WRITING AN ACTION

RESEARCH
For Teachers, School Heads
and Practitioners
By
DR. CECILIA LIWANAG CALUB
A. Research in the Basic
Education Curriculum: Legal
Bases in the Philippines

1. DepEd Order No. 24 s. 2010

2. DepEd Order No. 43, s. 2015

B. ACTION RESEARCH:
Meaning
A process of systematic inquiry
to improve educational practices
or resolve problems in
classrooms and schools.

A method of finding out what

works best in your own
classroom so that you can
improve student learning.
 C. Reasons for Conducting an
Action Research

a. A very effective way of improving your teaching.

b. Helps you plan the most effective strategies for
the rest of the school year.
c. Helps you discover which teaching techniques
work best in a particular situation.
d. Automatically take into account your own
teaching strengths and weaknesses, skill level of
your students, etc.
D. Types of Action Research
Based on the Number of
Researchers
1. INDIVIDUAL - working independently on
a project
2. COLLABORATIVE - a group of teachers or
researchers working together to explore a
problem that might be present beyond a
single classroom

3. SCHOOL-WIDE - focuses on issues

present throughout an entire school or across
the district.
E. AR contains two-phase
methodology

Research Action
F. How to conduct an
ACTION RESEARCH
 1. Review your
current practice.
7.Use findings 2. Identify a
to make problem that
decisions; share you want to
them investigate.

6. Analyze data;
look for findings 3. Review
with practical literature
significance

4.Plan a research
5. Gather data
method/strategy
 G. Criteria in Choosing
a Topic for Action Research
a. Must be inherent in the context of the school
management, classroom, teaching, learning
b. Must be meaningful, compelling, and
important to you as a teacher-researcher and
for your personal and professional growth
c. Must be within your sphere of influence,
consonant with your work and can be
addressed within the confines of your
classroom
d. Must be focused but not so ambitious, big, or
complex that it requires extraordinary
resources, time, and energy
d. Must urgently address an intense,
pervasive or serious problem before
such problem gets worst or creates
more serious problem.
e. Must benefit your students or
stakeholders by informing them about
your teaching and the curriculum, by
providing new insights about them and
their learning, or by improving practice.
H. THEMATIC AREAS OF RESEARCH
(DO No. 43, s. 2015: Sec. V. 2)

Improving
access to
education

Improving
Improving
quality of
governance
education
I. Proposed Areas of Concern
(DepEd Order No. 43, s. 2016)
Research that would inform or
improve:
• Teaching and learning;
• School governance;
• Matters arising from School Improvement Plan
(SIP) analysis and Learning Action Cells (LAC)
sessions that require further investigation;
• Policy and decision making;
• Program development and implementation;
• Program evaluation;
• Process evaluation; or
• Impact study.
J. Specific Areas of Concern
 1.Academic
problems

6.Community – 2.Behavioral
related issues problems

5.Administrative
and operational 3.Physical or
management health - related
issues
4.School
environment
problems
K. Examples of Questions
Based on Identified
Problems/ Issues
1. How does the use of computers affect the student
writing process in the fourth-grade classrooms?
2. What happens to the academic performance of
the Grade Six pupils when heterogeneous groups
are assigned for cooperative learning activities?
3. How can student feedback improve classroom
instruction in English?
4. How can cooperative learning in high-school
mathematics class improve student learning?
5. What happens to student learning in the
classroom when project-centered approach is
applied to teaching Literature?
L. How to STATE PROBLEMS
Criticize the following.
Research Title: The Effect of Music on the
Students’ Mastery Level in English
1. What is the mastery level of the
students in the vocabulary test given
after they were taught with music?
2. How does music improve the students’
vocabulary mastery level?
3. How does the students’ attitude
towards music affect their mastery level
of vocabulary items?
ACTIVITY 1
1. Identify a problem at the classroom level in
your school or work setting.
1. Explain why you consider it a problem.
2. What possible harm or damage can the
problem do if it were left unchecked?
3. Who are affected most by the problem?
4. What can be done to solve the problem
you have cited.
2. Formulate the problem into a major
research question.
3. Transform the problem into a research
topic/title.
M. Prescribed Outline for
ACTION RESEARCH
PROPOSAL
(DO No. 43, S. 2015: Annexes 3b, 4a, 4b)
I. INTRODUCTION

II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

III. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

IV. SCOPE AND DELIMITATION

V. METHODOLOGY
A. Sampling

B. Data Collection

C. Ethical Issues

D. Plan for Data Analysis

VI. WORK PLAN

VII. COST ESTIMATES

IX. REFERENCES
Common Parts of a
Completed Action
Research
I. ABSTRACT
II. INTRODUCTION
III. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS (OR OBJECTIVES OF THE
STUDY)
IV. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
V. SCOPE AND DELIMITATIONS
VI. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES
VII. METHODOLOGY
1. Research Design
2. Samples and Sampling Techniques
3. Instrumentation and Validation of the Instrument
4. Data-Gathering and Statistical Procedure
VIII.DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
IX. CONCLUSIONS
X. ACTIONS DONE
XI. REFERENCES
XII. APPENDIX
 N. REVIEW OF
RELATED LITERATURE
LITERATURE REVIEW can help you:
• Focus on your research question
• Develop your research methodology and data
collection procedures
• Identify a conceptual framework for your
research
• Identify gaps in previous studies
• Identify flawed methodologies or theoretical
approaches
• Identify controversies in the research literature
• Provide a check for testing your findings and
conclusions
• Help you make meaning out of your findings.
Writing the Literature Review
1. Categorize the materials to facilitate
easy referencing.

2. Arrange the materials on the basis of

recency.

3. Quote and document accordingly critical

texts and passages lifted from the review.

4. Synthesize the materials, underscoring

their relatedness.
O. Information Sources for
Conducting a Literature
Review
 Books

Professional
Internet resources journals

Theses and Official government

dissertations publications

Research reports
P. All About PLAGIARISM
PLAGIARISM is defined as the act of either
intentionally OR unintentionally submitting work
or a part of a work that was written by someone
else. If you turn in a paper that was written by
someone else, or if you turn in a paper in which
you have copied material from any source without
citing that source, you are guilty of plagiarizing.
(Harvard Guide to Using Sources : A Publication of the Harvard College
Writing Program. (Feb. 2016). Retrieved from http:// isites.harvard.edu/
icb/ icb.do? keyword= k70847& tabgroupid= icb.tabgroup 106849)
An intellectual theft, i.e. presenting
another individual’s work as your
own without appropriate
referencing and citation (Sec III. DO
No. 43, s. 2015)
Q. How To Avoid
Plagiarism
1. Cite sources to give credit to other
scholars for their ideas.
2. Cite sources to provide a roadmap for
readers who are interested in learning
more about a topic and in joining the
ongoing conversation about that topic.
Use MLA or APA style.
3. Know how to paraphrase, summarize,
quote, and transform direct discourse
to indirect discourse.
1. CITE REFERENCES Using
the APA Format
A. Website
Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K.,
Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., & Brizee, A.( May
5, 2015). General format. Retrieved from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/5.
B. Book
Nunez, D.B. (2015). Action research. Quezon City:
Adriana Publishing Co., Inc.
C. Magazine
Tumulty, K. (April 2016). Should they stay or should
they go? Time, 167(15), 3-40.
D. Online Magazine
Tumulty, K. (April 2006). Should they stay or
should they go? Time, 167(15). Retrieved
from http:// content.time.com/ time/
magazine/ article/ 0,9171,1179361,00.html
E. Newspaper
Rosenberg, G. (March 31, 1977). Electronic
discovery proves an effective legal weapon.
The New York Times, p. D5.
F. Online Newspaper
Rosenberg, G. (March 31, 1977). Electronic
discovery proves an effective legal weapon.
The New York Times, Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com
2.PARAPHRASE
a. Use different vocabulary with the
same meaning.

a. "It can be difficult to choose a

suitable place to study English."

"It is often a challenge to pick up a

relevant school to learn English.“

"It is sometimes hard to select an

appropriate place to learn English."
b. Change the order of words.

"If they have some help, most people can

paraphrase effectively. However, practice is
important because paraphrasing is
difficult."

"Most people can paraphrase effectively, if

they have some help. However,
paraphrasing is difficult, so practice is
important."
c. Change parts of speech.

• "The most effective way to build

your English skill is to study
regularly."
• "The most effective way of building
your English skill is to do studying
on a regular basis."
d. Change the voice of the verb.
• "To improve English, you should
learn new vocabulary on a daily
basis."
• "To improve English, new
vocabulary should be learned on a
daily basis"
3. SUMMARIZE
a. Scan the article first. Find the main points.
Briefly look at each section to identify and use
verb in the past tense in reporting.

• The source
• The research question and reason for the
study (Stated in the Introduction)
• The hypothesis tested (Introduction)
• How the hypothesis was tested (Method)
• The findings and how they were
interpreted (Results and Discussion)
b. Write an introductory paragraph that
begins with a frame, including an in-text
citation of the source and the author as well
as a reporting verb to introduce the main
idea.
• The reporting verb is generally in present
tense.
 Article
In his/her article (or lecture), “ Impact of Teacher
Commentaries on Students’ Speaking Performance”
(2012), Smith argues/ claims/ reports/ contends/
maintains/ states that _______________(Main
idea/argument ).
Book
In his book The Pearl, Steinbeck (1945) illustrates
the fight between good and evil in humankind.
 Interview
In my interview with Dr. Dexter Rosario (November
4, 2015), he stated that _________________.
4. QUOTE
 Short Quotations

If you are directly quoting from a work, include the

author, year of publication, and the page number for
the reference (preceded by "p."). Introduce the
quotation with a signal phrase that includes the
author's last name followed by the date of
publication in parentheses.

If the author is not named in a signal phrase, place

the author's last name, the year of publication, and
the page number in parentheses after the quotation.
Samples:
• According to Palladino and Wade (2010), “a
flexible mind is a healthy mind” (p. 147).
• In 2010, Palladino and Wade noted that “a
flexible mind is a healthy mind” (p. 147).
• In fact, “a flexible mind is a healthy mind”
(Palladino & Wade, 2010, p. 147).
• “A flexible mind is a healthy mind,” according to
Palladino and Wade’s (2010, p. 147) longitudinal
study.
• Palladino and Wade’s (2010) results indicate that
“a flexible mind is a healthy mind” (p. 147).
Long Quotations
1. Place direct quotations that are 40 words, or longer, in a
free-standing block of typewritten lines, and omit
quotation marks.

2. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and

indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within
the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin.

3. Maintain double-spacing throughout.

4. The parenthetical citation should come after the closing

punctuation mark.
Sample:
Most beginners had a very challenging time
doing their research work particularly when
paraphrasing, summarizing or quoting materials that
they read. In relation to this, Jones's (1998) study
found:
Students often had difficulty using APA style,
especially when citing sources of data. This
difficulty could be attributed to the fact that
many students failed to purchase a style manual
or to ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)
• PARAPHRASING
Putting the ideas of another
author into your own words. To
avoid plagiarism when
paraphrasing, it is essential that
you do not include too many words
from the original text. A
paraphrased form may be longer or
shorter than the original text.
•SUMMARIZING
Using your own words to draw
out the key points or main
arguments of the original text,
significantly reducing its length.
• QUOTING
Copying directly from a text word
for word. Short quotes should be
enclosed in "quotation marks".
Longer quotes should be separated
from your text and indented from
the left hand margin. In this case
you do not need to use double
quotation marks.
S. How to Conduct SAMPLING
in Quantitative Research
1. Probability Sampling

a. Simple Random

b. Systematic Random Sampling

c. Cluster Sampling

d. Multi-Stage or Proportionate Sampling

e. Area Sampling
2. Non-Probability Sampling

a. Incidental Sampling

b.Purposive or Judgmental Sampling

c. Snowball Sampling

d. Quota Sampling
Determining Sample Size

Slovin Formula

Percentage

Quota
T. DATA COLLECTION
1. Instrumentation
2. Validation of the
Instrument
 1. USEFUL INSTRUMENTS
a. Tests
b. Questionnaires
c. Observations
d. Records or Documents
e. Interviews
f. Surveys
g. Checklists or Inventories
h. Rating Scales
 2. DATA COLLECTION STRATEGIES
a. Interview
b. Observation
c. Test Administration
d. Surveys
e. Document Review
f. Content Analysis
g. Experiment
 3. Instrument Validation:
QUESTIONNAIRE
a. Simplicity and viability

b. Reliability and precision in the words

c. Adequate for the problem intended to

measure
d. Reflect underlying theory or concept to
be measured

e. Capable of measuring change

 4.Instrument Validation:
TEST QUESTIONS
1. TEST COVERAGE AND USE
There must be a clear statement of recommended
uses and a description of the population for which the
test is intended.
2. APPROPRIATE SAMPLES FOR TEST VALIDATION
AND NORMING
The samples used for test validation and norming
must be of adequate size and must be sufficiently
representative to substantiate validity statements, to
establish appropriate norms, and to support
conclusions regarding the use of the instrument for
the intended purpose
3. RELIABILITY
The test is sufficiently reliable to permit stable
estimates of the ability levels of individuals in the
target group
4. CRITERION VALIDITY
The test adequately predicts academic performance.
5. CONTENT VALIDITY
Content validity refers to the extent to which the test
questions represent the skills in the specified subject
area.
5. CONSTRUCT VALIDITY
The test measures the "right" psychological
constructs.
 U. ETHICAL ISSUES
1. Right to conduct a study to answer a question

2. Securing free and informed consent from

respondents/parents/guardians of learners
3. Confidentiality of info. and anonymity of the
respondent
4. Respect for participant’s decision in case
he/she withdraws/discontinues
5. Protection form physical, mental or
psychological pressure or harm
ACTIVITY 2
Write an action research
proposal about a school-
related problem that you
hope to be solved.

Follow the format

prescribed by the DepEd, or
the format which you follow
in your district or division.
 Monday, June 17, 2019
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