TEACHERS AND STUDENTS AS CO-RESEARCHERS IN THE COLLEGE OF ARTS AND COMMUNICATION, UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN PHILIPPINES: STRENGTHENING RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
This study aimed to find out both teachers’ and students’ views about implementing the concept of students as co-researchers based on Kellet’s (2010) classification or types of research involving the learners.
The study was undertaken at the College of Arts and Communication using a variety of data collection methods. A set of three workshops were organized to enable 10 teachers to explore their own classrooms in conducting research involving their learners as co-researchers.
All teachers kept diaries and gave presentations at the workshops and both teachers and learners were also interviewed. Secondary data sources included materials (such as posters, or books written by the teachers), activities produced by learners in class, and audio or video recordings of some classroom episodes. There were two types of project undertaken in classrooms depending on the circumstances and the local levels of support available to each teacher. Some teachers simply elicited student’s voices and opinions, and this led to more engagement with learning, more meaningful choices, and learners taking on more responsibility for their own learning. Some learners enabled to undertake an actual inquiry into a matter of interest to them, using questionnaires or interviews.
The data included overall that the activity was an overwhelmingly positive experience for both teachers and students. In fact, none of the teachers who embarked on this activity dropped out. They even showed their incredible commitment to the core idea of working with students as co-researchers. In terms of the positive results and benefits, there is a great deal of agreement across the data drawn from learners and teachers. Students as well as teachers enjoyed the fact that learners behaved responsibly and maturely when they had the chance to find things out for themselves. Students commented on their enthusiasm in research because it became real, meaningful, and relevant in their lives as students.
Keywords: co-researchers, research, strengthening research, audio/video recordings, research Activities
