Week 1 Action Research

This week’s assignment was on action research and the question I was asked to answer was; write a description of what I learned about action research and how I might be able to use it. In this week’s assignment, I have learned that action research is research that involves teachers working to improve their skills, teaching styles and strategies. “Action research is not about learning why we do certain things, but rather how we can do things better.”  It is a process that teachers collaborate in evaluating their practice, trying out new strategies and recording their work in a form that is understandable by them and other teachers.  Action research can be a great benefit to educators for a number of reasons.  However, I have one simply reason, which is that we know more because we are the educators that are in the classrooms and on the campuses working with students. Good teachers are, after all, themselves students, and often look for ways to expand.  Action research is a great learning tool that teachers can use to help change their instruction, which impacts student learning tremendously.  Research has shown that teachers who engage in action research generally becomes more aware of their own practices and become better educators.  Ringler states “good teaching” in action; a method that systemically addresses learning issues simultaneously motivating teachers intrinsically to continue improving their teaching practice.”