Action Research — A Thesis Model

The following is a model developed by Professor John Maddaus, Honors Secretary in the College of Education and Human Development, which is designed to allow Honors students majoring in education to complete their Honors Thesis during the semester in which they are doing their student teaching.  This model, using the principle of Action Research is, as John describes, applicable to other professional fields as well.  

We are indebted to John for this model.  Previously, students majoring in education had to begin their thesis work during their third year and thus had a much more difficult time completing the Honors curriculum.  Thanks John!

Proposed Schedule for an Honors Thesis Using Action Research

Prepared by John Maddaus
Phone: 581-2429
E-mail: john.maddaus@umit.maine.edu

Proposed text (suitable for education majors, but comparable texts likely exist in other professional fields): Living the Questions: A Guide for Teacher-Researchers, by Ruth Shagoury Hubbard and Brenda Miller Power. York, ME: Stenhouse Publishers, 1999.

HON 498 (for education majors, in conjunction with EDG 400 - Field Experience and Subject Area Methods Course(s))

• May

  • Tasks for meeting: Introduction to action research & thesis planning

• September

  • Text reading due: Chapters 1 ("Why Teacher Research"), 2 ("Questions Evolving"), and 6 ("Citing a Tea Bag: When Researchers Read")

  • Tasks for meeting: Identify a focus question

  • Activities at meeting: Discuss text chapters; ideas for questions; review tentative schedule and modify as needed; set dates for future meetings  

• October

  • Text reading due: Chapters 6 and 3 ("Research Plans"); human subjects research application forms

  • Tasks for meeting: Gather literature on focus question from professional publications and other sources; clarify focus question and sub-questions

  • Activities at meeting: Discuss literature related to focus questions;discuss APA citations; fine-tune focus questions; discuss developing a plan; identify audiences; discuss ethics, permissions; human subjects research application (if needed)

• November

  • Text reading due: Chapter 4 ("Harvesting Data")

  • Tasks for meeting: Bring a draft plan as described in Chapter 3; draft human subjects application (if needed); additional literature read

  • Activities at meeting: Discuss types of data; further discussion of literature, focus questions, and audiences; discuss draft plan and human subjects research application (if needed)

• December

  • Text reading due: Chapter 5 ("What Likes What?: Data Analysis")

  • Tasks for meeting: Bring a revised draft plan and human subjects research application (if needed); additional literature read

  • Activities at meeting: Discuss data analysis and writing; discuss literature read; thesis evaluation (to date)

HON 499 (for education majors, in conjunction with STT 490, 491, or 494 - Student Teaching [one 15-week placement recommended], and STT 498 - Student Teaching Seminar [thesis replaces seminar project, but not other requirements])

• January

  • Text reading due: Chapters 7 ("Honest Labor: Writing Up Research") and 9 (Identity: Balancing Round Stones")

  • Tasks for meeting: Submit final plan; submit final human subjects research application to appropriate review committee (if needed)

  • Activities at meeting: Revise thesis schedule (if needed); discuss issues about implementation of plan

• February

  • Text reading due: Chapters 8 ("Sustaining Research: Building and Extending Research Communities") and 10 ("Students as Research Partners"); Review Chapter 4

  • Tasks for meeting: Bring data to discuss and ideas for how to share data with intended audience

  • Activities at meeting: Discuss data collection and analysis

• March

  • Text reading due: Review Chapter 5

  • Tasks for meeting: Bring more data to share; begin analysis of some data

  • Activities at meeting: Discussion of data collection, analysis, and writing; relationship to literature; consideration of audience

• April

  • Text reading due: Review Chapters 6 and 7

  • Tasks for meeting: Bring sample of data analysis; bring sample of writing with literature citations; bring outline of presentation to intended audience

  • Activities at meeting: Discussion of analysis and writing, including relationship to literature; preparation for presentation to an audience

• May

  • Text reading due: None

  • Tasks for meeting: Prepare presentation to an audience; final report due

  • Activities at meeting: Presentation; reflective conversation

Sections for a Sample Research Plan for an Honors Thesis Using Action Research

• Research Purpose

• Research Question

• Subquestions

• Data Collection

• Data Analysis

• Tentative Timeline

• Reflections Before Beginning

• References Used

• Proposed Audience(s)

• Proposed Presentation Products and Formats

Thank you for visiting our web site and for your interest in The Honors College at The University of Maine. As with any work- in- progress, we appreciate your indulgence as we work out the bugs. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about this site, please contact Charlie Slavin.

This page was last updated on 18 September 2007 10:41 AM -0400

© 2000-2007 The Honors College at The University of Maine, A Member of the University of Maine System