1. HOW TO DEVELOPE BETTER LISTENING SKILLS Lorie Terry EDU 671 Dr. Goss July 20, 2016

2. Area of Focus  The purpose of this action reach paper is to discover strategies through written and video research,  Survey’s and self-inventories, and  learning various methods from the research.

3. Explanation of Problem  In my personal and professional life, I am constantly asking people to repeat what they have said or comment “what”.

4. Variables  Balancing family life, work and the “world”.

5. Research Questions  What type of distractions makes it hard to comprehend what others are saying and why?  How can I use strategies to improve my listening skills so I can better incorporate non-verbal and verbal cues into my personal development?  How will using self-inventories help you become better aware of your strengths and weaknesses to become a better listener?

6. Locus of Control  Becoming a better listener is within my locus of control.

7. Intervention /Innovation  Through surveys, written and video research as well as self-inventories and journaling

8. Negotiations  “Effective listening is difficult and requires all of your attention and all of your effort”, therefore I need to learn strategies to listen so that I can comprehend what is being said and be a valued member of the conversation and value others as well (Boyd, 2001, p. 60).

9. Ethics  The literature I am reviewing is from the Ashford Library and is creditable information. My intervention does not harm anyone in the research of this action research paper.

10. Timeline  Step One: I will begin by taking self-inventories to see where I stand on listening skills in general and to get a base line of the data for myself.  Step Two: I will collect data from various journal articles and videos about strategies to become a better listener. I will also collect facts and data about listening in general.  Step Three: Develop a survey on Survey Monkey to ask random people on Facebook about their listening skills and what they find important to be heard.  Step Four: Gather all the data and analyze it. Categorize and code the data so it can be utilized in the action research process.  Step Five: Putting the data and information into an outline so the writing process can begin to take shape and be finalized.  All steps will be accomplished in 3 weeks.

11. Statement of Resources  Ashford Library – Journal Articles  Self Surveys from Ashford Library  Survey from SurveyGizmo.com

12. Data Collection Research Question Data Collection Tool Why this tool? Justify its use in your study. How does it match with what you are attempting to find and to measure? Time Frame. How and when data will be collected? What type of distractions makes it hard to comprehend what others are saying and why? Survey through SurveyGizmo.com By surveying (SurveyGizmo.com) you can get random people to respond to the survey either with open ended or direct answers. This data can be used in a graph or chart to list distractions that pose a hardship on their personal listening. Using an opened ended question allows responders to give personal data on the asked questions. The survey will be set up with open and closed ended questions. The data calculated. The platform for the survey will be to post on Facebook to random people and calculate their responses. Then I will compare and contrast with the self-survey’s that I have taken. DATA COLLECTION

13. How can I use strategies to improve my listening skills so I can better incorporate non- verbal and verbal cues into my personal development? Written and video research will be collected from the Ashford Library. Written research and video documentaries on various strategies to improve listening skills will help me to learn how people speak through verbal and non-verbal cues and how I can use these cues to become a better listener. The data will be read and journals will be kept on the significant facts or information that need to be illustrated in the action research paper. Research QuestionData Collection Tool Why this tool? Justify its use in your study. How does it match with what you are attempting to find and to measure? Time Frame. How and when data will be collected?

14. How using self-inventories help me become better aware of my strengths and weaknesses, therefore becoming a better listener? Self-Inventories will be used from Ashford Library Using self-inventories can help with personal reflection of my strengths and weaknesses. I can incorporate this inventory data to better myself and become an active listener. The self-inventories will be used in the beginning of this research process so that a baseline can be drawn and strengths and weaknesses can be noted or observed and data recorded. Strategies obtained will be based on the collected data. Research QuestionData Collection Tool Why this tool? Justify its use in your study. How does it match with what you are attempting to find and to measure? Time Frame. How and when data will be collected?

15. References  Boyd, S. D. (2001, October). The Human Side of Teaching: Effective Listening. Techniques, 76(1), 60-61.  Glenn, E. C. (1989, January). Listening Self-Inventory. Supervisory Management, 34(1), 12-15.  Mills, G. (2014). Action Research: A guide for the Teacher Researcher (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education Inc.  ALL photos from Bing.com/pictures