Reasons for the study

Research in classrooms is needed in order to improve and develop teaching. Teachers need to
know what is happening in their classrooms, what their learners are thinking, why learners are
reacting in the ways they do, what aspects of the classroom the teacher should focus on to
develop their teaching most effectively, how they should change in these aspects and what the
effects of such a change are. It is important to note that more than half of the items in the above
list concern describing and understanding the existing classroom situation rather than evaluating
the implementation of a new approach. If the teachers do not truly understand their classroom
situation first, their choices of new approaches to implement are likely to be based on personal
fancy rather than what is most likely to have beneficial effects in the situation.

As Action Research (AR) represents a growing field of educational research whose chief
identifying characteristic is the recognition of the pragmatic requirements of educational
practitioners for organized reflective inquiry into classroom instruction. Action research is an
process designed to empower all participants in the educational process (students, instructors and
other parties) with the means to improve the practices conducted within the educational
experience.  By doing action Research we could contribute to the practical concerns of people in
an immediate problematic situation and to the goals of social science by joint collaboration
within a mutually acceptable ethical framework.

Reasons why we should conduct action research in classrooms may include

 Action research is very timely, it can start now or whenever you’re ready and
provides immediate results.
 Action research provides educators with opportunities to better understand and
therefore improve their educational practices.
 as a   process, action research can also promote the building of stronger
relationships among colleagues with whom we work
 It also provides the educators with alternative ways of viewing and approaching
educational question and problems and with new ways of examining our
educational practices.
 To recognize that growth doesn't just happen, that often we need more formal
structures in order to grow
 To enable teachers to engage in intellectual pursuits and become continuous
learners
 To create new forms of professional development

The action research conducted for this assignment includes a few issues which were being
encountered in grade fours creative writing and science classes. The problems encountered in the
science class was the most intense as the teacher appointed to teach science was not a
professional science teacher but the administration made her take science and that led to a lot of
issues. Firstly as science was not her subject of interest she couldn’t get her students to take
interest in the subject, she was not trained to be a science teacher hence she didn’t know how to
deliver lectures in a way learning would occur, thirdly there was lack of practical work going on
in the class which was a huge set back in the learning process and lastly a few behavioral issues
were all noticed. Similarly in the creative writing class room a lot of grammatical errors were
noticed in the written assignments, the spoken English was not very impressive and yet again
some behavioral were encountered again.

The reason to study these issues is to make the classroom environment better than before, train
teachers in a way they can make students learn and come up with effective ways to overcome the
most common behavior issues in a class.

Methodology

Literatures review

Teachers have numerous distractions to compete with in the classroom. Students are more
interested in doing other things like maybe fiddling with their stationery or talking to other class
mates than in paying attention, and they lack respect for authority and motivation. The absence
of parental involvement makes the burden on teachers even more stressful. Teachers have limited
options for disciplining students because of the fear of rules set by the school administration. The
classroom management and mastering order inside the classroom are the most important factors
in educational process and basic requirements. They are considered the basic problems which
face the teacher since teachers complain about mastering the order inside the classroom, and it
consumes much effort and time, and they are considered as sensitive, important and critical
factors for the teacher’s success or failure in his tasks. . In spite of all these difficulties,
committed teachers continually look for solutions to these problems. That’s where action
research comes in, Action research is a practical approach to professional inquiry in any social
situation. The examples in this component relate to education and are therefore of particular
relevance to teachers or lecturers engaged in their daily contact with children or students. But
professional practice need not be teaching: it may be management or administration in a school
or college, or it may be in an unrelated area, such as medicine or the social services. The context
for professional inquiry might change, but the principles and processes involved in action
research are the same, regardless of the nature of the practice.

Action research did not arise in education but was applied to the development of teaching as its
potential was identified. As its name suggests, action research concerns those people carrying out
their professional actions from day to day and its purpose is to understand and to improve those
actions. It is about trying to understand professional action from the inside, as a result, it is
research that is carried out by practitioners on their own practice, not (as in other forms of
research), done by someone on somebody else’s practice. Action research in education is
grounded in the working lives of teachers as they experience it.

Action research often seems as an attractive option for teachers new to research. It seems a little
easier than other research methods as action researchers do not have to worry about creating
valid research designs or statistics. While these points are true to some extent, conducting useful
action research still requires serious devotion of time and effort and a lot of thoughtful
consideration. However, while not easy, action research should still be an attractive option for
classroom teachers for different reasons.

What is action research: action rsearch is a process in which participants examine their own
educational practice systematically and carefully, using the techniques of research. Its is not what
ususlly comes to mind when we hear “research”. Action research is not a library project where
we learn more about a topic that interests us. It is not problem solving in the sense of trying
zaaAS find out what is wrong, but rather a quest for knowledge about how to improve.zz

Definition

Why do you use action research and not experimental research

Justify the use of action research

Definition
 
Action research is known by many other names, including participatory research,
collaborative inquiry, emancipator research, action learning, and contextual action
research, but all are variations on a theme. Put simply, action research is “learning by
doing” - a group of people identify a problem, do something to resolve it, see how
successful their efforts were, and if not satisfied, try again.  While this is the essence
of the approach, there are other key attributes of action research that differentiate it
from common problem-solving activities that we all engage in every day.  A more
succinct definition is,
 
"Action research...aims to contribute both to the practical
concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation
and to further the goals of social science
simultaneously.  Thus, there is a dual commitment in action
research to study a system and concurrently to collaborate
with members of the system in changing it in what is
together regarded as a desirable direction. Accomplishing
this twin goal requires the active collaboration of researcher
 and client, and thus it stresses the importance of co-learning
as a primary aspect of the research process.
 
What separates this type of research from general professional practices, consulting,
or daily problem-solving is the emphasis on scientific study, which is to say the
researcher studies the problem systematically and ensures the intervention is informed
by theoretical considerations.  Much of the researcher’s time is spent on refining the
methodological tools to suit the exigencies of the situation, and on collecting,
analyzing, and presenting data on an ongoing, cyclical basis.
 
Several attributes separate action research from other types of research.  Primary is its
focus on turning the people involved into researchers, too - people learn best, and
more willingly apply what they have learned, when they do it themselves.  It also has
a social dimension - the research takes place in real-world situations, and aims to
solve real problems.  Finally, the initiating researcher, unlike in other disciplines,
makes no attempt to remain objective, but openly acknowledges their bias to the other
participants.
 
The Action Research Process
 
Stephen Kemmis has developed a simple model of the cyclical nature of the typical
action research process (Figure 1).  Each cycle has four steps: plan, act, observe,
reflect.
 
When is Action Research used?
 
Action research is used in real situations, rather than in contrived, experimental
studies, since its primary focus is on solving real problems.  It can, however, be used
by social scientists for preliminary or pilot research, especially when the situation is
too ambiguous to frame a precise research question.  Mostly, though, in accordance
with its principles, it is chosen when circumstances require flexibility, the
involvement of the people in the research, or change must take place quickly or
holistically.
 
It is often the case that those who apply this approach are practitioners who wish to
improve understanding of their practice, social change activists trying to mount an
action campaign, or, more likely, academics who have been invited into an
organization (or other domain) by decision-makers aware of a problem requiring
action research, but lacking the requisite methodological knowledge to deal with i

Action Research Tools

 Action Research is more of a holistic approach to problem-solving, rather than a
single method for collecting and analyzing data.  Thus, it allows for several different
research tools to be used as the project is conducted. These various methods, which
are generally common to the qualitative research paradigm, include: keeping a
research journal, document collection and analysis, participant observation recordings,
questionnaire surveys, structured and unstructured interviews, and case studies.

Use of action research not experimental research:

1. It is an Immediate and quick solution of a problem.

2. Action Research solves practical problems, classroom problems and for development of
educational practices.

3. Its programmer does not need more preparation

4. When any problem is experimented to find out its cases at that time. This research becomes
active to manipulate it.

5. It is not a method of research but it actually implements the principles of other methods like
historical method, survey method, etc.
6. The teacher faces numerous questions and he prepares the probable answers through action
research techniques.

7. It applies the new knowledge and theories propounded by experimental research.

8. This types of research does not wait for the solution of problems. It adjusts the time gap.

Experimental Research:

1) It takes time to create and apply the actual solution of a problem. It follows the trial and
error methods.

2) This research solves the practical problem by putting those into social psychological
laboratory and finds out the real causes and remedies for those problems.

3) Experimental research needs more preparation.

4) Any problem found in the educational departments may be put under experiments to
find out the real causes.

5) Experimental research is a method of research.

6) The teacher prepares probable answers and formulates hypothesis in an

experimental way to choose the right theory.

conclusion

The pupil-centred action research approach which relates to actual practice has proved
to be appropriate in this study because it meets the criteria of making improvement in
teachers’ professional practices (Atweb, Kemmis & Weeks, 1998). When pupils were
doing their dictation, their weaknesses and needs such as pronunciation problems
were easily identified. This facilitated teachers to tackle pupils’ problems. It also
allowed teachers to direct their teaching more precisely towards pupils’ needs.
Furthermore, the innovative dictation activities provided pupils with interesting,
authentic and challenging tasks to practise. They succeeded in motivating pupils to
learn as well as helping them develop proper useful learning strategies such as
listening and editing skills. In completing the tasks, pupils also learned
to work in collaboration and appreciate peer help. These were the unexpected
outcomes that pupils achieved. This study aimed at improving the learning
environment and teaching strategies in English dictation lessons in a local Chinese
primary school in order to enhance pupils’ English language learning. Generally
speaking, the basic objectives of this research study were achieved. The majority of
pupils successfully changed their perceptions of dictation from treating it as a solely
spelling-checking and revision exercise to a meaningful learning task, from a boring,
threatening and stressful environment to an interesting, enjoyable and collaborative
atmosphere. To a certain extent the change in perception might help pupils develop a
positive learning attitude towards their dictation lessons. Pupils’ confidence has thus
increased and their anxieties have in turn reduced. Definitely these positive feedbacks
may enhance pupils’ future learning. However, to what extent and by what means can
dictation be used in the most effective way in helping pupils’ second language
learning have not yet been discovered due to the limited length and scale of this study.
Therefore, further investigation in the impact of dictation in second language learning,
especially in local primary schools, is recommended in the future.