The effects on teachers of participation in an interactive research and development project

Abstract

Traditional educational research generally has not resulted in the effective use of research findings by classroom practitioners. Among the reasons for this nonuse of research by classroom practitioners are that teachers generally do not feel ownership of the research since they were in no way involved in the research, nor do they have skills to use effectively research findings and practices. Interactive research and development (IR&D) is a strategy that brings together classroom teachers, university researchers, and staff development personnel to research a question of concern to the teachers on the team and to plan collaboratively a means of disseminating their research findings. The IR&D strategy was developed and field tested by the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development in San Francisco. This study, which was an investigation of some of the changes teachers made as a result of participating in an IR&D project, employed a pretest-posttest control group design. The study was conducted during a 13-week period in the fall of 1980. The sample in the study consisted of 13 teachers in the treatment group and 18 teachers in the control group. Subjects in the treatment group were participants in an IR&D project sponsored by the local Teacher Corps project. Participants were provided with approximately 10 hours of initial training in general research practices and procedures and in the essential features of IR&D. The teachers were then divided into six teams based on their research interests and team member preferences. Each team consisted of one to three teachers, one university professor who served as the researcher, and one Teacher Corps staff member who served as the staff developer. Members on each team were charged with the responsibility of identifying a research question, conducting a research project using appropriate methodology and design, and collaboratively planning a means to disseminate their research findings. An analysis of covariance was performed on the data gathered through three questionnaires: the Stages of Concern About the Innovation Questionnaire, the Research-Teaching-Development Skills Questionnaire, and the Professional Development Questionnaire. In addition, open-ended statements of concern were analyzed using criteria outlined in A Manual for Assessing Open-Ended Statements of Concern About the Innovation; and informal interviews were conducted for the purpose of identifying teachers' attitudes about the use of research findings and practices in teaching. Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusions were drawn:

Teachers who participated in an IR&D project did demonstrate significantly greater changes in concerns about the use of research, findings and practices in teaching than those who did not participate in an IR&D project. Teachers who participated in an IR&D project did demonstrate significantly higher research-teaching-development skills than those who did not participate in an IR&D project. Teachers who participated in an IR&D project did not demonstrate significantly higher interest in professional development than those who did not participate in an IR&D project. Teachers who participated in an IR&D project did demonstrate a positive attitude about the use of research findings and practices in teaching.