As teachers, we tend to place a great deal of value on being life-long learners. In some cases, that learning can be a solo experience embarked upon for a multitude of reasons. In this course, I learned that research is not just a means to finding an answer and moving on or merely “academic busy work”. The systematic way that this course outlined the purpose, framework, and ultimate value of action research has provided me with the means to be much more effective in my ongoing learning endearvors by being a much more systematic and collaborative problem-solver. During the first web conference, Dr. Abshire suggested we print out all five of the weekly assignments and look at them as a whole to understand the scope of this course. When I looked at the assignments at first, I felt like they were somewhat redundant. Make the plan, revise the plan, revise the plan again, get more feedback and revise once more. Being forced to slow down and seek out the input of others allowed me to create a much better plan. I feel confident that I have a plan that is comprehensive and manageable yet flexible enough to withstand revisions along the way. I appreciated being pushed just a little bit outside of my comfort zone in being asked to develop and reflect on a blog. I think during the week we created the blog I finally had the realization that they are not just telling us, they are asking us to explore, gather input, and reach our own conclusion. This course has modeled for me what we should be doing for all students: providing them with the context and means to test their own theories, collaborate, reflect, and ultimately draw their own conclusions. I have a new attitude toward research. I think the quote by Kettering (as cited in Boyd, 1961, as cited in Dana, 2010) sums it up, “Essentially, research is nothing but a state of mind…a friendly, welcoming attitude toward change…going out to look for change instead of waiting for it to come.”
(I'm even learning to not mind APA formatting!)
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