According to McNiff (2002), action research “shows how you have carried out a systematic investigation into your own behaviour, and the reasons for that behaviour.” In order to complete the action research cycle, I will consider what I would do differently next time to improve the research.

Based on student feedback, I feel that the task was a success overall and despite not being perfect, it did largely achieve my two goals which were to create community in the online classroom and to aid understanding of the concept of sensitivity analysis. 

The main learnings going forward are:

• Take time to seek input from colleagues in advance of trialling a new teaching methdology. This not only gave me confidence in my idea but also helped to iron out some of the logistical questions.
• Give more time to the task overall. In total, I allowed 25 minutes for the task which included 15 minutes in the breakout rooms and 10 minutes for feedback. However, I hadn’t taken into account the extra time it took to explain the task at the start which led to the discussion element being rushed. When I repeat this task I will allow 35-40 minutes. As the total class time is 90 minutes with a number of other concepts to cover, I feel this is the maximum I could allocate while still getting through the content.
• I will simplify the task so that students can get to the key elements of discussing sensitivity analysis more quickly.
• To streamline the task, instead of asking the students to change each of the variables within their groups, instead I could allocate one variable (cost of production, price or demand) to each of the groups. This would also provide them with a very specific variable to feedback to the group in the discussion element. 
• The extra discussion points which I provided for the discussion were not needed and simply added a layer of complexity which wasn’t required. 
• The written instruction provided in advance could be expanded to include further information on sensitivty analysis along with an academic reference for them to read so that they are already aware of the concept in advance of the class.
• Having subsequently tested a different breakout group exercise with the class which used a padlet to hold informaton I would like to add a padlet element to the task.
• In future I could look to do more in-depth qualitative feedback with students following the task.

In summary, and in line with the reflective nature of action research, my main learnings were the value of talking to colleagues about my ideas, the importance of creating community in the online classroom and the potential for object based learning as a means to facilitate this. I have gained a lot of confidence as a tutor in going through this process and testing out new ideas.

References:

Mc Niff, J. (2002). Action research for professional development – Concise advice for new action researchers.