Home > Publications > IASL: School Libraries Worldwide - July 1997

SCHOOL LIBRARIES WORLDWIDE

Volume 3, Number 2, July 1997

Theme: Action Research in School Librarianship

Guest Editor: Laurel A. Clyde

i Introduction:
Action Research and School Libraries
Laurel A. Clyde

1 Some Reflections on the Nature of Educational Action Research
Tony Ghaye
Based on the author's presentation to a research seminar at the 1995 IASL conference in Worcester, England, this article reflects on the nature of action research and discusses some issues associated with action research in education. In particular, it addresses four qualities or characteristics that tend to give action research its particular character and style. These are a concern for values; action that is workplace oriented; the role of reflection in the process; and a concern for the nature of the improvement or change that occurs as a result of the action research. In the context of school librarianship, action research is presented as a practical, principled, and systematic way to improve professional thinking about school librarianship, professional practice, and the library environment.

11 The Methods of Action Research
Jane E. Klobas
The methods of action research introduced in this article enable a practitioner who is also an action researcher to observe, evaluate, and interpret reliably the effect of an action or intervention on library practice, to integrate a successful intervention into local practice, and to publish the results of an action research project in such a way that other practitioners and researchers can learn from the project. The article emphasizes reflection skills and includes examples of the use of diaries and internal dialogues in reflection.

31 Teacher-Librarians and Information Literacy: Getting into the Action
Ross J. Todd
This article reflects on the process, actions, and outcomes of the extensive and ongoing action research that has been underway at Marist Sisters' College, Sydney, Australia since 1991. This research has centered on integrating information literacy in the classroom and investigating its impact on student learning. It presents some guiding principles developed from this experience to enable teacher-librarians to get into the action. These include aspects of collaboration, intervention, reflection, learning by doing, and methodologies. The article also discusses outcomes related to decision-making and development in the school library, the role of the teacher-librarian, the wider valuing of information literacy, and the development of an information technology infrastructure in the school.

41 Improving Information Search Process Instruction and Assessment Through Collaborative Action Research
Violet H. Harada and Joan Yoshina
Helping student information users more effectively to retrieve, analyze, synthesize, and apply information is one of the major concerns of school librarians worldwide. Although a growing body of grounded theory focuses on information literacy, the need persists for more field practitioners to use this research in improving actual teaching and learning situations. This case study describes one school team's efforts in conducting collaborative action research to improve student performance in the information searching process. The steps of action research are detailed, and the intervention and assessment strategies used are identified and briefly described.

56 Working Together to Improve Junior High Research Instruction: An Action Research Approach
Karen Loerke and Dianne Oberg
Four science teachers and the teacher-librarian used an action research approach to teach a library research process, developing instructional approaches appropriate to the cognitive development of their junior high school students (ages 12-15). The action research team worked through seven cycles of planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. The team found that junior high students experienced the thoughts and feelings identified in Kuhlthau's model of the Information Search Process. Recommendations were developed for providing guided instruction for the research process and for implementing school policies to support a guided instruction approach.

68 Using Student Surveys to Build and Evaluate an Information Skills Program
Eleanor B. Howe
A local area network provides the technical ability to teach a class the efficient use of its resources. The problem is to design instruction to fit the needs of the students. Action research, as a tool for gathering information to describe situations and solve problems in context, was used to determine the current level of high school students' electronic search skills so that a course could be designed that would move them to the desired level of proficiency. A student survey revealed self-assessed knowledge and use of information technologies and identified deficiencies in desired skills that would be addressed in instruction.

78 Sources of Information About Action Research
Laurel A. Clyde

Last Updated 17 March 2003 (LAC)