Identifying Problem/Framing Research Question  

Collecting Data  

Analyzing Data  

Developing Plan  
 

Getting Started 
     Identify, specify, and define the problem or issue that you want to investigate.Construct and refine questions that you will begin to answer.

• OBSERVE classroom and instructional processes and contexts that either intrigue you or cause tension.
• REFLECT on the issues you would like to investigate. .
• INTERPRET your reflections and begin to form questions and hypotheses
• DISCUSS and receive FEEDBACK from peers and other stakeholders about your questions and hypotheses.(1)

Brainstorming 

     Hubbard and Power (1993) suggest brainstorming about issues in the classroom that cause you wonder, intrigue, or tension and make a list. Don't censor your list, instead, make a time to sit and discuss your list with colleagues over coffee or during your regular meeting time.(2) 

• Begin to prioritize your list.
• Categorize your questions around major themes.
• Connect your questions to goals that you and your team would like to accomplish in the classroom.

Hopkins (1993, p.63) suggests the following questions to begin focusing on the problem:(3) 

• What is taking place now?
• In what manner is this issue creating tension or problems?
• What is my role in this situation?
• Can I do anything about it?
• I would like to improve the...
• Some people are unhappy about...
• What can I do to change the situation?
• I am perplexed by...
• ...is a source of irritation. What can I do about it?
• I have an idea I would like to try out in my class.
• How can the experience of... be applied to...?
• Just what do I do with respect to ...?

Begin observing your classroom practices and contexts for sources to the tension and begin to form hypotheses as to practices that may influence your problem.(4) 
You can video tape yourself, have a partner visit, or record your observations.  

• Identify the purpose and focus of the observation
• Select tools to track your observations
• Identify variables or behaviors that you will be tracking

• Complete a search of your topic or questions under concern to see what others have discovered. It may give you some ideas on developing a hypothesis for answering your question.
• Search databases such as ERIC or PsychInfo to find books and journal articles written about your topic. You may also use resources such as EBSCOhost to find full text articles that may be printed or downloaded.
• Search the internet for works that may have been posted about your topic

The following suggestions will assist you in framing a question that will give you focus as you begin exploration through data collection. Hubbard and Power suggest the following:(5) 

• Keep the questions open-ended enough to allow for possibilities to emerge. For example, instead of "Will poetry writing enhance creative thinking?", ask, "What methods will enhance creative thinking?" or, "In what manner will these methods develop creative thinking and problem solving?"
• Be as specific as possible. For example, "Which of these methods... increase critical thinking skills such as ...?"
• Operationalize your definitions. Describe what you mean by creative thinking, critical thinking and problem solving.
• Your question may be organized by one broad question and several sub-sets of that question.

Questions to Ask Yourself 

Asking yourself the following questions will assist you in assuring that your question will be worth investigating: 

• How is my question related to my overall goals in teaching?
• Are the relationships between the variables that I am investigating clear and meaningful to me, my students, and my profession?
• Is the focus of my question shared among stakeholders?
• Is answering the question feasible? (Consider time, funds, access to data collection resources)
• Is the question broad enough to allow for emergent possibilities?

          Teacher Thinking 

• What are my strengths and how can I use them to help students learn?
• What are my beliefs about pedagogy and learning?
• What are my perceptions about effective learning environments?
• What are my assumptions about how individual students learn?
• What is my personal philosophy on how people come to know and understand the world?

• What are the values, beliefs, and interests of my students?
• How do they learn?
• Do they believe that they have the ability to learn?
• What are their strengths and needs?
• In what ways do they individually express their knowledge?

• What are my beliefs, values, and assumptions about the subject(s) that I teach?
• How are they congruent with the tests, texts, and curriculum?
• How does this subject connect with other subjects?
• What is  my knowledge of the content?
• What portion of the content domain is reflected in the tests and curriculum?

•  What is the community's purpose of education?
• What are the community's goals for learning and instruction?
• Are they consistent with mine?
• How supportive are my administrators of my approach?

• How does the setup of my classroom influence the way in which my students learn or perceive learning?
• What is the informal curriculum that may be influencing how my students perceive learning or the content that I am teaching, i.e. peer groups, media, extracurricular activities, teacher student relationships, administrator-student relationships, regular classroom routines, etc.?
• What affects does the classroom setting have on my students?
• Is there any part of it that I can influence or control?

• Do I have clearly identified goals for instruction?
• Are they consistent with my student's proficiencies?
• Do I have the resources and curriculum aligned with my goals?

•  Are my lesson plans related to my goals?
• Are they congruent with learning processes and outcomes that I want my students to reach?
• I am reflecting regularly on the effectiveness of my approaches when making my plans?
• Are my goals and plans clear to my students?

• Are classroom activities constructed around a theme?
• Are they connected with transition?
• In what ways are they connected to my overall goals?
• Do they allow for active student participation?
• What are the goals of each of the activities?
• Do they allow for group and individual participation?
• Are they diverse and varied?

• What are the various methods of evaluating knowledge?
• Am I evaluating performance, knowledge, or understanding?
• Does every learning activity have a type of assessment component?
• What is the difference between summative and formative evaluation and how can each of these be incorporated?
• What are my personal beliefs about evaluation?
• Is the evaluation educative? Or what will my students learn from being evaluated?
• Is the assessment consistent with the instructional strategy being employed?
• Does the assessment allow for individual expression of knowledge?
• What can I learn about my students form this evaluation process?
• Is their room for self and peer evaluation?

• In what ways has the understanding of my students and the ways in which they learn and the understanding of myself evolved?
• What can I modify based on these understandings?
• Have I discussed my observations and interpretations with colleagues seeking and utilizing feedback?

The research log can become a valuable tool in helping you to organize and keep track of your inquiry activities. 

Example of a research log 
 

Project Title:   Team Members:   School:   Classrooms:

 

Date:

Time:

Place:

Emerging Research Question:      Observations:                              : Reflections: Discussion /Feedback: Interpretations: New Question:

 
Reflection Journal 
 

Team:

Project Title:

 

What intrigues you?      What are the reasons for your concern?      What outcomes would you like to result?      What can you do to improve this situation or what variables do you see effecting change?        How is this related to your overall goals?        Who are the players and what are their stakes?        Describe the context of the learning environment?          What types of evidence are you going to need?          What are your resources?

_______________________________ 
(1) Mohr, M.M. & Maclean, M.M. (1987). Working together: A guide for teacher-researchers. National Council of Teachers of English: Urbana, IL. 
(2) Hubbard, R.S. & Power, B.M. (1993). The art of classroom inquiry: A handbook for teacher researchers. Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH. 
(3) Hopkins, D. (1993). A teacher's guide to classroom research. Philadelphia:Open University Press.
(4) Ibid. (3) 
(5) Ibid. (2) 
(6) Wells, G. (1994). Changing schools from within:Creating communities of inquiry. Heinemann: Portsmouth, N.H. 
(7) Brause, R. & Mayher, J.S. (1991). Research and re-search: What the inquiring teachers needs to know. The Falmer Press: New York.