Pine’s (2009) chapter on “Conducting Teacher Action Research” provides a number of good tips for this process. Developing good teacher action research takes time. The teacher has to understand her own classroom or school. What are the issues that can be improved? What can they change?
Pine advises teacher researchers that they do not have to do it by themselves. Get feedback from others especially from those who may have a different perspective.
Pine, G. (2009). Conducting teacher action research. Teacher Action Research: Building Knowledge Democracies (pp. 234-262) Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage Publications, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/27031_11.pdf
“A good classroom action research question should be meaningful, compelling, and important to you as a teacher-researcher. It should engage your passion, energy, and commitment. It has to be important for your personal and professional growth; it should stretch you intellectually and affectively. You should live the question.” Pine, p. 239.
Developing your Action Research Questions
Framing the Question (p. 242)
Riel points out that a good Action Research Question should not do any of the following:
Riel, M. Understanding Action Research. http://cadres.pepperdine.edu/ccar/define.html
Ferrance, E. (2000) Action Research. Providence, RI. Retrieved October 6, 2018 from https://www.brown.edu/academics/education-alliance/sites/brown.edu.academics.education-alliance/files/publications/act_research.pdf