A handbook for Exploratory Action Research

 
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Answer Key
Chapter 2 
Task 2.2
Chapter 3 
Task 2.3
1. What were Lorena’s initial concerns?
She noticed her students were not working properly in listening activities 
so she wanted to know why they were not completing their listening tasks.
2. What were Lorena’s initial questions? 
1. In which listening activities do my students listen better? 
2. How is listening presented during the lesson? 
3. What kind of information are my students able to identify from the 
listening material? 
4. How does the length of the listening material affect students’ 
performance?
The three situations show different ways in which teachers 
can approach a problematic or puzzling situation in the 
classroom. The maths teacher (1) decided to stop doing 
something because she was unhappy with the results. Even 
though what she did may be valid, this is not an example
of research since no evidence was collected to identify the 
reasons for the problem. Similarly, although the science 
teacher (3) changed his teaching to try to improve his 
students’ participation, he did not gather any information 
or analyse the situation either before or after making the 
change. On the contrary, the English teacher (2) did collect 
information by asking her students and a colleague, and 
she compared this information when analyzing it. She then 
planned a strategy not only to improve her students’ lack of 
participation during video-based lessons but also to gather 
more information, this time about the change she wanted 
to make. She went beyond signs and looked for data. Only 
example (2), then, can be seen as an example of research.
Task 3.1 
Letter 
B
In these situations, there seems to be a focus on solving 
the situation by ‘acting’ on it. This is a common thing 
teachers do and it is understandable since they need to 
solve a number of problems in their classroom and in 
relatively little time. You probably feel a need to act now!