Action Research Area of Focus

[WLO: 3][CLO: 5]

In this course, your summative assignment is an action research proposal that you will work on each week.

For an overview of the week-by-week plan for how each assignment will build to the final proposal, please see the

Final Action Research Proposal Overview

.

For the Week One Assignment, you may use content from this week’s Discussion Two: Preliminary Area of Focus to expand and extend your ideas for your action research proposal. This content will eventually be further developed to be a part of the Introduction Section in your Action Research Proposal. Depending on the feedback you received from peers and your instructor in the discussion, you might make changes to your preliminary ideas to more clearly establish and solidify your area of focus. After Week One, your area of focus cannot change since we have a short six week time frame to develop your Action Research Proposal. As a result, be sure to consider your area of focus very carefully as you develop this assignment. Please refer to the Weekly Guidance for further information and examples to inform this assignment. 

Please be sure to carefully review the Instructor Guidance and course readings for this week to inform the development of this assignment.

*Reminder to Students: Remember to save all copies of your work throughout the course as you will use each assignment as part of the Final Action Research Proposal. For many of the discussions and assignments, you are building on your work each week, so it is appropriate to use content from your discussions in your weekly assignments, generally expanding and extending concepts and sections as you progress from week to week. You will have the opportunity to make revisions to each section of your proposal based on instructor and peer feedback prior to your final version in the Final Action Research Proposal, so be sure to revisit the feedback you have received from your instructor and classmates each week to continuously refine your proposal throughout the course.

• Content Expectations
  The following content areas are required in this assignment.

  Context for the Proposed Study: In one paragraph, describe your current professional role and setting. If you are not working in early childhood education at this time, you can use a previous or future role that aligns with your career goals and interests.
  Purpose and Educational Significance: In one to two paragraphs, explain the purpose of your study and the student outcomes you want to influence. Further, discuss at least one scholarly article that indicates why this is an important area to address in education.

• Explanation of Problem: In two paragraphs, explain a statement of the problem or situation that led to this interest or why you want to pursue this topic.
• Population: In one paragraph, describe the target population (age/grade, quantity of participants, students or adults). Explain why you have chosen this population for this study, including details about why the population is appropriate for this study.
• One Research Question: Develop one research question that aligns with your area of focus and clearly addresses what you hope to answer and influence in this proposed study. The question needs to be answerable and it must appropriately represent the population/participants you identified. Be sure to review the readings related to developing good research questions to inform the development of your questions.

  Locus of Control: In one paragraph, evaluate whether your idea is within your locus of control. If you are using a past experience or contrived topic because you are not currently working in ECE, please explain locus of control as related to your previous position or anticipated future position.

• Research and Resource Expectations

  One scholarly, peer-reviewed source is required, in addition to the course textbook.

• Writing and Formatting Expectations

  Title Page: Must include a separate title page with the following:

  Title of paper
  Student’s name
  Course name and number
  Instructor’s name
  Date submitted

  Academic Voice: Academic Voice is used (avoids casual language, limited use of “I” or first person, it is declarative).
  Purpose and Organization: Demonstrates logical progression of ideas.
  Syntax and Mechanics: Writing displays meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  APA Formatting: Papers are formatted properly and all sources are cited and referenced in APA style as outlined 

• Suggested Assignment Length

  This assignment should be approximately three double-spaced pages in length (not including title and reference pages).

follow directions

ECE 606 Summative Assignment – Action Research Proposal

The following is an overview of each of the six assignments in the course and how each contributes to the Final Action Research Proposal due in Week Six of the course.

WEEK 1

Action Research Area of Focus

· Context

· Purpose and Educational Significance

· Explanation of Problem

· Population

· One research question

· Locus of Control

WEEK 2

Action Research Literature Evaluation

· 4 Articles Evaluated and Reviewed

· References

WEEK 3

Action Research Proposal – Introduction and Literature Review

· Introduction

· Context
· Purpose and Educational Significance
· Explanation of Problem
· Population
· One research question
· Locus of Control

· Literature Review

· Research Summary #1

· Research Summary #2

· Application of Findings and Author’s Position

· References

WEEK 4

Action Research Proposal – Intervention Planning and Ethical Considerations

· Intervention Description

· Intervention Plan

· Ethical Considerations

· Informed Consent and IRB Approval

· Freedom from Harm

· Anonymity and Confidentiality

· References

WEEK 5

Action Research Proposal – Data Collection, Instruments, and Procedures

· Data Collection – Qualitative

· Data Collection – Quantitative

· Instrument – one qualitative or quantitative

· Data Collection Considerations

· Data Collection Procedures

· References

WEEK 6

Final Action Research Proposal

· Introduction
· Literature Review

· Intervention Planning and Ethical Considerations

· Data Collection, Instruments, and Procedures

· Author’s Reflection

· References

· Appendix A: Instrument

Information for Assignment one from the Instructor:

This is the MOST important part of this course and sets the stage for your entire action research project. Please take time to think about what I have commented on and respond. The sooner you respond, the more dialog you can have about your topic with me and the rest of your peers. If you have questions or concerns, please let me know. Do not start your assignment for week 1 until I tell you that your topic is good to go. This will save everyone time in the long run… promise.

This is the response from Discussion 2 from the instructor:

I like your idea; however, let’s refine more.

“Students do not seem to be interested in learning science.”

Is it that students aren’t interested or not engaged enough? I’m assuming the latter, science is exciting, and it has been, from my experience, one subject that is HIGHLY involved. In fact, I had a “research center”, which was focus on science, but literature based, and was the most visited center in 3 years!!! Test scores would reveal the true disclosure of the amount of information retained by students, which is why this topic is good, it is measurable!!!

Here are your questions:

“How can I make students gain interest in learning science?

How can students be motivated to acquire knowledge in science?”

So, first, we cannot “make” students do anything, we can however engage them more. Your questions might change a little over time. Here is my first attempt at better questions, feel free to use them. I like to think about questions (especially) for a little bit and could possibly come up with something more brilliant soon, lol.

how to increase motivation towards learning in early elementary in the area of science?

OMG… check this out:

https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/87471 (Links to an external site.)

Don’t get nervous, it’s in two language, English being one!!

So… this article was in 2010., just FYI!

Running Head:

Action Research Area of Focus

1

Action Research Area of Focus 4

Action Research Area of Focus

Annette Williams

ECE660: Action Research and Inquiry in Education

Instructor Krummick

January 13, 2020

Action Research Area of Focus

My future professional role would be an early childhood educator in both Science and English. This would educate students through lectures and hand-on learning with adherence to the curriculum. My setting would be the classroom whereby it would ensure that there is a happy environment for all students. Also, act as a role model and a mentor by encouraging students to learn and ensuring that they do not face challenges such as depression or discrimination which would inhibit their learning.This would ensure that interacting with students more often and learn about their families. Maintaining good relationships with their families and having frequent communication would be a good way to understand any challenges the students could be facing. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Williams… we need to write in third person. Comment by Juliet Krummick: To teach in both… Comment by Juliet Krummick: This section should also include current and previous experiences. This entire paper should be in third person.

The purpose of the study is to find various ways in which students could more engage during the learning of science. The student outcomes that need influence are their knowledge and skills in science and their attitude towards learning the subject. Students are expected to obtain a positive attitude toward science learning. The performance of students in science is also an area of interest to be influenced. They should achieve good grades. The behavior of students in learning is also to be influenced since students would be expected to be disciplined and adhere to the classroom conduct rules. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Could be… Comment by Juliet Krummick: How do you know this? Through assessments, observations? I would state how you know. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Why? Comment by Juliet Krummick: Good grades to show mastery and understanding of the topic at hand? Comment by Juliet Krummick: This is off topic.

An example of a scholarly article that shows the importance of motivating students to learn is “
Motivation in the classroom: Reciprocal effects of teacher behavior and student engagement across the school year”.
This article discusses the importance of teacher involvement in motivating students to learn. It argues that the provision of autonomy support to students enhances their motivation in learning. “These findings suggest that students who are behaviorally disengaged receive teacher responses that should further undermine their motivation” (Skinner et al, 2013).The behavior of teachers has a significant effect on the motivation of students in learning various subjects. Comment by Juliet Krummick: This first paper is not a literature review (that’s week 3). I understand your want and need to add in a resource. I would write your information and then go in and add resources to support your ideas, not the other way around. I’ll point as some areas as I read where a resource would be appropriate.

Most of the first-grade students do not seem to be engaged enough during learning science. Even though some perform well, others fail to perform very well because of a lack of adequate engagement during learning. Teachers do not put much emphasis on the teaching of science, and this leads to a loss of interest among their students. Science forms the basis of subjects such as Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. Many students are not interested in learning these subjects because they were not motivated to learn science during early childhood education. Comment by Juliet Krummick: We need to be right on with our conclusions, how do you know this? Comment by Juliet Krummick: Well on tests? Comment by Juliet Krummick: How were you able to determine this? Comment by Juliet Krummick: How do you know this? In research writing, we need to stick to the facts and stay away from opinions. You can explain this idea without opinions…
Teachers dedicate most of their time to reading within the researcher’s school. There is a big push for reading skills and science is put on the back burner. There is limited time for planning and for conducting lessons during the school day due to the classroom schedule. (see how I am showing how my idea is supported?) feel free to use anything that I suggest in the comments. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Which students will learn in the future. Comment by Juliet Krummick: See if you can change this sentence into facts, while avoiding the opinion or made up information (the stuff that doesn’t have support written in).

However, to pursue this topic to determine the role of student motivation in the performance of students. Specifically, wanting to determine whether there is a connection between the poor performance of students in science and inadequate engagement. It would also be good to determine various ways in which early childhood educators could motivate them to learn science.The target population is students in the first grade who are 6-7 years old. The reason for choosing this population is that the students begin to be taught science at this grade. First-grade students are encouraged to learn about their world by making observations and asking questions about nature. First grade forms the basis of learning science and contributes majorly to the interest of students in learning specific subjects such as science as they advance to higher grades of learning. Comment by Juliet Krummick: This is an incomplete sentence. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Are you trying to explain your research questions here? Comment by Juliet Krummick: These numbers should be written out. How many students are there? Comment by Juliet Krummick: You need more information here. How many classrooms, how many students, what is the student population? Comment by Juliet Krummick: This is a good place for a reference, maybe your state guidelines that shows that science benchmarks start in first grade? Comment by Juliet Krummick: This information is fine but it is not tied to your target population.
Are you only focusing in on students? What about parents, teachers, administrators?

What are some of the ways to increase the motivation of first graders towards learning in early elementary in the area of science? Comment by Juliet Krummick: Your question gets to stand all by itself, it’s important!!

The idea is within the locus of control since we can fully engage the first-grade students to learn science. As an early childhood educator, spending most of my time with the students and would also be held accountable for their poor performance. Achieving to control the behavior of children in the class by guaranteeing to reward those who exhibit positive behaviors. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Here you can add an indirect quote about locus of control from our textbook. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Your first sentence here is right on!! You are in control of selecting the population. You don’t have control over the behavior; however, you can provide good strategies, that you will select and decide when to use them, during science lessons. You can help students achieve happiness when learning about science. You also have control over how you monitor students and collected data. Does that help?

This can ensure that all students adhere to the code of conduct while in the classroom. Having to keep more focus on teaching science and ensuring that all students stay happy while learning the unit. “Praising positive behaviors in the classroom is a simple, yet powerful, way to motivate students to be on their best behavior” (Urdan et al, 2015). Early childhood educators can change the negative attitude of students by teaching more understandably to ensure that students do not live with the mentality that science is a difficult subject. Comment by Juliet Krummick: I’m not sure why you keep going back to this idea, how are code of conduct and increasing motivation tied together? Comment by Juliet Krummick: This is an incomplete sentence. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Do you really want to increase motivation in science or is your problem really in classroom management? These are two different things. Comment by Juliet Krummick: Have you conducted research to determine this solution? If not, it is not needed. If so, you already have solutions to your problem and need to change your topic. Comment by Juliet Krummick: We do want to stay positive throughout the paper.

REFERENCES

Mills, G. E. (2014). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. Retrieved from 

https://content.ashford.edu

Skinner, E. A., & Belmont, M. J. (2013). Motivation in the classroom: Reciprocal effects of teacher behavior and student engagement across the school year. Journal of educational psychology, 85(4), 571.

Urdan, T., & Turner, J. C. (2015). Competence motivation in the classroom. Handbook of competence and motivation, 297317.