Action Research Projects
The Office of Research on Teaching in the Disciplines sponsored Action Research Teacher Education Practicum III projects at The University of Alabama.
Each semester, students in the Senior Practicum class in elementary education plan and conduct an action research project in their field placement classroom (Elementary Education Practicum instructors in Fall 2010 were Lee Freeman, Vicki Holt, Allison Sherrill, and Debbie Hildreth). After an intense semester of examining, reading, and writing research, students formulate a plan to improve their teaching effectiveness. The results are shared with students in the preceding semesters on a day focused on action research in the schools.
Students submit their written research, and each section of the class has an outstanding paper determined by a team of alternative masters’ and doctoral students (in Fall, 2010, these graduate students were Lanier Pearce, Erica Rutherford, and Chelsea Stone). From this group, an overall winner for Outstanding Action Research is determined. Each of the four sections in Practicum has an identified winner. An overall winner also was identified.
The following students won in their sections in Fall 2010:
- Allison Grubbs Walker, Get Centered on Math: Using Manipulative Centers to Increase Student Interest and Content Knowledge (also the overall winner from all sections)
- Katie Smith, Read Between the Lines: Incorporating Read Alouds in the Social Studies Classroom
- Rebecca Springrose, Oppositional Defiance Disorder Redirected
- Robyn Gilstrap, Hi-Tech Social Studies
The overall winner was Allison Grubbs Walker.