As educators, we must continuously engage in a process of action and reflection, if we want to improve the positive impact we have on our students. As conducting research is one way of doing this, taking on the role of the researcher is another way. In his book How the brain learns to read, David A. Sousa says that teachers cannot be "mere consumers" of emerging research. Rather, we must position ourselves as active participants in the research community. A type of research that educators can engage in is action research.

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Like problem-based learning, action research is about identifying a relevant issue in the learning community and taking the steps to solve this issue. The purpose of action research is to produce social change and improve the lives of the participants, both the direct participants (aka typically our students) and those around us, our community.

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Below are resources and suggestions to help carry out action research.