Action Research Practice Research Articles

Recent Progress in Quasi/All-Solid-State Electrolytes for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Lithium–sulfur batteries have received increasing research interest due to their superior theoretical capacity, cost-effectiveness, and eco-friendliness. However, the commercial realization of lithium–sulfur batteries faces critical obstacles, such as the significant volume change of sulfur cathodes over the de/lithiation processes, uncontrollable shuttle effects of polysulfides, and the lithium dendrite issue. On this basis, the lithium–sulfur battery based on solid-state electrolytes was developed to alleviate the previously mentioned problems. This article aims to provide an overview of the recent progress of solid-state lithium–sulfur batteries related to various kinds of solid-state electrolytes, which mainly include three aspects: the fundamentals and current status of lithium–sulfur solid-state batteries and several adopted solid-state electrolytes involving polymer electrolyte, inorganic solid electrolyte, and hybrid electrolyte. Furthermore, the future perspective for lithium–sulfur solid-state batteries is presented. Finally, this article proposed an initiation for new and practical research activities and paved the way for the design of usable lithium–sulfur solid-state batteries.

Using Flipgrid as an Interactive Application to Improve Filipino Students’ Engagement in Language Flexi-Learning

The pandemic's massive impact on schools has pushed teachers and students to migrate online and affected students' class engagement. With this, the action research aimed to 1) analyze the previous experiences of the students with other interactive applications, 2) determine if Flipgrid interactive options are an intervention for improving students' engagement, and 3) evaluate the experiences of the students in using Flipgrid interactive options in asynchronous learning. The research used a practical action research design that utilizes mixed methods to address the study's problem and was conducted at Xavier University – Junior High School in the Philippines. To achieve the desired results, the researchers first gave the interactive questionnaire, followed by a survey questionnaire before and after the implementation of the proposed intervention, and conducted a focus group discussion to gather more in-depth information. Twenty respondents took the pre-test, and 17 took the post-test. The results of the data from the statistics and information gathered during the focus group discussion show that students are favorable of the features of Flipgrid. There is also a highly significant difference between the pre-test and post-test results, which means that the proposed intervention, comment section, and view counts effectively alleviate the challenge of students' engagement in asynchronous learning. Based on the perceived response from the participants, Flipgrid, in general, is a great tool to boost students' engagement. Thus, the researchers recommend that teachers maximize the use of Flipgrid for asynchronous sessions.

Exploring the Practice of Action Research among English Language Teachers in Omani Public Schools and Factors Affecting its Implementation

The present study explored the extent to which action research is practiced by English language teachers and the factors that affect action research implementation in the Omani ELT context. Additionally, it sought to identify different solutions that could be implemented to strengthen action research practices from the point of view of English language teachers. Data was collected through a questionnaire that was distributed among 366 English language teachers, followed by semi-structured interviews with 8 English language teachers who were actively engaged in conducting action research. There was a low level of practice of action research among English language teachers in the Omani public schools. The study also showed that insufficient time, heavy workload, lack of colleagues’ assistance and support, and lack of motivation were the main factors that hindered action research practices in the Omani ELT context. Participants suggested that providing training, support and incentives as well as encouraging collaboration with experts and publications could strengthen the practice of action research in ELT.

Budikdamber: Produktivitas Dari Kampus Upaya Membantu Ekonomi Mahasiswa Politeknik ‘Aisyiyah Di Masa Pandemi Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought drastic changes to the economic conditions of parents of students who on average work as farmers, traders, and fishermen. It is necessary to find a solution that contributes to overcoming the problem. This community service aims to help students find practical solutions during the Covid-19 Pandemic in meeting their daily needs while boarding in the city of Padang by means of Budikdamber, namely Fish Cultivation in buckets filled with kale plants. The service method that will be carried out is practical training or Participation Action Research service, namely service that requires active participation from the servant. The Budikdamber PAR method is used as a way to help the student's economy so that they are responsible for themselves in maintaining the continuity of their life goals as family members. This budikdamber service is very important to be trained for students as a practical solution in increasing income to help ease the economy of parents, especially to overcome difficulties in paying tuition fees.

Art practice with migrant women: Three challenges to rediscovering home

The paper is based on an arts-based project that was aimed at understanding what ‘home’ means to migrant women in London. The project entailed teaching art techniques to 36 women participants and the active contribution of a large group of volunteers and research assistants. Women in the project were from various backgrounds but the majority were from Afghanistan. As such the project was conducted using multiple languages and a systematic collaboration among the research team members and between researchers and participants. This complex communication made the process of meaning-making of concept of home challenging. Three main challenges that were experienced in relation to this collaborative methodology have been identified and the strategies that were developed to address them are detailed. The three challenges in combining action research and arts methods that are discussed in this paper include: 1. Challenges about collective decision-making; 2. Challenges about the notions of progress and process; and 3. Challenges concerning stakeholders’ scope of experience. The paper offers a pathway towards working in contentious research settings between academia and community-based organisations in project that include participants from different backgrounds and speak various languages. We offer insights into how both researchers and participants can learn from challenges in deploying collaborative methodologies such as art practice in action research. We show here that incorporating art practice is a transformative action even when it is seen as far from an essential skill or unnecessary. Such action-oriented practices in research are directly related to United Nations’ sustainable development goals in reducing gender inequality and the opportunities that art practice can offer for quality education to marginalised groups in society.

EFL Instructors’ and Students’ Perception and Practice towards Action Research

Aims: To explore EFL instructors’ and students’ perception and practice towards action research in College of Teachers Education.
 Study Design: Qualitative data gathered through the general open-ended questionnaire used thematically organized, transcribed and analyzed in this study.
 Place and Duration of Study: Perception and practice towards action research were obtained from College of Teachers Education, Ethiopia, at Oromia region.
 Methodology: To achieve this objective, semi-structured interview (filled out by five EFL instructors, 10 third year English Language students, research and publication committee members, Dean Interview and Focus Group Discussion) was used in this study.
 Results: The results indicate that most of the respondents show good perception concerning the significance of action research in improving their teaching practice, solving students’ academic and non-academic problems, developing team spirit and mutual support among teacher educators, creating opportunities to increase their academic writing skills, and developing personal professional perception respectively. The practices of action research in the college were ineffective. There were perceived challenges like shortage of resources for support, budget and material, low top management attention, instructors’ dual role as teachers and researchers, initiation and recognition by trainers themselves.
 Conclusion: Students were not satisfied by research advisors’ provision of professional assistance in action research on practicum courses and carried out action research in a similar fashion (i.e., plagiarism), English Language instructors’ provisions of advice to students in action research on practicum course were found to be low. Instructors were found have not conceptual problem about action research both the theoretical and practical aspects, other than they lacked commitment, encouragement and diligence were attributed to lack of proper incentives and other essential facilities.

Some Solutions To Improve The Practical Research Activities Of Lecturers Of The Department Of Foreign Languages And Informatics

Some Solutions To Improve The Practical Research Activities Of Lecturers Of The Department Of Foreign Languages And Informatics

MYSLIENKY O AKCNOM VYSKUME UCITELOV

The study analyzes action research in educational practice and its contribution to the quality of education. The author describes the difference between action research and the random application of methods, tools, or non-standard procedures in a teacher's work and analyzes teachers 'views on action research, as well as teachers' attitudes to research.

The Impact of a Teacher Professional Education Program on English Language Use

In 2018 the Indonesian Ministry of Education established a teacher certification program via a blended learning platform in partnership with teacher colleges. The program engages teacher-participants in online learning, face-to-face workshops on a designated campus, classroom action research and teaching practices. This study aims at exploring the impact of the certification on the teachers’ use of English in their teaching. The researchers conducted a survey and a proficiency assessment of these English teachers. The ninety teachers of English in this study demonstrated various levels of English proficiency. Then the researchers selected these teachers based on their scores, interviewed them, and observed their teaching. This study found that teachers’ participation in the certification program brought about different levels of changes in their use of English. While the immediate impact of the certification program on the English teachers’ language use was not clearly evident, some teachers showed renewed commitment to use English after several months had passed. Results of this study have yielded implications that English teachers’ sufficient proficiency is not a given capital at the beginning of teacher service. Thus, a serious collaboration among English teacher colleges, the Ministry of Education, the school stakeholders, and the professional learning communities is required to drive teachers of English to engage in their professional development continuously.

Bringing Reforms in Teaching -Learning Practices through Action Research

Abstract: Research identifies Teacher Quality as the most important school related factor influencing student achievement. As rightly stated in NEP,2020 that the role of teacher is to shape the minds of younger generation. Teacher must be passionate, motivated, well qualified and well trained in content, pedagogy and practice. This paper presents the glimpse of the process and documentation of Action Researches by Pre-service trainees and practicing teachers of a district as to how it has enabled them to improve their practices and helped them grow professionally. An innovative project on’ Action Research’ by Pre-Service and InService Teachers have brought radical changes in School related Practices by developing a scientific attitude of solving the problems and becoming a researcher on their own .A Handbook on Innovative Practices Based on Action Research Projects by ETE and D.El.Ed students during their School Experience Programme has been published by us. It is an ongoing project and it emphasises on developing scientific temper among teacher –trainees and develop an inquiring mind. Action Research Proposals were developed by teachers and these were executed and published for wide sharing. Action Research practices are the worldwide global practices that are undertaken as quality initiatives. It is practiced globally in all areas including education for seeking solutions scientifically for improving the existing practices. Action Research should form an integral component of teacher education as envisioned in NEP to attract, build and sustain the best, passionate minds in teaching profession. This Paper gives a detailed account of how these action researches proposals were developed and executed by trainees and practicing teachers in the field and abstracts were written and documented based on the completed action research reports. The copies were disseminated in project schools for continuing such educational endeavours. It set an exemplar for teacher educators, teachers and students for evidence-based practices and motivated all to continue to explore, experiment and reflect on their school /classroom practices.

Empowering Current and Future Educators: Using a Scalable Action Research Module as a Mechanism to Promote High-Quality Teaching and Learning in STEM

Professional development in action research methods can increase educators’ dispositions toward the adoption of evidence-based practices and data-based decision making. However, an in-depth review of the literature revealed that extant forms of action research professional development (ARPD) may not be accessible to all educators as they are often relegated to full-semester undergraduate and/or graduate courses, internships, and teacher education programs. To address this issue, we designed, implemented, and assessed a scalable active-learning module on action research to strengthen the cognitive and affective outcomes of prospective and in-service STEM teachers (N = 26) enrolled in a cross-listed Scientific Teaching course, all of whom had not previously conducted action research. This three-session module integrated case studies, collaborative practice, group discussions, and instruction on action research theory and data collection methodologies. Analysis of pre-/post-intervention survey responses revealed that participants expressed greater self-efficacy related to their ability to design and conduct action research, strengthened knowledge of the process of action research, and greater awareness of the utility of data to inform research and teaching. When asked about the benefits of engaging in action research, participants suggested it could enhance their pedagogical content knowledge and reflectivity. However, participants identified logistical issues such as time constraints and resource availability, lack of institutional support, and possible student resistance to data collection as potential barriers to future action research practice. Overall, our module provides a scaffold to enculturate in-service educators to inquiry dispositions while offering a scalable approach to help prospective teachers in their transition to in-service practice.

ARTful Design: Disruptions Within the Dissertation in Practice

A student within a university’s Ed.D. program is encouraged by her director to narrow her research focus; however, her interests in Curriculum Studies, Arts-Based Educational Research, and Composition Studies led her to design a practitioner action research study examining intersections between the fields. As she collected participants’ data, she experienced poststructural disruptions within all stages of the dissertation process, from designing and collecting data to formatting and identity as a researcher. This narrative, exploratory article showcases how dissertations in practice can follow nonlinear pathways to knowledge when researchers are open to possibilities.

Video Lessons via YouTube Channel as Mathematics Interventions in Modular Distance Learning

Modular distance learning is a new learning delivery modality implemented by most public schools in the Philippines. However, as seen on the summative test result for the first grading period, students struggled in Grade 7 Mathematics using the self-learning modules. Hence, mathematics concepts were hard to understand and not explained well in the module. To address the problem, the teacher made video lessons and uploaded them to the YouTube channel Direct to the Point by DM as interventions. A YouTube channel as an avenue to upload educational videos has been used before the pandemic. This platform’s advent can be used in delivering mathematics interventions since the students preferred to watch videos. This study aimed to assess the Mathematics video lessons via a YouTube channel for modular distance learning. This was a practical action research design following the PDSA model that utilized the participants’ pretest and the posttest scores. Also, open-ended surveys and interviews were conducted to elicit qualitative data to support the quantitative findings. The result reveals that video lessons help the students understand the mathematics concepts complementing lessons on the modules. Moreover, they enjoyed watching the teacher-made videos since they see the teacher explaining the lesson. However, the students suggested having regular posting of videos with more examples and explanations having clear and loud voice of the teacher.

Answers on a Postcard: Photo Elicitation in the Service of Local Ecclesial Strategy

Abstract This article reports the findings of a practical Theological Action Research project in a Church of England diocese in the UK, using photo elicitation. This image-based approach resulted in findings that echoed existing diocesan strategies, but also highlighted other issues that may otherwise have remained implicit, specifically the mode of mission and concerns regarding growth and survival. The visual data itself is analysed, revealing that the images do not always function as direct signifiers, but instead were generating creative, intuited responses. From the data, four mirrors were developed to reflect back to the groups their responses. This approach enabled local strategies to emerge from within espoused theologies, but also to make explicit their coherence or departure from the normative missiologies of the diocese. Finally, the authors suggest that the exposure of church leaders within training to qualitative research methodologies is releasing a new kind of leadership to emerge.

A Practical Action Research of Portfolio Assessment on Building the Learning Community for Graduate Students in Taiwan

A Practical Action Research of Portfolio Assessment on Building the Learning Community for Graduate Students in Taiwan

University Teachers’ Knowledge of- and about- Action Research: The Case of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at Two Ethiopian Public Universities

This study aimed at investigating English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ knowledge of and about action research. Analysis of the data collected from EFL teachers and students at two Ethiopian Universities through questionnaires, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and interviews has shown that the teachers had relatively more of the theoretical knowledge than practical skills, both of which positively correlated. Equally, the teachers had minimal tacit-knowing-in-action in comparison with reflection–in action and reflection-on-action, which might have made them to take time and more information before deviating from the normal lesson plan whenever the classroom circumstances require. This necessitates the need for empowering the teachers and boosting their commitment to possess nimble hands, mind and heart for learning how to transform their practices through learning and practicing action research with the desire to teach the right things right. This can be done when the teachers enhance their practical skills mainly through learning how to do their day-to-day practices in new ways, by putting themselves in enlightening practice-based debates related to their specific professional environments and being responsive to individual differences within their classrooms.

Utilizing Facebook and Messenger Groups as Platforms for Delivering Mathematics Interventions in Modular Distance Learning

Modular distance learning is the most implemented learning delivery modality in the Philippines, wherein students learn the lessons through the help of self-learning modules. However, students struggle to learn mathematics lessons independently under this modality based on summative tests and performance tasks’ results from the first grading period using self-learning modules. So, interventions must be placed by using social media platforms preferred by most of the students to reach and help them. The study aimed to assess the utilization of Facebook and Messenger groups as platforms for delivering video lessons and activities, learning materials, administering the test, and answering queries of the students in grade 9 Mathematics following the modified PDSA model. The study employed a practical action research design utilizing surveys, interviews, and test materials as data collection methods validated by master teachers and a head teacher. The pretest was administered before two months of interventions. After that, the posttest, survey, and interview were administered. Based on the results, the pretest scores are statistically different from the posttest scores. It means the interventions via Facebook and Messenger groups help students cope with modular distance learning challenges. The interventions done by the teacher were effective based on the computed effect size so that the students able to learn mathematics competencies despite having in the comfort of their houses. As a result, students better understand the mathematics lessons and enjoy learning at their own pace.

Η συμβολή της ΚΑΛ, της διαλογικότητας και της πολυφωνίας στην αντίληψη του τρόπου κατασκευής ταυτοτήτων Σημεία συνάντησης ανάμεσα στον Κριτικό Γραμματισμό και την Έρευνα Δράση.

Action Research and contemporary critical literacy practices have many implications, not only theoretical such as the epistemology of experience, the reflection, the need for social change, but also methodological such as the use of critical (speech) events and Critical Discourse Analysis ( Σιπητάνος , 2020). In this two year project, where critical literacies were researched alongside with action-research, the connections between CDA and dialogicality were discussed through empirical data. Through these complex practices the students realized their discourse contradictions and the importance of dialogicality and polyphony as important elements in their formation from active students to active citizens through the co-analysis of data they produced as co-researchers.

Exploring Veteran Teachers' Collaborative Action Research Experiences Through a School-University Partnership: "Old Dogs" Try New Tricks

This article shares insights from the experiences of three high school practitioners and two university faculty who participated in a school-university-based action research program as a voluntary part of the teachers’ professional development. The three high school practitioners conducted action research projects around questions that stemmed from and were relevant to their own teaching practice. As part of the action research program, the practitioners were paired with university faculty to support the research. Building on practitioner inquiry traditions and critical case study methodologies, this study used qualitative methods to explore the experiences of practitioner action research processes. Drawing on in-person meeting notes and reflective memos, four key ideas emerged: Infrastructure, We are all Partners in Education, Engaging Pathway for Experienced Teachers, and Challenges. Insights gained from this inquiry will have implications for professional practices in the areas of school-university partnership, professional development, and action research process.

Action research and collaborative reflective practice in English language teaching

ABSTRACT The purpose of this investigation was to explore how reflective practice (RP) could be implemented and systematized in diverse ELT Mexican contexts in order to foster continuous professional development. Hence, this collaborative action research was conducted over aperiod of 22 months with different English Language Teaching (ELT) practitioners; 24 Mexican teacher educators and two in-serviceEnglish language teachers from Longford, Ireland and Texas, USA who were living and working in Mexico. The data was collected by means of classroom observations, feedback sessions, individual interviews, and professional dialogues–informal meetings, self-reporting,and text messaging. Overall, the findings of this investigation showed that teachers, who had the openness to challenge inconsistencies, gaps and at times fears in their teaching stances, beliefs and therefore practices, also had the willingness to carry out reflective actions that were guided by critical inquiry, collaboration with the researcher and modelled practices by other colleagues; enabling teacher effective engagement in reflective procedures as well as in personal continuous professional development processes.