My action research project focused on discovering ways to increase student Internet searching skills through the use of an instructional Web site that I created. The Web page was put together after researching various aspects of Internet searching, and students were asked to read through the Web site and perform tasks that helped them learn more about the Internet. This action research project also explored ways to increase student critical thinking skills when evaluating Internet resources as well as while completing other class work. My approach focused on teacher modeling of good questioning skills, as well as how to use Bloom’s Taxonomy to increase the level of questioning that students were doing.

Through the research, I found that the Web site fulfilled its intended purpose. The research project also allowed me to observe my changing role within the classroom, and I found that students responded positively to a different teaching style. Students became more comfortable, and thus were able to challenge themselves more. The use of teacher modeling of critical thinking skills as well as the introduction of Bloom’s Taxonomy both proved to be positive contributions to increase student critical thinking, not only in regard to searching the Internet but also to general class work.

This project demonstrated the following responsibilities:

Responsibility #1: Continued improvement of professional practice that requires critical inquiry, professional development, and reflective practice
This research project was conducted to view the effectiveness of Internet Tutorial Web site I had created previously. Through this project, I was able to objectively view responses and achievement of students in order to determine the soundness of the instruction.

Responsibility #2: Designs instruction or human performance strategy to meet the needs of learners
This web site was specifically created after identifying a problem (students were not searching the Internet effectively), analyzing the results of a pre-instructional survey given to them to determine their Internet searching abilities, I was able to identify areas that students needed the most assistance with, and designed instruction accordingly (creating an online tutorial), and following up my research through the use of a post-instructional survey to determine the effectiveness of the instruction.

Responsibility #3: Uses a variety of media to deliver instruction to students and to engage students in learning
Students were given instruction via the Internet how to build skills in regard to searching Web sites. By using the Internet medium, students were better able to learn appropriate skills and apply them immediately to their coursework.

Responsibility #4: Understands how to capitalize on the capacities and abilities of each learner
When creating the activities that are used for instruction during this activity, many different student learning types were considered. In this project, learners experience large-group instruction, instructor modeling, hands-on work with computers, and individual instruction via the Internet tutorial.

Responsibility #5: Manages complex projects and resources in support of learning
This research project involved the use of prior research that helped to identify a skill that students were lacking. Student attitudes and opinions were collected using several questionnaires and surveys that students completed online. The information from the questionnaires and survery were collected, analyzed, and used to determine if the students were acquring the desired skills. This project was wide-reaching in the number of students that it has come to benefit.

Responsibility #6: Uses incisive and relevant assessment and evaluation techniques
Use of online student surveys allowed for quality data collection with relative ease. Student opinions were also taken into consideration and the project was reevaluated throughout in order to determine the usefulness of information being collected.