Pre-service teachers on action research: Towards a training model for the task

Abstract

This study is to pre-service teachers' readiness on action research and to inform new practices in preparing them for the task. Specifically, the study investigates pre-service teachers' conceptual understanding, perception, and readiness for action research. A Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) model guided the conduct of the study participated by 38 pre-service science teachers.The researcher-designed questionnaire and the analysis of the different action research outputs submitted show that the pre-service teachers possess varied conceptual understandings of the characteristic of action research, and it seemed to have guided them in the conduct of the task. Further, the results from the questionnaire seemed to show that the pre-service teachers realized the different benefits of doing action research upon exposure to the task. Though the pre-service teachers reported that they are in general 'ready' for the different action research tasks, the quality of their outputs still needs improvement. Thus, further support for action research is needed. Ultimately, the study results in a model for preparing-plan, practice, process, present, and promulgate.