Can the design of a multimedia
instructional tool for adult literacy learners facilitate me living my
education values in practice?
Orla Daly
Abstract
I undertook this enquiry in
order to improve my practice as an adult education tutor working with adult
literacy learners. The objective of my
enquiry is to define and refine my own ‘living theory’ through the design and
development of an artefact for literacy learners. In taking a living educational theory approach
to this action research, I aim to produce an account of my own learning by
asking questions such as, ‘What am I doing?’; ‘Why am I doing it?’; and ‘How
can I improve what I am doing?’. My
approach in this enquiry is to engage in an ongoing collaborative and
democratic dialogue with learners and fellow tutors. Facilitating a dialectic approach with
learners and colleagues ensures that convergent and divergent views are fully
explored which is essential in any research process.
Undertaking this process of self-study
enables me to identify my core educational values and recognise how I do not
always live these values in practice. It
is in this way that I identify one specific issue of concern in my
practice. On one course that I tutor I
am required to facilitate learners achieving specific ICT learning objectives,
with the development of their literacy skills being a secondary and incidental
outcome of learning. It is in this
context that I see myself as a ‘living contradiction’. I say I believe one thing yet in my practice
do something completely different. In
order to address this concern I am challenged to explore alternative methods of
tuition that can better meet the literacy learning goals of learners. This leads to the development of a multimedia
instructional tool that focuses on the simultaneous development of ICT and
literacy skills. The enquiry facilitates
me learning how to continually reflect on my own practice in order to better
understand what I can do to improve the learning experience of learners. The action research nature of the enquiry also
allows me to demonstrate how my values emerge through each stage of the
research cycle.
Understanding the importance
of living my values in practice means that I recognise my responsibility to
consider and develop new methods of tuition that can get information to
learners in a more efficient, effective and engaging way. The enquiry also reveals my beliefs and
values as lived in practice to the public scrutiny of literacy learners, fellow
tutors, student peers and an academic validation group. In this way my values can become living
standards of judgement through which I can judge my research in practice. It is in this way that I validate the
research through practice rather than independently of it.
How do I create a visual narrative that
contributes to my learning and the learning of others?
Yvonne Crotty
Abstract
The focus of my research is
the development of a video artefact that represents the non national students
in my school-a post primary school in
I use a ‘living educational
theory’ approach to action research as I wanted to live my educational values
in practice while contributing to the learning of others. My educational values
of creating a safe environment where students feel valued, appreciating the
different forms of intelligences and using music as a way of breaking down
barriers have been lived out through the production of this visual narrative.
The unique features of video allowed students to playback,
view and improve their own performances.
Helping
apprentices learn how to learn.
Matt Molloy
Abstract
This work is an action research
study conducted in an effort to improve my practice. I perceived apprentice
construction plant fitters presenting themselves for training to be poorly
motivated, passive and lacking in basic learning skills. In order to test the
validity of this theory, and devise strategies to improve my practice in
combating this, I conducted a pilot study followed by two subsequent cycles of
action research which spanned the first two weeks of training in their
apprenticeship. During this period, the trainees received theoretical
instruction in electrics, electronics and computers. They also received a week
of practical instruction in automotive electrics. My aim was to help the groups
to recognise that they were behaving in a passive manner which was not
conducive to their learning. I did this by means of a classroom exercise where
I set each of the groups a practical task. Each individual was unable to
complete the task, and then I went on to demonstrate how, acting as a group,
and using resources available to them in textbooks and on the internet, they
were able to easily complete the task. I conducted a second exercise which
encouraged each individual to reflect on the way they view themselves, and
perhaps change this (often negative) self perception. I recorded both these
exercises on video. Each learner was also given access to an electronic
learning journal and supplementary course material which I had prepared and
made available on the world wide web. I encouraged
them to record their thoughts and reflections as they moved through the 2 weeks
of the research period. The video and the contents of the journals were analysed.
From this analysis and from an audit of work produced during the practical
exercises, I evaluated the data in relation to my own teaching and to the
apprentices’ learning. This evaluation as well as my conclusions and
recommendations are presented in this work.
Teaching FÁS Trainees Soft Skills via Problem Based
Learning in an Online Learning Environment
Edith
de Beau Conway
Abstract
My dissertation is an
investigation into how Problem Based Learning could be used to teach soft
skills to FÁS learners using an Online Learning Environment, Moodle. My research question is: ‘How can I facilitate the teaching and learning of Soft Skills on a FÁS
Traineeship programme using Problem Based Learning through an Online Learning
Environment?’
Chapter One examines the
background to the introduction of soft skills in the FÁS curriculum and the
implications of the current model of teaching and learning within the
organisation for my own practice. The overall aim of my study is outlined.
Chapter Two is a review of
literature concerning soft skills and the potential of the pedagogical technique Problem Based Learning to deliver soft
skills through online learning.
In Chapter Three,
I outline the process through which I
chose a research methodology to provide me with a framework for my research and
I describe the various research methods I used in this study.
The implementation of my
action research is detailed in Chapter Four where I document the Pre-Cycle,
Cycle 1 and Cycle 2 phases of research and discuss the outcomes from each
phase. I then outline the validation process I undertook to ensure that the
judgements I made about my research were fair and accurate.
The final chapter, Chapter 5
focuses on my original research question and how I have answered that question
through the action research process. I outline the conclusion I have come to
following reflection on the process. I examine the influence I have had on both
my own learning and the learning of others who have been involved in the study
and measure how my own values as a practitioner have been met.
Finally I make
recommendations for moving forward and conclude with my reflections on the
action research process.