SUMMARY CAR (INDIVIDU)

 

Name: Dwi Herlina

NIM: 202032105

Class: C

 

THE DEFINITION OF CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH

Classroom action research begins with a question or questions about classroom experiences, issues, or challenges. It is a reflective process that helps teachers to explore and examine aspects of teaching and learning and to take action to change and improve.

 AR is a broad movement in education that involves taking a self-reflective, critical, and systematic approach to understanding one's own teaching contexts. It involves taking an area that could be done better, subjecting it to questioning, and developing new ideas and alternatives. In AR, a teacher becomes an 'investigator' or 'explorer' of their personal teaching context, while also being one of the participants in it. So, one of the main aims of AR is to identify a ‘problematic’ situation or issue that the participants – who may include teachers, students, managers, administrators, or even parents – consider worth looking into more deeply and systematically.

According to experts/scholars, AR is…

Action research is research carried out in the classroom by the teacher of the course, mainly to solve a problem or improve the teaching/learning process. (Elizabeth, Sonora)

Action research is carried out by teachers in their context, in their classrooms. Teachers identify a problem or an area they wish to improve and based on theory or experience or a hypothesis they think of an intervention. They document the intervention and the results of it. If the results are positive they could lead to the dissemination of the information. If not, the cycle may be started again. (Iraís, Tlaxcala)

AR is a reflective process that aims to solve a particular teaching-learning problem that has been identified. One of the aims of AR is to improve the teaching practice and in the long run the whole curriculum. In order to do action research it is necessary to carry out a rigorous study in which the problem has to be clearly specified, an action plan has to be described and carried out, and finally an evaluation has to be contemplated in order to show if the decisions taken were the adequate ones. (Carmen, Mexico City)

Based on the opinion above,  we can conclude that AR is research carried out by teachers to solve a problem or improve the teaching/learning process. AR is a reflective process to solve a particular teaching-learning problem. To do action research, a rigorous study must be conducted, an action plan must be described and carried out, and an evaluation must be contemplated.

 

PURPOSE OF CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH

The purposes of action research in school and classroom fall broadly into five categories (Cohen: 1989: 118). First, it is a mean of remedying problems diagnosed in specific situations, or improving in some way a given set of circumstances. Second, it is a mean of in-service training, thereby equipping the teacher with new skills and methods, sharpening his analytical powers, and heightening his self-awareness. Third, it is a means of injecting additional or innovatory approaches to teaching and learning into an ongoing system which normally inhibits innovation and change. Fourth, it is a mean of improving the normally poor communication between the practicing teacher and academic researcher. Fifth, it is a mean of providing a preferable alternative to more subjective approach to problem solving in the classroom.

In addition, other idea describing the topic is one of Borg, Gall, and Gall (1993: 391) that state other five purposes of classroom action research. First, classroom action research contributes to the theory and knowledge base needed for enhancing practice. Second, it support the professional development of practitioners by helping them become more competent in understanding and utilizing research finding and carrying out research themselves when appropriate. Third, it builds a collegial networking system for sometimes it involves several educators, even students and parents, working together. Fourth, it helps practitioners identify problem and seek solutions in a systematic fashion. Fifth, it can be used at all levels and in all areas of education, such as a mean of in-service training for principals.

In short, Action research in school and classroom fall into five categories: correcting problems diagnosed in specific situations, equipping teachers with new skills and methods, injecting additional or innovatory approaches to teaching and learning, improving communication between teachers and academic researchers, providing a collegial networking system, and helping practitioners identify a problem and seek solutions. It can be used at all levels and in all areas of education.

 

CHARACTERISTICS OF CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH

Action research is a collaborative process that enhances the competencies of practitioners, seeks to understand complex social situations, requires reflective critique, improves the quality of human relationships, identifies remedial measures, helps teachers bring about desired changes, and helps teachers engage in intellectual pursuits and become continuous learners. Action research is a small-scale intervention to bring out changes in the functioning of teachers and other practitioners in a given situation and context. It uses quantitative and qualitative methodologies to know its students well, interact with them, observe them, and collect relevant data.

 

TYPES OF CLASSROOM ACTION RESEARCH

Classroom Action Research (CAR) is a type of research that involves guiding researchers towards an action. There are four types of CAR: diagnostic, participant, empirical, and experimental. Diagnostic CAR is when the researcher diagnoses and enters the situation contained in the research setting, while participant CAR involves the person who will do or carry out the research. Empirical CAR involves the researcher carrying out an action or action and disclosing what was done and what happened during the action. Experimental CAR involves applying various techniques or strategies effectively and efficiently in a learning activity. In relation to teaching and learning activities, it is hoped that researchers can determine which way is the most effective in achieving teaching goals.

 

MODELS, PROCEDURE AND STEP IN CAR

Model

 

Most models present action research as a cycle, starting with a question and ending with more questions. The image above is intended to capture the cyclic nature of classroom action research. Strickland (1987: 760) discusses the following sequence: 1) identify an issue, interest or problem; 2) seek knowledge; 3) plan an action; 4) implement the action; 5) observe the action; 6) reflect on your observations; 7) revise the plan. In line with Strickland, Borg, Gall and Gall (1993: 392-394) explain that there are seven steps of action research.

 

Procedure and steps in CAR

1. identify a classroomrelated question that you would like to research. Good questions may include "Are my students more engaged when they work individually or when they work in groups?" or "Does computer research help students to understand the material better?"

2. examine any research applicable to your question. For example, you may look into studies about the impact of technology on learning.

3. choose an teaching design that would work most effectively in answering your research question. For example, you may teach Chapter 1 using one particular method, teach Chapter 2 using another method, and then examine how the grades from the two chapters differed. This is not a controlled experiment, and you will not be able to prove anything distinct, but it will give you an idea of an answer.

4. Collect the data that you need to help answer your research question, such as student grades, results of a survey or your own anecdotal notes about your classroom. Make sure to take notes on everything that you see or hear that relates to your question.

5. Analyze the data you have collected to come to a conclusion. You can make a graph or table of test scores, categorize various anecdotes or make an annotated time line during the analysis process.

6. implement a strategy based on your results. If you discovered that the strategy you were already using was helpful, the new strategy would simply build on what you were already doing. If you found, however, that an alternative way of teaching was more effective, you could brainstorm various ways to put that method of teaching into practice.

7. share your research with colleagues and others who might be interested. Discuss what you have discovered at team meetings or even during your lunch break. Alternatively, mention it to the principal and suggest that it be publicized to the rest of the staff.

To conclude, classroom action research follows a series of repeated steps. Finishing the first cycle, then the cycle begins once more, with the revision incorporated in a new action, which is itself observed, and so on. This process allows teachers who wish to investigate events in their own classroom to take constructive steps toward solving immediate problem, systematically reflecting on the outcomes. Thus the goals of classroom action research are achieving local understanding and developing viable solutions to problems.

TOPIC INVESTIGATION

The topic of classroom action research investigation lies in all the components and or problems that exist in the classroom or in terms of learning.