Action Research Project Plan

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Action

What action will you take?
We will organize and co-host a two day ROV Teacher Workshop here in Santa Barbara along with NOAA and UC Santa Barbara Jan 10-11, 2004 We will train them about ROV concepts and how to bring the MATE ROV curriculum into their classroom.

I will liaise with the teachers and provide them with information and resources from my 25 + years in this field. I will share my offshore submarine and ROV piloting experiences with them in order to help connect the experience of a “cool thing for kids to do” into the reality of marine technology careers.

I will seek to establish a CoP amongst the local participants and document and study how it evolves. I will connect the importance of that to the learning process. I will document failures, success and challenges and research how they evolved. I will also help nurture the process through constructivist leadership.
I will establish and implement a means of using computer technology tools to support the communication and knowledge management amongst the teachers and teams. I anticipate that collaboration and sharing of information will lead to effective results and learning experiences amongst the teams.

What is your role in the process?
My prime role will be to act as a liaison with the local schools and ROV building teams and the NOAA/MATE centers. Additionally, I will be a judge at the National competition held June 25-27 at UC Santa Barbara. I will also serve as a resource with industry personnel, alumni from my marine technology program. I will document the ROV building process and provide advice for the students to document and report as their teams progress.

How do others fit in?
I will be providing access to alumni and students of Santa Barbara City College Marine Technology Program to serve as mentors for the student ROV building teams
NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary office is the lead agency to sponsor the local competition. They are authoring a grant to continue this process annually and to gain funding to train more teachers and purchase ROV building kits. This is important to the evolution, growth and sustainability of the CoP for future participants and newcomers. They have a full staff to help ensure that the process moves toward completion on schedule, communicate with the participants and provide logistical support.

What theories support your action?
Constructivism- The constructivist learning theory presents the learner with opportunities to build on prior knowledge and understanding to construct new knowledge and understanding from authentic experience. Students are allowed to confront problems full of meaning because of their real-life context. In solving these problems, students are encouraged to explore possibilities, invent alternative solutions, collaborate with other students (or external experts), try out ideas and hypotheses, revise their thinking, and finally present the best solution they can derive.
This project presents a constructivist approach in its entirety due to the ROV building phase, the ability to collaborate with each other and the real industry where the machines are used. The process is social in nature and involves situated learning through legitimate peripheral participation .

Inquiry-based learning- Inquiry" is defined as "a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge -- seeking information by questioning." Individuals carry on the process of inquiry from the time they are born until they die. Human society and individuals within society constantly generate and transmit this fund of knowledge. Experts, working at the boundary between the known and the unknown, constantly add to the fund of knowledge. It is very important that knowledge be transmitted to all the members of society. This transmission takes place through structures like schools, families, and training courses. This project utilizes components of inquiry-based learning and creates a context for that inquiry so that a structure of understanding can be built in the process.

Adult Learning Theory (Speck 1996)-
Social Competence- Benard (1995) describes social competence:
"Social competence consists of relationship skills. It involves responsiveness, especially the ability to elicit positive responses from others; flexibility, including the ability to move back and forth between primary culture and dominant culture (cross-cultural competence); and empathy, caring, communication skills, and a sense of humor." Additional learning theories are listed in the resources link.

What are the steps of the process you'll be carrying out for study?
• Invite participants to Teacher Training Workshop
• Conduct Teacher Training
• Identify schools and teams to participate in the ROV Competition
• Coordinate mentors in industry
• Provide mentoring information
• Establish and publish participant list
• Identify and establish CoP support tools
• Establish a regional website and electronic information sharing tool
• Participate in site visits to local teams
• Digitally document team progress
• Construct evaluation rubrics
• Attend regional finals to document team performance (Monterey or San Diego)
• Attend national finals and judge competition
• Conduct post project interviews with schools, mentors and industry
• Report
• Reflect

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