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 * C I 515 - ****Action Research in Education **

**Literature Review Resources**
 * Online Handout about Writing a Literature Review - Additional information about how to write a literature review (Writing Center at UNC at Chapel Hill).
 * Learn How to Write a Literature Review - Provides tips on writing the introduction, body and conclusion of a literature review (Writing Center at UW at Madison).
 * [[file:Lit-review_Seminar_online.pdf]] - Research Writing Seminar series (Iowa State University, 2012)

**Literature Review Examples from Previous C I 515 Classes** Elementary Curriculum & Technology Integration (example shared on Week 4 video) Using Cell Phone Apps in World Language Class Using VoiceThread to Write Digital Lab Reports and Engage Middle School Students "Flipping" for Active Learning

Ethical Issues Related to Conducting Research
ISU Policy on Course-Related Student Projects Involving Human Participants - Application for Approval of Research Involving Humans -

Membership of the Action Research Group - An Example (Stacy Behmer - ISU MEd 2005!)
Stacy conducted her action research study in a seventh-grade classroom. As part of Stacy's reflection piece in her creative component, she wrote up this description of the study context: research setting, demographics and participants. Be thinking about this piece of your action research project - Where is it occurring? and, Who is participating?

Stacy's Description of Study Context -

Data Collection - An Example (Stacy Behmer - ISU MEd 2005!)
There are many data collection sources that you can use to obtain evidence that will help you answer your research question(s). As you begin to decide what data to collect, think about how each source will provide you with answers to your research questions.

Stacy's Research Questions were as follows: > 1. What does the digital storytelling process look like in a classroom? What process must students go through to develop and tell a meaningful story? > 2. What impact does technology have on students' ability to tell a more effective story? > 3. What do students learn (i.e. content, technology, personally) by creating a digital story? > For her action research project on digital storytelling, Stacy did triangulate her data by using different sources to collect the data to answer her research questions. Data collection techniques she used included classroom observations, focus group interviews with students, teacher's journal, teacher interview and a digital storytelling project rubric. Below is a piece (Description of Data Collection) where Stacy describes how she collected her data and then the tools she used to collect the data are posted.

Description of Data Collection - > > **Data Collection Tools** > Student Learning Log (completed twice during study) - > Student Final Self-Evaluation - > Digital Story Telling Rubric - > List of questions generated for student focus group interviews - > List of questions generated for final teacher interview -

**Sources for Data Analysis - An Example (Stacy Behmer - ISU MEd 2005!)**
Here are the data files that Stacy used for her research project. These are the actual data collected using the tools provided above in the Data Collection Tools section. Files are in Word or Excel format so that data could be manipulated during the analysis. Student Self-Evaluations (Word format) Student Learning Logs (Word format) Digital Story Rubric Scores (Excel format) Teacher Journal (Word format)

Action Research Projects (Examples)
1. Technology in Physical Education (Sally Shaver, Spring 2011) - 2. Integrating a Computer-based Flashcard Program into Academic Vocabulary Learning (Cennet Altiner, Spring, 2011) - 3. Communicating with Parents of Swim Team Participants (Melissa Schulze, Spring 2012) - 4. Writing with a Digital Upgrade: Using Wikis to Enhance the Six Traits of Writing (Carrie Hillman, Spring 2012) -

Published Action Research Project (Example)
Trigonometry Comes Alive Through Digital Storytelling (Doug Gould & Denise Schmidt, 2010, The Mathematics Teacher) - Reviewer's Comments -