¶ … Porter (2007) decries the mismatch between education research and practice. He argues that much focus has been on the supply side, with little attention to the demand side. Education research is often concerned about aspects such as filling gaps in extant research, ensuring research rigour, and improving research methods. This problem is further compounded by inadequacies in the preparation of teachers for utilising education research. While the importance of these aspects cannot be overemphasised, focusing on providing research-based solutions may be more important. In essence, the demand side is as crucial as the supply side. It is imperative for education researchers to consider how practical their research is.
Action research emphasises the importance of practical research. Generally, action research is research conducted with the aim of solving a particular problem or issue. The research is carried out by and for the actors that participate in addressing the problem. This means that practitioners are involved in conducting the research. Indeed, this is what differentiates action research from most other types of research. The fact that practitioners are involved in the inquiry process means that research findings that are relevant to practice are generated. As they are the primary users of the findings, educators do not conduct research just for the sake of it; they focus on issues that matter to them, notably their instructional practices and
It is apparent that action research focuses on the demand side. It seeks to provide findings that are relevant to educators and practical in the classroom and the learning environment as a whole. As educators participate in inquiry aimed at facilitating change, the mismatch between research and practice is minimised. Porter (2007) asserts that addressing this mismatch is crucial if education research is to be more useful. Porter (2007) provides six suggestions for addressing the demand side. First, it is imperative for practitioners to be well-educated for practical research to be quickly integrated into practice. Second, though costly, research that demonstrates the usefulness of education reforms can transform education practice in a significantly positive manner. Also, development efforts are important if instruction-focused education research is to be incorporated into practice.
Porter (2007) further suggests that educators ought to be more charismatic in integrating…
Education In the wake of the recent globalization, education has emerged as one of the most necessary tools for the field. For globalization to be realized on a large scale, the public has to be well conversant in matters concerning education. However, this has come to pass just a mirage, owing to the poor standards of education amongst some sectors of the public. Immigrants have suffered the most, and it is
In particular, they specify the need for students to be good listeners, team players, and to make compromises to work toward mutual goals (Scheuerell, 2010). Group work must be a time for students to engage in productive and accountable collaboration around a task or problem that causes them to rely on one another's part or participation to ensure successful completion. Successful group work can be designed and presented to the
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West Virginia's State education department has established English Language Proficiency ELP standards. A student is classified as an English Language Learner if their English proficiency is limited. In West Virginia a limited English proficient (LEP) is classified as such in accordance with the federal government definition as established by section Public Law 107-110, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. In addition once a student has been identified as
Each day I will work with the group of students using activities that is designed to improve writing fluency. By working in groups to evaluate one another's writing, students will learn to recognize mistakes on their own. By me giving them feedback, I can help them see difficult errors such as language usage and grammar errors that other students might not see. During these sessions data will be collected
The locus in this study would be to take the concepts of what is perceived as the duties of the resource officers and using these to determine what it is they can do to alleviate some of the concerns that face middle schools today. Both the focus and the locus help the researcher to formulate the questions that they hope to answer by doing the research that they are looking
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