Action Research Dissertation
In the Department of Teaching and Curriculum, we strive to prepare doctoral students who can make a difference in individual lives as well as in their fields through research that generates a new understanding of education and human development and in which more effective education policies and practices can be grounded. One way to achieve this goal is to conduct research on one’s own practice or within one’s own organization; therefore, students in our Accelerated Ed.D. program use action research as their research methodology. Action research requires the researcher to begin with an educational problem to analyze, to develop a plan of critically informed action to improve on what is happening, to act to implement the plan, to observe the effects of the action, and then to reflect on these effects as basis for further planning. Most importantly, action research is “inquiry that is done by or with insiders to an organization or community, but never to or on them. It is a reflective process, but is different from isolated, spontaneous reflection in that it is deliberately and systematically undertaken” (Herr & Anderson, 2005, p. 3).

Over the last half century action research has taken various forms and been called by different names. In the United States it is sometimes referred to as practitioner or teacher research. In the Warner School, we use a form of action research intended as a collective inquiry, in which doctoral students and faculty engage in inquiry to improve their own social and educational practices as well as their understanding of these practices and the situations in which these practices occur.

Based on this conception of action research, the action research dissertation should be written with the intention of improving policy and practice and to fulfill the following goals:

1. To learn and use research methods that are linked to teaching, learning, and curriculum, including the ability to analyze and solve problems of practice; to understand the research literature and apply it appropriately.
2. To apply concepts and theories to existing or predicted educational problems.
3. To work with researchers and practitioners to design and carry out projects that can be put into practice to improve education.

A committee composed of the faculty member who teaches the Dissertation Seminar/cohort advisor, and two other committee members will evaluate the project. Individualized feedback on multiple drafts of each dissertation proposal and final dissertation will be provided to the candidate by the committee. Candidates need to defend their dissertation proposal and obtain RSRB approval (for projects involving human subjects) before collecting data. The dissertation project will be due by April of year three and it must be defended by the Warner graduation deadline.

During their second year in the program, students will take a course on Action Research methodology where they will design an action research project in their educational setting. From that semester through to finished dissertations, students and faculty will support one another in identifying educational problems to be analyzed, developing and implementing a plan of action, and reflecting on and evaluating its effects. After the completion of the first cohort, one day will be set aside so that students can present the process and results of their action research dissertation.

Sample dissertation proposal outline