What is action research and how might I use it?

What is action research and how might I use it?

Most graduate programs include a fair amount of research, and specific methods that are used by different professions to research.  In psychology you might learn to grow specific rats because you want to test behavior. You need these rats to operate your tests, and you cannot count on just buying more subjects all the time. Fortunately for me, education does not appear to require rats. It does require research though.
Again, fortunately for me it is not just a series of literature reviews and editing the ideas of other people.

Action Research is a method that assumes you are involved in a school and that you can affect change. This is exciting. Your research can have immediate results, and you can operate in an environment where making a difference is an everyday occurrence. The right kind of Administrative Inquiry, another term used for action research, can really harvest results you can see.

The heart of administrator inquiry is asking an important question. The exciting thing is that question can be important to you, your campus, and your kids. How can we make a difference this year?  My research is going to be around Project Mobile Learning Devices at our Junior High. Can adding access to greater information – by placing these devices in kid’s hands 24 hours a day make a difference in their vocabulary? Their test scores? Their opportunity for success in higher learning? This is the exciting path that Action Research is leading me down this year.