Action Research for Improving Educational Practice
A Step-by-Step Guide
- Valsa Koshy - Brunel University, UK
Action Research in Education
"This will be a useful guide for a range of teacher-researchers, honours students and others interested in improving their practice."
- British Journal of Educational Technology
"A comprehensive guide to action research; it will be the equivalent of having an experienced tutor available twenty four hours a day to provide valuable advice and reassurance to the researcher, at all stages of the project."
- Carole Portman-Smith, Advanced Skills Teacher for the London borough of Richmond Upon Thames
Which topics are right for Action Research in an education context? How do you go about planning a project, collecting and analyzing your data? What's the best way to present your research findings to parents, colleagues, or funding bodies?
Whether you are a busy teacher doing research in your classroom, an undergraduate starting your research project, or a graduate student writing up your dissertation, this step-by-step guide takes you through every stage involved in carrying out action research.
In this brand new edition, you will find additional guidance on:
- The challenges of being an insider researcher
- Searching and analyzing literature from the internet
- Children's participation and children's rights in action research projects in educational settings
- Validity and authenticity in action research
- A new chapter on writing for publication
- An action research planning sheet
This book draws on Valsa Koshy's extensive experience of supervising researchers at all levels, and includes examples of action research carried out by practitioners across a range of topics and age groups. Case studies include UK and international examples, allowing you to reflect on multiple perspectives of action research in education.
Those new to action research, and those looking for a straightforward explanation of the methods involved, will find this book invaluable.
A very well written book which explains the processes of action research in a clear way. I felt the use of case-studies helped to put action research into context. I felt keen and motivated after reading this book and I will recommend it to my PGCE students.
Looking at getting students to use action research as part of their second module (looking at assessmnet) in order to improve assessment in their curriculum area - this guide will help embed the necessary skills without being overly academic in tone.
This text will be a useful addition to the Reading List for our Year 2 students. In their Student Enquiry course they begin to look at Action Research and produce a presentation to their peers. This presentation is centred around Action Research in the Early Years related to an aspect of Identity and Diversity. The book is a useful step by step guide to the processes involved in conducting your first piece of Action Research. It is well supported by a number of concrete examples of action research projects.
New to the 2nd edition is guidance on the following:
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Philosophical underpinnings of Action Research
-
The challenges of being an insider researcher
-
Searching and analysing literature from the internet
-
Children's participation and children's rights in action research projects in educational settings
-
Validity and authenticity in action research
The 2nd edition also features:
-
A new chapter on writing for publication
-
An action research planning sheet
