What is Action

Research?
Universidad Surcolombiana
Programa de Lengua Extranjera Ingls
Seminario de Grado - Action Research
Viviana Fernndez
According to the experts, it is
a cycle of posing questions,
gathering data, reflection,
and deciding on a course of action.

Eileen Ferrance, Action Research, Providence, RI:

The educational Alliance, 2000, available from
www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/themes_ed/act_research.pdf
Kurt Lewin described it as a
process of

Kurt Lewin, Action Research & Minority Problems, Journal of Social Issues
2, no. 4 (1946): 34-46
It is a cyclical process
First you
need a
good
problem

A good Problem is
Important
Complex
Multi-functional
A Good Problem
Asks difficult questions
Demands actions
Resists structure
Leads to SURPRISES
AR requires that we reframe
the problem
By looking at it in different contexts
From different perspectives
As a part of a larger system
By making comparisons
By applying the problem to different
groups
As you implement the plan...
Control the progress
Collect the data (evidence)
Present periodic reports
Another essential element of
Action Research is

REFLECTION
 A cycle of action and
reflection is the heart
of action learning
Tom Bourner, Alan Cooper and Linda France, Action Learning Across
a University Community, Innovations in Education & Training
International 37, no. 1 (2000): 2-9 available from Academic Search
Premier, EBSCO host
 Reflection is
A process of entering into dialogue based
on the data collected and (being) guided by
a systematic framework to discover the
root causes of the organizations
problems.

Michael Beer, Russell A. Eisenstat and Burt Spector, Why Change

Programs Dont produce Change, Harvard Business Review,
November-December, 1990, 158-66
Lastly, we need to
capture the
learning
 Information must be capture and then
made institutional agreements

A process that involves recording and

storing the learning in a way that is
accessible to others.
Action Research seeks to
accomplish two goals:
Stimulate learning
and
Make a difference
 Bibliography
Waddell, Greg. Taken from
http://www.slideshare.net/Gregwad/a
ction-research