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Activity 1: Conclusion of Meeting One
Group Process:
1.Pass out Reflecting On the Problem to Develop a Research Question,
Parts 1 and 2. Explain to participants that these exercises are
similar to but more comprehensive than the activities they completed
in the meeting. Tell participants to complete both Parts 1 and 2 at
home. Have everyone check their calendars to determine the date when
participants will complete this exercise and email the research
problems and questions to everyone in the group.
2.Discuss some of the ways the group can expect to use email in their
research. Remind participants that via email they can stay connected
and communicate with the entire group to keep updated in between
meetings, offer support and share resources with one another. Find out
if anyone in the group needs help setting up a distributed mailing
list or an email account, etc. and make arrangements for technical
assistance as necessary. (At this point in the project, participants
already know they will have to use email to carry out their research;
the expectation was presented in the application process.)
3.Pass out copies of the book Teachers Investigate Their Work: An
Introduction to the Methods of Action Research. Explain that the group
will be using this text throughout the project. Ask participants to
read Chapter 4, "Clarifying the Starting Point of Research," beginning
on page 44. Although this is not a requirement, suggest to
participants that they also complete the exercise M9 Graphical
Reconstructions. Page 62. It provides a practical method for using
diagrams to help clarify a person's research situation.
4.Pass out your program's practitioner research letter of agreement.
Explain to participants that a written agreement allows you to be
clear and consistent with everyone in the group regarding the
expectations and responsibilities for the project. Tell people to take
the agreement home - and to sign and return it to you (or the
appropriate person) by a certain date, in approximately a week to ten
days. Explain to participants that this waiting period gives everyone
time to reflect on the first meeting's activities and to consider the
commitment that conducting practitioner research demands. Gently
remind participants that practitioner research-professional
development may not be suited for everyone. It's OK for people to
return the agreement unsigned, and to "stop out" of the group.
5.Distribute the other handouts you have for participants to take
home. Some of the resources participants in the Virginia Adult
Education Research Network found helpful in the beginning of the
research process included:
The Adult Educator's Guide to Practitioner Research by
Suzanne Cockley, 1993
Adult Literacy Practitioners as Researchers by Cassandra E.
Drennon, 1993
Focus on Basics, Volume 1, Issue A, February 1997
The Art of Classroom Inquiry by Ruth Shagoury Hubbard and
Brenda Miller Power, 1993
The Virginia Adult Education Research Network: Practitioner
Research Briefs, 1999-2000 Report Series or the 1998-1999
Report Series
Other
handouts for Meeting One
6.Respond to the group's remaining questions/comments. Evaluate
Meeting One. Ask participants to respond in writing to these
questions:
- In general, what worked at this meeting/retreat?
- What are your suggestions for planning the next practitioner
research meeting?
View
Meeting One Evaluations from participants in the 1999-2000
Virginia Adult Education Research Network.
Conclusion of Meeting One: Coming Up With a Research Question
Meeting Two: Collecting Research Data
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