EDLD 5301: Course Reflection

I have enjoyed this course and learned so much about how to implement action research and use it to improve the quality of my work. Through the different aspects of this course, I have acquired many different viewpoints and ideas from my instructors and fellow students. I believe that each learning tool provided in this course has helped me to become a more proficient action researcher.
The most useful learning tool in this course, for me, has been the discussion board. I loved viewing my fellow cohorts’ experiences and ideas working with action research. It was very useful to me to be able to compare their opinions and practices with my own. I also enjoyed receiving feedback from them on my posts and greatly valued their advice and suggestions.
I also enjoyed the required readings provided for our course. The texts explained so much about our research plans and gave excellent examples, which made the information easy to read and understand. The readings were interesting, to the point, and always explained any questions that I may have had prior to my reading them. The text, Leading With Passion and Knowledge, provided in-depth information into creating my action research plan through “wonderings” and how to implement it. It also went on to provide information on how to use the information that I acquire through my plan and how to continue assessing myself. The text, Examining What We Do To Improve Our Schools, also helped by providing insight into why we do action research and what drives most administrators to participate in action research plans.
The weekly assignments really went hand-in-hand with our readings. Each question was linked to certain reading assignment, and the answer could always be found as indicated. The assignments improved my understanding of the readings by compelling me to look deeper into the information and think about how this information was useful to me.
My blog was an enjoyable, useful tool throughout this course. I received a piece of feedback to my posting that really made me anxious to complete my research plan and share it with my fellow students so that we can compare our findings. I have noticed that several of my cohorts have chosen a similar research topic and I am curious to see how our findings are alike or how they may differ.
The videos provided also answered many of the questions that I may have had about implementing my action research plan. I greatly enjoyed the video assignment of week two that allowed me to hear stories from real administrators, such as Principal Johnny Briseno of Angleton ISD. These administrators gave great testimonies of using action research in their jobs and how it affected them.
Each component of this course has provided very useful information about action research. I feel that I am well prepared to implement my action research plan because of each information source provided throughout the course.

Dana, N.F. (2009). Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action researcher. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Harris, S., Edmonson, S., & Combs, J. (2009). Examining what we do to improve our schools: 9 steps from analysis to action. Larchmont, N.Y.: Eye on Education.