After reading Chapter 1 of the course textbook, watching the Conscious Educating videos on action research in an educational setting, Action Research in the Classroom: Part 1 (Links to an external site.) and Action Research in the Classroom: Part 2 (Links to an external site.), and reading the elaboration provided with the Week 1 Instructor Guidance about action research, post a substantive initial response fully addressing each of the following:

Part One: 
After reading Chapter 1 of the course text and watching the videos (Action Research in the Classroom: Part 1 and Action Research in the Classroom: Part 2), in one paragraph provide your initial thoughts about action research. What value do you see in conducting action research in an educational setting? Provide examples from both sources to support your discussion.

Part Two:
Select one educational research-based topic that interests you from our course topics. List the topic you select for instructor approval prior to moving on to the next steps. The topics covered during this course include: implementing change in an education-based organization, evaluating the impact of the applied intervention, communicating outcomes, collaboration, and 21st-century leadership practices (e.g., testing and assessment, educational standards, educational technology, literacy strategies, culturally- and linguistically-diverse students, safe classroom environments, disability research in general, AD/HD, autism, emotional/behavioral disturbance, intellectual disabilities or learning disabilities, etc.).

*Note: Choose the topic that is in alignment with your current or future professional goals. The topic you choose will be used throughout this course.

• Conduct a scholarly search for a research resource via the University of Arizona Global Campus Library or another scholarly source. Please refer to the instructor guidance for Week 1 for a detailed description of a “scholarly search.”
• Provide the web link name of the research resource you chose to review.
• Next, in one paragraph,
  • Describe the website that you reviewed (state, federal, blog, for profit or nonprofit, etc.).
  • Reflect on one item you found most interesting in the website you reviewed.
• Finally, in two to three sentences explain why you chose this particular resources to review.
  • How does this topic support your current or future professional goals?

Text:

 Mertler, C. A. (2017). Action research: Improving schools and empowering educators (5th ed.). Sage Publications. 

Each week in EDU 694 you will complete a significant amount of reading from the Mertler (2017) textbook and other resources related to Action Research. It is strongly recommended that you start using strategies for active reading now if you do not already as part of your study routine. Review the Tips for Active Reading (Links to an external site.) tutorial to learn more about active reading. The tutorial is approximately ten-minutes long and explains the concept of active reading and practical strategies for active reading. This tutorial will be especially useful for you as you read the textbook.

Additionally, remember that EDU 694 is a graduate-level course. As such, your writing in the discussion and assignment assessments each week is expected to demonstrate your best academic ability, including the area of academic writing. For a review of what academic writing entails, view the What is Academic Writing? (Links to an external site.) tutorial. Approximately fourteen-minutes in length, this video tutorial explains the fundamental components of academic writing and will provide helpful reminders about academic writing to support your writing in all assignments and discussions throughout the course.