The project action should grow from the research and should have a realistic chance of making a positive difference. Careful planning turns a good idea into an achievable and measurable intervention.
Learning Objectives
By The End Of This Lesson, You Should Be Able To
- Generate several possible actions before choosing one.
- Compare actions using relevance, impact, feasibility and ethical criteria.
- Write a clear action objective and detailed implementation plan.
- Choose evidence and indicators that can measure success.
- Prepare realistic contingency plans for likely difficulties.
From Findings To Possible Actions
After sharing research, the team should identify the causes or barriers it can influence. It should then generate several possible actions. Moving immediately to the first idea prevents meaningful evaluation and may lead to an attractive activity that does not address the issue.
Possible actions might include changing a procedure, testing a new service, creating and delivering targeted educational material, organising training, improving access to a resource, persuading a decision-maker, establishing a continuing scheme or combining two smaller interventions. The action must be something the team actually undertakes, not only a recommendation for someone else.
Criteria For Comparing Actions
- Relevance: does the action address an important cause or barrier shown by the research?
- Likely impact: could it make a meaningful positive difference to the issue?
- Feasibility: can the team complete it with available time, skills, money and access?
- Reach: how many people or which important groups may benefit?
- Depth: is the effect likely to change understanding, behaviour, access or conditions?
- Sustainability: could the benefit continue after the assessed project ends?
- Measurability: can the team gather convincing evidence of results?
- Ethics and safety: does it protect participants and avoid unreasonable risk?
- Permission: are required approvals realistic and available in time?
A Simple Theory Of Change
A theory of change explains how an activity is expected to produce an outcome. It can be written as a chain: problem, important cause, team action, immediate result and intended effect. This prevents the team from assuming that activity automatically equals impact.
Example
Problem: Students place recyclable paper in general waste bins.
Cause identified by research: Bins are poorly labelled and students are uncertain about what can be recycled.
Action: Install tested visual labels and run short demonstrations in selected classes.
Immediate result: Students can identify the correct bin more easily.
Intended effect: A higher proportion of recyclable paper is separated correctly.
Writing A Clear Objective
The objective should state the intended improvement, target group, location and time period. A practical objective is specific and measurable but not falsely precise. For example: “During a two-week trial, reduce incorrectly discarded recyclable paper in the Year 9 corridor bins compared with the baseline week.”
Planning The Action
The Plan Should Identify
- Each task needed before, during and after the action.
- The person or people responsible for each task.
- Start dates, deadlines and dependencies.
- Materials, locations, technology, money and permissions required.
- How participants or decision-makers will be contacted.
- How the action will be evidenced.
- How success will be measured.
- Likely risks and contingency responses.
Choosing Success Indicators
An indicator is evidence used to judge progress. Quantitative indicators use numbers, such as attendance, kilograms of waste, number of resources borrowed, percentage of correct responses or changes in observed behaviour. Qualitative indicators use explanations, such as participant feedback, interview comments or observations of improved confidence.
Use indicators that match the objective. Counting social-media views may show reach but not whether anyone understood or changed behaviour. A satisfaction survey may show opinions but not whether the underlying problem improved. Strong measurement often combines a direct outcome measure with feedback explaining the result.
Baseline, Target And Comparison
A baseline records the situation before the action. Without it, the team may not know whether anything changed. A target states the level of improvement hoped for. After the action, the team compares the result with the baseline and target, while recognising that a short project cannot prove every long-term effect.
Measurement Example
- Baseline: count library visits by the target group for one normal week.
- Action: student-led orientation, simplified borrowing guide and recommended book display.
- Outcome measure: compare visits and borrowing during the trial week.
- Qualitative evidence: ask participants which part of the action helped and what still prevented use.
Fair Measurement
Use the same method before and after the action where possible. Measure over comparable periods and note external factors. For example, attendance may change because of examinations, weather or a school event rather than the action. The team should not hide such limitations; recognising them supports a more honest evaluation.
Contingency Planning
Likely problems include delayed permission, unavailable participants, missing materials, low attendance, technical failure or a member’s absence. A contingency plan explains an alternative that preserves the project’s purpose. It should not be an unrelated backup activity.
Changes made during the project should be recorded and later explained in the Explanation of Research and Planning. Adaptation is not automatically a weakness. A well-justified change can demonstrate problem-solving and flexibility.
Weak And Strong Actions
A weak action may be very general, such as posting information online for an undefined audience. A stronger action identifies a target group, responds to evidence, uses an appropriate method and measures a relevant outcome. However, scale alone does not determine quality. A small but well-designed intervention may be more valuable than a large event with no clear connection to the issue.
Quick Check
Questions
- Why should the team compare several possible actions?
- What is the difference between an activity and an intended effect?
- Why is a baseline important?
- Give one quantitative and one qualitative indicator.
- When can changing the original plan be a strength?
Suggested Answers
Comparing options helps the team choose the most relevant, feasible and effective response. An activity is what the team does; the intended effect is the improvement it expects the activity to produce. A baseline provides a point of comparison. Attendance is a quantitative indicator, while participant explanations are qualitative. A change can be a strength when it responds logically to new evidence or a practical problem and is clearly recorded.
