Abstract
This chapter provides partnering researchers and teachers with the identification and definition of specific types of research (e.g., descriptive-analytic, observational, and collaborative action research/inquiry) and research approaches and designs (e.g., longitudinal, survey-questionnaires, and focus groups) that were successful in instituting change and improvement in partnership settings. Exemplar studies of each type from two long-running partnerships are summarized, along with findings and their use to institute change. The research approaches are adaptable to current circumstances faced in American education. Special attention is given to collaborative video-based action research studies and the development of a video data bank as a proven partnership strategy for providing evidence of change and teaching effectiveness. Also, a brief history of research on the study of teaching is given, and the tools used to investigate teaching are placed in an Appendix. What worked and why it worked is the central theme of the chapter.
TopIntroduction
Over the many years of directing two long-standing partnerships (SCOPE I: 1980-1998, and SCOPE II-PDS: 1998-2016),1 I have found that there were types of research and research approaches that delivered the kind of data and findings that subsequently instituted change and improvement in the partnership. Changes were made to the three interlocking domains of the partnership: (a) school curriculum and student learning; (b) preservice teacher education; and (c) inservice professional education. The data from the studies were used to either inform the different domains or initiate change in each of them in a coordinated fashion. Based on the results of the studies, members of the partnership -- teachers, administrators, parents, and professors – were moved to take action and make fundamental change and improvement happen. The purpose of this chapter is to have partnering teachers and researchers become familiar with the types of research and research approaches that worked, and why they worked. The types of research that were successful are
- •
Descriptive-Analytic Research (DAR),
- •
Observational Research (OR), and
- •
Collaborative Video-Based Action Research and/or Inquiry.
The specific research approaches and designs that were effectual include
This chapter is organized around the types and research approaches listed above. It is not the author’s intent to provide an in-depth explanation of each type and approach but rather to have the reader emerge with a general understanding of each, and how the findings from studies were used to institute change. Of course it should be noted that the type of research and methodological approach that was selected to conduct a study hinged primarily on the questions that were posed by the members of the partnership. However, it was the type and research approach that carried out the investigation that ultimately was responsible for delivering the kind of data and findings that successfully instigated change.
The chapter has four major sections. The first section presents “descriptive-analytic research” or DAR as one of the three successful types of research. Following a brief characterization of DAR, the author defines each of the research approaches and designs classified as DAR that were effectual: (a) longitudinal and cross-sectional, (b) survey-questionnaires, and (c) focus groups. Under each DAR approach, one to two exemplar studies that were drawn from the two longitudinal partnerships (SCOPE I & II) are offered. Findings from the studies are summarized, along with their use in making changes in the partnership. To conclude the section, and as an introduction to “observational research,” a brief history of DAR as it relates to the study of teaching is offered. The historical account is relevant to the discussion in that the goal of improving classroom teaching is a major goal of many partnerships today, and it was a goal of the two SCOPE partnerships.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Research Design: The strategy or plan for conducting a research study that indicates the study’s basic structure, function, and goals.
Hybrid Teaching: Mixes in-class or in person instruction with online instruction. It can be in a synchronous or asynchronous format. In a synchronous format, some students are in class and others join the class virtually from home. In an asynchronous format online exercises and pre-recorded video instruction are available either to provide new content or to support face-to-face classroom sessions.
Measures of Central Tendencies: Indices representing the average, typical score or number attained by a group of participants. Measures of central tendencies are termed as the mean, median, and mode. The mean is the arithmetic average. The median is that point in the distribution above and below which are 50% of the scores, and the mode is the score or number that is attained by more participants than any other score.
Measures of Variation: Indices indicating how wide the spread of the scores are in a distribution. Range and standard deviation are measures of variation. Range is the difference between the highest and lowest score in the distribution, and standard deviation is the most stable measure of variation that takes into account each and every score in the distribution.
Descriptive Observations vs. Evaluative Observations: The purpose of descriptive observations is to give an accurate account of an event or action for which the observer does not modify, assess, judge or make inferences about what he or she is observing. The observer attempts to capture and represent the event or action using words or phrases that are nonjudgmental.