- Year 2016
- NSF Noyce Award # 934693
- First Name Leah
- Last Name McCoy
- Discipline Mathematics
Need
The action research project is a required activity that facilitates development of teacher leadership in candidates. It meets both the need of the candidate to learn more about practice in the classroom, and to contribute to the knowledge base on teaching and learning. Both aspects facilitate confidence and teacher leadership skills in candidates.
Goals
The goal for this project is for each candidate to select a teacher practice related to teaching and learning, and to research that practice in the classroom.
Approach
Candidates complete a thread of coursework related to action research throughout the program. They develop a research question which they answer in their classroom. One key component is reflection and drawing conclusions.
Outcomes
Outcomes include design and production of a classroom research study. These results are presented at a research forum and also published in ERIC. Candidates gain confidence in reflecting on their practice and in sharing it with other educators. This is a key element of teacher leadership.
Broader Impacts
The broader impact of this action research is that it aids educators in learning to collect data within the classroom and using that data in decision making. The work of these candidates has served as a model for this approach. Their results and reflections are disseminated in various ways: presentation at a local forum, presentation at state and national conferences, publication in a Proceedings document, publication in ERIC database, and publication in professional journals.
