Thinking Foundation - Research

Research
Action Research

Action research is research that describes how humans and organizations behave in the outside world and is also a change mechanism that helps human and organizations reflect on and change their own systems (Reason & Bradbury, 2001). After six decades of action research development, many methodologies have been evolved, ranging:

from those that are more driven by the researcher’s agenda to those more driven by participants;
from those that are motivated primarily by instrumental goal attainment to those motivated primarily by the aim of personal, organizational, or societal transformation; and
from 1st-, to 2nd-, to 3rd-person research (i.e. my research on my own action, aimed primarily at personal change; our research on our group (family/team), aimed primarily at improving the group; and ‘scholarly’ research aimed primarily at theoretical generalization and/or large scale change).

Implementing and Promoting Library Programs
Through Action Research
Marilyn Z. Joyce and Barbara Stein Martin
Presented at American Association of School Librarians conference, October, 2005
The research paper addresses the following questions:

How does the use of “thinking maps” affect a student’s enjoyment of story time, which is a precursor of a student’s enjoyment of reading?

Will students begin to determine by themselves which map(s) can be used to illustrate thinking about the story?

To what degree do teachers (who are present during story time) show an interest in the maps and actually use them in their classrooms?

Download the paper Implementing and Promoting Library Programs Through Action Research (Acrobat PDF file)

The Effects of “Thinking Maps” Implementation on Increasing Student Reading Achievement
Becky Pearson - September, 2003
The action research study investigates the correlation and impact of the utilization of Thinking Maps on student achievement in the area of reading, with an aim to develop a strong rationale for the continued development and utilization of this instructional strategy and ultimately, increase reading achievement levels for the students of Nebo Elementary.
Download the paper The Effects of “Thinking Maps” Implementation on Increasing Student Reading Achievement (Acrobat PDF file)

Visualizing Thought Process Helps Students
Transition to High School
Plymouth Regional High School
Apple Learning Exchange
“Our special education students work with the same case manager for four years. This unique situation allows us to work closely together in creating post secondary goals and in identifying and taking the steps necessary to reach those goals... We have found the tool of Thinking Maps®.”
Online teaching practice including The Lesson, Assessment, Student Work, Reflections, Video Clips, Research, and more.
Read and view the multi-media article online




		Research Action Research Action research is research that describes how humans and organizations behave in the outside world and is also a change mechanism that helps human and organizations reflect on and change their own systems (Reason & Bradbury, 2001). After six decades of action research development, many methodologies have been evolved, ranging: from those that are more driven by the researcher’s agenda to those more driven by participants; from those that are motivated primarily by instrumental goal attainment to those motivated primarily by the aim of personal, organizational, or societal transformation; and from 1st-, to 2nd-, to 3rd-person research (i.e. my research on my own action, aimed primarily at personal change; our research on our group (family/team), aimed primarily at improving the group; and ‘scholarly’ research aimed primarily at theoretical generalization and/or large scale change). Implementing and Promoting Library Programs Through Action Research Marilyn Z. Joyce and Barbara Stein Martin Presented at American Association of School Librarians conference, October, 2005 The research paper addresses the following questions: How does the use of “thinking maps” affect a student’s enjoyment of story time, which is a precursor of a student’s enjoyment of reading? Will students begin to determine by themselves which map(s) can be used to illustrate thinking about the story? To what degree do teachers (who are present during story time) show an interest in the maps and actually use them in their classrooms? Download the paper Implementing and Promoting Library Programs Through Action Research (Acrobat PDF file) The Effects of “Thinking Maps” Implementation on Increasing Student Reading Achievement Becky Pearson - September, 2003 The action research study investigates the correlation and impact of the utilization of Thinking Maps on student achievement in the area of reading, with an aim to develop a strong rationale for the continued development and utilization of this instructional strategy and ultimately, increase reading achievement levels for the students of Nebo Elementary. Download the paper The Effects of “Thinking Maps” Implementation on Increasing Student Reading Achievement (Acrobat PDF file) Visualizing Thought Process Helps Students Transition to High School Plymouth Regional High School Apple Learning Exchange “Our special education students work with the same case manager for four years. This unique situation allows us to work closely together in creating post secondary goals and in identifying and taking the steps necessary to reach those goals... We have found the tool of Thinking Maps®.” Online teaching practice including The Lesson, Assessment, Student Work, Reflections, Video Clips, Research, and more. Read and view the multi-media article online