Action Research in Education

Investigate your own practice rigorously and act on what you find.

What the course covers

8 modules, 32 topics. Open any one to see what sits inside it.

1. 1.1 What action research is
2. 1.2 Practitioner research against academic research
3. 1.3 The cycle: plan, act, observe, reflect
4. 1.4 Choosing a question from real practice
1. 2.1 From a concern to a researchable question
2. 2.2 Reading what is already known
3. 2.3 Baseline: what is happening now
4. 2.4 Deciding what would count as improvement
1. 3.1 Choosing a change worth testing
2. 3.2 Scale: one class, one department, one school
3. 3.3 Timescale and feasibility
4. 3.4 Anticipating unintended effects
1. 4.1 Classroom observation
2. 4.2 Student work as data
3. 4.3 Pupil and staff voice
4. 4.4 Attainment and behaviour data
1. 5.1 Consent when you are also their teacher
2. 5.2 Power and coercion in your own classroom
3. 5.3 Anonymity in a setting where everyone knows everyone
4. 5.4 Approval and institutional permission
1. 6.1 Making sense of mixed evidence
2. 6.2 Analysing qualitative classroom data
3. 6.3 Simple quantitative comparison
4. 6.4 Being honest when the evidence is weak
1. 7.1 Interpreting what actually happened
2. 7.2 Adjusting, and running another cycle
3. 7.3 Collaborative and whole-school inquiry
4. 7.4 Concluding that the change did not work
1. 8.1 Writing up for colleagues
2. 8.2 Presenting to leadership
3. 8.3 Publishing practitioner research
4. 8.4 Building a culture of inquiry in a school

By the end of this course you will be able to explain and apply:

Two hours, not two months Eight short modules. Finish in a day, or do one module a night for a week.

Depth beyond your coursework Pitched above taught content, for research, leadership and the work that follows the degree.

Built for a phone Watch on the bus, pause mid-module, pick up where you stopped. No download, no lab.

A certificate that can be checked Every certificate carries an ID your college or an employer can verify on our site.

About two hours in total — eight modules of roughly fifteen minutes. You can do it in one sitting or spread it across a week. Your place is saved either way.
No. There is no prerequisite course and no software to install. A phone, tablet or computer with an internet connection is enough.
Yes. This course is placed at Master's Degree for India, and the content is written for that level. If you are at a different stage, change your level at the top of the page and the courses will change with it.
A certificate for the course, carrying an ID that your college or an employer can check on our verification page. You keep access to the material afterwards.
Yes — ₹450 for this course on its own, or ₹1,450 for all five in this set, which works out cheaper if you want more than one.
There is a short quiz at the end of each module so you can check what stuck. It is not timed and you can retake it.
Change your country using the picker at the top. Level names, degree names and prices all switch to that country, and the courses adjust to its education system.

Wording shown for India. Pick a different country at the top and the terms, currency and programme names change with it.