Classroom Action Research (CAR)

Ross Woods, 2018, '23 Re-written 2024

Introduction

The purpose of this method is to evaluate an aspect of teacher performance as a basis for improving practice. As a kind of action research, it involves the researcher actively creating change, in contrast to being a neutral, uninvolved observer. Similarly, its view of knowledge is inter-subjective, as opposed to strictly objective.

CAR is not the only kind of classroom-based research. It is also possible to do experiments, write ethnographies, do case studies of unique cases, and surveys. Each of these has its own protocols.

CAR offers several specific benefits:

The raw data is the actual events in the classroom, which might be quite different from what the teacher thinks is happening or what theoreticians expect.
It works well for collaborations.
It applies equally well to all academic levels; it also applies to vocational and higher education, even though it has been used most in elementary schools.
It offers immediate ideas for improvement.
It suggests that researchers who teach might need less time to write publishable research articles compared to tother kinds of research.

The CAR method also has several caveats:

Classroom researchers need to be willing to change their teaching practices, which some find difficult.
Classrom researchers must be able to to collect data and interpret it as objectively as possible. (This is usually done by haing a colleague check any interpretations.) Otherwise, it might be no more than a study of one's personal assumptions.
Many conclusions must be a quite tentative:

The number of subjects (teachers and/or students) is often small.
The method is normally part of a continual improvement cycle.
Different researchers could arrive at contradictory conclusions on the same research topic.

The method is normally related to improved practices, so some particular researches might not add to a body of theory.
While observations might be valuable, some researchers observe problems without any view to what to do about them. It is like holding funerals rather than driving ambulances.

Outline

This outline is presented as a series of steps that fit CAR closely into the research cycle normally used for other kinds of research. It is wise to read articles of CAR before commencing your own CAR project.

Meet as a group and identify a topic

Identify a problem. This could be a single criterion of good teaching or a group of interrelated criteria that relate to one phenomenon. You might ask the following questions

What needs to change or improve?
Which items do students consistently find most difficult to learn?
Which items do teacher or lecturers consistently find most difficult to teach?

Why has this issue arisen? Give your reasons for selecting it as a topic.
Focus the problem more sharply and create a research question.
Collate existing classroom data to sharpen the focus of the problem and the research question.
Are we willing to change and learn?

Select a population.

Which teachers and/or students will you observe and in which insitution at which levels?

Get permission.

At the least, you will need to the school’s permission and the support of the teachers of the classes that you will observe. In some cases, an ethical clearance might be required.

Do a literature review to establish the current state of research on the topic.

Consider the theoretical base of the issue and refine it if needed. This is especially significant if it is counterintuitive, i.e. at face value it appears to be illogical. You should also consider that it might be subject to competing theories of learning, or more sophisticated definitions.

Plan your strategy

What teaching or assessing action(s) will you do? (Different members of a team might be able to try different options.)
How will you collect data? It needs to be a focussed method and it must match exactly the issue being investigated. It must also allow unanticipated results; in other words, it may not predetermine outcomes. Options are limitless, but some examples include:

Pre-test and/or a post-test
Tools, such as rubrics or observation protocols and logs?
Checklist of observation items (with spaces for comments and notes)
Video
Timeline of how time was used
Records of discussion questions
Diagram of discussion patterns
Diagram of people’s movements in the classroom

Will it be feasible in an actual classroom while you are teaching?
How will you know that you have collected enough data?
How will you make sure that data is better than individuals’ personal impressions? For example, some data might be quite objective. However, if data depends on interpretations, you could have someone verify your interpretation.
How will you analyze data? (See below.)
In what journal do you hope to publish your article?

Collect data until you have enough.
Write an analysis and evaluation of data.

Is the strategy effective?

How do you define effective?
Under what circumstances is it effective?

To what extent do your findings depend on the personality or teaching style of the instructor?
Collate personal reflections
Consider alternative interpretations of evidence
Draw conclusions
Make recommendations of improved practice
Suggest topics for further research.

Note that this includes reflection on how the lessons learned could be applied in one's own classroom. (See rubric below)

Write and edit the final report

The journal will probably have a standard outline similar to this:

Introduction
Literature review
Methodology
Analysis
Conclusion

Another possible approach

What is the problem? Define it presicely
Diagnose the probem. What might be the causes?
Devise a teaching strategy to solve the problem.
Implement the teaching strategy.

Evaluate the effects and outcomes of the strategy.
Why does it work or not work?

Draw conclusions.

What else?

If you find that you need to explore the reasons for the teachers' or students actions, consider using an interview based on a questionnaire of open-ended questions.
If you find that the issue is more widely problematical, you might want to go further and initiate improvements.
What a researcher do should he/she observes a teacher making errors that are outside the scope of the research?

Classroom Action Research Rubric
Criteria for Quality Proposal and Projects

(Mettetal, 2001)

	Needs Improvement	On Target	Exemplary
Goals	Goals are not clearly identified.	Goals are identified and relate to teaching and learning.	Goals are clearly stated, relate to teaching and learning and will inform action.
Background Information	No reference to previous research or theory.	Two to three references to relevant research or theory.	Integrates and synthesizes four or more sources of relevant research or theory.
Methods	Less than three sources of data.	Three sources of data from current classroom.	Many sources of data from current classroom (case study) or data that are compared with data from another relevant source (i.e., last year’s class, another class in the school, state data).
Results	Results are not communicated in an appropriate manner.	Communicate results through themes, graphs, tables, etc.	Results identify key findings. Communicate results clearly and accurately through themes, graphs, tables, etc.
Reflection	Little or no relevant discussion of teaching and learning related to one’s own classroom.	Discusses how results affect one’s own teaching and learning in classroom.	Discusses how results affect own teaching and learning in classroom and implications for teaching setting (i.e., other classroom, schools, district, etc.). Also, identifies future research questions.
Presentation	• Paper not clearly written • Results are not shared with other audiences.	• Paper clearly written • Results shared with local colleagues	• Paper is clear, insightful, and comprehensive • Results are shared with a wider audience.

Useful sources

Amri. Zul. 2013. Classroom Action Research And Lesson Study: How Do They Work For Lecturers And High School English Teachers? SELT 2013 Proceeding, ISBN: 978-602-17017-1-3

Cain, T. 2011. "Teachers’ classroom-based action research" International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 34(1), 3-16. (Pre-print version).

Green, Jennifer K., Ksenija Napan, Shirley J. Jülich, Warwick J. Stent, Judith A. Thomas, Debora J. Lee & Malcolm D. Green (08 Jul 2024): Transforming teaching through cooperative inquiry: meaningful research for university teachers, Educational Action Research, DOI: 10.1080/09650792.2024.2374745

Mettetal, Gwynn. “The What, Why and How of Classroom Action Research" Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. January 2001.

Classroom action research

Contributing to the profession

Action research in the classroom: A teacher's guide