AIOU MANUAL RESEARCH PROJECT B.Ed Course Code 8613

AIOU MANUAL RESEARCH PROJECT B.Ed  Course Code: 8613 (1.5 Year / 2.5 Year)

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 1. Course Description

Pre-service teacher education in Pakistan has been criticized for being heavily content-ridden on the cost of ignoring practical aspect. No doubt, theoretical knowledge should be linked with classroom practices to make the teacher education programs more effective. The Higher Education Commission Pakistan suggested some radical changes in the teacher education programs. In wake of the transformation, Allama Iqbal Open University is trying to equip its student-teachers with skills based on practical works under the supervisions of experienced and highly qualified teachers. Research Project is one of such offerings to the students which will provide them some basic skills for being an effective classroom teacher. It is designed to provide them with critical approach, scientific attitude and reflective thinking. In the previous semesters, the students were offered ‘Research Methods in Education’, ‘Critical Thinking and Reflective Practices’ and ‘Teaching Practice-I’. The experiences from these courses will help the students to build their narrative and complete this research project.

We have already learnt that action research is a way of solving local problems by adopting steps of scientific method. It is not uncommon that a teacher faces many problems of different nature during teaching and at workplace. Action research provides more valid and reliable solutions of the problems faced by them at the classroom and institutional levels. So, mastering action research can be an important step in becoming a more effective teacher. Keeping in view the importance of action research in the professional life of the teachers, universities of the developed countries have made action research a part of teacher education programs. For setting higher standards of pre-service teacher education in Pakistan, Allama Iqbal Open University has also made it mandatory for B.Ed students to conduct an action research and write a report. As action research targets learning teaching through researching teaching and based on some practical work, it provides an opportunity to change student

teachers’ beliefs based on practical experiences. It will help the students understand how scientific method is used to solve classroom problems. 

One the most important considerations in action research is ‘context’ – that’s why we are not bothered about the generalization of the results. It is conducted in the context of the researcher and the problem relates to the personal context. The critical question of an action research is mostly narrated in personal pronoun i.e. ‘I’ and ‘My’. For example, “How can I improve reading skills at primary level?” or “How can my teaching develop higher order thinking among students at elementary level?” Sticking to one’s own context provides another benefit. It provides an insight into the classroom and the institutional practices as a whole. The other major consideration of Action Research is the ‘reflection’ of the student-teacher. Action research at this level should be something meaningful to a student-teacher – lessons which can be carried with as a professional teacher to make you a wiser, smarter and more effective teacher. Once a student-teacher gets through action research, he/she gets to know and handle a scientific method to solve his/her professional problems rather than always looking for trial and error method.

2. Course Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, the student-teacher will be able to:

• Identify an educational problem within the classroom / institution 

• Review the literature related to the identified problem

• Develop a scientific plan to solve it

• Execute an intervention to achieve the objectives 

• Collect data about the problem with the help of a research instrument

• Analyze the data

• Draw conclusions based on the analysis of the collected data

• Use APA manual in writing and formatting a research report

3. Introduction to Research Project

The purpose of research project is to engage student-teachers in action research process. Action research helps student-teachers to begin a cycle of posing questions, gathering data, reflection, and deciding on a course of action. Research project helps to understand a particular problem or phenomenon along with strengthening their comprehension of research process. They discover first-hand knowledge about (a) how the steps of the research process are interlinked, (b) develop an understanding and appreciation of how knowledge evolves, and (c) adds a contribution to the existing body of knowledge. 

The purpose of action research project is either to solve a problem or to improve a practice in education within local settings. The output of an action research project may provide immediate solution to a problem at classroom or school level. 

What is NOT an action research? 

• Action research is not a library project where we theoretically learn about a topic that interests us. 

• Action research is not an attempt of trying to find out what is wrong, rather it is a quest for knowledge about how to improve a particular practice/situation.

• Action research is not about doing research on or about people, or finding all available information on a topic looking for the correct answers. Action research involves people working to improve their skills, techniques, and strategies. 

• Action research is not about learning why we do certain things. But it is about how we can do things better. It is about how we can change our instruction to impact students’ learning.

Selection of Topic

The Dean, Faculty of Education will provide a theme and a set of sub-themes. The Director Regional Services will disseminate this list to all regional centers and the concerned Regional Director will be responsible to convey it to all supervisors at the time or before the workshop of the course ‘Research Project’. This practice will be followed every semester as for each semester new theme and the sub-themes will be provided by the Dean, Faculty of Education. 

The selection of the sub-theme – the topic of the research project for each student is up to the mutual understanding of the student and his/her supervisor. The supervisor is responsible to give almost equal weightage to each sub-theme. It means that if a supervisor is going to supervise the work of 25 students and there are 08 sub-themes given, every sub-theme should be selected by at least 03 students. In simple words, divide the number of students by the number of sub-themes; and in this way, equal weightage to each sub-theme should be ensured.

Writing Project Report

You must consider the following points at the time of writing your project report:

• Write you report concise and brief. You are supposed to write your report on the given space as it is not permitted to attach extra sheets by your own.

• The report must be written in English language ONLY. A report written in any language other than English will be awarded zero marks.

• Do not copy your report from some other student. If two or more reports are found to be similar, all such reports will be awarded zero marks.

• If you are already a practicing teacher, use your classroom to conduct this action research. And if you are not a teacher, you can conduct your research during Teaching Practice-II (CC-8608).