INSTTECH 6208

Enhancing Learning Through Action Research

1. What was the context (the course, purpose, situation, etc.) in which this artifact was
created?

The artifact I created for this course was an outline for a final action research paper. I
chose a topic meaningful to my professional practice, the impact of collaboration
between classroom teachers and librarians on student learning.

2. What outcome(s) (ISTE standards) were you demonstrating in creating it? For each
outcome, describe how the artifact addresses the indicators within the standard.

Standard 1 Learner:​ ​Educators continually improve their practice by learning from and
with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to
improve student learning.
1a ​Set professional learning goals to explore and apply pedagogical approaches
made possible by technology and reflect on their effectiveness.
1c​ Stay current with research that supports improved student learning outcomes,
including findings from the learning sciences.

My artifact for this course met these benchmarks because action research, even
hypothetical, required me to explore, learn about, and eventually test different
pedagogical practices to improve student learning. I also had to use reliable research
such as educational journals to look for information about teacher and librarian
collaboration. The data found from the research demonstrated that when classroom
teachers and librarians work together to plan, teach, and assess, there can be a positive
correlation to an increase in student achievement.
.
Standard 2 Leader: ​Educators seek out opportunities for leadership to support student
empowerment and success and to improve teaching and learning.
2c​ Model for colleagues the identification, exploration, evaluation, curation, and
adoption of new digital resources and tools for learning.
 These indicators were met because my artifact showcased how action research allows
educators to identify, explore, and evaluate different tools for learning. In this case, the
resources included the classroom teacher and librarian. It could also be assumed in my
action research, that part of my role would have been to integrate meaningful technology
into classroom learning.

Standard 4 Collaborator: ​Educators dedicate time to collaborate with both colleagues

and students to improve practice, discover and share resources and ideas, and solve
problems.
4a​ Dedicate planning time to collaborate with colleagues to create authentic
learning experiences that leverage technology.

This artifact represents this standard and benchmark more than any other because it
centers around research that shows that students who have teachers who collaborate
with librarians tend to have increased student learning. A librarian should be a resource
for new and meaningful technology tools and how to properly integrate them. When
these educators set aside time to plan, students reap the benefits.

3. What challenge(s) did you encounter in creating this artifact? What did you learn from
encountering this/these challenge(s), and how can you turn these challenges into
opportunities in your current or future professional life?

This artifact was challenging to create because it was not something I was actually
implementing in my practice. It was a hypothetical situation that required me to use
“what if” in order to complete it. It was also challenging because this course was an
asynchronous course that asked us to complete questions from a textbook. While most
of it asked me to reflect on my practice, I did feel as though I had to use hypothetical
situations. What I learned from this was that it is important to make learning meaningful
and to use multiple modalities and multiple ways for my students to demonstrate
understanding. These challenges did present opportunities in my current professional
life because it made me reflect on how I as a librarian was collaborating with classroom
 teachers. I also found great research to show to my administration and teachers to show
them that it was beneficial for us to collaborate together to improve student achievement.

4. What does this work show about you and your capabilities?

This work shows that I am capable of finding a meaningful topic to my profession and
use it as evidence and data that the collaboration between myself and classroom
teachers is beneficial for our students. It also showed that I am able to use online
sources from reputable databases and online journals to find information, rather than just
searching on Google.

5. What did completing this work teach you about yourself as a 21st Century educator?

This work taught me that sometimes we have to have data and evidence to argue a
point. Sometimes this research is possible with our own students and colleagues. I
could definitely see myself incorporating this action research plan in the future to show
my district how having a librarian in every building can have a positive impact on student
learning. It shows that being an educator in the 21st century isn’t just about integrating
technology, but that it can allow for teachers and other educators to be agents of
change.

Action Research Artifact