Like most educators, my view on action research was that it was mundane and for the professor working on his/her thesis. After reading “Action Research: An Educational Leader’s Guide to School Improvement,” I do realize the importance of research to evaluate our educational system to make it a better learning environment for our students. Ironically, looking back at my teaching style, it was very interesting to note that in a sense, I was conducting action research in my courses. We are required to survey our students and obtain feedback about the course and instruction. I usually evaluate these findings and look for ways to incorporate the results into creating a better course. There is always room for improvement.
I teach computer and science technology courses at a community college. One of my favorite but most challenging class is taught in an online format. Even though I teach technology, I would like to concentrate on adding more technology-based instruction into the online class and integrate what I am learning in EDU 590 to improve the course curriculum. The theory of action for my CST-155 Microsoft Excel course is a series of 4 main focus areas and objectives building upon each other: The Textbook Reading, The Lecture Presentation, The Hands-On Classroom Assignment, Homework Application, and Assessment & Feedback. This assignment is designed to teach students Tutorial 3 from our textbook which includes the difficult ‘IF function statement.’ After completing this assignment, the student will be competent in this basic function to allow them to progress to the further online chapters which discuss the more difficult ‘if or’ and ‘if and’ functions.
I teach computer and science technology courses at a community college. One of my favorite but most challenging class is taught in an online format. Even though I teach technology, I would like to concentrate on adding more technology-based instruction into the online class and integrate what I am learning in EDU 590 to improve the course curriculum. The theory of action for my CST-155 Microsoft Excel course is a series of 4 main focus areas and objectives building upon each other: The Textbook Reading, The Lecture Presentation, The Hands-On Classroom Assignment, Homework Application, and Assessment & Feedback. This assignment is designed to teach students Tutorial 3 from our textbook which includes the difficult ‘IF function statement.’ After completing this assignment, the student will be competent in this basic function to allow them to progress to the further online chapters which discuss the more difficult ‘if or’ and ‘if and’ functions.In this exercise, I hope to demonstrate to the students that it is more difficult to do an IF statement by hand. The students are to keep in mind that this is a small scale exercise; only to imagine this on a much larger scope with more employees to calculate the sales commission. The students in this course are at varying technology levels. By incorporating more uses of technology in this course, examples to include a Jing video, online flashcards, and a discussion board, I hope to tap into the student’s individual learning style to assist in a more successful online learning environment.
Bibliography
Glanz, Jeffrey. Action Research: An Educational Leader's Guide to School
Improvement. Sept 2003: 1-34.
Improvement. Sept 2003: 1-34.
As a computer science/information technology graduate from CMU, I have to say I WISH I TOOK YOUR CLASSES! Even though you have the potential issues that can arise from teaching in an online format, you have great ideas about ways to integrate technology into your lesson plan. Let me tell you, I learned about IF functions with a textbook and a whiteboard. It was definitely a cluster of information for me to have to retain. If I had a Jing video showing me it’s proper implementation, I would probably be better versed in IF statements today. I am more of a visual learner but also a hands-on learner. Reading about something doesn’t quite sink in for me the first time until it is shown to me or discussed and your theory of action made me wish I had taken your course instead. :)
ReplyDelete-Rob Alford