How Teachers can learn through Action Research?

Have you ever wondered how teachers are so relevant in their work? It is a fact that the teachers can’t ignore the assessment when they design learning experiences for students to make school more relevant to students’ lives. The most difficult question that arises in teachers’ minds in real-world learning experiences is how will they know what students know and could do at the end of the project? 

In some schools, teachers have decided to sort out the assessment-related questions by looking after the students’ classroom habits. This action research will automatically create a deeper knowledge of students’ authentic assessment and also a new strategy for learning together. 

Hence, the method of their research provides a good model for other schools that are engaged in redesigning their professional learning and understanding. Let us know how teachers can learn through action research by looking after this article. 

Let us get started. 

What is action research in teaching? 

Teacher-researchers who teach as research have coined the term “action research” to describe their approach to classroom research. Action research has proven it is fit for education thus far, and it is becoming increasingly significant in educational institutions. The origins of educational issues can be traced back to the school.

How do teachers learn through action research? 

Let us have a glimpse of how teachers learn through action research. Follow the below points to know about it clearly: 

  • Start with a reasonable need to know
  • Then focus on the research question 
  • Take the time to plan the things
  • Make sense of your information
  • Make strategies for sharing 

Do you want to know about them in detail? Of course yes, let us begin to understand them: 

  • Start with a reasonable need to know-  To better fulfill students’ learning requirements and help them develop skills like teamwork and creativity, teachers have implemented several instructional methodologies, including project-based learning. Students demonstrate what they know in a PBL class by manufacturing products or generating solutions, rather than taking examinations and quizzes.
  • Then focus on the research question- Teachers considered what they wanted to learn about authentic assessment, which the late Grant Wiggins described as engaging, multisensory, feedback-oriented, and grounded in real-world work, across grade levels and departments. 

Traditional tests and quizzes, on the other hand, tend to focus on recollection rather than application and have little in common with how professionals in fields like math or history go about their work. Is implementing authentic assessment an effective and engaging way to provide meaningful feedback for instructors and students regarding growth and competency in a variety of learning objectives, including 21st-century skills?

  • Take the time to plan the things- Teachers then devised authentic examinations that would provide data for their research. Middle school science students, for example, built genetically modified seed prototypes and pitched their ideas to a panel of possible investors. They had to not only comprehend germination science but also apply it and defend their conclusions.

To assess student learning and skill development, teachers in other classes organized everything from mock trials to environmental stewardship initiatives. Teachers used a single rubric to prepare high-quality examinations.

  • Make sense of your information-  You know teachers look after each assessment while gathering all the information and data of students. They were surveyed after every project to know the value of reasonable assessments which differs from traditional things like quizzes. 

Important things to remember 

Authentic assessments provide pupils with more relevant feedback and opportunities to use them. Authentic assessment is more interesting for students since it allows them to be more creative, make decisions, and cooperate. Teachers are debating whether or not to create evaluations that allow for differentiation and are relevant to students’ daily lives.

  • Make strategies for sharing- Do you know about the strategies that can be used for sharing? If not, then let us know about them as other institutions are also there who are interested in action research so they follow the strategies:
  1. Instead of saying your scores are low or anything, prefer to focus on the points of growth, on your strengths. You have to focus on your core strengths.
  1. Teachers have to ask questions to students and also need to make decisions regarding indicial research. You have to inculcate a sense of inquiry within. This will let us focus on the pure assessment. 
  1. You need to design good structures for collaborating with all the teachers and colleagues. You can use staff meetings for planning which will be a problem-solving issue and encourage a collaborative environment. 

Wrapping up the context 

In this article, you come to know about the action research that teachers use to understand the students’ assessment. In some schools, teachers have decided to sort out the assessment-related questions by looking after the students’ classroom habits. This action research will automatically create a deeper knowledge of students’ authentic assessment and also a new strategy for learning together. This article will surely help you when you read it thoroughly. 

Carter Martin

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