Conducting Your Research/Selecting Your Research Site
You have one semester to complete your capstone project. This includes writing the literature
review, conducting action research, and writing up your findings. In order to support you in the
best way possible, we have developed firm guidelines for the type of research you will be doing
and where you will be doing it. While your topic is your choice, how and where you conduct your
research is determined by the circumstances of your teaching and current coursework.
These protocols may be adjusted as needed.
If you are a practicing teacher (tenure track or long term substitute) or a paraprofessional with
control over day-to-day instruction, you will conduct action research in your classroom based on
an issue that has come out of your practice. It is imperative that you have control over
instructional decisions in that you will be identifying actions to take based on the literature,
taking action, documenting the outcomes of those actions, then taking new action based on
your analysis of those outcomes. If you are taking practicum in your classroom, you may wish to
use your practicum student as the focus of your action research project.
If you are currently taking practicum (small group, tutoring, or coaching), you will conduct
your action research within the context of practicum. You will first complete a general literature
review about issues pertaining to either the contextual issues that affect struggling literacy
learners or literacy coaching. Once you have gotten to know your practicum student(s), you will
use what you learned in your literature review to learn more about your student in relation to the
identified issues and develop ways to support your student as a literacy learner. You will
document your actions, analyze those actions, then take new action based on what you learned
from the analysis.
If you are not taking practicum, but are a per diem sub or paraprofessional who has regular
and reliable access to one or more teachers, you will conduct an observational/interview study.
You will conduct a literature review on a teaching method you would like to learn more about,
observe teachers you know who regularly use this method, document what they do and
interview them about their instructional decision making. You will analyze your observational
notes (field notes) and interviews and discuss your findings in light of what you found from your
literature review. In your implications section, you will discuss how you will use this knowledge
within your teaching practice.
If you are not taking practicum, and if you do not have reliable access to teachers, you will
conduct an observational/interview study in practicum. You will conduct a literature review on
contextual issues affecting struggling literacy learners, observe learners and tutors in practicum,
document what they do and interview them about their instructional decision making. You will
analyze your observational notes (field notes) and interviews and discuss your findings in light
of what you found from your literature review. In your implications section, you will discuss how
you will use this knowledge within your teaching practice. If you take this option, you must
inform your instructor as soon as possible so she can arrange for you to gain access to
practicum students.
GRDG690
1 of 1
Jacobs