may involve, who (person's professional role) do you anticipate will need to sign an informed consent form for your study? If no signatures are needed, clearly state why not.
Area of Focus
Identify your early idea of what the purpose of your study may be.
Explanation of Problem
Statement of problem or situation that led to this interest or why you want to pursue this topic, including trends in education or educational research.
Define Variables
Describe the population (age/grade, quantity of participants, students/or adults). Briefly explain why you have chosen them.
Research question(s)
Develop two to three research questions that align with the area of focus and address what you hope to answer in this study. The questions need to be answerable and presented in list format, and they must appropriately represent the population/participants you identified.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates, one with a different topic idea than your own. Ask a question that will encourage them to expand their thinking, consider another point or perspective, or explain more deeply what is appealing about the topic. Make a recommendation to help them narrow their focus or expand their scope. *It is expected you follow-up by the last day of the week to provide a secondary response to any comments or questions your instructor may have provided. This is part of the grading criteria as a demonstration of critical thinking.
Carefully review the Discussion Forum Grading Rubricfor the criteria that will be used to evaluate this Discussion Thread.
Attention MATLT Students: To keep aligned with your program's emphasis on technology, we strongly suggest that you choose a research area and/or problem involving teaching, learning, or training with technology. Examples may include technology use in the classroom, technology teacher training, technology tools used for evaluation or assessment, or other technology related areas applicable to your place of work.