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 stricty 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. These all have their own protocols.

CAR offers several specific benefits:

1. 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.
2. It works well for collaborative work in teams.
3. It applies equally well to all academic levels.
4. It offers immediate ideas for improvement.
5. It suggests that researchers who teach might need less time to write publishable research articles.

The CAR method also has several caveats:

1. Classroom researchers need to be willing to change their teaching practices, which is difficult for some teachers.
2. Classrom researchers must be able to to collect data and interpret it as objectively as possible. Otherwise, it might be no more than a study of one's personal assumptions.
3. When the number of students is small, any conclusions must be quite tentative.
4. The method is normally part of a continual improvement cycle so any conclusions must be a quite tentative work in progress.
5. Different researchers could arrive at contradictory conclusions on the same research topic.
6. The method is normally related to improved practices, so any particular research might not add to a body of theory.
7. While observations might be valuable, some researchers observe problems without any view to what to do about them. It is 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.

1. Meet as a group and identify a topic
1. 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?
2. Why has this issue arisen? Give your reasons for selecting it as a topic.
3. Focus the problem more sharply and create a research question.
4. Collate existing classroom data to sharpen the focus of the problem and the research question.
5. Are we willing to change and learn?
2. Select a population.
• Which teachers will you observe and in which school and which grades?
3. Get permission.
• At the least, you will need to the school’s permission and the support of the teachers whom you will observe. In some cases, an ethical clearance might be required?
4. 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.
5. Plan your strategy
1. What teaching or assessing action(s) will you do? (Different members of a team might be able to try different options.)
2. 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:
1. Pre-test and/or a post-test
2. Tools, such as rubrics or observation protocols and logs?
3. Checklist of observation items (with spaces for comments and notes)
4. Video
5. Timeline of how time was used
6. Records of discussion questions
7. Diagram of discussion patterns
8. Diagram of people’s movements in the classroom
3. Will it be feasible in an actual classroom while you are teaching?
4. How will you know that you have collected enough data?
5. 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.
6. How will you analyze data? (See below.)
7. In what journal do you hope to publish your article?
6. Collect data until you have enough.
7. Write an analysis and evaluation of data.
1. Is the strategy effective?
• How do you define effective?
• Under what circumstances is it effective?
2. To what extent do your findings depend on the personality or teaching style of the instructor?
3. Collate personal reflections
4. Consider alternative interpretations of evidence
5. Draw conclusions
6. Make recommendations of improved practice
7. 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)
8. Write and edit the final report
1. The journal will probably have a standard outline similar to this:
• Introduction
• Literature review
• Methodology
• Analysis
• Conclusion

What else?

1. If you find that you need to explore the reasons for the teachers' actions, consider using an interview based on a questionnaire of open-ended questions.
2. If you find that the issue is more widely problematical for teachers, you might want to go further and initiate improvements.
3. 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)

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

CAR journals

Journal of Classroom Action Research

Classroom Action Research Journal (CARJO)

Indonesian Journal of Classroom Action Research (IJCAR)

Journal of Teacher Action Research

Journal of Classroom Interaction