1. Final Action Research Proposal
[WLO: 1, 2][CLO: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
The summative assignment for ECE 660, the
Final Action Research Proposal
, will consist of five major sections that you have constructed
throughout the course. Based on the feedback you have received
each week from classmates, colleagues, and your instructor, you
are expected to continuously refine, revise, and “polish” each
section to include in the final proposal.
The required sections for your
Final Action Research Proposal
are as follows:
Heading 1: Introduction
Heading 2: Literature Review
Heading 3: Intervention Planning and Ethical Considerations
Heading 4: Data Collection, Instruments, and Procedures
Heading 5: Author’s Reflection
References
Appendix A: Instrument
When putting together your

2. Final Action Research proposal
, be sure to use the appropriate APA format for your headings
for each section. You may want to review the anchor paper in
the course or the to ensure you are organizing and formatting
your paper correctly.
*Reminder to Students: Remember to save all copies of your
work throughout the course as you will use each assignment as
part of the
Final Action Research Proposal
. For many of the discussions and assignments, you are building
on your work each week, so it is appropriate to use content from
your discussions in your weekly assignments, generally
expanding and extending concepts and sections as you progress
from week to week. You will have the opportunity to make
revisions to each section of your proposal based on instructor
and peer feedback prior to your final version in the
Final Action Research Proposal
, so be sure to revisit the feedback you have received from your
instructor and classmates each week to continuously refine your
proposal throughout the course.
Content Expectations
Introduction
(revised and refined from the Week Three assignment)
Context for the Proposed Study: In one paragraph, describe your
current professional role and setting. If you are not working in
early childhood education at this time, you can use a previous
or future role that aligns with your career goals and interests.
Purpose and Educational Significance: In one to two
paragraphs, explain the purpose of your study and the student

3. outcomes you want to influence. Further, discuss the literature
or research that indicates why this is an important area to
address in education.
Explanation of Problem: In two paragraphs, explain a statement
of the problem or situation that led to this interest or why you
want to pursue this topic.
Population: In one paragraph, describe the target population
(age/grade, quantity of participants, students or adults). Explain
why you have chosen this target population for the study,
including details about why this population is appropriate for
the study.
One Research Question: Develop one research question that
aligns with your area of focus and clearly addresses what you
hope to answer and influence in this proposed study. The
question needs to be answerable and it must appropriately
represent the population/participants you identified. Be sure to
review the readings related to developing good research
questions to inform the development of your question.
Locus of Control: In one paragraph, evaluate whether your idea
is within your locus of control. If you are using a past
experience or contrived topic because you are not currently
working in ECE, please explain locus of control as related to
your previous position or anticipated future position.
Literature Review
Research Summary 1: Choose one of the articles from your
Literature Evaluation to explain the intervention, strategies,
procedures, and instruments used in the chosen study that have

4. been found to be productive in investigating your topic and area
of focus.
Research Summary 2: Choose one of the articles from your
Literature Evaluation to explain the intervention, strategies,
procedures, and instruments used in the chosen study that have
been found to be productive in investigating your topic and area
of focus.
Application of Findings and Author’s Position: Based on your
review of the literature, determine the intervention that you will
use to address your area of focus to influence the situation you
want to improve. Discuss why you feel this is the best approach
for your particular action research study and why you believe it
meets the needs you have outlined in your introduction. Explain
any changes you will make to the intervention you identify from
the literature, based on your own classroom, school, center, or
organizational needs.
Intervention Planning and Ethical Considerations
(revised and refined from the Week 4 assignment)
Intervention Description: In one to two pages, explain your
proposed intervention for influencing your area of focus.
Explain why you think your population will benefit from the
intervention and how it could result in improvements in the area
or variable you want to influence. Ensure your explanation
draws on the literature you are using to support this choice of
intervention.
Intervention Plan: In one to two pages, describe in
chronological order how you will implement your intervention
and provide a hypothetical yet practical timeframe for these

5. steps. You may include a chart that organizes how you would
implement your intervention from week to week.
Ethical Considerations – Informed Consent and IRB Approval:
In one to two paragraphs, discuss how you would approach
informed consent and IRB Approval if you were to implement
your action research study. Explain how you would ensure that
participants enter the research of their free will and with an
understanding of the study and any potential dangers.
Ethical Considerations – Freedom from Harm: In one to two
paragraphs, explain how the literature you reviewed and your
plan for implementation leads you to believe what you are doing
is an appropriate intervention and not exposing your
participants to risk.
Ethical Considerations – Anonymity and Confidentiality: In one
paragraph, explain your planned measures to use anonymity and
confidentiality to avoid privacy invasion and potential harm.
Data Collection, Instruments, and Procedures
(revised and refined from the Week 5 assignment)
Data Collection – Qualitative: In one to two paragraphs, justify
one qualitative (experience-based) instrument that would be
used in your proposed study to collect data on the effectiveness
of your intervention in answering your research question(s).
Provide support from the research, literature, and textbook to
explain why this would be an effective method for collecting
data.
Data Collection – Quantitative: In one to two paragraphs,
justify one quantitative (number-based) instrument that would

6. be used in your proposed study to collect data on the
effectiveness of your intervention in answering your research
question(s). Provide support from the research, literature, and
textbook to explain why this would be an effective method for
collecting data.
Data Collection Considerations: Credibility, Transferability,
Dependability, and Confirmability: Using Guba’s Criteria of
Validity of Qualitative Research, determine how you will
establish trustworthiness of your action research study.
Data Collection Procedures: In conjunction with your
intervention plan, formulate your procedures for collecting
data in your proposed action research study. You may use the
chart you created for your intervention plan to add in the data
collection procedures, or provide a narrative description of your
procedures. Be sure to also address how your data collection
will reflect trustworthiness and the ethical considerations
related to anonymity and confidentiality.
Author’s Reflection
(additional section added in Week 6)
Author’s Reflection: In this section, critique your own
understanding of action research as a result of constructing your
action research proposal. Discuss how action research can
strengthen your practices in your current or future role as an
early childhood professional. Forecast how you could use action
research in being a change agent and leader in early childhood
education.

7. Appendix A
(revised and refined from the Week 5 assignment)
Instrument: Design one instrument, either quantitative or
qualitative, that you could use to collect data to answer your
research question(s) and to determine the effectiveness of your
intervention.
Research and Resource Expectations:
A minimum of six scholarly, peer-reviewed sources, in addition
to the course textbook (include all sources referenced in the
Week One, Two, Three, Four, and Five assignments), are
required.
Writing and Formatting Expectations:
Title Page: Must include a separate title page with the
following:
Title of paper
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name

8. Date submitted
Academic Voice: Academic Voice is used (avoids casual
language, limited use of “I” or first person, it is declarative).
Purpose and Organization: Demonstrates logical progression of
ideas.
Syntax and Mechanics: Writing displays meticulous
comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such
as spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
APA Formatting: Papers are formatted properly and all sources
are cited and referenced in APA style as outlined
Suggested Assignment Length
This assignment should be about 20 double-spaced pages in
length (not including title and reference pages).
I will upload all the research assignments