Introduction

The relationship between research and practice is exemplified when the act of conducting reflective research directly alters and influences one’s own practice. It is not enough to simply teach, but to reflect upon and improve the lessons that are taught to foster greater success; ultimately engaging in a process of action research to improve in the act of teaching. In her book, Action Research in Education, McAteer states “Action Research… is the product of planned deliberation, of systematic data collection, collation and analysis, of theory testing and theory generation, and adheres to some agreed principles” (McAteer, 2014, p. 4). This reflection on practice represents what classroom teachers should be engaging in to improve performance, both for themselves and for their students. 

Author Biography

According to the Edge Hill University Website, Mary McAteer is currently employed as a member of the Faculty of Education in the Professional Learning Department. Her position is that of Senior Lecturer Professional Learning (“Mary McAteer,” 2019). McAteer has a number of educational achievements which include, but are not limited to: a Bachelor of Education Degree, a Masters of Science Degree, a Doctorate of Philosophy Degree, and a Postgraduate Certification of Research Supervision. 

Earlier in McAteer’s career “she held a range of classroom teaching and senior management roles in a number of schools in Northern Ireland” (“Mary McAteer,” 2019). From 1999 on, McAteer transitioned her career into higher education. Her career in post secondary education began at Brunel University as an associate tutor, but soon evolved into that of a lecturer at the University of Ulster in the year 2000. She worked at the University of Ulster until 2004, and in 2005 she transitioned to her current post secondary institution: Edge Hill University (“Mary McAteer,” 2019). During her time at Edge Hill University McAteer has held many positions such as, but not limited to: Senior Lecturer, Postgraduate Programme Leader, and Director of Professional Learning Programmes (“Mary McAteer,” 2019). McAteer has numerous publications, in a variety of areas, and values a number of research interests beyond Action Research. 

Article Summary – Getting to Grips with Perspectives and Models

Getting to Grips with Perspectives and Models, is a chapter in the book Action Research in Education by Mary McAteer. The term Action Research itself can be described as “a methodology, a way of understanding and generating knowledge about the complexities of practice” (McAteer, 2014, p. 2). It is, however, not enough to simply apply the concept of action research without ensuring it is used in an appropriate manner. That said, for action research to be used it needs to be applied “as a specific, rigorous and methodologically appropriate form of practice-based research” (McAteer, 2013, p. 11). Action research is, at its core, a discourse that a practitioner has with oneself between both the theoretical aspects of their teaching and the practical aspects of their teaching. McAteer indicates that “all practitioner research requires its participants to engage with both “theoretical” and “practical” knowledge moving seamlessly between the two” (McAteer, 2013, p. 12). An important consideration is that this movement between theory and practice must also be done equitably. The rationale for this is “each aspect of the research depends on and supports the development of the other” (McAteer, 2013, p. 15).

In the educational domain, improving upon one’s practice is of paramount importance. McAteer sees this and writes, “a concern for improvement in educational practice is often what first brings education practitioners into action research programmes” (McAteer, 2014, p. 6). In order to better aid those new to action research, McAteer has included a table which provides some guidance. However, McAteer issues a cautionary note regarding the table that “it is deliberately ‘practical’ in its articulation, and is not intended as an alternative for the deep thought and discussion that will go into developing and undertaking an action research project” (McAteer, 2014, p. 10). Finally, it is important to note that Action Research draws a great deal off of the personal experience of the practitioner conducting the research and is cyclical in nature. The heart of Action Research “is deeply personal and contextualized, drawing on the values and beliefs of the researcher, and challenging him/her to reconcile those values and beliefs with practice” (McAteer, 2014, p.13). Therefore, what makes Action Research the most valid is the individual experience which the researcher is using to access the information.

The Correlation Between Action Research, Augmented Reality, and Carpentry 

Action Research itself, is a strong qualitative methodology (which may include some quantitative aspects during the action phase) that draws off of personal experience to reflect and influence one’s own practice. In contrast, the article Using Augmented Reality to Train Students to Visualize Three-Dimensional Drawings of Mortise-Tenon Joints in Furniture Carpentry by I-Jui Lee is a highly quantitative article that seeks to measure two questions. “(1) Can carpentry novices using AR understand and visualize the hidden views of mortise-tenon joints in traditional handmade wood furniture? And (2) Can AR-supported programs improve students’ spatial ability to visualize and mentally manipulate mortise-tenon joints?” (Lee, 2019, p. 13). Lee finds that, by creating an augmented reality based mortise-tenon joint training system, and questioning participants with learning interest and cognitive load questionnaires “the experimental group has exceeded both in the level of mortise-tenon completion and… outperformed the control group due to the undertaking of the  AR training” (2019, p. 10). To apply the lens of Action Research to Lee’s article greatly changes the process and perhaps yields a different outcome. 

As a researcher exploring the link between augmented reality and the improvement of carpentry skills in apprentices, the approach must change when utilizing the Action Research Method. As stated above, Lee provided questionnaires to the students to measure their success. It can therefore be determined that Lee had a plan, put that plan into action, and observed the outcomes. One of the key tenets of Action Research, however, is “the deep thought and discussion that will go into developing and undertaking an action research project” (McAteer, 2014, p. 10). Were Lee’s article looked at using the Action Research approach, the researcher would need to undergo a process of thoughtful examination and reflection about their findings. It would likely be prudent of the researcher to then determine not only if the research was successful but to determine why it was successful. Finally, I would expect the researcher then to re-engage with the primary questions and create a new plan to further improve upon their practice. 

The research, as noted by Lee, are the questions listed above regarding the improvement of the apprentices skills. These questions fit very well into the Action Research methodology as McAteer writes “the first step… is to get to know the problem” (McAteer, 2014, p. 6). Lee, indeed does identify the problem “because novices normally do not have a developed spatial sense of 3-D objects… it is difficult for them to visualize… the required 3-D view based on a 2-D rendering” (Lee, 2019, p.2). Based on his assessment of the problem, Lee creates questions and attempts to solve them using augmented reality and quantitative data. This approach to the research generally fits into the Action Research model, however, does not go quite far enough. To be fully effective, Action Research must be used in a cyclical manner because “initial data analysis will impact on the subsequent cycle… and, therefore, potentially directly inform the outcome of later cycles” (McAteer, 2014, p.16). See Figure 1.0 below for a visual outline of this process. Ultimately, the research presented in Lee’s article would need to be addressed, engaged, reflected upon and readdressed in a thoughtful manner to efficaciously fit into the Action Research methodology. 

“Action Research Cycle for improving instruction” by w.robkoch is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 

The researched, as put forth in the article by Lee, are the carpentry apprentices. When placed through the scope of Action Research the carpentry apprentices remain as such but can also be looked at in a larger context. Rather than simply seeing the students as objects, that have improved in ability, with the advent of augmented reality, it may be better to reflect on them as individual people with their own experiences and thoughts. When engaging the cyclical process of Action Research, it is more meaningful during the reflection process to not only determine if learning has taken place among the researched but how it has occurred and why. Without this deeper reflection the researched will not enjoy the benefit of having the practice improved for the next iteration of the cycle.

Finally, the reader of the article, by Lee, will be a person interested in technology in the field of carpentry regardless of whether the article is written as a quantitative study or an Action Research study. The reader may, however, change based on whether they are in search of a qualitative article that explores, reflects, and attempts to improve on their practice, or whether the reader is seeking a quantitative study based on a set criteria that definitively seeks to answer a question. 

References

Lee, I. (2019). Using augmented reality to train students to visualize three-dimensional drawings of mortise–tenon joints in furniture carpentry. Interactive Learning Environments, 1-15. Retrieved from https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/doi/full/10.1080/10494820.2019.1572629

Mary McAteer. (2019, January 22). Retrieved July 9, 2019, from https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/education/about/staff/mary-mcateer/

McAteer, M. (2013). Action Research in Education. Thousand Oaks, Canada: SAGE.

McAteer, M. (2014). Getting to Grips with Perspectives and Models. In Action Research in Education (pp. 21-42). Retrieved from https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781473913967

McAteer, M. (2017). JustThinkingAboutStuff. Retrieved July 10, 2019, from https://marymcateer.wordpress.com/

McAteer, M. (2019). Mary McAteer (@MaryMcAteer57) on Twitter. Retrieved July 10, 2019, from https://twitter.com/MaryMcAteer57

Robkoch, W. (n.d.). Action Research Cycle for improving instruction. Retrieved from https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/018921b8-5b85-405d-a202-bfd05f607b27