Final reflection on my AR project

Now, the journey ends...at least for now!

I have filed my final report on my action research project, and I've provided a link to that report.  I learned that it's important to lay out plans, but adjustments to plans must be expected.  However, my project will soon lead to greater student ease in determining progress on degree completion for hundreds of students at my institution.  I am pleased, and now ready to use my action research skill set on future challenges.  I think having this new set of skills will help me both at my present institution and at other institutions where I might continue my career in college student services.

Link to R. Griffith's ETL e-portfolio...on this page click on Action Research Report

Update on the project

I am now completing the 8th course out of the 12 courses required in the Lamar master's program in educational technology leadership.  The course I am now finishing is EDLD 5326, School-Community Relations.  Interestingly, the school-community project I proposed for this course can be tied in to my action research plan, which is largely constructed of enhancements to my college's online student services.  These services could be opened up to the parent partners this project (a Parent Academy) would recruit.  Parents can and do use online student services to monitor and assist their college-going children with degree planning, registration choices, making payments, and other tasks related to the college experience.  An update on the Parent Academy concept will be posted to my program website soon, under course EDLD 5326.

My View of Research, Before and After

As the course EDLD 5301 ends, I find that I have a brand new view of (and a huge burst of enthusiasm for) educational research.  I really had no idea what to expect our of this class.  However, I found that the lectures, assignments, and discussions, along with the blog posts and reviews, have brought me to a much more refined and expanded view of an educational leader's role with regard to leading research.  The word "action" is key here.  I've been exposed to lots of projects and plans that suggested action would occur...but knowing what I know now, I can see that they weren't adequately designed and developed around reasonable expectations for actual change.  With tools like reflection, data gathering skills, force field analysis, and more, I leave this class much better equipped to design and execute action research plans at my institution.

Remembering to Reflect

One of the things I came to understand this week, in reviewing the action research plans of other students in my LU program, is that reflection should be both an impetus and a recurring feature of an AR plan.

It will be important to reflect upon each stage.  Did it go as intended or expected?  In what new directions do any new discoveries - or new challenges - take the plan?

As I contemplate revising my plan toward the end of this introduction to this type of research, I will be looking for places to insert reflection and to gather the reflections of other resource people involved in my project.

My action research plan, in table form...

School Vision: A Tech-Savvy College, Including an Enhanced Array of Useful Online Student Services

Action Planning Template
Goal: Implementation of Enhanced Online Student Service Functions
Action Steps	Person(s) Responsible	Timeline Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
(1)    Determine student preferences	Registrar (B. Griffith); Director of Advising and Counseling (R. Coffman; Programmer/Developer (T. Oehler)	January-mid February, 2013	Random embedded survey (pops up after use of online system by students)	Registrar and Director will meet to go over survey results and tabulate
(2)    Assess technical capabilities and approaches of other schools using same student info system	Registrar (B. Griffith); Programmer/Developer (T. Oehler); Exec. Dir of Technology (C. Lightfoot)	Late February, 2013	PeopleBooks (software resources); other student info system student portal examples (Houston Community College, Lone Star College)	Compare what other schools using our software are doing with online services; determine what is feasible for us
(3)    Decide on priority services to add	Registrar (B. Griffith); VP of Student Services (D. Suchon); Success Lab Manager (Y. Pulido)	Late February, 2013	Results from steps 1 & 2  plus review of grant and funding programs to determine how services will aid in compliance	We will decide on 3-5 key services that are desired and are feasible, and rank them (prioritize)
(4)    Development of new services	Registrar (B. Griffith); Programmer/Developer (T. Oehler)	March-April 2013	We will establish weekly setup/testing goals and a 1 hour block of time weekly to work side by side in a computer lab on campus	At end of March we will evaluate progress made; do we need additional time or an adjustment in number of services to implement?
(5)    Implementation of new services	Registrar (B. Griffith)	May 2013 and ongoing, as development continues	Email blasts to students; messages in college newsletter and on campus plasma screens; training of all open lab managers so they can train their staff	Surveys of staff and students to get feedback and tweak enhancements as deemed appropriate
(6)    Completion of project	Registrar, VP of Student Services, Director of Advising and Counseling	August-October 2013	Look at usage of new services; feedback from students and staff	Determine what services to further enhance, and start planning for another phase of project if successful

Learning more about action research

This week's assignment, lectures, and readings have given me a better understanding of action research.  I'm struck by the need to take the time to make sure that adequate reflection is done before starting an action research project.  As one of the video contributors, Dr. Kirk Lewis, said, it's too easy to just put together a "dazzling" project with data that looks good on paper but isn't practical or even "do-able."  As I refine my project and put reasonable limits and expectation to it, I'll be taking care to keep one thing in mind: "what's in this for students?  How will it help them to achieve their educational goals?"

How can educational leaders use blogs?

One way a leader can use a blog is to solicit comments and insight outside of meetings and "regular business hours."  Time for meetings is always limited within an educational setting.  By offering a blog option, a leader can allow members of a team to contribute when they have time, whether on campus or off.  Since the blogger and followers making comments will be identified (and non-participants will be easy to determine), this can provide motivation for making contributions.  Requiring comments does not have to be oppressive (comments are required, for instance, within the online classroom!).  To make the blog a valuable tool, a few "rules" should be posted and observed by the leader and/or followers:

1. Ground rules: don't attack (be polite and constructive in making comments).
2. Don't avoid conflict; vetting opposing views and ideas could be helpful.  Let the team know it is OK to oppose the idea, but not the person posting the idea!
3. Cite articles, documentaries, and other resources, and link them to the blog.  Encourage comment on the material.  This would be a great way to "embed" professional development into the school calendar.
3. Mention what was learned during the blogging process, both the comments that were affirming, and those that were challenging.  In other words, acknowledge the team who was asked to follow and comment..
4. Keep a time limit on a topic/concept in the blog.  Move on to new topics fairly frequently, to keep the conversation fresh.