Development of Teacher Training Curriculum for Developing Teacher’s Ability in Doing Classroom Research Using Research-based Development Together with Lesson Study

Abstract

The objectives of this research were: 1) to study the current state, problems and needs related to development of knowledge and ability in doing classroom research; 2) to develop a training curriculum for improving teacher’s ability in doing classroom research; 3) to develop the ability in doing classroom research of the teachers who had passed the training curriculum. The research was conducted in 3 phases. Phase 1 was a study on the current state, problems and needs related to development of knowledge and ability in doing classroom research by using the focus group and testing the basic concept related to classroom action research with 8 teachers and the school executives of Watchaemarom School, the Office of Roi-et Primary Education Service Area 2, in the academic year 2017. Phase 2 dealt with the drafting of the training curriculum for improving teacher’s ability in doing classroom research. Phase 3 dealt with implementing the training curriculum. The target group consisted of 16 teachers of Watchaemarom School. Four teachers volunteered to plan classroom action research and 2 teachers voluntarily presented their research reports in order to develop their ability in doing classroom research. The research instruments were: a 20-item objective test to measure the knowledge and ability in doing classroom action research; a classroom action research proposal assessment form; and a classroom action research report assessment form. The statistics employed in data analysis were percentage, the mean and standard deviation.

The research results were as follows:

1. Regarding the current state of Watchaemarom School, the lecture-based method of teaching was mainly used to cover the curriculum in time. The teachers lacked the knowledge and understanding about the learning and teaching innovation needed to be applied to their classrooms. The students in both primary and lower secondary education levels had their learning achievements in a problematic level. The students’ higher order thinking skill was lower than the standard. The teachers had the knowledge and understanding of classroom research in the moderate level and did not have any experience of doing research for solving learning and teaching problems. Most of the teachers needed to have a workshop on classroom research and to have an expert for consulting and giving advice while doing research.

 2. The training curriculum consisted of 7 components: 1) principles, 2) objectives, 3) structure, 4) content 5) activities and time allotted, 6) training’s media, and 7) measurement and evaluation. The experts’ evaluation indicated that all of the components were very proprietary.

 3. The ability in doing classroom research of the teachers who passed the training curriculum was as follows:

 3.1 The teachers’ knowledge and understanding in classroom research increased 56.02 percent. The mean score of their pretest was 10.50 while posttest yielded 16.69.

3.2 The teachers who passed the training curriculum had a research proposal rated in the moderate level ( =3.29, S.D. = 0.08). They were able to develop the research instruments and conduct their research according to their research plan. Finally, they had their research rated in the high level ( = 3.59, S.D. = 0.01).