Assessing the Quality of Inquiry

Chapter six from the Dana text (p.171) addressed assessing the quality of an action research plan. There are 5 quality indicators to use to measure and improve an action research plan. As I continue to work on my own plan it will help to reference how I can apply these quality indicators.

Dana, Nancy. (2009). Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Quality Indicator 1:
Context of Study:
In creating the context of the study so that other’s may understand and relate to the purpose of the action research I can include: information on the demographic and academic achievement of students in the study group and a definition of Project Based Learning. It is important to frame what Project Based Learning will look like in my classroom as there is not a standard definition, especially in elementary schools. I need to include project documents from the projects in order to help frame the concept of Project Based Learning. It might be helpful to include an introduction or background section of my action research plan in which I describe the quantitative measures of PBL in my classroom prior to the study and what PBL is. I can include the demographic and academic information of students in an explanation of the study.

Quality Indicator 2:
Wondering and Purpose:
In the introduction to my action research plan, I need to explain the reason for my initial wonderings about the proposed topic. Traditionally, benefits of Project Based Learning have been explained with data focusing on academic achievement statistics and rhetoric about how PBL promotes “21st Century Skills” like collaboration, communication, and work ethic. However, there is very little data about these teamwork skills and how PBL affects them. Additionally, it is difficult to quantitatively measure them. The purpose of my action research emerged from my own wonderings about PBL being an effective method for improving these important skills in students.

Quality Indicator 3:
Principal Research Design (Data Collection and Data Analysis):
The source of the quantitative measures of student achievement will be the teacher rubrics addressing communication, collaboration, and work ethic. Including a colleague in the data collecting process will provide additional insight into the study. The written student reflections will provide student opinion and insight into their performance regarding the measured skills, and will also provide further documents for me to analyze with regard to the development of these skills.

Quality Indicator 4:
Principal-Research Learning:
The greatest challenge regarding this quality indictor for me will be to “articulate clear, thoughtful statements about what was learned through the process”. Tying each statement to collected data and keeping my explanations simple will help create a clear, valid, and understandable reflection. I can communicate the quantitative data collected from the rubrics simply using excel and related tables and charts. For the student writing samples, I might want to include longitudinal selections from the same student.

Quality Indicator 5:
Implications for Practice:
This quality indicator is something I would naturally do as a teacher wanting to increase student practice of “21st Century Skills”: communication, collaboration, and work ethic. If my study yields a positive effect between these student skills and Project Based Learning then my next area of focus will be on increasing PBL in the classroom. If not, then the second cycle of research might include embedding activities within PBL that create situations in which students use communication, collaboration, and work ethic.