Dear Dr.

Tanega and colleagues,

1. From your early understanding of applied research, would you agree or disagree that it is difficult to
be a highly effective teacher or principal without having a working knowledge of the research world and
how it works? (Support your answer with the readings from this Unit, as well as knowledge from your
own experiences.)
I agree with the assertion. A teacher or principal cannot be very effective unless they have a
fundamental understanding of research knowledge and how it operates. Action research may assist
teachers in continuing to learn and better themselves, as well as in developing new teaching recipes to
meet the needs of students. Action research is required for state teacher’s promotion in my country.

Action research is a systematic inquiry approach with repeated cycles that provides teachers with the
technical skills and specialized knowledge required to implement changes in social improvement or
educational practice (Hine, 2013). This action research will assist teachers in developing new classroom-
related knowledge, encouraging reflective teaching and thinking, broadening teachers' pedagogical
repertoire, strengthening the link between practice and student achievement, encouraging openness to
new ideas and learning new things, and providing teachers with ownership of effective practice (Hensen,
1996).

Furthermore, action research will increase sharing and collaboration across departments, disciplines,
and grade levels, increase dialogue about instructional issues and student learning, improve
communication between teachers and students, improve student performance, revise practice based on
new knowledge about teaching and learning, contribute to the burgeoning profession, and encourage
teachers to become lifelong students in their classrooms and schools (Mills, 2011, Painter 1999),

2. Jumping right into your research proposal, what topic would you like to explore and why is this of
interest to you or important for you to research?

The topic I want to investigate is: Incorporating STEM-Based Learning Methods in Statistics: A Study to
Enhance Fifth-Grade Elementary Students' Learning Motivation, Academic Achievement, and Student-
Teacher Relationships.

This topic interests me since I recently attended EDUC 5272 and acquired insight into how to change
most children’s opinions of math as a "heavy and challenging subject." To establish how much my
understanding has improved, I wish to do research using the STEAM-based learning strategy rather than
the traditional one I previously used. I want to know how instructional tactics affect students' motivation
and understanding of mathematics, as well as the relationship between students and teachers. Student
performance in learning is influenced by both internal and external elements. Internal elements include
willpower, fear, intellect, and so forth. Teachers' attitudes, teaching strategies, methodologies, and
visual aids are examples of external factors. External variables have a bigger influence on students'
motivation, engagement, and learning outcomes than internal variables (Barnes, 2008)

By doing this research, I hope to persuade students that mathematics is both practical and interesting
and the topics relevant to their daily lives. Apart from that, it may motivate them to improve their self-
esteem and self-efficacy, their understanding and learning outcomes, as well as their connection and
sense of belonging to the learning process itself.

This is significant for me because it can help me develop my professional teaching practice and broaden
my teaching experience in the classroom within the framework of effective lesson planning as a
reference for enhancing the learning process in class. In terms of educational institutions doing action
research, this may contribute to resolving school-based learning challenges and is expected to foster a
collaborative climate conducive to school progress.

3. List your two to three “applied research” questions that will guide your research proposal. (Remember
that applied research questions must be bias-free, cannot make assumptions on the outcome, focuses on
solving a current educational problem involving students, and includes the intervention [strategy] that
you plan to implement and study.)
There are five steps to creating a research question: choosing a theme, writing a narrower topic, listing
prospective questions, choosing the most exciting question, and refining the question to be more
particular (Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to academic research, n.d.).

My project's applied research topic is as follows:

Quantitative:
a. How does the use of steam learning influence students' understanding of the real-world environment
in which statistical teachings are applied?
Qualitative:
b. How may the stem learning approach affect students' learning motivation and self-efficacy?
c. What impact does stem learning have on the student-teacher relationship?

References
Barnes, C. M. (2008, October 28). Piaget and Vygotsky’s views on
motivation. http://dl.icdst.org/pdfs/files3/dc712fac76e9666388218c400c099440.pdf
Choosing & Using Sources: A guide to academic research. (n.d.). Teaching & Learning, University
Libraries. https://ohiostate.pressbooks.pub/choosingsources/
Hensen, K.T. (1996). Teachers as researchers. In J. Sikula (Ed), Handbook of research on teacher
education (4th ed., pp 53-66). New York: Macmillan.

Hine, G. (2013) The importance of action research in teacher education

programs. http://clt.curtin.edu.au/events/conferences/tlf/tlf2013/refereed/hine.html
Mills, G.E. (2011). Action research: A guide for the teacher researcher (4th ed). Boston: Pearson.

Painter, D. (1999) Teacher research could change your practice.

NEA. http://web.archive.org/web/20200407081210/https://www.nea.org/tools/17289.htm