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TUTORIAL 1

IDENTIFYING AN ASPECT OF THE EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE TO IMPROVE:


Complete the Starting Points worksheet below, which will assist you in developing a
research topic. Starting Points Worksheet Complete these open-ended questions to
help identify an area of interest for your Action Research Project.
I would like to improve _________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
I am perplexed by _____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Some people are unhappy about __________________________________
___________________________________________________________
I am really curious about ________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
I want to learn more about ______________________________________
__________________________________________________________
Something I think would really make a difference is ____________________
___________________________________________________________
Something I would like to do to change ______________________ is _____
___________________________________________________________
Right now, some areas I'm particularly interested in are _________________

TUTORIAL 2:
Read the situations and identify the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

a problem or research topic.


the purpose of the study
the variables
the intervention or innovation
the time line

SITUATION 1
Mr. B wanted to have a better understanding with his ninth grade ESL science
students. He tried to provide them with more relevant and effective instructions.
Because of their diverse backgrounds, he thought drawings might serve as a rich
data source and not limited by English language skills. He also knew that drawing
would be enjoyable for his students and could serve to get them talking about
science. With his five-year performance review coming up, he wanted to have
additional content for his portfolio, and action research would be a valuable addition.

SITUATION 2
The school is located in an inner-city which draws its pupils from predominantly
lower income families. In recent year, the pupils achievement in English has been
low. The new Headmaster suggested that teachers for the school organize an
intervention programme in teaching specific language skill as a way of improving
achievement. The school was successful in obtaining a sponsorship to enable the
teachers to set up an intervention and undertake an action research project.

SITUATION 3
The area of focus for the project is improving Reading Comprehension through the
use of Higher Order Thinking Skill Activities. Without the solid foundation of reading
skill the teacher feels the children will be struggling throughout their schooling. By
learning the best comprehension strategies and teaching the appropriate strategies
to the pupils, the teacher hopes to provide the solid foundation needed to succeed.
The researcher realised that the pupils score decreases because the pupils have

very poor higher - order thinking skills. By incorporating reading strategies and
showing students how to reflect about what they have read, it would improve their
reading comprehension.
SITUATION 4
This research project was located in a multicultural school with 212 pupils. For 63%
of the pupils, English was an additional language. The aim of the study was to raise
the pupils achievement. In particular project the development of the pupils speaking
skills was targeted, as it was hypothesized that their lack of such skills would affect
their writing skills. The pupils who participated in the project were all well behaved
but seemed to lack confidence in participating in class discussions. The lack of
confidence may have been the result of the inability to speak English fluently. The
Head of English Panel wanted the teacher to plan an intervention programme using
games.
SITUATION 5
My students in a lower-intermediate listening/speaking class were assigned a pair
activity. The first part of the lesson had focused on examples, working through the
language needed. I gave them a hand-out, with clear step-by-step instructions. We
had gone over the instructions on the hand-out, and I asked them if they understood
what they were to do. I answered a few questions and the class started to work. I
walked around to check that everyone was on track, and to answer any other
questions. It looked like the pairs were off to a good start but, as I got to the back of
the room, one pair asked, Sir, what do you want us to do?
SITUATION 6
I went to teach a 2-hour composition class. I decided to get them to write a short
essay about themselves in order to test their writing ability. Half of the students
managed to finish a few paragraphs after 1 hour, while the other half could not even
start one sentence. They look frustrated and I really did not know what to do with the
ones who finished first and could not leave the class. I never realised I would get one
class with so many different proficiency levels to deal with.

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