{"data":{"id":1599,"title":"Action Research","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2020,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":"9781944548292","license":"Attribution-NonCommercial","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Action research is a common journey for graduate students in education and other human science fields. This book attempts to meet the needs of graduate students, in-service teachers, and any other educators interested in action research and/or self-study. The chapters of this book draw on our collective experiences as educators in a variety of educational contexts, and our roles guiding educator/researchers in various settings. All of our experiences have enabled us to question and refine our own understanding of action research as a process and means for pedagogical improvement. The primary purpose of this book is to offer clear steps and practical guidance to those who intend to carry out action research for the first time. As educators begin their action research journey, we feel it is vital to pose four questions: 1) What is action research, and how is it distinct from other educational research?; 2) When is it appropriate for an educator to conduct an action research project in their context?; 3) How does an educator conduct an action research project?; 4) What does an educator do with the data once the action research project has been conducted? We have attempted to address all four questions in the chapters of this book.","contributors":[{"id":6911,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"J.","middle_name":"Spencer","last_name":"Clark","location":"Kansas State University","background_text":"J. Spencer Clark is an Associate Professor of Curriculum Studies at Kansas State University. He has used action research methodology for the past 17 years, in K-12 schools and higher education. More recently, for the past 10 years he has taught action research methods to teachers in graduate and licensure degree programs. He also has led secondary student action research projects in Indiana, Utah, and Kansas. Clark also utilizes action research methodology in his own research. Much of his research has focused on understanding and developing teacher agency through clinical and professional learning experiences that utilize aspects of digital communication, inquiry, collaboration, and personalized learning. He has published in a variety of journals and edited books on teacher education, technology, inquiry-based learning, and curriculum development."},{"id":6912,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Suzanne","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Porath","location":"Kansas State University","background_text":"Suzanne Porath has been an English Language Arts, history, and humanities classroom teacher and reading teacher for 13 years before becoming a teacher educator. She has taught in Wisconsin and American international schools in Brazil, Lithuania, and Aruba when she conducted her own action research projects. Before accepting her current position as an assistant professor at Kansas State University in Curriculum and Instruction, she taught at Concordia University and Edgewood College in Wisconsin. She has taught action research methods at the graduate level and facilitated professional development through action research in school districts. She is the lead editor of Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research https://newprairiepress.org/networks/."},{"id":6913,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Julie","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Thiele","location":"Kansas State University","background_text":"Julie Thiele, PhD. is an Assistant Professor at Kansas State University. She teaches math education courses, math and science education courses and graduate research courses. Prior to teaching at KSU, she taught elementary and middle school, and led her district level professional learning community, focusing on implementing effective, research-based teaching practices."},{"id":6914,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Morgan","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Jobe","location":"Kansas State University","background_text":"Morgan M. Jobe is a program coordinator in the College of Education at Kansas State University, where she also earned a bachelor’s degree in secondary education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction. Morgan taught high school English-Language Arts for ten years in two different Kansas school districts before returning to Kansas State University as a staff member. Her research interests include diversity and equity issues in public education, as well as action research in teacher education programs."}],"subjects":[{"id":5,"name":"Education","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"L7","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/education"},{"id":27,"name":"Higher Education","parent_subject_id":5,"call_number":"LC980","visible_textbooks_count":34,"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/higher-education"}],"publishers":[{"id":1575,"url":"https://newprairiepress.org/","year":2024,"created_at":"2024-03-03T16:51:31.000-06:00","updated_at":"2024-03-03T16:51:31.000-06:00","name":"New Prairie Press"}],"formats":[{"id":4051,"type":"Online","url":"https://kstatelibraries.pressbooks.pub/gradactionresearch/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":4052,"type":"PDF","url":"https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/34/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":4053,"type":"eBook","url":"https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/tb09j962c","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":2,"reviews":[{"id":35289,"first_name":"Cathy","last_name":"Stierman","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Clarke University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text is very thorough in its overview of the action research process. The book is laid out according to the steps of the action research process and outlines each step thoroughly. It was very nice to see the authors address some of the misconceptions of action research. The chapter on the types of literature that can be utilized in doing research is especially strong. I especially appreciate that the authors included an entire chapter on thoughtfully preparing for action research and suggestions for maintaining focus and patience with the research process. Helpful extras include the use of colored blocks to highlight important concepts and links to actual action research samples.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I compared the content to two other books I am currently using and found the information in this book to be accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book is written such that in-service teachers, undergraduate students, and graduate students can all utilize this book. Users will find it helpful that the book is laid out in the order of the steps of action research. The sample papers are a little old as most are from 2016-2019, but the topics are still timely.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The language used in this text is concise and easy to read. The authors speak directly to the reader. All vocabulary is explained thoroughly and multiple examples are provided. Key pieces of information are set within colored blocks to draw attention to them. Each chapter begins with a set of essential questions so the reader knows exactly what will be discussed in that section.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is laid out according to the steps of action research, modeling the action research process. Each chapter begins with a set of essential questions. Each section within a chapter is clearly identified and each step is outlined thoroughly. The font is easy to read and the text materials is regularly broken by color blocks or illustrations that highlight important concepts.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter is around 20 pages in length but the margins are large and there are illustrations and highlighted blocks of text throughout. The subsections are bolded and could be utilized when assigning readings. This book is meant to be read from beginning to end as it mirrors the action research process, but the descriptions are thorough enough that reading single sections in isolation is possible.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is laid out according to the steps of the action research, mirroring the process itself. It lends itself easily as a reference to use both before and during the research activity.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I tried out the online version and downloaded a pdf of the text. The online version has each chapter as a single page, which was very helpful as I could scan a single page quickly for the section I needed. The previous and upcoming chapters are identified in the links at the bottom of the page, which was also very helpful. I'm going to encourage my students to use this version. The pdf is a quick download but isn't quite as easy to navigate as the online version. When trying to locate a single section one has to either know the page number or scroll through the entire document.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"While the steps of action research are rather generic, the authors did take time to explain what the research process might look in practice in a classroom. An entire chapter is dedicated to the practical aspects of doing respectful research with students and provides guidance on a variety of situations and needs that one might need to keep in mind both in the development and action phases.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I loved this book and am excited to adopt it for my introductory graduate course on action research!","created_at":"2024-10-26T13:23:52.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-10-26T13:23:52.000-05:00"},{"id":35940,"first_name":"Jeongae","last_name":"Kang","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Illinois State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook covers all the required concepts and steps needed for conducting action research. The index helps readers navigate and move across each of the important concepts.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I believe this textbook provides accurate content.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This textbook intends to provide in-service teachers with clear steps and practical guidance necessary for implementing action research. It seems the content of this book is appropriate for helping the target reader better understand what action research is and how to implement it. The only thing I would recommend is updating the references. This book was published in 2020, and most of the references were those written between 2000 and 2015. The K-12 classroom has changed so much over the last few decades that the literature on planning and implementing action research in more recent classrooms must be different. Given that it’s 2026 now, those references need to be more up to date.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The textbook is clear and straightforward.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Each chapter has a consistent structure.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The textbook is organized according to the action research steps.  As a course instructor who used to teach an action research course, I like the way this book is organized because it aligns with my semester course outline. I also like that at the end of each chapter, they include vignettes, and chapter 8 also has a chapter that helps readers better see the comprehensive process of action research.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The content of the textbook is clear and logical to follow. In particular, Chapter 8 shows how those steps are applied to a case study. By the end of chapter 8, I expect students will be able to examine the overall process they have learned and easily apply it to their own action research. As a course instructor who used to teach an action research course, I like the way this book is organized because it aligns with my semester course outline.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Currently, at the end of each chapter, there are no go-back or next buttons. So, in other words, readers need to scroll all the way up to find the next button.  \r\n\r\nOther than that, the textbook is easy to navigate, and embedded links help review the concepts they refer to.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not see any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The nature of action research is culturally sensitive. However, this textbook is rather more generalized. What considerations do teachers make when planning and implementing action research?","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2026-06-21T17:40:02.000-05:00","updated_at":"2026-06-21T17:40:02.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/action-research","updated_at":"2026-06-21T17:40:03.000-05:00"}}