Action Research

The focus of this study is on the integration of group dynamics into flipped learning pedagogical model and how this pedagogical model can be enhanced by this integration. The research method used is action research. As my focus is on flipped learning and group dynamics integration, action research is one of many suitable options. Action research goes hand in hand with reflection which is integral part of group dynamics, as it is a collective, self-reflective, as well as collaborative. Hence, it is used by participants to justify actions that they took in their social or educational practices (Zuber-Skerritt 1991, 3; Cohen et al. 2011, 345; Yasmeen 2008, 46, 47.) Action research has therefore, a lot to offer in educational institutes and I wanted to take advantage of these potentials. Action research helps researchers to understand reflective thinking, collaboration and helps teachers, researchers to give their students learning experiences. Action research can be used in a variety of areas:

Teaching methods, Learning strategies, Evaluative procedures, Continuing professional development of teachers and more (Cohen et al. 2011, 344). These concepts are pretty much the same concepts used in group dynamics (figure 2). Therefore, it is a suitable choice to use such a research method. It is a research method that is best suited when we talk about change, reflection, problem solving, meaningful learning and overall group dynamics.

Teachers enable students to attain effective learning outcomes by using action based processes (Philips 2014, 376). Furthermore, in an educational setting, action research has some principles, introduced by Richard (1989), to get started with the research. The principles are: Reflexive critique, Dialectical critique, Collaborative critique, Collaborative

Resources, Risk, Plural Structure, and Theory, Practice, and Transformation (Yasmeen 2008, 48.) In order to do an action research, one has to be aware of the risks, critiques and resources at hand.

Background of Action research

The credit to use science in addressing practical social problems is often given to John Dewey, the American philosopher who wrote about democratizing education. In his book How We Think (1933) Dewey identified five phases of reflective thinking: suggestion, intellectualization, hypothesizing, reasoning and testing hypotheses in action. Dewey needed a practical solution for practical problems and he wrote extensively about reflective thinking process. (Pasmore, 2001, 38, 39.) Dewey's ideas were subsequently picked up by other philosophers, researchers, and scientists and one name is considered to be the pioneer of coining the term action research. The origin of action research is not clear, however, some researchers have argued for Kurt Lewin to be the origin of conceptualizing this term in his paper ‘minority problem 1946’ (Yasmeen 2008, 46). The term ‘action research’ further developed by Kolb (1984), Carr & Kemmis (1986) and others (Zuber-Skerritt 1991, xiii).

According to Peter Holly between 1960s-1984 action research started to hold its foot into social sciences. The time period was all about initiating action research and implementing it into the system. During this time the talk was about key issues such as: development versus accountability, bottom-up versus top-down, classroom reforms versus organization development, process versus content, school-based versus system based, decentralized versus centralized and teachers versus manages (Zuber-Skerritt 1991, 40).

In mid 70s action research gained popularity and was discussed in four major types of research fields: Traditional - applied within organizations in the area of organizational development, Contextual - relations between organizations, Radical - deals with a high focus on freedom and the overcoming of power inequalities, and in Educational Traditional Action Research - based on John Dewey (1920s-30s) who believed that professional educators should become involved in the community problem-solving. (Yasmeen 2008,

46.) Researchers examine the problems, co-generate related information about the problems, take actions and deduce the results of actions based on experiential learning. This act is known as action research (Martin 2001, 167.) Furthermore, action research is a type of inquiry that is; practical as it involves making change to practice, theoretical as it is informed by theory and can generate new insights, and concerned with change and improvement (see Arnold 2015, 4).

Role of Action research

A researcher using action research tries to analyze different points of view and consequently come up with different, or more points of views of the same phenomena. This is why and how action research comes into play and helps researchers understand views and hence, change occurs (Arnold 2015, 4). Moreover, researchers draw conclusions and further develop their ideas via action based research, therefore, action research is also commonly known as

‘learning by doing’ (Yasmeen 2008, 46). Simply put, the research is only action research when it is done in collaboration and through the critically examined action of individual group members. (Cohen et al. 2011, 345; Zuber-Skerritt 1991, 3, 4; Kemmis 2001, 95.) According to Stephen Kemmis, action research is first and foremost a research by practitioners – something they do, not done ‘on’ or ‘to’ them (Kemmis 2001, 94). “It is a systematic and orderly way for teachers to observe their practice or to explore a problem and a possible course of action (Johnson 2012, 1).”

Action research is, therefore, a collaborative approach which uses reflection as its key component (Cohen et al. 2011, 348; Philips 2014, 374). Gail Philips (2014) also sees action research as a participatory method (Philips 2014, 374). According to Phillips, action research is particularly well suited to practice based research (Philips 2014, 374). Additionally, action research is known to be a small scale research field, as using action research can basically affect your thinking and change your perceptions (Arnold 2015, 4). Thus, action research is all about focusing on the right areas at the time of research.