What I have learned about Action Research

Action research moves us away from the standard learning which I view as memorization of facts. In the standard learning we are taught to memorize and know these facts. Many times we do need to do just that. As an example --- learn all 50 States. This is purely memorization. And yes you do need to know this. However, action research goes beyond this memorization and allows the student to look at all 50 States and analysis something about the State. An example would be to compare all the States in the Southeast with the States in the Southwest concerning the number of Students that go on to college. This would allow the student to gather information on this and then go further in depth as to why one area of the United States has more students entering college than another. Staying with the traditional learning would only have the student know the names of the States versus Action learning will allow the student to start to gather a larger picture and understand what needs to be looked at in order to determine why one area has more college students than another. With Action research one is able to think “outside the box” and explore beyond the traditional learning environment. By doing this more information is gathered and learned thereby allowing for change to be made based on the Inquiry that was created and results of this inquiry. Action Research can really help the student and faculty to move beyond the boundaries of learning that Traditional Research has created.