• What is Action Research?
• History of Action Research
• Related Action Research Web Sites
• Essays on Action Research
• Action Research Listserv
• Free Action Research Course Online

What is Action Research?

According to the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory,

"Action research is inquiry or research in the context of focused efforts to improve the quality of an organization and its performance. It typically is designed and conducted by practitioners who analyze the data to improve their own practice. Action research can be done by individuals or by teams of colleagues. The team approach is called collaborative inquiry."

PowerPoint on Action Research by Leo Rigsby, IET, George Mason University

History of Action Research

Teacher as Researcher, located at: http://www.ericdigests.org/1996-1/teacher.htm is an ERIC Clearinghouse document on Teaching and Teacher Education, Washington DC. It outlines salient characteristics of teacher-led research and its benefits.

Another article on the subject of Action Research can by found at: http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arr/arow/default.html. The web site is maintained by Ian Hughes and Bob Dick. There is a link to Janet Master's "History of Action Research."

Guiding School Improvement with Action Research
Sagor, Richard (2000).
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
1703 N. Beauregard St. Alex., VA 22311 or visit the web site at www.ascd.org

The Action Research Guidebook: A Four-Step Process for Educators and School Teams
Sagor, Richard (2004) Corwin Press in Thousand Oaks, CA 91320 http://WWW.CORWINPRESS.COM/book.aspx?pid=10300

Action Research: An Educational Leader's Guide to School Improvement
Glanz, Jeffrey (2003).
Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.
1502 Providence Highway, Suite 12.
Norwood, Massachusetts 02062
http://www.christopher-gordon.com/Authors/glanz.shtml

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Related Action Research Web Sites

Action Learning and Action Resources (ALAR) http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arp/arfaq.html lists frequently asked questions about action research.

Action Research International http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/ari/arihome.html is a refereed on-line journal of action research. It has a distinguished international editorial panel, and is sponsored by the Institute of Workplace Research Learning and Development (WoRLD) within the Graduate College of Management at Southern Cross University, and by Southern Cross University Press.

Action Research Resources http://www.uq.net.au/action_research/arhome.html contains links to resources such as conference abstracts, books and e-mail lists of people that can be contacted that support action research.

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CARPP http://www.bath.ac.uk/carpp The Centre for Action Research in Professional Practice, associated with Judi Marshall, Peter Reason and Jack Whitehead at the University of Bath, UK.

Educating as Inquiry: A Teacher/Action Research Site http://www.lupinworks.com/jn is maintained by Judith Newman, a Canadian educator and writer. This teacher/action research web site with links to other AR sites, and other web pages containing articles relating to practice as inquiry.

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See also:

George Mason University has examples of Action Research papers online for the Language Minority Teacher Induction Project at http://gse.gmu.edu/research/lmtip/.

Essays and Books on Action Research

Falk, Beverly & Blumenreich (2005). The Power of Questions: A Guide to Teacher and Student Research. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH. Visit the publisher online: http://www.heinemann.com/shared/products/E00698.asp

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