Improving Physics Teaching through Action Research: The Impact of a Nationwide Professional Development Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grace, Marcus; Rietdijk, Willeke; Garrett, Caro; Griffiths, Janice

2015-01-01

This article presents an independent evaluation of the Action Research for Physics (ARP) programme, a nationwide professional development programme which trains teachers to use action research to increase student interest in physics and encourage them to take post-compulsory physics. The impact of the programme was explored from the perspective of…

Advancing Health Marketing Research and Policy Recommendations by Incorporating Source Perspectives.

PubMed

Mackert, Michael; Guadagno, Marie; Champlin, Sara

2015-01-01

Communication researchers, recognizing the message sent is not necessarily the same as the message received, have incorporated the perspective of advertising professionals into the study of advertising effects. Health marketing research could similarly benefit from incorporating this largely absent perspective into the academic and policy debate surrounding the impact of advertising on health issues ranging from obesity to alcohol use. This commentary serves as a call to action to stakeholders in this academic and policy debate: focus on the perspective of advertising professionals to enrich health marketing and public health research in which advertising is the delivery vehicle for health messages.

Perspectives from Teachers' Classrooms. Action Research. Science FEAT (Science for Early Adolescence Teachers).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spiegel, Samuel A., Ed.; And Others

Action research is one of the more increasingly popular and innovative techniques for engaging teachers in shaping change in the classroom. The research in this monograph was conducted by teachers in classrooms in Florida and Georgia. Papers were selected from 65 action research papers written in fulfillment of one of the requirements of the…

Participatory Action Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Martha Lentz

1993-01-01

Describes aspects of participatory action research and considers advantages of using participatory action research in research by disabilities and rehabilitation researchers. Notes that participatory action research can be built into any rehabilitation research design but that it rests upon the recognition of persons with disabilities as integral…

Evaluation of Career Development Programs from an Action Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Richard A.; Valach, Ladislav

1994-01-01

Presents action-theoretical approach to evaluation of career development programs based on constructionist epistemology. Propositions from action-theoretical perspective center around career and action as related, interpretative constructs. Propositions give rise to implications for evaluation of career programs that address ongoing nature of…

Looking Backwards, Looking Forwards: A Consideration of the Foibles of Action Research within Teacher Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Steele, Astrid

2012-01-01

This backward-looking reflection, which stems from experiences of an action research project with teachers, begins with an overview of current perspectives on action research in education settings. Significant details of the project are described to provide context for identification and discussion of the strengths and weaknesses relating to…

Learning Sustainability Leadership: An Action Research Study of a Graduate Leadership Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Heather L.

2016-01-01

This study used action research methodology to examine the development of sustainability leadership in a graduate leadership course. The research investigated the impact of this leadership course, which was designed using transformative learning theory with attention to integrating thematic content, multiple and nondominant perspectives, a…

Student-Centered Empowerment of Teacher-Centered Practices: An Action Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clegorne, Nicolas; Mitchell, Roland

2013-01-01

This action research reflects a narrative inquiry into the age-old debate concerning the relationship between theory and practice in educational settings. The unique perspective we add to this discussion is our distinct vantages. One researcher is a faculty member and the other is a student-affairs practitioner both working in a large public…

We Did It Together: A Participatory Action Research Study on Poverty and Disability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buettgen, Alexis; Richardson, Jason; Beckham, Kristie; Richardson, Kathy; Ward, Michelle; Riemer, Manuel

2012-01-01

This article presents the perspective of both non-disabled and developmentally disabled people working together in a research project on poverty and disability. Our study used a participatory action research approach that challenges the norm of exclusion in the research process. Control of the research agenda has been inclusive and shared to…

Experiences in Conducting Participatory Communication Research for HIV Prevention Globally: Translating Critical Dialog into Action through Action Media.

PubMed

Parker, Warren Martin; Becker-Benton, Antje

2016-01-01

Developing communication to support health and well-being of vulnerable communities requires a multifaceted understanding of local perspectives of contextual challenges and potentials for change. While participatory research enhances understanding, robust methodologies are necessary to translate emerging concepts into viable communication approaches. Communicators and change agents need to clarify pathways for change, barriers and enablers for change, as well as the role, orientation, and content of communication to support change. While various approaches to participatory action research with vulnerable communities have been developed, there is a dearth of methodologies that address the formulation of communication concepts that can be applied at scale. The Action Media methodology has been refined over a period of two decades, being applied to addressing HIV, related aspects such as gender-based violence, as well as broader issues, such as maternal and child health, sanitation, and malaria in Africa, The Caribbean, and Asia. The approach employs a sequence of interactive sessions involving communicator researchers and participants from one or more communities that face social or health challenges. Sessions focus on understanding audiences through their engagement with these challenges and leading to shaping of relevant communication concepts that can be linked to mobilization for change. The Action Media methodology contributes to processes of shared learning linked to addressing social and health challenges. This includes determining priorities, identifying barriers and facilitators for change, understanding processes of mobilizing knowledge in relation to context, determining appropriate communication approaches, and integrating indigenous language and cultural perspectives into communication concepts. Emerging communication strategies include support to systematic action and long-term mobilization. Communication to address public health concerns is typically

Brain systems for visual perspective taking and action perception.

PubMed

Mazzarella, Elisabetta; Ramsey, Richard; Conson, Massimiliano; Hamilton, Antonia

2013-01-01

Taking another person's viewpoint and making sense of their actions are key processes that guide social behavior. Previous neuroimaging investigations have largely studied these processes separately. The current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine how the brain incorporates another person's viewpoint and actions into visual perspective judgments. Participants made a left-right judgment about the location of a target object from their own (egocentric) or an actor's visual perspective (altercentric). Actor location varied around a table and the actor was either reaching or not reaching for the target object. Analyses examined brain regions engaged in the egocentric and altercentric tasks, brain regions where response magnitude tracked the orientation of the actor in the scene and brain regions sensitive to the action performed by the actor. The blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response in dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) was sensitive to actor orientation in the altercentric task, whereas the response in right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) was sensitive to actor orientation in the egocentric task. Thus, dmPFC and right IFG may play distinct but complementary roles in visual perspective taking (VPT). Observation of a reaching actor compared to a non-reaching actor yielded activation in lateral occipitotemporal cortex, regardless of task, showing that these regions are sensitive to body posture independent of social context. By considering how an observed actor's location and action influence the neural bases of visual perspective judgments, the current study supports the view that multiple neurocognitive "routes" operate during VPT.

Conducting Action Research in a Practicum: A Student Teacher's Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kasula, Alex

2015-01-01

This article looks at my reflection as a teacher during a master's degree practicum for a Second Language Studies Program. This particular practicum differs from the other common student teacher-training courses found in master's programs as it incorporated a teacher-training session on conducting action research (AR) in the classroom, a practice…

Seeking Sisterhood: Understanding the Gender Climate on a College Campus Using Participatory Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kates, Emily

2013-01-01

Through Participatory Action Research (PAR), the present study investigated psychological and social aspects of women's experiences at a diverse Catholic college in California (CU). The study sought to better understand female students' perspectives about the environment for women on campus and to develop actionable outcomes to improve women's…

Teaming from Three Perspectives: Interviews with Participatory Action Research Participants

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cain, Judith

2008-01-01

Taking part in the autism spectrum disorder participatory action research (ASD PAR) project was a genuine team effort for the group of people supporting Rose, a primary school student with Asperger syndrome. The following excerpts are from interviews with some of Rose's team. This is a collaborative approach to telling the story of the team's…

Weaving Curricular Standards into the Language Classroom: An Action Research Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yamada, Yuko; Moeller, Aleidine J.

2001-01-01

This action research study examines the perspectives and voices of students in a postsecondary Japanese class through an authentic project--a pen pal letter exchange. The project's effects on student motivation and learning are analyzed through the lens of the five goals of the national standards: communication, cultures, connections, comparisons,…

Multiculturalism and a Research Perspective in Initial Teacher Education: Possible Dialogues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canen, Ana

2007-01-01

This article describes action research within a multicultural pedagogical praxis orientation in a teacher education course at a higher education institution in Brazil during the academic year 2003. The narrative draws on the ways in which the course sought to develop a research perspective that could equip student teachers with elements that allow…

Using Action Research and Peer Perspectives to Develop Technology That Facilitates Behavioral Change and Self-Management in COPD

PubMed Central

McCabe, Catherine; Dinsmore, John; Brady, Anne Marie; Mckee, Gabrielle; O'Donnell, Sharon; Prendergast, David

2014-01-01

Background. Behavioural change and self-management in patients with chronic illness may help to control symptoms, avoid rehospitalization, enhance quality of life, and decrease mortality and morbidity. Objective. Guided by action research principles and using mixed methods, the aim of this project was to develop peer based educational, motivational, and health-promoting peer based videos, using behavioural change principles, to support self-management in patients with COPD. Methods. Individuals (n = 32) living with COPD at home and involved in two community based COPD support groups were invited to participate in this project. Focus group/individual interviews and a demographic questionnaire were used to collect data. Results. Analysis revealed 6 categories relevant to behavioural change which included self-management, support, symptoms, knowledge, rehabilitation, and technology. Participants commented that content needed to be specific, and videos needed to be shorter, to be tailored to severity of condition, to demonstrate “normal” activities, to be positive, and to ensure that content is culturally relevant. Conclusions. This study demonstrated that detailed analysis of patient perspectives and needs for self-management is essential and should underpin the development of any framework, materials, and technology. The action research design principles provided an effective framework for eliciting the data and applying it to technology and testing its relevance to the user. PMID:24959177

Action Research on Development and Application of Internet of Things Services in Hospital.

PubMed

Park, Arum; Chang, Hyejung; Lee, Kyoung Jun

2017-01-01

Services based on the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have emerged in various business environments. To enhance health service quality and maximize benefits, this study applied an IoT technology based on NFC and iBeacon as an omni-channel service for patient care in hospitals. Application of the IoT technology based on NFC and iBeacon was conducted in a general hospital during August 2015 through June 2016, and the development and evaluation results were aligned to an action research framework. The five phases in the action research included diagnosing, planning action, taking action, evaluating action, and specifying learning phases. During the first two phases, problems of functional operations in a hospital were diagnosed and eight service models were designed by using iBeacon and NFC to solve the problems. Service models were applied to the hospital by installing beacons, wearable beacons, beacon scanners, and NFC tags during the third phase. During the fourth and fifth phases, the roles and benefits of stakeholders participating in the service models were evaluated, and issues and knowledge of the whole application process were derived and summarized from technological, economic, social and legal perspectives, respectively. From an action research perspective, IoT-based healthcare services were developed and verified. IoT-based services enable the hospital to acquire lifelog data for precision medicine and ultimately be able to go one step closer to precision medical care. The derived service models could provide patients more enhanced healthcare services and improve the work efficiency and effectiveness of the hospital.

Action Research on Development and Application of Internet of Things Services in Hospital

PubMed Central

Park, Arum; Chang, Hyejung

2017-01-01

Objectives Services based on the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have emerged in various business environments. To enhance health service quality and maximize benefits, this study applied an IoT technology based on NFC and iBeacon as an omni-channel service for patient care in hospitals. Methods Application of the IoT technology based on NFC and iBeacon was conducted in a general hospital during August 2015 through June 2016, and the development and evaluation results were aligned to an action research framework. The five phases in the action research included diagnosing, planning action, taking action, evaluating action, and specifying learning phases. Results During the first two phases, problems of functional operations in a hospital were diagnosed and eight service models were designed by using iBeacon and NFC to solve the problems. Service models were applied to the hospital by installing beacons, wearable beacons, beacon scanners, and NFC tags during the third phase. During the fourth and fifth phases, the roles and benefits of stakeholders participating in the service models were evaluated, and issues and knowledge of the whole application process were derived and summarized from technological, economic, social and legal perspectives, respectively. Conclusions From an action research perspective, IoT-based healthcare services were developed and verified. IoT-based services enable the hospital to acquire lifelog data for precision medicine and ultimately be able to go one step closer to precision medical care. The derived service models could provide patients more enhanced healthcare services and improve the work efficiency and effectiveness of the hospital. PMID:28261528

African Primary Care Research: Participatory action research

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Abstract This article is part of the series on African primary care research and focuses on participatory action research. The article gives an overview of the emancipatory-critical research paradigm, the key characteristics and different types of participatory action research. Following this it describes in detail the methodological issues involved in professional participatory action research and running a cooperative inquiry group. The article is intended to help students with writing their research proposal. PMID:26245439

Planning as Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Gonzalez, Carmen Beatriz; Hernandez, Teresa; Kusch, Jim; Ryan, Charly

2004-01-01

Planning contains so much more than the written plan. Early in 2000, an invitation came from the Collaborative Action Research Network (CARN), to people experienced in action research who might want to help plan and present an action research event for elementary school science teachers in Venezuela, South America, in Autumn 2000. This article…

The Multi-Paradigmatic Character of Contemporary Educational Action Research: A Promising Perspective or an Underlying Threat?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Katsarou, Eleni

2017-01-01

From the very first moment action research started to be used in the social research field until now, it has presented significant variations. Action research looks like a mosaic of theoretical and methodological approaches, named differently from time to time and/or from place to place: for example, practitioner inquiry, practitioner research,…

Evaluation of an action research project in ophthalmic nursing practice.

PubMed

Waterman, Heather; Harker, Rona; MacDonald, Heather; McLaughlan, Rita; Waterman, Christine

2005-11-01

This paper reports the evaluation phase of an action research project that promoted face-down posturing of patients following vitreo-retinal surgery for macular hole to enhance patient outcomes. The evaluation phase identified areas of practice needing further development from the perspectives of those involved with the care of patients. To achieve best results following surgical repair of macular hole, patients are required to posture face down for several weeks. As a consequence, patients complain of severe back and neck ache and find it difficult to persist with the posturing. Work to advance nursing practice as surgical developments occur has relevance beyond ophthalmology and the particular context of this project. The first three phases of this action research--problem identification, planning and action--have been reported in another paper. Throughout the project an action research group comprising of representatives of key stakeholders were actively involved in researching and changing practice. During the evaluation phase, a qualitative methodology was chosen. Interviews with 17 members of staff from the inpatient area were carried out to elicit their perspectives on the posturing of patients. Qualitative interviews were selected to facilitate comparison with interview data from Phase 1. Data analysis ran concurrently with data collection, so that one could inform the other. Overall, nurses and healthcare support workers felt that patients were more agreeable to posturing and after surgery began to posture more quickly. Communication was still an issue in some instances, and patients having urgent as opposed to planned surgery were found to be more difficult to prepare and the psychological care of patients still posed problems for nursing staff. The evaluation suggests that improvements in the care of this group of patients have occurred. A 10-point plan to promote face-down posturing has been developed which will be of use to practitioners in other

Beyond You and Me: Stories for Collective Action and Learning? Perspectives from an Action Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gearty, Margaret

2015-01-01

This paper explores the combination of storytelling and reflective action research as a means to effect change and learning within and across communities and organizations. Taking the complex challenge of "pro-environmental behaviour change" as an example, the paper reflects on the experiences of a pilot project run for the UK government…

An Inquiry into Action Research: Teaching and Doing Action Research for the First-Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palak, Deniz

2013-01-01

I undertook this inquiry into action research while teaching research methods within a graduate degree teacher education program. This inquiry represents my initial encounter with action research and describes the tools, challenges, and uncertainties that I encountered while teaching and doing action research for the first-time. The main purpose…

An Organizational Perspective to the Creation of the Research Field.

PubMed

Talamo, Alessandra; Mellini, Barbara; Camilli, Marco; Ventura, Stefano; Di Lucchio, Loredana

2016-09-01

The aim of the paper is to contribute to the definition and analysis of the "access to the field" (Feldman et al. 2003) through an inter-organizational perspective. The paper discusses a case study on the access of a researcher to a hospital department where both organizations and actors are shown as actively constructing the research site. Both researcher and participants are described in terms of work organizations originally engaged in parallel systems of activity. Dynamics of negotiation "tied" the different actors' activities in a new activity system where researcher and participants concur to the effectiveness of both organizations (i.e., the research and the hospital ward). An Activity Theory perspective (Leont'ev 1978) is used with the aim of focusing the analysis on the activities in charge to the different actors. The approach adopted introduces the idea that, from the outset, research is made possible by a process of co-construction that works through the development of a completely new and shared work space arising around the encounter between researchers and participants. It is the balance between improvised actions and the co-creation of "boundary objects" (Star and Griesemer 1989), which makes interlacement possible between the two activity systems. The concept of "knotworking" (Engeström 2007a) is adopted to interpret specific actions by both organizations and actors intended to build a knot of activities whereby the new research system takes place.

Action Research: Trends and Variations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beaulieu, Rodney J.

2013-01-01

Action research continues to grow as a research tradition, yet misconceptions about what it is and is not remains, even among scholars. For example, some mistakenly believe action research is only about professional development and is not a scholarly research approach. Some assume action research must be accomplished through a collaborative…

Emotion in Action: A Predictive Processing Perspective and Theoretical Synthesis

PubMed Central

Ridderinkhof, K. Richard

2017-01-01

Starting from a decidedly Frijdian perspective on emotion in action, we adopt neurocognitive theories of action control to analyze the mechanisms through which emotional action arises. Appraisal of events vis-à-vis concerns gives rise to a determinate motive to establish a specific state of the world; the pragmatic idea of the action’s effects incurs the valuation of action options and a change in action readiness in the form of incipient ideomotor capture of the selected action. Forward modeling of the sensory consequences of the selected action option allows for the evaluation and fine-tuning of anticipated action effects, which renders the emotional action impulsive yet purposive. This novel theoretical synthesis depicts the cornerstone principles for a mechanistic view on emotion in action. PMID:29098017

Advancing ophthalmic nursing practice through action research.

PubMed

Waterman, Heather; Harker, Rona; MacDonald, Heather; McLaughlan, Rita; Waterman, Christine

2005-11-01

This paper reports an action research project that promoted posturing face down following macular hole surgery and aimed to enhance patient outcomes. This paper gives an overview of the process and outcomes of the first three of four phases of the project: problem identification, planning and action. The fourth phase, which was an evaluation of the project, is reported in another paper. Surgical repair for macular hole is common procedure carried out worldwide, and patients are required to posture face down for several weeks after this surgery. There is anecdotal evidence that many patients find this difficult to carry out. In the context of increasing medical specialization, nursing practice must be developed to meet the needs of patients being treated. This study will, therefore, be relevant beyond the particular specialty and geographical location described. The methodology was participative and cyclical. Initially, a fact-finding exercise was undertaken, using qualitative interviews with 18 members of staff to elicit their perspectives on the posturing of patients. Based on the fact-finding exercise, seven action objectives were set. While these were being implemented, three further research projects were identified and undertaken. Two were qualitative studies: one investigated patients' experiences of the surgery and posturing, and the second concerned nurses' developing working theories on the promotion of posturing and effects of nursing care on patient outcomes. Another pilot study was a randomized controlled trial to consider the effect of two different posturing regimes on patient outcomes. In addition to regular action research group meetings, these studies served to inform and monitor the changes as they were put into practice. The work was carried out from 1998 to 2002. Several factors appeared to influence whether patients postured after surgery, namely: education of staff and patients, appropriately timed services, clear lines of responsibility for

The processing of linear perspective and binocular information for action and perception.

PubMed

Bruggeman, Hugo; Yonas, Albert; Konczak, Jürgen

2007-04-08

To investigate the processing of linear perspective and binocular information for action and for the perceptual judgment of depth, we presented viewers with an actual Ames trapezoidal window. The display, when presented perpendicular to the line of sight, provided perspective information for a rectangular window slanted in depth, while binocular information specified a planar surface in the fronto-parallel plane. We compared pointing towards the display-edges with perceptual judgment of their positions in depth as the display orientation was varied under monocular and binocular view. On monocular trials, pointing and depth judgment were based on the perspective information and failed to respond accurately to changes in display orientation because pictorial information did not vary sufficiently to specify the small differences in orientation. For binocular trials, pointing was based on binocular information and precisely matched the changes in display orientation whereas depth judgment was short of such adjustment and based upon both binocular and perspective-specified slant information. The finding, that on binocular trials pointing was considerably less responsive to the illusion than perceptual judgment, supports an account of two separate processing streams in the human visual system, a ventral pathway involved in object recognition and a dorsal pathway that produces visual information for the control of actions. Previously, similar differences between perception and action were explained by an alternate explanation, that is, viewers selectively attend to different parts of a display in the two tasks. The finding that under monocular view participants responded to perspective information in both the action and the perception task rules out the attention-based argument.

Commentary on the Future of Community Psychology: Perspective of a Research Community Psychologist.

PubMed

Milburn, Norweeta G

2016-12-01

Community psychology is commented upon from the perspective of a community psychologist who was trained in the Community Psychology Program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her background and training are reviewed. A brief survey of research on homelessness as a frame for community psychology research is presented. Concluding remarks are provided on the future of research in community psychology. © Society for Community Research and Action 2016.

Managing in the interprofessional environment: a theory of action perspective.

PubMed

Rogers, Tim

2004-08-01

Managers of multidisciplinary teams face difficult dilemmas in managing competing interests, diverse perspectives and interpersonal conflicts. This paper illustrates the potential of the theory of action methodology of Argyris and Schön (1974, 1996) to illuminate these problems and contribute to their resolution. An empirical example of a depth-investigation with one multidisciplinary community health care team leader in Australia demonstrates that the theory of action offers a more accurate account of the causal dimensions of her dilemmas and provides more scope for effective intervention than her lay explanation will allow. It also provides a more satisfactory analysis of her difficulties with two common problems identified in the literature: defining the appropriate level of autonomy for team members and developing constructive dialogue across perceived discipline-based differences of opinion. Consequently the theory of action appears to offer enormous promise to managers of multidisciplinary teams wanting to understand and resolve their problems and develop a rigorous reflective practice. Further research on the viability of the theory to facilitate a self-correcting system that can promote learning even under conditions of stress and conflict is suggested and implications for learning and teaching for the multidisciplinary environment are briefly discussed.

Conscious Engagement in Undergraduate Male Nursing Students: Facilitating Voice through an Action Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maykut, Colleen A.; Lee, Andrew; Argueta, Nelson Garcia; Grant, Sean; Miller, Cole

2016-01-01

Although women have made significant progress into traditionally male-dominated professions, such as medicine and engineering, the same cannot be said of men in the nursing profession. Utilizing a critical social theory perspective, an action research project was designed to encourage participants, current male nursing students and alumni of…

Researching pharmacist managerial capability: philosophical perspectives and paradigms of inquiry.

PubMed

Woods, Phillip; Gapp, Rod; King, Michelle A

2015-01-01

In successful community pharmacy business enterprises suitably responsive actions to meet ever-increasing change require capable pharmacy managers who readily learn and adapt. Capability as a concept is generally understood to be the ability of a manager to identify and act to solve unfamiliar problems in unfamiliar situations. Capability is characterized by adaptability and flexibility. However, different understandings of the concept 'capability' and what it means to be 'capable' are indirect and incomplete. This paper aims to clarify current theories regarding the concept of 'capability' at the level of the individual, and through this to make more explicit what is known about the phenomenon, but more particularly, how we know what we know. The analysis includes the concept of 'competence' because explanations of capability include competence, and the two concepts are not clearly separated in the literature. By probing the epistemological origins of current theory concerning both concepts, the limiting taken for granted assumptions are revealed. Assumptions about context and time, and the psychological theory through which individuals are assumed to perceive, know and learn, are illuminated. The analysis, in connection with the literature, shows how the interpretive philosophic research approach may reveal a different and useful theoretical perspective for explaining capability as a dynamic performance. It is suggested that such a perspective may narrow the gap between the theory of capability and its practice. The interpretive perspective holds potential to reveal how capability, as performed by successful community pharmacy managers, might be further researched and strengthened. This paper supports the challenging suggestion that pharmacy social research needs to rebalance the dominance of purely empirical research by exploring interpretive methodologies to better understand human actions and relations in the context of pharmacy. Crown Copyright © 2015

Reconnecting with Your Passion: An Action Research Study Exploring Humanities and Professional Nursing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snyder, Melissa J.

2012-01-01

The purpose of this action research study was two-fold. The first purpose was to examine the process of how nurses engaged in a professional development program that drew upon reading and creative writing related to their lives and work as nurses. Secondly, this study examined the nurses' perspectives on how their involvement in the process…

Transforming Language Ideologies through Action Research: A Case Study of Bilingual Science Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Eunah

This qualitative case study explored a third grade bilingual teacher's transformative language ideologies through participating in a collaborative action research project. By merging language ideologies theory, Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), and action research, I was able to identify the analytic focus of this study. I analyzed how one teacher and I, the researcher, collaboratively reflected on classroom language practices during the video analysis meetings and focus groups. Further, I analyzed twelve videos that we coded together to see the changes in the teacher's language practices over time. My unit of analysis was the discourse practice mediated by additive language ideologies. Throughout the collaborative action research process, we both critically reflected on the classroom language use. We also developed a critical consciousness about the participatory shifts and learning of focal English Learner (EL) students. Finally, the teacher made changes to her classroom language practices. The results of this study will contribute to the literacy education research field for theoretical, methodological, and practical insights. The integration of language ideologies, CHAT, and action research can help educational practitioners, researchers, and policy makers understand the importance of transforming teachers' language ideologies in designing additive learning contexts for ELs. From a methodological perspective, the transformative language ideologies through researcher and teacher collaborated video analysis process provide a unique contribution to the language ideologies in education literature, with analytic triangulation. As a practical implication, this study suggests action research can be one of the teacher education tools to help the teachers transform language ideologies for EL education.

Exploring teacher's perceptions of concept mapping as a teaching strategy in science: An action research approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marks Krpan, Catherine Anne

In order to promote science literacy in the classroom, students need opportunities in which they can personalize their understanding of the concepts they are learning. Current literature supports the use of concept maps in enabling students to make personal connections in their learning of science. Because they involve creating explicit connections between concepts, concept maps can assist students in developing metacognitive strategies and assist educators in identifying misconceptions in students' thinking. The literature also notes that concept maps can improve student achievement and recall. Much of the current literature focuses primarily on concept mapping at the secondary and university levels, with limited focus on the elementary panel. The research rarely considers teachers' thoughts and ideas about the concept mapping process. In order to effectively explore concept mapping from the perspective of elementary teachers, I felt that an action research approach would be appropriate. Action research enabled educators to debate issues about concept mapping and test out ideas in their classrooms. It also afforded the participants opportunities to explore their own thinking, reflect on their personal journeys as educators and play an active role in their professional development. In an effort to explore concept mapping from the perspective of elementary educators, an action research group of 5 educators and myself was established and met regularly from September 1999 until June 2000. All of the educators taught in the Toronto area. These teachers were interested in exploring how concept mapping could be used as a learning tool in their science classrooms. In summary, this study explores the journey of five educators and myself as we engaged in collaborative action research. This study sets out to: (1) Explore how educators believe concept mapping can facilitate teaching and student learning in the science classroom. (2) Explore how educators implement concept

Practicing What We Teach: Using Action Research to Learn about Teaching Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Barb; Dressler, Roswita; Eaton, Sarah Elaine; Jacobsen, Michele

2015-01-01

In this article, action research is explored as a process for instructor reflection, professional learning and collaboration. The context for the professional learning was the teaching of graduate level education courses in which action research, in conjunction with a cohort-based, collaboratory approach to learning, was used to facilitate…

Action Research Methods: Plain and Simple

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klein, Sheri R., Ed.

2012-01-01

Among the plethora of action research books on the market, there is no one text exclusively devoted to understanding how to acquire and interpret research data. Action Research Methods provides a balanced overview of the quantitative and qualitative methodologies and methods for conducting action research within a variety of educational…

Research Ethics Committees and Participatory Action Research With Young People: The Politics of Voice.

PubMed

Yanar, Zeynep M; Fazli, Mehria; Rahman, Jahanara; Farthing, Rys

2016-04-01

Participatory action research (PAR) is a methodological approach that seeks to maximize the participation of people whose lives it researches. It is underpinned by an ethical concern to research "with" people, rather than "on" people. However, this ethical approach to research is often, paradoxically, problematized by universities' research ethics committees (RECs). This article explores one site of tension between PAR and RECs-the requirement for anonymity for below 18-year-olds. It explores this tension by exploring a case study of a peer-to-peer research project undertaken by young women in East London, and using our own experiences and perspectives, it argues that anonymity can be unjust, disempowering, and unnecessary, and can reduce "pride." Without wanting to develop specific recommendations, given the limited scope of our case study, this article uses firsthand experiences to add weight to the broader discussions calling for a critical rethink of REC guidelines. © The Author(s) 2016.

Participatory Action Research (PAR) cum Action Research (AR) in Teacher Professional Development: A Literature Review

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morales, Marie Paz E.

2016-01-01

This paper reviews Participatory Action Research as an approach to teacher professional development. It maps the origins of Participatory Action Research (PAR) and discusses the benefits and challenges that have been identified by other researchers in utilizing PAR approaches in conducting research. It draws ideas of combining the features of…

Use of Action Research in Nursing Education

PubMed Central

Pehler, Shelley-Rae; Stombaugh, Angela

2016-01-01

Purpose. The purpose of this article is to describe action research in nursing education and to propose a definition of action research for providing guidelines for research proposals and criteria for assessing potential publications for nursing higher education. Methods. The first part of this project involved a search of the literature on action research in nursing higher education from 1994 to 2013. Searches were conducted in the CINAHL and MEDLINE databases. Applying the criteria identified, 80 publications were reviewed. The second part of the project involved a literature review of action research methodology from several disciplines to assist in assessing articles in this review. Results. This article summarizes the nursing higher education literature reviewed and provides processes and content related to four topic areas in nursing higher education. The descriptions assist researchers in learning more about the complexity of both the action research process and the varied outcomes. The literature review of action research in many disciplines along with the review of action research in higher education provided a framework for developing a nursing-education-centric definition of action research. Conclusions. Although guidelines for developing action research and criteria for publication are suggested, continued development of methods for synthesizing action research is recommended. PMID:28078138

Building the Relations of New and Veteran Teachers to Address Retention: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, John-Bernard

2016-01-01

This dissertation analyzed the factors that affected the retention of new teachers in the United States. This action research study was conducted utilizing qualitative data. Qualitative methods were relied upon to investigate perspectives from new and veteran teachers. It was proposed that teachers left the profession due to opportunity cost…

Sharing Control: Developing Research Literacy through Community-Based Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Juergensmeyer, Erik

2011-01-01

This article suggests that the methodology of community-based action research provides concrete strategies for fostering effective community problem solving. To argue for a community research pedagogy, the author draws upon past and present scholarship in action research and participatory action research, experiences teaching an undergraduate…

Post-Colonial Theory and Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parsons, Jim B.; Harding, Kelly J.

2011-01-01

This essay explores connections between post-colonial theory and action research. Post-colonial theory is committed to addressing the plague of colonialism. Action research, at its core, promises to problematize uncontested "colonial" hegemonies of any form. Both post-colonial theory and action research engage dialogic, critically reflective and…

Action Research as an Agent for Enhancing Teaching and Learning in Physical Education: A Physical Education Teacher's Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keegan, Rosemary

2016-01-01

Introduction: Action research is a useful method for implementing change through its spiral of plan, act, observe, and reflect, but little research has been published on it in the area of physical education. The purpose of this intervention was to assess the effectiveness of action research as an agent of change and its impact on enhancing my…

Action Research, Stories and Practical Philosophy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cotton, Tony; Griffiths, Morwenna

2007-01-01

This collaborative piece written by a philosopher/action researcher and an action researcher/philosopher explores the use of practical philosophy as a tool in action research. The paper explores the connection to be made between what we refer to, roughly, as "theory" and "practice" (while never losing hold of either). The…

Communicative Elements of Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryan, Thomas G.

2013-01-01

This review considers human communications as utilized within a research design; in this case collaborative action research (CAR), a derivative of action research (AR), to achieve outcomes that change, and move participants forward. The association between AR and CAR is a deliberate attempt by the author to draw attention to communicative actions…

The Potential of Deweyan-Inspired Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stark, Jody L.

2014-01-01

In its broadest sense, pragmatism could be said to be the philosophical orientation of all action research. Action research is characterized by research, action, and participation grounded in democratic principles and guided by the aim of social improvement. Furthermore, action research is an active process of inquiry that does not admit…

The case for integrating grounded theory and participatory action research: empowering clients to inform professional practice.

PubMed

Teram, Eli; Schachter, Candice L; Stalker, Carol A

2005-10-01

Grounded theory and participatory action research methods are distinct approaches to qualitative inquiry. Although grounded theory has been conceptualized in constructivist terms, it has elements of positivist thinking with an image of neutral search for objective truth through rigorous data collection and analysis. Participatory action research is based on a critique of this image and calls for more inclusive research processes. It questions the possibility of objective social sciences and aspires to engage people actively in all stages of generating knowledge. The authors applied both approaches in a project designed to explore the experiences of female survivors of childhood sexual abuse with physical therapy and subsequently develop a handbook on sensitive practice for clinicians that takes into consideration the needs and perspectives of these clients. Building on this experience, they argue that the integration of grounded theory and participatory action research can empower clients to inform professional practice.

What does it mean to transform knowledge into action in falls prevention research? Perspectives from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

PubMed

Tetroe, Jacqueline M; Graham, Ian D; Scott, Vicky

2011-12-01

The concept of knowledge translation as defined by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research and the Knowledge to Action Cycle, described by Graham et al (Graham et al., 2006), are used to make a case for the importance of using a conceptual model to describe moving knowledge into action in the area of falls prevention. There is a large body of research in the area of falls prevention. It would seem that in many areas it is clear what is needed to prevent falls and further syntheses can determine where the evidence is sufficiently robust to warrant its implementation as well as where the gaps are that require further basic research. The phases of the action cycle highlight seven areas that should be paid attention to in order to maximize chances of successful implementation. Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring Constructivist Social Learning Practices in Aiding Russian-Speaking Teachers to Learn Estonian: An Action Research Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kiilo, Tatjana; Kutsar, Dagmar

2012-01-01

Based on appreciative inquiry and threshold concepts from an intercultural learning perspective, the article makes insights into the constructivist social learning practice of Estonian language learning amongst Russian-speaking teachers in Estonia. The application of educational action research methodology, more specifically that of Bridget…

Action-Oriented Research: Models and Methods.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Small, Stephen A.

1995-01-01

Four models of action-oriented research, a research approach that can inform policy and practice, are described: action, participatory, empowerment, and feminism research. Discusses historical roots, epistemological assumptions, agendas, and methodological strategies of each, and presents implications for family researchers. (JPS)

Action Research for Developing Social Workers' Research Capacity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lunt, Neil; Fouche, Christa

2009-01-01

We reflect on the action research process implemented in assisting the development of a culture of practitioner inquiry amongst social workers in social services agencies, and highlight the overall outcomes of the intervention. The paper outlines the rationale and process for undertaking an action research process with social services…

Action Research: Theory and Applications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jefferson, Renée N.

2014-01-01

Action research as a methodology is suitable for use within academic library settings. Its theoretical foundations are located in several disciplines and its applications span across many professions. In this article, an overview of the theoretical beginnings and evolution of action research is presented. Approaches generally used in conducting an…

Exploring multiple intelligences theory in the context of science education: An action research approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodnough, Karen Catherine

2000-10-01

Since the publication of Frames of Mind: The Theory in Practice, multiple intelligences, theory (Gardner, 1983) has been used by practitioners in a variety of ways to make teaching and learning more meaningful. However, little attention has been focused on exploring the potential of the theory for science teaching and learning. Consequently, this research study was designed to: (1) explore Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences (1983) and its merit for making science teaching and learning more meaningful; (2) provide a forum for teachers to engage in critical self-reflection about their theory and practice in science education; (3) study the process of action research in the context of science education; and (4) describe the effectiveness of collaborative action research as a framework for teacher development and curriculum development. The study reports on the experiences of four teachers (two elementary teachers, one junior high teacher, and one high school teacher) and myself, a university researcher-facilitator, as we participated in a collaborative action research project. The action research group held weekly meetings over a five-month period (January--May, 1999). The inquiry was a qualitative case study (Stake, 1994) that aimed to understand the perspectives of those directly involved. This was achieved by using multiple methods to collect data: audiotaped action research meetings, fieldnotes, semi-structured interviews, journal writing, and concept mapping. All data were analysed on an ongoing basis. Many positive outcomes resulted from the study in areas such as curriculum development, teacher development, and student learning in science. Through the process of action research, research participants became more reflective about their practice and thus, enhanced their pedagogical content knowledge (Shulman, 1987) in science. Students became more engaged in learning science, gained a greater understanding of how they learn, and experienced a

Action Research Empowers School Librarians

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robins, Jennifer

2015-01-01

Successful school library programs occur through careful planning and reflection. This reflective process is improved when it is applied in a systematic way through action research. The action research described in this paper enabled school librarians to reflect based on evidence, using data they had collected. This study presents examples of the…

Taking Action with Teacher Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyers, Ellen; Rust, Frances O'Connell

This collection of papers presents examples of teacher research in action. Each study grew out of teachers' questions regarding the implementation of some aspect of education policy in their schools and classrooms. After "Introduction" (Frances O'Connell Rust and Ellen Meyers), the eight papers focus on: (1) "How We Do Action Research" (Frances…

A Protean Practice? Perspectives on the Practice of Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brook, Cheryl; Pedler, Mike; Burgoyne, John G

2013-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to assess the extent to which these practitioners ' perspectives and practices match Willis's conception of a Revans "gold standard" of action learning. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts a qualitative design and methodology based on interviews and the collection of cases or accounts of…

Critical Action Research: The Achievement Group

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carpenter, Vicki M.; Cooper, Chris

2009-01-01

Critical action research is contextualized in a low socioeconomic, multicultural urban school in Auckland, New Zealand. The writers are a university lecturer (mentor) and a school principal (critical action researcher). The research was part of a meta project which aimed to raise the achievement of Maori (indigenous) students. Research processes…

Action Research and Teacher Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smeets, Karel; Ponte, Petra

2009-01-01

The present article reports on a case study into the influence and impact of action research carried out by teachers in a special school. The action research was an important component of the two-year, post-initial, in-service course in special educational needs, provided by Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Department of Inclusive and…

Philosophy, Methodology and Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carr, Wilfred

2006-01-01

The aim of this paper is to examine the role of methodology in action research. It begins by showing how, as a form of inquiry concerned with the development of practice, action research is nothing other than a modern 20th century manifestation of the pre-modern tradition of practical philosophy. It then draws in Gadamer's powerful vindication of…

Action Research and Organisational Learning: A Norwegian Approach to Doing Action Research in Complex Organisations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eikeland, Olav

2012-01-01

The purpose of this article is to present a specific approach to the practice of action research "in complex organisations". Clearly, there are many approaches to the challenge of doing action research in organisations; approaches that are, and also must be, quite context dependent and specific. But my purpose is neither to give an…

The meaning of recovery in a regional mental health service: an action research study.

PubMed

Kidd, Susan; Kenny, Amanda; McKinstry, Carol

2015-01-01

To explore the meaning of the term recovery to people with experience providing and receiving mental health services. Internationally, governments have proposed recovery-oriented mental health policy. In practice, people managing mental health difficulties struggle to recover, self-manage, or improve their quality of life. Mental health services increasingly provide acutely focused and poorly coordinated services to people experiencing mental health difficulties, with self-management, wellness and recovery overlooked. A cooperative enquiry, action research design guided the study. Participants were people with experience of mental health difficulties from consumer, carer and clinician perspectives. Data were collected between August 2012-July 2013. Analysis was conducted using an iterative process for the duration of the study. A thematic network was developed that reflected key organizing themes. The overarching theme developed from the participants' group discussions, reflections, actions and observations was recovery as an ongoing quest in life. This global theme was constructed from five organizing themes: 'finding meaning', 'an invisible disability', 'empowerment and agency' 'connection' and 'the passage of time'. Participatory approaches support the inclusion of lived experience perspectives. Structured processes are needed to bring different perspectives together to find solutions, through dialogue, and acknowledge the barriers to participation that people who use mental health services experience. The lack of integration of lived experience perspectives demonstrates forms of discrimination that inhibit consumer participation and prevent the recovery-oriented transformation required in mental health systems. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Action Research: Its Origins and Early Application.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Stuart W.

This paper contains informal remarks on action research in social psychology from its post World War II origins to its current status. Kurt Lewin first described action research in the 1946 article, "Action Research and Minority Problems," as a three-step process of program planning, program execution, and follow-up evaluation. Ronald Lippitt and…

A practitioner-focused approach to the provision of psychological support in soccer: adopting action research themes and processes.

PubMed

Gilbourne, David; Richardson, David

2005-06-01

In this review, we explore a practitioner-focused approach to the provision of psychological support in soccer. Support is depicted to be a collaborative exercise and is associated with action research themes and processes. Various procedures and perspectives that are associated with action research are outlined. The ideas presented suggest that many soccer-based practitioners (coaches, managers and physiotherapists) have the capacity to influence how sport psychology practice might be experienced by players. The sport scientist is depicted here as someone who acts as a critical friend to those practitioners who are interested in developing aspects of their own working practice. Having established these ideas, the review provides an illustration of how a combination of action research themes and qualitative research techniques has been used to influence and support heads of education and welfare in UK soccer academies across the north-west of England.

Action Research and Academic Writing: A Conversation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winter, Richard; Badley, Graham

2007-01-01

Here is a conversation between two former colleagues about action research and academic writing. Richard Winter opens the discussion with a series of reflections on his work as an action researcher. These reflections include the key argument that action research is a noble cause because it is relevant to working life, has a practical impact and…

Discourses of dementia: a call for an ethnographic, action research approach to care in linguistically and culturally diverse environments.

PubMed

Müller, Nicole; Guendouzi, Jacqueline A

2009-08-01

The methods of ethnography and action research have much to offer to the field of speech-language pathology, particularly as our clinical populations are becoming increasingly diverse. We suggest that practicing speech-language pathologists and students, as well as researchers, will benefit from strategies that use the methods of participatory action research and ethnography as guiding principles to their work. Ethnography seeks to discover meaningful structures in a culture from the perspective of those whose culture it is. Action research, which shares a methodological basis with ethnography, is undertaken with the aim of improving the functioning of the social institution, practice, or structure investigated for the benefit of those most closely involved with that institution or practice. By way of illustration, we use data collected during fieldwork in Louisiana, involving persons with dementia from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds.

When Does the Action Start and Finish? Making the Case for an Ethnographic Action Research in Educational Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bath, Caroline

2009-01-01

This paper explores how ethnographic and action research methodologies can be justifiably combined to create a new methodological approach in educational research. It draws on existing examples in both educational research and development studies that have discussed the use of ethnography and action research in specific projects. Interpretations…

A case study of the development of environmental action projects from the framework of participatory action research within two middle school classrooms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charmatz, Kim

The purpose of this study was to understand student and teacher empowerment through a socially critical environmental education perspective. The main research question guiding this study was: How do participants make sense of a learning experience in which students design and carry out an environmental action project in their community? This study used participatory action research and critical theory as practical and theoretical frameworks. These frameworks were relevant as this study sought to examine social change, power, and relationships through participants' experiences. The context of this study was within one seventh and one eighth grade classroom participating in environmental projects. The study was conducted in spring 2005 with an additional follow-up data collection period during spring 2006. The school was located in a densely populated metropolitan suburb. Fifty-three students, a teacher researcher, and three science teachers participated. Data sources were written surveys, scores on Middle School Environmental Literacy Survey Instrument (MSELI), observations, interviews, and student work. This study used a mixed methodological approach. Quantitative data analysis involved dependent samples t-test scores on the MSELI before and after the completion of the projects. Qualitative data were analyzed using an inductive analysis approach. This study has implications for educators interested in democratic education. Environmental action projects provide a context for students and teachers to learn interdisciplinary content knowledge, develop personal beliefs, and learn ways to take action in their communities. This pedagogy has the potential to increase cooperation, communication, and tensions within school communities. Students' participation in the development of environmental action projects may lead to feelings of empowerment or being able to make a difference in their community, as an individual or member of a group. Future research is needed to discern

Notes toward a Philosophy of Action Learning Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coghlan, David; Coughlan, Paul

2010-01-01

The philosophical foundations of action learning research have not received a great deal of attention. In the context of action learning postgraduate and professional programmes in universities, articulation of a philosophy of action learning research seems timely and appropriate. This article explores a philosophy of action learning research,…

A Critique of Science Education as Sociopolitical Action from the Perspective of Liberal Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hadzigeorgiou, Yannis

2015-01-01

This paper outlines the rationale underpinning the conception of science education as sociopolitical action, and then presents a critique of such a conception from the perspective of liberal education. More specifically, the paper discusses the importance of the conception of science education as sociopolitical action (e.g., it can provide…

Photovoltaic research needs industry perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ravi, K. V.

1982-01-01

An industries perspective of photovoltaic research needs is presented. Objectives and features of industry needs are discussed for the materials, devices, processes, and reliability research categories.

Placing Motivation and Future Time Perspective Theory in a Temporal Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simons, Joke; Vansteenkiste, Maarten; Lens, Willy; Lacante, Marlies

2004-01-01

An overview of the conceptual development of future time perspective theory [Nuttin, J. R. (1984). "Motivation, Planning and Action: A Relational Theory of Behavior," Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ; Nuttin, J., and Lens, W. (1985). "Future Time Perspective and Motivation: Theory and Research Method," Leuven University Press and Erlbaum, Leuven, Belgium…

Enacting Instructional Leadership: Perspectives and Actions of Public K-12 Principals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Terosky, Aimee LaPointe

2016-01-01

This article's purpose is to highlight the perspectives and actions of urban, public school K-12 principals who are noted for prioritising instructional leadership. Grounded in the conceptual framework of agency, I examined the work experiences of 18 New York City public school principals nominated by supervisors, colleagues, trained educational…

Action Research: Informing Professional Practice within Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hine, Gregory S. C.; Lavery, Shane D.

2014-01-01

This research paper explores the experiences of three teacher-researchers, "Simone", "Damian" and "Michael", who undertook an action research project in their respective schools as part of their postgraduate studies. The paper initially outlines the construct of action research in the light of its applicability to…

Supporting Systematic Change through Action Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holm, Daniel T.; Hunter, Karen; Welling, Judith

This paper examines how a series of action research projects, supported and guided through a university-public elementary school partnership program, began. It also presents the content and impact of the action research projects from the voices of a university professor, classroom teacher, and principal. The partnership promoted study groups which…

Developing preceptorship through action research: Part 1.

PubMed

Hilli, Yvonne; Melender, Hanna-Leena

2015-09-01

Clinical preception in practice plays a significant role in both registered and practical nurse studies. As such, the cooperation between the faculty and working life is important to narrow the theory-practice gap, with emphasis being placed on a student-oriented approach promoting self-direction and lifelong learning. The aim of this project was to develop the preceptorship at five different units within the health-care sector in western Finland by implementing an action research (AR) approach. This article is the first of a two-part article on the project, focusing on a cultural analysis and the development of preception models conducted within the project. The five units participating in the study were the following: a long-term care ward in the community, a ward for people with dementia, a geriatric ward, a medical ward and a surgical ward representing specialised care. The starting point of the study was a cultural analysis, which was made in all the five units to obtain a 'bottom-up' perspective. In each of the five units 3-5 nurses were appointed to become members of the core groups. This meant that all the units would start from the perspective of their own working environment when creating a preception model that would fit into their particular workplace. During this process, the participants received continuous support from the researchers. Several workshops and seminars were also arranged to further support the core groups and staff. The models were implemented and tested during the academic year 2010-2011 followed by an evaluation of the project. The evaluation results will be presented in the second part of the two-part article. The project showed that reflective practice and critical thinking can be improved through an AR approach. © 2015 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Action Research: A Methodology for Change and Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Somekh, Bridget

2005-01-01

This book presents a fresh view of action research as a methodology uniquely suited to researching the processes of innovation and change. Drawing on twenty-five years' experience of leading or facilitating action research projects, Bridget Somekh argues that action research can be a powerful systematic intervention, which goes beyond describing,…

Using Action Research and Action Learning for Entrepreneurial Network Capability Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGrath, Helen; O'Toole, Thomas

2016-01-01

This paper applies an action research (AR) design and action learning (AL) approach to network capability development in an entrepreneurial context. Recent research suggests that networks are a viable strategy for the entrepreneurial firm to overcome the liabilities associated with newness and smallness. However, a gap emerges as few, if any,…

Online professional development for digitally differentiated nurses: An action research perspective.

PubMed

Green, J K; Huntington, A D

2017-01-01

Professional development opportunities for nurses are increasingly being offered in the online environment and therefore it is imperative that learning designers, nurse educators and healthcare organisations consider how best to support staff to enable Registered Nurses to capitalise on the resources available. Research participants explored educational strategies to support digitally differentiated nurses' engagement with professional development activities in an online environment through a participatory action research project that collected data over a 16 month period through six focus groups before being analysed thematically. The reality of work-based, e-learning while managing clinical workloads can be problematic however specific measures, such as having a quiet space and computer away from the clinical floor, access to professional development resources from anywhere and at any time, can be effective. A 'one-size-fits-all' approach to resources offered will not meet the needs of diverse staffing groups whereas heutagogical learning offers tangible benefits to Registered Nurses seeking professional development opportunities in this context. Apparent proficiency with technological skills may not reflect a Registered Nurse's actual ability in this environment and face-to-face support offered regularly, rather than remedially, can be beneficial for some staff. Implementing specific strategies can result in successful transition to the online environment. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emerging Action Research Traditions: Rigor in Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watkins, Karen E.; Nicolaides, Aliki; Marsick, Victoria J.

2016-01-01

The authors argue here that contemporary use of action research shares the exploratory, inductive nature of many qualitative research approaches--no matter the type of data collected--because the type of research problems studied are set in complex, dynamic, rapidly changing contexts and because action research is undertaken to support social and…

An Evaluation of Professional Development to Improve Teachers' Perspectives and Behaviors: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beckford-Young, Paulette Vivienne

2016-01-01

The purpose of this action research study was to conduct a professional development activity to provide content-area teachers with academic vocabulary strategies to be implemented during instruction on a daily basis. Professional development is essential for teachers to gain new knowledge and skills in order to hone their craft to improve student…

Participatory Action Research: International Contexts and Consequences.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McTaggart, Robin, Ed.

The collection of essays in this book illustrate commonalties and differences among the theories, practices, and forms of organization of participatory action research in different countries. Participatory action research expresses the recognition that all research methodologies are implicitly political in nature, and this is reflected in the…

Knowledge Producing, Its Management and Action and Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hadfield, Mark

2005-01-01

This article is based on a "think piece" produced as a resource for action researchers working within networks of schools. The original article considered the utility of key ideas within knowledge management to practitioner researchers attempting to share their research outcomes with other teachers in their network. This article, rather than…

Understanding the Complexity of Teacher Reflection in Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luttenberg, Johan; Meijer, Paulien; Oolbekkink-Marchand, Helma

2017-01-01

Reflection in action research is a complex matter, as is action research itself. In recent years, complexity science has regularly been called upon in order to more thoroughly understand the complexity of action research. The present article investigates the benefits that complexity science may yield for reflection in action research. This article…

Teachers in Action Research: Assumptions and Potentials

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Li, Yuen-Ling

2008-01-01

Research literature has long indicated that action research may stimulate practitioners themselves to actively evaluate the quality of their practice. This study is designed to report the use of action research for the development of early years professional practice by analyzing the pre-project and the post-project video-filmed teaching events.…

The positive and negative framing of affirmative action: a group dominance perspective.

PubMed

Haley, Hillary; Sidanius, Jim

2006-05-01

Using a sample of 328 White, Latino, and Black Los Angeles County adults, the authors examined the tendency to employ various affirmative action "frames" (e.g., affirmative action as a "tie-breaking" device or as a quota-based policy). All three groups agreed about which frames cast affirmative action in a positive light and which cast it in a negative light. Although minorities had a tendency to frame affirmative action in terms that most people find morally acceptable, Whites had a tendency to frame affirmative action in terms most people find unacceptable. In addition, compared to minorities, Whites were less supportive of affirmative action regardless of how it was framed. LISREL modeling also was employed to test two competing models regarding predictors of the tendency to use frames that one personally finds to be relatively negative versus positive. Consistent with the expectations of social dominance theory and a motivated cognition perspective, the authors found that social dominance orientation (SDO) had significant net direct and indirect effects on one's framing of affirmative action.

Improving Teacher Education through Action Research. Routledge Research in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hui, Ming-Fai, Ed.; Grossman, David L., Ed.

2011-01-01

There has been a dearth of studies on teacher educators using action research to improve their own practice. This book is the first systematic study of a group of teachers examining and enhancing their own practice through the inquiry process of action research. This book presents a broad overview of a variety of methodologies that can be used to…

Action research in gender issues in science education: Towards an understanding of group work with science teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nyhof-Young, Joyce Marion

Action research is emerging as a promising means of promoting individual and societal change in the context of university programmes in teacher education. However, significant gaps exist in the literature regarding the use of action research groups for the education of science teachers. Therefore, an action research group, dealing with gender issues in science education, was established within the context of a graduate course in action research at OISE. For reasons outlined in the thesis, action research was deemed an especially appropriate means for addressing issues of gender. The group met 14 times from September 1992 until May 1993 and consisted of myself and five other science teachers from the Toronto area. Two of us were in the primary panel, two in the intermediate panel, and two in the tertiary panel. Five teachers were female. One was male. The experiences of the group form the basis of this study. A methodology of participant observation supported by interviews, classroom visits, journals, group feedback and participant portfolios provides a means of examining experiences from the perspective of the participants in the group. The case study investigates the nature of the support and learning opportunities that the action research group provided for science teachers engaged in curiculum and professional development in the realm of gender issues in science education, and details the development of individuals, the whole group and myself (as group worker, researcher and participant) over the life of the project. The action research group became a resource for science teachers by providing most participants with: A place to personalize learning and research; a place for systematic reflection and research; a forum for discussion; a source of personal/professional support; a source of friendship; and a place to break down isolation and build self-confidence. This study clarifies important relational and political issues that impinge on action research in

Development of Action Research in China: Review and Reflection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhou, Jun; Liu, Katrina Yan

2011-01-01

Action research in China during late 1970s and 1980s was influenced by positivist scientific research, believing the purpose of doing action research is to explore the general law of education. It was carried out through educational experimentations emphasizing the control of the experimental conditions. Starting from 1990s, action research in…

From Research to Praxis: Empowering Trinidadian Primary School Teachers via Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bissessar, Charmaine S.

2015-01-01

An exponential body of extant research illustrates the symbiotic dyad action research, andragogy, reflective praxis, and transformative learning share. This paper contains a narrative review of 83 action research papers submitted to the researcher as part of the fulfilment of the Bachelor of Education degree from April 2011 to May 2013.…

Implementation research design: integrating participatory action research into randomized controlled trials

PubMed Central

Leykum, Luci K; Pugh, Jacqueline A; Lanham, Holly J; Harmon, Joel; McDaniel, Reuben R

2009-01-01

Background A gap continues to exist between what is known to be effective and what is actually delivered in the usual course of medical care. The goal of implementation research is to reduce this gap. However, a tension exists between the need to obtain generalizeable knowledge through implementation trials, and the inherent differences between healthcare organizations that make standard interventional approaches less likely to succeed. The purpose of this paper is to explore the integration of participatory action research and randomized controlled trial (RCT) study designs to suggest a new approach for studying interventions in healthcare settings. Discussion We summarize key elements of participatory action research, with particular attention to its collaborative, reflective approach. Elements of participatory action research and RCT study designs are discussed and contrasted, with a complex adaptive systems approach used to frame their integration. Summary The integration of participatory action research and RCT design results in a new approach that reflects not only the complex nature of healthcare organizations, but also the need to obtain generalizeable knowledge regarding the implementation process. PMID:19852784

Tackling perinatal loss, a participatory action research approach: research protocol.

PubMed

Pastor-Montero, Sonia María; Romero-Sánchez, José Manuel; Paramio-Cuevas, Juan Carlos; Hueso-Montoro, César; Paloma-Castro, Olga; Lillo-Crespo, Manuel; Castro-Yuste, Cristina; Toledano-Losa, Ana Cristina; Carnicer-Fuentes, Concepción; Ortegón-Gallego, José Alejo; Frandsen, Anna J

2012-11-01

  The aim of this study was to promote changes to improve the care provided to parents who have experienced a perinatal loss through participatory action research.   The birth of a child is a joyful event for most families, however, unfortunately some pregnancies end in loss. Perinatal loss creates a heavy emotional impact not only on parents but also on health professionals, where in most cases there is an evident lack of skills, strategies and resources to cope with these kinds of situations.   Participatory action research is the methodology proposed to achieve the purpose of this study.   Participatory action research consists of five stages: outreach and awareness, induction, interaction, implementation and systematization. The working group will include professionals from the Mother and Child Unit for patients at a tertiary level public hospital in Spain. The duration of the study will be 3 years since the approval of the protocol in January 2011. The qualitative techniques used will include group dynamics such as the SWOT analysis the nominal group technique, focus groups and brainstorming, among others that will be recorded and transcribed, generating reports throughout the evolution of the group sessions and about the consensus reached. Content analysis will be conducted on the field diaries kept by the participants and researchers. This project has been funded by the Andalusian Regional Ministry of Health.   Participatory action research is a methodological strategy that allows changes in clinical practice to conduct a comprehensive transformative action in the care process for perinatal loss. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Re-Imagining "Bildung Zur Humanität": How I Developed the Dialogos Approach to Practical Philosophy through Action Inquiry Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Helskog, Guro Hansen

2015-01-01

This paper presents an account of how I developed the Dialogos approach to practical philosophy through action inquiry research. The process of development is understood as a contribution to the reconstruction of the notion "Bildung zur Humanität" as an ideal in education. Core perspectives, traditions and purposes involved in the action…

Dance Education Action Research: A Twin Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giguere, Miriam

2015-01-01

In this article, the author compares the practices, philosophy, and history of action research, also known as participatory action research, to the purposes and practices of dance education. The comparison yields connections in four categories, enhancing self-reflective teaching and curriculum design, taking responsibility for teaching outcomes,…

Divergent Perspectives and Differing Logics: The Case for Affirmative Action in India

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rout, Bharat Chandra

2012-01-01

Affirmative action (AA) is one of the most suitable mechanisms to promote equity and social justice in education in India. This essay deals with the impact of the different conceptualizations of AA in terms of its vision and the historic approaches to social inequalities in India. Primarily focusing on the various perspectives of affirmative…

Unpacking action research and implementation science: Implications for nursing.

PubMed

Casey, Mary; O' Leary, Denise; Coghlan, David

2018-05-01

The aim of this study was to unpack the key concepts of action research and implementation science thereby enabling appropriate use of these methods in nursing. A key issue in action research is not so much the methodology employed to gather data/evidence but who decides the research agenda and who benefits from it. Implementation science is a way to ensure that evidence is translated into practice. The question arises as to how action research and implementation may be understood in relation to one another in nursing. Discussion Paper DATA SOURCES: This discussion paper is based on our own experiences and offers an exploration of action research and implementation science with the aim of clarifying what each involves and what synergies, if any, exist between them. Using action research to secure the voice of patients in their own care is essential to delivering quality nursing care. Using implementation science frameworks to get research evidence into practice is effective. Familiarity with both these concepts may enable their improved use and have a positive impact on quality of care. There is a tension between action researchers and the protagonists of implementation science related to perceived "trade offs" between what constitutes "science" and the necessity of community participation. Nevertheless, the use of an implementation science framework in an action research approach can reduce the research practice time lag and action research provides sound theoretical and philosophical underpinnings that can be used by those in the implementation science field. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Integrating Research into Decision Making: Providing Examples for an Informal Action Research Model. Research Report No. 83-24.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Losak, John; Morris, Cathy

One promising avenue for increasing the utilization of institutional research data is the informal action research model. While formal action research stresses the involvement of researchers throughout the decision-making process, the informal model stresses participation in the later stages of decision making. Informal action research requires…

Professionalizing action research--a meaningful strategy for modernizing services?

PubMed

Hall, Julie E

2006-04-01

This paper outlines how a specific action research approach can be used to secure practice development in services which have found sustained change difficult. For the purpose of this paper discussion focuses upon using professionalizing action research (a form of action research) to secure transformation in acute inpatient mental health services. This speciality has experienced long-term difficultly in meaningful practice change. Not limited to this context parallels can be made with other health and social care services requiring significant modernization. The aim is to critically discuss the use of professionalizing action research as an approach to sustainable change. clarifies whether this method is a suitable vehicle for change, which is ideally suited to services which have a poor record of practice development. A review of action research and practice development literature forms the basis of this paper. The literature is sourced through bulletin boards, electronic databases and the British Library Classification Scheme. Keywords searched are action research, team learning, managing change and practice development. Following definition; the components of professionalizing action research are analysed using the themes of educative base, problem focus, improvement and involvement. The educative base of professionalizing action research is collaborative reflective practice which is used to initiate meaningful change, rooted in everyday practice. The benefit of this is that change actions are based in real-time situations. The problem focus component of professionalizing action research is used to emphasize the views of service users and carers. This is positive in terms of the patient and public involvement agenda although this theme does emphasize limitations of the approach. The final components are involvement and improvement, these are debated as pluralistic notions and the implications of this are acknowledged. Reviewing the literature and theoretical

Beginning and Becoming: Hannah Arendt's Theory of Action and Action Research in Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rogers, Carrie

2014-01-01

This paper demonstrates the importance and implications of Hannah Arendt's theory of action for action research. Using examples from my teaching experience I demonstrate the relevance of her ideas in understanding the purpose and aims of action research in the classroom.

How Do Future Life Perspective and Present Action Work in Japanese Youth Development?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kawai, Toru; Moran, Seana

2017-01-01

"Future life perspective" and "present action," whose interaction affects how one's current activity affects later life, offer a critical crossroads for young adults in Japan as stable career paths have become more uncertain. Past generations benefited from stable institutional pathways, but recent generations must forge their…

Action Research and the Micropolitics in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eilertsen, Tor-Vidar; Gustafson, Niklas; Salo, Petri

2008-01-01

This paper is based on the assumption that action research always affects the micropolitical balance characteristic of a certain school setting. The authors claim that micropolitics, that is the patterns of formal power and informal influence, has largely been neglected in the literature on action research in schools. This means that action…

Agroecology Education: Action-Oriented Learning and Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lieblein, Geir; Breland, Tor Arvid; Francis, Charles; Ostergaard, Edvin

2012-01-01

Purpose: This article examines and evaluates the potential contributions from action learning and action research with stakeholders to higher education in agriculture and food systems. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research is based on our experiences over the past two decades of running PhD courses and an MSc degree programme in Agroecology in…

Introducing Pre-Service Teachers to Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephens, Dianne; Kitchen, Julian

2004-01-01

Action Research is used in many teacher education programs to promote reflection, inquiry, and a sense of efficacy in pre-service teachers. As teacher educators working with a cohort of thirty-two teachers in a nine-month program, we decided to incorporate action research into the Teacher Education Seminar, a foundational course addressing general…

The Confucian View of the Relationship between Knowledge and Action and Its Relevance to Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsai, Ching-tien

2014-01-01

There are marked similarities between Confucian ideas about the relationship between action, knowledge and learning, and contemporary educational thinking about action research. Examples can be seen in the relationship between action and research. First, Confucius emphasized the importance of "action" which was different from…

Empowering the Music Educator through Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laprise, Richard

2017-01-01

Action research is an empowering experience for educators, yet many believe that they do not have the time, resources, or knowledge to make it a worthwhile experience. What do you need to know to feel confident in making action research a method of bettering your teaching and your students' learning? This article reveals how to make this process…

Digital Storytelling Experiences of Pre-Service Teachers: An Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Göçen Kabaran, Güler; Aldan Karademir, Çigdem

2017-01-01

The purpose of this research is to examine the digital storytelling experiences of preschool pre-service teachers. In the study, an action research from qualitative research designs was used. Furthermore, collaborative action research from the types of action research in the research was used. The research group of the study was formed in the…

Enhancing Postgraduate Learning and Development: A Participatory Action Learning and Action Research Approach through Conferences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, Lesley; Louw, Ina; Zuber-Skerritt, Ortrun

2017-01-01

As supervisors who advocate the transformational potential of research both to generate theory and practical and emancipatory outcomes, we practice participatory action learning and action research (PALAR). This paper offers an illustrative case of how supervision practices based on action learning can foster emancipatory and lifelong learning…

Participatory Action Research as a Model for Conducting Family Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turnbull, Ann P.; Friesen, Barbara J.; Ramirez, Carmen

1998-01-01

This article discusses a participatory action research (PAR) approach to conducting family research. It proposes a model of PAR implementation level including the options of family members as research leaders and researchers as ongoing advisors, researchers and family members as coresearchers, and researches as leaders, and family members as…

Peer Observation Action Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sandt, Fred-Ole

2012-01-01

This paper outlines the initial findings of an action research project that focuses on the possible contribution of peer observation to a more collaborative environment and teachers' professional growth at The University High School. The research component played a significant part as previous attempts to change the culture at the school were…

Poetics of Justice: Using Art as Action and Analysis in Participatory Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ayala, Jennifer; Zaal, Mayida

2016-01-01

This article explores the use of art as a form of communication and meaning-making in participatory action research (PAR). The authors, researchers and educators, contemplate this concept through a pedagogical lens, and consider the role that visual and performing arts can play in social action. Based on the work of a youth-adult participatory…

Re-Visioning Action: Participatory Action Research and Indigenous Theories of Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tuck, Eve

2009-01-01

This article observes that participatory action research (PAR), by nature of being collaborative, necessitates making explicit theories of change that may have otherwise gone unseen or unexamined. The article explores the limits of the reform/revolution paradox on actions and theories of change in PAR. Citing examples from two recent youth PAR…

Gaining a Competitive Edge through Action Design Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexa, L.; Alexa, M.; Avasilcăi, S.

2016-08-01

The current business environment is characterized by increased competition and highly innovative approach, in order to create products and services to better respond to the costumers’ needs and expectations. In this specific context, the research approaches need to be more flexible and business oriented and so, throughout the paper we have used a research method that combines design research and action research, named Action Design Research which is a research method used for generating prescriptive design knowledge through building and evaluating IT artifacts in an organizational setting [1]. Following the Action Design Research stages and principles: problem identification, building, intervention and evaluation, reflection and learning and formalization of learning, the research team has developed an online instrument used to actively involve the consumer in the product development process, in order to generate a better consumers insight regarding their needs and desires and to design and/or adjust the product accordingly. The customer engagement IT tool created and tested by using Action Design Research, E-PICUS, has been developed within the framework of the research project „E-solutions for innovation through customer pro-active involvement in value creation to increase organisational competitiveness (E-PICUS)”, PN- II-PT-PCCA-2013-4-1811, currently undergoing.

Participatory Action Research and Public Policy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Turnbull, H. Rutherford, III; Turnbull, Ann P.

This paper describes collegial model approaches to the interactions between rehabilitation researchers and individuals with disabilities or their family members. The approaches, called participatory research and participatory action research, grew out of a 1989 conference sponsored by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation…

Human reliability in petrochemical industry: an action research.

PubMed

Silva, João Alexandre Pinheiro; Camarotto, João Alberto

2012-01-01

This paper aims to identify conflicts and gaps between the operators' strategies and actions and the organizational managerial approach for human reliability. In order to achieve these goals, the research approach adopted encompasses literature review, mixing action research methodology and Ergonomic Workplace Analysis in field research. The result suggests that the studied company has a classical and mechanistic point of view focusing on error identification and building barriers through procedures, checklists and other prescription alternatives to improve performance in reliability area. However, it was evident the fundamental role of the worker as an agent of maintenance and construction of system reliability during the action research cycle.

Toward a Problematic of Silence in Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazzei, Lisa A.

2007-01-01

Action researchers often generate large amounts of textual material in the form of notes and transcripts, failing to account for those thoughts that we and our research participants silently voice. As such, action research that attempts to engage practitioners in self reflexivity and textual analysis is a fertile site for a consideration of how…

Person-centred Leadership: a relational approach to leadership derived through action research.

PubMed

Cardiff, Shaun; McCormack, Brendan; McCance, Tanya

2018-04-21

How does person-centred leadership manifest in clinical nursing. Person-centred practice fosters healthful relationships and is gaining increasing attention in nursing and healthcare, but nothing is known about the influence of a person-centred approach to leadership practice. Most leadership models used in nursing were originally developed outside of nursing. A three year participatory action research study where participant leaders planned, researched and learned from their practice development. After an orientation phase, four action spirals focused on: critical and creative reflective inquiries into leadership practice change; leading the implementation and evaluation of a new nursing system; facilitating storytelling sessions with staff and annually reflecting on personal leadership change. Multiple data gathering methods offered insight into leadership development from several perspectives. Critical and creative thematic data analysis revealed a set of attributes, relational processes and contextual factors that influenced the being and becoming of a person-centred leader. Comparing the findings with nursing leadership literature supports a conceptual framework for person-centred leadership. Person-centred leadership is a complex, dynamic, relational and contextualised practice that aims to enable associates and leaders achieve self-actualisation, empowerment and wellbeing. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Understanding Participatory Action Research: A Qualitative Research Methodology Option

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MacDonald, Cathy

2012-01-01

Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a qualitative research methodology option that requires further understanding and consideration. PAR is considered democratic, equitable, liberating, and life-enhancing qualitative inquiry that remains distinct from other qualitative methodologies (Kach & Kralik, 2006). Using PAR, qualitative features of an…

Researcher Perspectives on Class Size Reduction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Graue, Elizabeth; Rauscher, Erica

2009-01-01

This article applies to class size research Grant and Graue's (1999) position that reviews of research represent conversations in the academic community. By extending our understanding of the class size reduction conversation beyond published literature to the perspectives of researchers who have studied the topic, we create a review that includes…

Adding Perspective: Predicting Adolescent Sunscreen Use with an Extended Health Action Process Approach.

PubMed

Schüz, Natalie; Schüz, Benjamin; Eid, Michael

2016-07-01

Diseases such as skin cancer often have a very long latency period. For adolescents, especially, it may be difficult to grasp that current risk behavior is related to future health outcomes. This study examines the role of health-related time perspective (i.e. the degree to which short-term outcomes are discounted over long-time health benefits) within the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA). More specifically, based on expectancy*value theory, we tested whether time perspective interacts with self-efficacy, the central variable in this approach. A longitudinal study with three measurement points across one year assessed 156 high school students. Data were analyzed using structural equation models. While time perspective had no direct association with sunscreen use intentions, there was an interaction effect with self-efficacy; the shorter the time perspective, the smaller the association of self-efficacy with intention. Intention in turn predicted planning and sunscreen use at Time 3 (one year later). In order to maximise the impact of early onset measures for skin cancer prevention targeting the motivation for sunscreen use in adolescents, time perspective should be addressed in comprehensive sun protection interventions. © 2016 The International Association of Applied Psychology.

Action Research: Enhancing Classroom Practice and Fulfilling Educational Responsibilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Mark R.; Rapp, Eve; Murphy, James W.

2010-01-01

Action Research is an applied scholarly paradigm resulting in action for continuous improvement in our teaching and learning techniques offering faculty immediate classroom payback and providing documentation of meeting our educational responsibilities as required by AACSB standards. This article reviews the iterative action research process of…

Action Learning Research? Reflections from the Colloquium at the Third International Conference on Action Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coghlan, David

2013-01-01

The case for the notion of action learning research has been posed and explored in several publications over the past few years. There is no tradition within action learning of understanding it as an approach to research. Within some academic circles, there has been a focus on the "action turn," the development of the notion of actionable…

The Value of Action Research in Middle Grades Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caskey, Micki M.

2006-01-01

Action research is one of the relevant methodologies for addressing research questions and issues in middle grades education. Accounting for nearly 20% of published middle grades research studies (Hough, 2003), action research has emerged as an important and appropriate research method. In addition to reviewing the historical context, this article…

New Directions in Composition Research. Perspectives in Writing Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beach, Richard, Ed.; Bridwell, Lillian S., Ed.

This book contains 20 articles, from a wide variety of perspectives, designed to bridge the interests of researchers and teachers on the topic of current composition research. The following articles are included: "Studying the Writing Abilities of a University Freshman Class: Strategies from a Case Study" (Charles R. Cooper, with Roger…

Applications of GPR in archaeological prospecting and cultural heritage diagnostics: Research Perspectives in COST Action TU1208

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pajewski, Lara; Benedetto, Andrea; Schettini, Giuseppe; Soldovieri, Francesco

2013-04-01

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a safe, non-destructive and non-invasive imaging technique that can be effectively used for advanced inspection of composite structures and for diagnostics affecting the whole life-cycle of civil engineering works. GPR can also be successfully employed in archaeological prospecting and cultural heritage diagnostics. In many Countries, where the archeological patrimony is an outstanding value (as Egypt, Israel, Greece, Central and South America), GPR is usually employed both as a diagnostic tool for the preventive detection of archeological structures and as the most advanced instrument able to prospect geometry and shape of underground valuable sites. However many uncertainties persist, because of several difficulties and ambiguities due to the complexity of the image processing in heterogeneous environment. It is possible to identify three main areas, in GPR field, that have to be addressed in order to promote the use of this technology in archaeological prospecting and cultural heritage diagnostics. These are: a) increase of the system sensitivity to enable the usability in a wider range of conditions, archeological sites are often located in impervious and critical environments; b) research novel data processing algorithms/analysis tools for the interpretation of GPR results; c) contribute to the development of new standards and guidelines and to training of end users, that will also help to increase the awareness of operators. It is also important to further investigate and promote a combined use of GPR with other non-invasive advanced techniques, typically used in the archeological investigation. In this framework, the COST Action TU1208 "Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar", proposed by a research team of "Roma Tre" University, Rome, Italy, has been approved in November 2012 and is going to start in April 2013. It is a 4-years ambitious project already involving 17 European Countries (AT, BE, CH, CZ, DE

Deleuze, Action Research and Rhizomatic Growth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amorim, Antonio Carlos; Ryan, Charly

2005-01-01

Deleuze and his colleagues, particularly Guattari, have had a profound impact on a number of fields of study. The authors argue that their work offers a range of images to help think about and write action research, a way that acknowledges and celebrates the complexities of the sites of action. The article has a divided structure, coherent with…

Policy, Research and Residents' Perspectives on Built Environments Implicated in Heart Disease: A Concept Mapping Approach.

PubMed

Stankov, Ivana; Howard, Natasha J; Daniel, Mark; Cargo, Margaret

2017-02-09

An underrepresentation of stakeholder perspectives within urban health research arguably limits our understanding of what is a multi-dimensional and complex relationship between the built environment and health. By engaging a wide range of stakeholders using a participatory concept mapping approach, this study aimed to achieve a more holistic and nuanced understanding of the built environments shaping disease risk, specifically cardiometabolic risk (CMR). Moreover, this study aimed to ascertain the importance and changeability of identified environments through government action. Through the concept mapping process, community members, researchers, government and non-government stakeholders collectively identified eleven clusters encompassing 102 built environmental domains related to CMR, a number of which are underrepresented within the literature. Among the identified built environments, open space, public transportation and pedestrian environments were highlighted as key targets for policy intervention. Whilst there was substantive convergence in stakeholder groups' perspectives concerning the built environment and CMR, there were disparities in the level of importance government stakeholders and community members respectively assigned to pedestrian environments and street connectivity. These findings support the role of participatory methods in strengthening how urban health issues are understood and in affording novel insights into points of action for public health and policy intervention.

Nursing Students' Perceptions of Participatory Action Research.

PubMed

Csiernik, Rick; O'Regan, Tony; Forchuk, Cheryl; Rudnick, Abraham

2018-05-01

This article evaluates the experience of students engaged in a participatory action research project. Nursing students were assigned to research activities addressing poverty and social inclusion in the lives of individuals with mental health issues. Focus group interviews were held with 25 students, representing 58.1% of eligible students. Themes and subthemes were categorized from the transcripts, with two overarching themes emerging: (a) aspects that worked well, and (b) aspects that could be improved. The range of activities students engaged in while assigned to the project and students' perceptions, both positive and negative, about their overall exposure to participatory action research are identified and discussed. Findings in the literature with regard to perceived benefits and limitations of participatory action research projects involving students are supported by those found in this study. Based on the findings of this study, curriculum development for an interdisciplinary graduate-level course is in process. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(5):282-286.]. Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.

Expanding Perspectives on HRD Research. Symposium.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

2002

This document contains three papers from a symposium on expanding perspectives in human resource development (HRD) research. "The Concept of Culture in International and Comparative HRD Research: Methodological Problems and Possible Solutions" (Alexander Ardichvili, K. Peter Kuchinke) discusses the following topics: (1) alternative…

Inter-Professional Collaboration in Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leeman, Yvonne; van Koeven, Erna; Schaafsma, Frank

2018-01-01

This article describes an example of inter-professional action research conducted by teachers and university-based researchers/teacher educators in a vocational college in the Netherlands. The research was aimed at the professional learning of the teachers on their pedagogical approach to a new curriculum initiative. Despite a difficult context in…

Changes in Vision: Teachers Engaging in Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warren, Susan; Doorn, Dan; Green, James

2008-01-01

This investigation explored the effects of action research on teachers in a graduate education program. Mixed methods were utilized, combining a semantic differential study of student attitudes with qualitative analysis of students' perceptions of their experience as action researchers. Results indicate that participants perceived themselves as…

Science, Gender, and Afterschool: A Research-Action Agenda

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Froschl, Merle; Sprung, Barbara; Archer, Elayne; Fancsali, Cheri

2003-01-01

This report presents a research-action agenda to enhance the role of afterschool education in increasing girls' participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses, majors, and careers. The research-action agenda was developed for three areas: access, recruitment, and persistence; program content, approaches, and…

The Reflective Teacher Leader: An Action Research Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Furtado, Leena; Anderson, Dawnette

2012-01-01

This study presents four teacher reflections from action research projects ranging from kindergarten to adult school improvements. A teacher leadership matrix guided participants to connect teaching and learning theory to best practices by exploring uncharted territory within an iterative cycle of research and action. Teachers developed the…

Assessing country-level efforts to link research to action.

PubMed Central

Lavis, John N.; Lomas, Jonathan; Hamid, Maimunah; Sewankambo, Nelson K.

2006-01-01

We developed a framework for assessing country-level efforts to link research to action. The framework has four elements. The first element assesses the general climate (how those who fund research, universities, researchers and users of research support or place value on efforts to link research to action). The second element addresses the production of research (how priority setting ensures that users' needs are identified and how scoping reviews, systematic reviews and single studies are undertaken to address these needs). The third element addresses the mix of four clusters of activities used to link research to action. These include push efforts (how strategies are used to support action based on the messages arising from research), efforts to facilitate "user pull" (how "one-stop shopping" is provided for optimally packaged high-quality reviews either alone or as part of a national electronic library for health, how these reviews are profiled during "teachable moments" such as intense media coverage, and how rapid-response units meet users' needs for the best research), "user pull" efforts undertaken by those who use research (how users assess their capacity to use research and how structures and processes are changed to support the use of research) and exchange efforts (how meaningful partnerships between researchers and users help them to jointly ask and answer relevant questions). The fourth element addresses approaches to evaluation (how support is provided for rigorous evaluations of efforts to link research to action). PMID:16917649

Putting Action in Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lozano, Sandra C.; Hard, Bridgette Martin; Tversky, Barbara

2007-01-01

Embodied approaches to cognition propose that our own actions influence our understanding of the world. Do other people's actions also have this influence? The present studies show that perceiving another person's actions changes the way people think about objects in a scene. In Study 1, participants viewed a photograph and answered a question…

Using Action Research to Examine Teacher Strategy Effectiveness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cox, Becky J.; Cox, Betty J.; Vann, Martha

2012-01-01

Successful teachers strive to ensure that their students learn to their maximum abilities. Is action research a valuable way for graduate students to review their effectiveness as teachers? Do students learn more through varied teaching strategies and techniques? The authors examined graduate students' perceptions of action research projects…

The Future of Pedagogical Action Research in Psychology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cormack, Sophie; Bourne, Victoria; Deuker, Charmaine; Norton, Lin; O'Siochcru, Cathal; Watling, Rosamond

2014-01-01

Psychology lecturers are well-qualified to carry out action research which would contribute to the theoretical understanding of learning as well as having practical benefits for students. Pedagogical action research demonstrates how knowledge of psychology can be applied to solve practical problems, providing role models of psychological literacy…

Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar: Research Perspectives in COST Action TU1208

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pajewski, Lara; Benedetto, Andrea; Loizos, Andreas; Slob, Evert; Tosti, Fabio

2013-04-01

can be used by GPR operators to identify the signatures generated by uncommon targets or by composite structures. Repeated evaluations of the electromagnetic field scattered by known targets can be performed by a forward solver, in order to estimate - through comparison with measured data - the physics and geometry of the region investigated by the GPR. It is possible to identify three main areas, in the GPR field, that have to be addressed in order to promote the use of this technology in the civil engineering. These are: a) increase of the system sensitivity to enable the usability in a wider range of conditions; b) research novel data processing algorithms/analysis tools for the interpretation of GPR results; c) contribute to the development of new standards and guidelines and to training of end users, that will also help to increase the awareness of operators. In this framework, the COST Action TU1208 "Civil Engineering Applications of Ground Penetrating Radar", proposed by Lara Pajewski, "Roma Tre" University, Rome, Italy, has been approved in November 2012 and is going to start in April 2013. It is a 4-years ambitious project already involving 17 European Countries (AT, BE, CH, CZ, DE, EL, ES, FI, FR, HR, IT, NL, NO, PL, PT, TR, UK), as well as Australia and U.S.A. The project will be developed within the frame of a unique approach based on the integrated contribution of University researchers, software developers, geophysics experts, Non-Destructive Testing equipment designers and producers, end users from private companies and public agencies. The main objective of the COST Action TU1208 is to exchange and increase scientific-technical knowledge and experience of GPR techniques in civil engineering, whilst promoting the effective use of this safe and non-destructive technique in the monitoring of systems. In this interdisciplinary Action, advantages and limitations of GPR will be highlighted, leading to the identification of gaps in knowledge and technology

Participatory action as a research method with public health nurses.

PubMed

Cusack, Cheryl; Cohen, Benita; Mignone, Javier; Chartier, Mariette J; Lutfiyya, Zana

2018-02-28

This article explores and describes participatory action research (PAR) as a preferred method in addressing nursing practice issues. This is the first study that used PAR with public health nurses (PHNs) in Canada to develop a professional practice model. Participatory action research is a sub-category of action research that incorporates feminist and critical theory with foundations in the field of social psychology. For nurses, critical analysis of long-established beliefs and practices through PAR contributes to emancipatory knowledge regarding the impact of traditional hierarchies on their practice. This study used participatory action, a non-traditional but systematic research method, which assisted participants to develop a solution to a long-standing organizational issue. The stages of generating concerns, participatory action, acting on concerns, reflection and evaluation were implemented from 2012 - 2013 in an urban Canadian city, to develop a professional practice model for PHNs. Four sub-themes specific to PAR are discussed. These are "participatory action research engaged PHNs in development of a professional practice model;" "the participatory action research cycles of "Look, Think, Act" expanded participants' views;" "participatory action research increased awareness of organizational barriers;" and "participatory action research promoted individual empowerment and system transformation." This study resulted in individual and system change that may not have been possible without the use of PAR. The focus was engagement of participants and recognition of their lived experience, which facilitated PHNs' empowerment, leadership and consciousness-raising. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Advanced Nursing Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Supporting Action Research in a Field-Based Professional Development School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Menchaca, Velma D.; Peterson, Cynthia L.; Nicholson, Sheila

A collaborative project between a Professional Development School (PDS) and a public school supported teachers' action research and initiated preservice teachers into action research. This paper describes one team's action research project in an inclusive high school classroom that shared the duties of teaching, assisting, modifying instruction,…

Through a Feminist Poststructuralist Lens: Embodied Subjectivites and Participatory Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chesnay, Catherine T.

2016-01-01

An emerging literature has been building bridges between poststructuralism and participatory action research, highlighting the latter's potential for transformative action. Using examples from participative action research projects with incarcerated or previously incarcerated women, this article discusses how participatory action research is a…

Student Voice in High School: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Termini, Lorraine

2013-01-01

This action research study examined the effects of student voice in one high school and the self-reflection of the researcher-administrator involved in the effort. Using three cycles of action research, the researcher-administrator completed a pilot study, implemented a student voice project in one class, and developed a professional development…

Preparing Leaders to Facilitate Change through Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peters, Gary B.; Searby, Linda J.

2012-01-01

This article describes an educational leadership course in which students perform action research. The assignment, along with its structure, restraints, directions, and outcomes is described. Student topics are presented in detail, along with the data source used for each project. The authors argue for the utility of action research on school…

An Action-Research Project: Community Lead Poisoning Prevention

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rajaram, Shireen S.

2007-01-01

This action-research project focused on gathering data on awareness of lead poisoning, as well as disseminating information on lead poisoning prevention in a metropolitan midwestern city. This project reflects an action-research approach to service learning and was in collaboration with a grass-roots organization. This paper outlines the daunting…

Moving beyond Utilitarian Perspectives of Infant Participation in Participatory Research: Film-Mediated Research Encounters

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elwick, Sheena; Sumsion, Jennifer

2013-01-01

Drawing on Thomas, Whybrow and Scharber's four participatory perspectives, this paper describes and complicates endeavours to move beyond utilitarian perspectives of infant participation in participatory research. It proposes that film-mediated encounters between researchers and infants have the potential to be more than sites that privilege…

Action Research: An Early History in the United States.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foshay, Arthur W.

1994-01-01

There is little residue from the cooperative action research movement of the 1940s and 1950s. So far, teachers have found educational research applications of little use. Action research must originate in the classroom. Researchers are advised to keep it simple, become an effective classroom consultant, learn how teachers think, and be modest in…

Action Research: An Approach for the Teachers in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yasmeen, G.

2008-01-01

Introduction: Action Research is a formative study of progress commonly practiced by teachers in schools. Basically an action research is a spiral process that includes problem investigation, taking action & fact-finding about the result of action. It enables a teacher to adopt/craft most appropriate strategy within its own teaching…

A Guide to Facilitating Action Research for Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goldwasser, Matthew

2004-01-01

What is "action research" and how is it relevant to urban youth activists? Action research is a systematic process of inquiry, which involves gathering information about an issue or problem, analyzing the findings, and developing practical plans for affecting positive change. It is motivated by the desire to investigate in order to better…

Politicising Action Research through Queer Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Filax, Gloria

2006-01-01

Queer theory and action research together offer possibilities for exposing the deep injustice of both homophobia and heterosexism. Underpinning identity categories of sexuality and gender, these forms of social injustice lurk in schools, families, religions, communities, and nation-states. For educators and educational researchers, addressing…

Action Research: An Approach for the Teachers in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yasmeen, Ghazala

2008-01-01

Introduction: Action Research is a formative study of progress commonly practiced by teachers in schools. Basically an action research is a spiral process that includes problem investigation, taking action & fact-finding about the result of action. It enables a teacher to adopt/craft most appropriate strategy within its own teaching environment.…

Research in Teacher Education: International Perspectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tisher, Richard P., Ed.; Wideen, Marvin F., Ed.

This book was developed in response to audience interest in a symposium sponsored by the American Educational Research Association (annual meeting, Washington, D.C., 1987). The book addresses international perspectives on research in teacher education and offers the following contributions from scholars from 12 countries: "The Role Played by…

Critical Action Research and Third Wave Feminism: A Meeting of Paradigms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weiner, Gaby

2004-01-01

Critical action research emphasises participation, democracy and social critique, and thus has had considerable potential for feminist scholarship and action. Feminist action research, in turn, has gained a foothold in education, for example, through the work of Hollingsworth, Miller, Lather and others, although much action research might still be…

Utilising Collaborative Forms of Educational Action Research: Some Reflections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenbank, Paul

2007-01-01

This article considers the value of collaborative forms of educational action research in higher education and the difficulties involved in implementing such forms of research. It is argued that educational action research represents an opportunity for improving teaching and learning and developing the knowledge and skills of those participating…

Patient-centred outcomes research: perspectives of patient stakeholders.

PubMed

Chhatre, Sumedha; Gallo, Joseph J; Wittink, Marsha; Schwartz, J Sanford; Jayadevappa, Ravishankar

2017-11-01

To elicit patient stakeholders' experience and perspectives about patient-centred care. Qualitative. A large urban healthcare system. Four patient stakeholders who are prostate cancer survivors. Experience and perspectives of patient stakeholders regarding patient-centred care and treatment decisions. Our patient stakeholders represented a diverse socio-demographic group. The patient stakeholders identified engagement and dialogue with physicians as crucial elements of patient-centred care model. The degree of patient-centred care was observed to be dependent on the situations. High severity conditions warranted a higher level of patient involvement, compared to mild conditions. They agreed that patient-centred care should not mean that patients can demand inappropriate treatments. An important attribute of patient-centred outcomes research model is the involvement of stakeholders. However, we have limited knowledge about the experience of patient stakeholders in patient-centred outcomes research. Our study indicates that patient stakeholders offer a unique perspective as researchers and policy-makers aim to precisely define patient-centred research and care.

Using action research in nursing practice with older people: democratizing knowledge.

PubMed

Reed, Jan

2005-05-01

This paper reports on an action research study which raised some questions about the processes of developing a sense of shared ownership in action research in a research environment which does not always have the appropriate mechanisms to support and sustain action research. Action research has gained popularity in nursing and healthcare research, offering a way of developing practice-based knowledge, which can assist in changing practice and democratizing inquiry. There are other organizational constraints on action research which arise at different levels, and which also require discussion. These can be issues about communication and ownership at a practice level and issues of funding and project management procedures. This paper reports on a study in which these issues came to the fore, and offers some thoughts on how they can affect the processes of action research. While the principles of action research appear to offer much towards the development of a practice-rooted body of knowledge for nursing, unless some of the issues of ownership are resolved, it is unlikely to move beyond academic rhetoric. If nursing is to engage in action research, this must be done critically and reflectively and careful attention paid to developing an inclusive and collaborative approach to knowledge and practice development. Furthermore, to develop in nursing and health care research, it must find ways to meet the requirements of funding bodies.

Deliberation, Capability and Action Research: Knowledge and Becoming

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gibbs, Paul

2014-01-01

In this short paper I examine whether obtaining the capability to change practice can be solely achieved through reflective action research, and how. I take as our framework of analysis that offered by Aristotelian thought, especially in the discussion of powers and potential. I conclude that action research as a way of changing practice cannot be…

Facilitating Lecturer Development and Student Learning through Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van der Westhuizen, C. N.

2008-01-01

The aim of the action research project is to improve my own practice as research methodology lecturer to facilitate effective student learning to enable students to become reflective practitioners with responsibility for their own professional development through action research in their own classrooms, and to motivate the students and increase…

History and Culture of Alara--The Action Learning and Action Research Association

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zuber-Skerritt, Ortrun; Passfield, Ron

2016-01-01

As co-founders of the Action Learning and Action Research Association (ALARA), we tell the story of this international network organisation through our personal experience. Our history traces the evolution of ALARA from origins at the first World Congress in 1990 in Brisbane, Australia, through development over two and a half decades, to its…

Chemical Safety for Sustainability: Research Action Plan

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Strategic Research Action Plan for EPA’s Chemical Safety for Sustainability research program presents the purpose, design and themes of the Agency’s research efforts to ensure safety in the design, manufacture and use of existing and future chemicals.

Diffusion, decolonializing, and participatory action research.

PubMed

Woodward, William R; Hetley, Richard S

2007-03-01

Miki Takasuna describes knowledge transfer between elite communities of scientists, a process by which ideas become structurally transformed in the host culture. By contrast, a process that we have termed knowledge transfer by deelitization occurs when (a) participatory action researchers work with a community to identify a problem involving oppression or exploitation. Then (b) community members suggest solutions and acquire the tools of analysis and action to pursue social actions. (c) Disadvantaged persons thereby become more aware of their own abilities and resources, and persons with special expertise become more effective. (d) Rather than detachment and value neutrality, this joint process involves advocacy and structural transformation. In the examples of participatory action research documented here, Third World social scientists collaborated with indigenous populations to solve problems of literacy, community-building, land ownership, and political voice. Western social scientists, inspired by these non-Western scientists, then joined in promoting PAR both in the Third World and in Europe and the Americas, e.g., adapting it for solving problems of people with disabilities or disenfranchised women. Emancipatory goals such as these may even help North American psychologists to break free of some methodological chains and to bring about social and political change.

The Quality of an Action Research Thesis in the Social Sciences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zuber-Skerrit, Ortrun; Fletcher, Margaret

2007-01-01

Purpose: The paper seeks to identify the quality characteristics of critical action research and action research theses compared to traditional research thesis writing. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on the literature and the authors' experience with supervising and examining action research theses, the paper identifies key problem areas in…

"..., But I Cannot Do Research": Action-Research and Early Childhood Teachers. A Case Study from Greece

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magos, Kostas

2012-01-01

Although action-research is a well-known research methodology in the field of education, in the case of Greece there are few actions-researches carried out by early childhood teachers. The absence of action-research in early childhood education settings is related to the way many early childhood teachers shape their professional role as well as…

Transdisciplinarity in Research: Perspectives of Early Career Faculty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Megan; Martinson, Melissa L.; Nurius, Paula S.; Kemp, Susan P.

2018-01-01

Background: Early career faculty experiences and perspectives on transdisciplinary research are important yet understudied. Methods: Assistant professors at 50 top-ranked social work programs completed an online survey assessing perspectives on the salience of transdisciplinary training in their field, obstacles to or negative impacts of…

Researcher liability for negligence in human subject research: informed consent and researcher malpractice actions.

PubMed

Jansson, Roger L

2003-02-01

Two sets of federal regulations, the "Common Rule" and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, govern human subject research that is either federally-funded or involves FDA regulated products. These regulations require, inter alia, that: (1) researchers obtain informed consent from human subjects, and (2) that an Institutional Review Board (IRB) independently review and approve the research protocol. Although the federal regulations do not provide an express cause of action against researchers, research subjects should be able to bring informed consent and malpractice actions against researchers by establishing a duty of care and standard of care. Researchers owe human subjects a duty of care analogous to the special relationship between physicians and patients. The federal regulations should provide the minimum standard of care for informed consent in human subject research, and complying with them should be a partial defense. In contrast, expert testimony should establish the standard of care for researcher malpractice, and IRB approval should be a partial defense.

The Attack on Affirmative Action: Lives in Parallel Universes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olivas, Michael A.

1993-01-01

In response to criticism of affirmative action in higher education, it is argued that affirmative action has brought demonstrable improvements in U.S. society. The debate, and the related research and literature, are reviewed from both perspectives, and it is concluded that the time has come to end white male privilege. (MSE)

Ten commandments for the future of ageing research in the UK: a vision for action

PubMed Central

Franco, Oscar H; Kirkwood, Thomas BL; Powell, Jonathan R; Catt, Michael; Goodwin, James; Ordovas, Jose M; van der Ouderaa, Frans

2007-01-01

Increases in longevity resulting from improvements in health care and living conditions together with a decrease in fertility rates have contributed to a shift towards an aged population profile. For the first time the UK has more people over age 60 than below 16 years of age. The increase in longevity has not been accompanied by an increase in disease-free life expectancy and research into ageing is required to improve the health and quality of life of older people. However, as the House of Lords reported, ageing research in the UK is not adequately structured and a clear vision and plan are urgently required. Hence, with the aim of setting a common vision for action in ageing research in the UK, a 'Spark Workshop' was organised. International experts from different disciplines related to ageing research gathered to share their perspectives and to evaluate the present status of ageing research in the UK. A detailed assessment of potential improvements was conducted and the prospective secondary gains were considered, which were subsequently distilled into a list of 'ten commandments'. We believe that these commandments, if followed, will help to bring about the necessary implementation of an action plan for ageing research in the UK, commensurate with the scale of the challenge, which is to transform the manifold opportunities of increased longevity into actual delivery of a society living not only for longer, but also healthier, wealthier and happier. PMID:17477869

The Action Researcher as Chameleon.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hadfield, Mark; Bennett, Steve

1995-01-01

Describes a project that trained institutional policymakers in action research regarding problems in developing training policies about young people's needs, examining attempts to collaborate and dialog with stakeholders and discussing how project members became enmeshed in complex sets of relationships calling for construction of dialog in…

Action research in radiography: What it is and how it can be conducted

PubMed Central

Munn, Zachary; Pearson, Alan; Jordan, Zoe; Murphy, Frederick; Pilkington, Diana

2013-01-01

Action research is a form of research that investigates and describes a social or work situation with the aim of achieving a change which results in improvement. This article emphasizes the potential for action research to be a useful research method in radiography. A search was conducted to determine the extent to which action research has been utilized in radiography. Although action research has been used in a number of health-care settings, there are no published examples of action research being utilized in a clinical medical imaging department. Action research is discussed in detail, along with an example guide for an action research study. Action research has been identified as a useful way to affect change, to involve radiographers in the research process, and to introduce evidence-based practice to radiography. PMID:26229607

Collaboration in Action: Office of Research and Development ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The "Collaboration in Action: US EPA's Office of Research and Develop - Current Wildfire Research Program" was invited by the USDA's US Forest Service's Scientific Executive Committee to provide USFS scientific leadership active and potential future opportunities for cooperation/collaboration. Health impacts of wildfire smoke merit the attention and action of the US EPA and current research is supported in the ACE and SHC Research Programs. Wildland fire smoke research has taken on greater importance because the 1) contribution of wildland fire PM emissions relative to total US PM emissions is increasing, 2) the population health impacts are measurable and costly, 3) vulnerable and sensitive populations at-risk are increasing attendant to our aging U.S. population and the increasing area of the wildland-urban interface, and 4) health impacts of smoke could be minimized by identifying at-risk individuals and reducing their exposures. Examples are provided. The "Collaboration in Action: US EPA's Office of Research and Develop - Current Wildfire Research Program" was invited by the USDA's US Forest Service's Scientific Executive Committee to provide USFS scientific leadership active and potential future opportunities for cooperation/collaboration.

Symbolic interactionism as a theoretical perspective for multiple method research.

PubMed

Benzies, K M; Allen, M N

2001-02-01

Qualitative and quantitative research rely on different epistemological assumptions about the nature of knowledge. However, the majority of nurse researchers who use multiple method designs do not address the problem of differing theoretical perspectives. Traditionally, symbolic interactionism has been viewed as one perspective underpinning qualitative research, but it is also the basis for quantitative studies. Rooted in social psychology, symbolic interactionism has a rich intellectual heritage that spans more than a century. Underlying symbolic interactionism is the major assumption that individuals act on the basis of the meaning that things have for them. The purpose of this paper is to present symbolic interactionism as a theoretical perspective for multiple method designs with the aim of expanding the dialogue about new methodologies. Symbolic interactionism can serve as a theoretical perspective for conceptually clear and soundly implemented multiple method research that will expand the understanding of human health behaviour.

Action Research and Collaborative Research: Their Specific Contributions to Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Savoie-Zajc, Lorraine; Descamps-Bednarz, Nadine

2007-01-01

The increasing complexity of the teaching profession calls for engaged professionals in their professional development. This article claims that participative types of research contribute differently to professional development. Its intent is to explore the different contributions action research and collaborative research bring. One action…

Key Actions of Successful Summer Research Mentors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Raman, D. Raj; Geisinger, Brandi N.; Kemis, Mari R.; de la Mora, Arlene

2016-01-01

Summer research opportunities for undergraduates, such as those supported by the National Science Foundation's Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, can be critical experiences that help persuade students to pursue research through graduate studies. Studies analyzing the key actions of successful mentors are scarce. The goal of…

Exploring and Implementing Participatory Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Savin-Baden, Maggi; Wimpenny, Katherine

2007-01-01

This paper explores the research method of participatory action research, first by examining the roots of this approach and then analysing the shift to using more participatory approaches than in former years. It begins by considering the reasoning and theoretical underpinning for adopting this approach and provides an overview of the steps to be…

Action-Oriented Population Nutrition Research: High Demand but Limited Supply

PubMed Central

Pham, Judy; Pelletier, David

2015-01-01

Background: The relatively rapid ascendancy of nutrition and health on policy agendas, along with greater emphasis on accountability and results, has stimulated interest in new forms of research to guide the development and implementation of effective policies, programs, and interventions—what we refer to as action-oriented research. To date, action-oriented research in the nutrition field is thought to be the exception rather than the rule, but empirical evidence to support this claim is lacking. Methods: We conducted a survey of selected journals in nutrition and public health to assess the extent and nature of population nutrition research published in 2012 that embodied 5 defined characteristics of action-oriented research in relation to: (1) topic(s) of study, (2) processes/influences, (3) actors, (4) methods, and (5) approaches. We identified 762 articles from the 6 selected nutrition journals and 77 nutrition-related articles from the 4 selected public health journals that met our search criteria. Results: Only 7% of the 762 papers in nutrition journals had at least 1 of the 5 action-oriented research characteristics, compared with 36% of the 77 nutrition-related papers in the public health journals. Of all 80 articles that had at least 1 action-oriented research characteristic, only 5 articles (6.25%) embodied all 5 characteristics. Articles with action-oriented research covered a broad range of topics and processes/influences, including policy, workforce development, and schools, as well as actors, such as program staff, store owners, parents, and school staff. In addition, various research methods were used, such as stakeholder analysis, ethnographic narrative, iterative action research, and decision tree modeling, as well as different approaches, including participant-observer and community-based participatory research. Conclusions: Action-oriented research represents a small fraction of articles published in nutrition journals, especially compared

CrowdOutAIDS: crowdsourcing youth perspectives for action.

PubMed

Hildebrand, Mikaela; Ahumada, Claudia; Watson, Sharon

2013-05-01

To develop a strategy for how to better engage young people in decision-making processes on AIDS, UNAIDS launched the participatory online policy project CrowdOutAIDS in 2011. A total of 3,497 young people aged 15-29 from 79 countries signed up to nine online forums, and volunteers recruited through the online platform hosted 39 community-based offline forums with an additional 1,605 participants. This article describes the participatory approach of using social media and crowdsourcing solutions to integrate youth perspectives into strategy and policy processes. In these forums, youth consistently identified the need to change the way sex and relationships are dealt with through changing how sex is talked about, putting comprehensive sexuality education in place, and overcoming social and cultural taboos. The outcome document recommended three major priorities: dispel taboos surrounding sex and sexuality, eliminate stigma and discrimination against young people living with HIV, and remove social and legal barriers. Six strategic actions were also recommended: strengthen young people's skills for effective leadership, ensure full youth participation in the AIDS response, increase access to HIV-related information, strengthen strategic networks, increase UNAIDS's outreach to young people, and increase young people's access to financial support. Through leveraging social media and crowdsourcing, it is possible to integrate grassroots perspectives from across the globe into a new model of engagement and participation, which should be further explored for community empowerment and mobilization. Copyright © 2013 Reproductive Health Matters. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An action research study of secondary science assessment praxes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryan, Thomas Gerald

This practical participatory action research study illuminates the assessment praxes of four Ontario secondary level science teachers at one school using a facilitative approach. Participants were joined by a thematic concern, that is, a commitment to inform and improve assessment. Hence, two distinct sets of research questions emerged. The first involves the nature of assessment as we asked, what was the current state of assessment practice in secondary science? What were participants' initial understandings of assessment and actual practices at the onset of this research? To what extent did these initial understandings and actual practices change due to the illumination of assessment praxes through action research involvement? What was their level of awareness of current Ontario government pronouncements and in what ways did they implement this knowledge? The second theme, concerning the nature of action research, was realised by asking what did participants learn about action research? What other learning and professional gains were realised during this study? And, what did I learn about action research and assessment through my involvement in this study? Data were collected via supportive discussion groups, individual interviews, classroom visitations, journals and documentation. This professional development experience facilitated 'interactive professionalism' as teachers worked in a small group and interacted frequently in the course of planning, testing new ideas, attempting to solve different problems, and assess the effectiveness of those ideas. In addition, this action research effort was strategic and systematic, to attain a high degree of specific interactions, (personal interviews, group meetings, classroom observations, evidence collection). This series of deliberate and planned intentions helped participants solve assessment dilemmas. We developed an awareness and understanding of the need for more preservice and inservice assessment training

Participative Decision-Making. Research Action Brief Number 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management, Eugene, OR.

This report examines the role of participative decision-making in education by reviewing significant research on the involvement of teachers in educational policy-making. The discussion attempts to put participative decision-making (PDM) in perspective by highlighting empirical research on how well PDM works and by identifying some of the…

Climate Action Planning Process | Climate Neutral Research Campuses | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Action Planning Process Climate Action Planning Process For research campuses, NREL has developed a five-step process to develop and implement climate action plans: Determine baseline energy consumption Analyze technology options Prepare a plan and set priorities Implement the climate action plan Measure and

Community action and research as citizenship construction.

PubMed

Montero, Maritza

2009-03-01

Social change, well-being and liberation have been intertwined in community research and action, as much as being used as political common-places. In this paper, it is argued that community research and action can have a political character. The epistemological premises shared by both the community and political spheres are discussed, and concepts are defined. The way community psychological action can produce changes is illustrated by an experience carried out with children from poverty sectors of Caracas, Venezuela, intended to construct citizenship by developing awareness about values, civic rights and duties, while experiencing the advantages of participation, peaceful negotiation and solidarity, during art classes. Topics regarding citizenship values and ethics were painted and discussed in a participatory way. Results about how the children developed consciousness about those topics, relating them to their lives, are presented.

Action Research and ICT Implementation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krumsvik, Rune

2012-01-01

This emancipatory action research study investigates implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) in schools. The case study examined retrospectively was part of a Norwegian ICT project called PILOT, the focus of which concerns the impact on school development of a locally developed Internet subject portal and study periods.…

Comparative Perspectives on Literacy Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Street, Brian V.

Three possible directions for literacy research in the United Kingdom (UK), in terms of three comparative perspectives are (1) cross-cultural, (2) academic/practitioner, and (3) adult/school. Walter Ong's argument that with the advent of writing human consciousness and ways of thinking were altered fundamentally, underlies many of the claims for…

Play and Literacy in Early Childhood: Research from Multiple Perspectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roskos, Kathleen A., Ed.; Christie, James F., Ed.

Noting that an examination of play from diverse perspectives deepens understanding and opens up new avenues for research and educational practice, this book brings together studies, research syntheses, and critical commentaries that examine play-literacy relationships from cognitive, ecological, and cultural perspectives. Each set of chapters is…

The theory-practice gap in nurse education: its causes and possible solutions. Findings from an action research study.

PubMed

McCaugherty, D

1991-09-01

Kurt Lewin, the originator of action research, proposed that it was valuable not only for innovating change, but also the process of change could lead to new insights into the nature of the problem that was being tackled. This action research project developed and evaluated a teaching model that aimed to help RGN (registered general nurse) students to bridge the theory-practice gap. During the course of this work, the possible reasons for a theory-practice gap started to become clear. This paper provides a discussion of these factors. The viewpoint for this discussion is that of the student nurse. The student is assumed to 'own' the problem and it is from her perspective that the theory-practice gap is analysed. The paper includes a critical examination of books, lectures, the school curriculum and ward nursing practice. Finally, possible solutions to the theory-practice problem are discussed and it is hoped that these will provide a rational basis for tackling the problem.

Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators. Third Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mertler, Craig A.

2011-01-01

Written for pre- and in-service educators, this "Third Edition" of Craig A. Mertler's "Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators" introduces the process of conducting one's own classroom- or school-based action research in conjunction with everyday instructional practices and activities. The text provides educators with the…

Preparing Palestinian Reflective English Language Teachers through Classroom Based Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dajani, Majida "Mohammed Yousef "

2015-01-01

This study aimed to describe the implementation of individual action research projects among some forty English language teachers distributed in thirty Palestinian schools in Ramallah and Qabatya districts-Palestine. It aimed to analyze the outcomes of the teachers' action research as part of a broader participatory action research project that is…

Participatory Action Research Experiences for Undergraduates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sample McMeeking, L. B.; Weinberg, A. E.

2013-12-01

Research experiences for undergraduates (REU) have been shown to be effective in improving undergraduate students' personal/professional development, ability to synthesize knowledge, improvement in research skills, professional advancement, and career choice. Adding to the literature on REU programs, a new conceptual model situating REU within a context of participatory action research (PAR) is presented and compared with data from a PAR-based coastal climate research experience that took place in Summer 2012. The purpose of the interdisciplinary Participatory Action Research Experiences for Undergraduates (PAREU) model is to act as an additional year to traditional, lab-based REU where undergraduate science students, social science experts, and community members collaborate to develop research with the goal of enacting change. The benefits to traditional REU's are well established and include increased content knowledge, better research skills, changes in attitudes, and greater career awareness gained by students. Additional positive outcomes are expected from undergraduate researchers (UR) who participate in PAREU, including the ability to better communicate with non-scientists. With highly politicized aspects of science, such as climate change, this becomes especially important for future scientists. Further, they will be able to articulate the relevance of science research to society, which is an important skill, especially given the funding climate where agencies require broader impacts statements. Making science relevant may also benefit URs who wish to apply their science research. Finally, URs will gain social science research skills by apprenticing in a research project that includes science and social science research components, which enables them to participate in future education and outreach. The model also positively impacts community members by elevating their voices within and outside the community, particularly in areas severely underserved

When counting cattle is not enough: multiple perspectives in agricultural and veterinary research

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

A traditional approach in agricultural and veterinary research is focussing on the biological perspective where large cattle-databases are used to analyse the dairy herd. This approach has yielded valuable insights. However, recent research indicates that this knowledge-base can be further increased by examining agricultural and veterinary challenges from other perspectives. In this paper we suggest three perspectives that may supplement the biological perspective in agricultural and veterinary research; the economic-, the managerial-, and the social perspective. We review recent studies applying or combining these perspectives and discuss how multiple perspectives may improve our understanding and ability to handle cattle-health challenges. PMID:21999487

Action Research as a Professional Development Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

West, Chad

2011-01-01

Reflective teachers are always searching for ways to improve their teaching. When this reflection becomes intentional and systematic, they are engaging in teacher research. This type of research, sometimes called "action research", can help bridge the gap between theory and practice by addressing topics that are relevant to practicing teachers.…

Riding the Wave: Student Researcher Reflection on the Action Research Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burrows, Andrea; Thomas, Jonathan; Woods, Angie; Suess, Robert; Dole, Deborah

2012-01-01

The focus of this article is the exploration of and an explanation of student researchers' affect and activity in an action research project. Using a hermeneutical theoretical framework we argue that the researcher group as a whole constructs a wave process and at the same time each individual researcher in the group creates a wave process that…

Developing Critical Understanding by Teaching Action Research to Undergraduate Psychology Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobs, Gaby; Murray, Michael

2010-01-01

Action research assumes the active engagement of the stakeholders, such as the community, in the research, and a multiple-level process of reflection in order to evaluate and monitor the actions taken. This makes action research a suitable methodology to increase the critical understanding of the participants. In this paper we describe the…

Culminating Experience Action Research Projects, Volume 2, Fall 2002.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McAllister, Deborah A., Ed.; Moyer, Peggy S., Ed.

As part of the graduate teacher licensure program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, candidates are required to complete an action research project during a course that coincides with the student teaching experience. The syllabus for the course, "Education 590 Culminating Experience," is included, followed by action research projects…

Critical Literacy for School Improvement: An Action Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooper, Karyn; White, Robert E.

2008-01-01

This article provides an overview of the integrative process of initiating an action research project on literacy for students "at risk" in a Canadian urban elementary school. As the article demonstrates, this requires development of a school-wide framework, which informs the action research project and desired outcomes, and a shared…

Phenomenography: Implications for Expanding the Educational Action Research Lens

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beaulieu, Rodney

2017-01-01

Action research is a growing tradition for improving teachers' practice and students' learning outcomes, and it draws from a variety of methods for collecting and analysing data. In this article, phenomenography is proposed as an innovative approach for enhancing action research. With an emphasis on mapping variations on students' experience,…

Research Perspectives on Education. Occasional Paper No. 41.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria (South Africa). Inst. for Educational Research.

Perspectives on educational research are presented, and articles are included that reflect research projects that were undertaken at the Institute for Educational Research (IER) of the Human Services Research Council of the Republic of South Africa (RSA). Articles in this collection include: (1) "Educational Research in the RSA: Trends and…

Action Research: An Educational Leader's Guide to School Improvement. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glanz, Jeffrey

This book, in its second edition, is intended as a practical guide to conducting action research in schools--it outlines the process of designing and reporting an action research project. Contending that action research can be used as a powerful tool that can contribute to school renewal and instructional improvement, the book defines and presents…

Making Tracks 1.0: Action Researching an Active Transportation Education Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Daniel; Foran, Andrew; Robinson, Ingrid

2014-01-01

This paper reports on the results of the first cycle of an action research project. The objective of this action research was to examine the implementation of a school-based active transportation education program (Making Tracks). A two-cycle action research design was employed in which elementary school students' (ages 7-9), middle school…

Action Research in Urban Schools: Empowerment, Transformation, and Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Razfar, Aria

2011-01-01

This article examines the experiences of a cohort of seven urban educators who conducted action research over a two-year period. Of the seven participants, six were teacher-researchers ("TRs") and one was a bilingual coordinator. The author provides an analysis of focus group discussions conducted after the completion of the action research…

Professional Learning with Action Research in Innovative Middle Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Netcoh, Steven; Olofson, Mark W.; Downes, John M.; Bishop, Penny A.

2017-01-01

This article illustrates how action research can be used as a model for professional development with middle grades educators in rapidly changing and technology-intensive schools. Drawing upon ten years of using this model, the authors present three examples of educator action research to highlight five characteristics of effective projects: (1)…

Middle School Responses to Cyberbullying: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zidack, Astri Marie

2013-01-01

This action research study engaged a small public middle school in the northwest United States in a collaborative process to address cyberbullying issues that often lead to academic and behavior problems in schools (Hinduja, 2010; Olweus, 2010). The specific purpose of this action research study was to address the middle school's cyberbullying…

The Promise, Pitfalls, and Persistent Challenge of Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Higgins, Chris

2016-01-01

Action research began as an ambitious epistemological and social intervention. As the concept has become reified, packaged for methodology textbooks and professional development workshops, it has degenerated into a cure that may be worse than the disease. The point is not the trivial one that action research, like any practice, sometimes shows up…

Parent-Research as a Process of Inquiry: An Ethnographic Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kabuto, Bobbie

2008-01-01

This article illustrates how an ethnographic perspective can provide a descriptive methodological approach to parent-research as a process of inquiry within the field of education. By juxtaposing data and illuminating reflexive accounts from a longitudinal parent-research study, I suggest that such a perspective provides critical insights into the…

Assessment as Action Research: Bridging Academic Scholarship and Everyday Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malenfant, Kara J.; Hinchliffe, Lisa Janicke; Gilchrist, Debra

2016-01-01

This introductory essay to this special issue demonstrates that action research has a vital role in evidence-informed practice in academic libraries. This special issue of "College and Research Libraries" ("C&RL") proudly features a selection of action research studies by participants of the Association of College and…

Epistemological-Methodological Issues Related to Applied Organizational Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van Meel, R. M.

Applied research is supposed to take the perspective with the highest degree of corroboration as a basis for action. The realm of organizational perspectives is characterized, however, with a multitude of competing research programs, seldom tested against each other. Epistemological and methodological issues overwhelm inquiry in applied research.…

How Does Telling the Truth Help Educational Action Research?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blair, Erik

2010-01-01

A number of key constructs underpin educational action research. This paper focuses on the concept of "truth" and by doing so hopes to highlight some debate in this area. In reflecting upon what "truth" might mean to those involved in action research, I shall critically evaluate Thorndike's "Law of Effect" and Bruner's "Three Forms of…

Embodied Learning and Creative Writing: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tobin, Jennifer Ann

2012-01-01

This action research study used narrative analysis to explore the role of the body in the writing process of creative writers. Specifically, the purpose of this action research study was threefold: it was first to examine how professional creative writers describe their writing process with particular attention to their perceptions of the role and…

Pupils' Perspectives on the Lived Pedagogy of the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niemi, Reetta; Kumpulainen, Kristiina; Lipponen, Lasse; Hilppö, Jaakko

2015-01-01

This paper is based on a pedagogical action research initiative that explores what constitutes the "lived pedagogy" of the classroom from the pupils' perspective. Photography and group interviews were utilised to allow pupils to express their perspectives. The results show that pupils considered situations meaningful when they were able…

Addressing prospective elementary teachers' mathematics subject matter knowledge through action research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hourigan, Mairéad; O'Donoghue, John

2015-01-01

There is international dissatisfaction regarding the standard of mathematics subject matter knowledge (MSMK) evident among both qualified and prospective elementary teachers. Ireland is no exception. Following increasing anecdotal evidence of prospective elementary teachers in one Irish College of Education (provider of initial teacher education programme) demonstrating weaknesses in this regard, this study sought to examine and address the issue through two cycles of action research. The examination of the nature of prospective teachers' MSMK (as well as related beliefs in the main study) informed the design and implementation of an intervention to address the issue. A mixed method approach was taken throughout. In both cycles, Shapiro's criteria were used as a conceptual framework for the evaluation of the initiative. This paper focuses on the perceived and actual effects of the intervention on participants' MSMK. As well as its contribution at a local and national level, the study provides an Irish perspective on approaches taken to address the phenomenon internationally.

Action Research Projects in Distance Education: A Manual.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramakrishna, C. Pushpa; Prasad, V. S.

This manual, prepared by the Distance Education Council (India) presents guidelines for action research in distance education, balancing practical research activities with a sound theoretical research base. Chapter 1, "Scope, Purpose and Design of the Manual," suggests several definitions of research; draws distinctions between academic…

Housework Metaphor for Gambling Public Health Action: An Indigenous Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dyall, Lorna; Hawke, Zoe; Herd, Ruth; Nahi, Papa

2012-01-01

Housework, those duties done at home or in one's community to keep and clean and tidy, is used in this paper as a metaphor for Maori involvement in gambling public health action in New Zealand. For over a decade Maori have been developing their own voice, public health actions, gambling services, research and workforce development initiatives to…

Getting Girls in the Game: Action Research in the Gymnasium

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Daniel B.

2013-01-01

This article presents an action research project focused on improving physical education (PE) for adolescent female students. One university researcher, three male PE teachers, and 13 of their most disengaged female students participated in the one-year, two-cycle, action research project. The process and results are offered so that future PE…

Action-Oriented Population Nutrition Research: High Demand but Limited Supply.

PubMed

Pham, Judy; Pelletier, David

2015-05-27

The relatively rapid ascendancy of nutrition and health on policy agendas, along with greater emphasis on accountability and results, has stimulated interest in new forms of research to guide the development and implementation of effective policies, programs, and interventions-what we refer to as action-oriented research. To date, action-oriented research in the nutrition field is thought to be the exception rather than the rule, but empirical evidence to support this claim is lacking. We conducted a survey of selected journals in nutrition and public health to assess the extent and nature of population nutrition research published in 2012 that embodied 5 defined characteristics of action-oriented research in relation to: (1) topic(s) of study, (2) processes/influences, (3) actors, (4) methods, and (5) approaches. We identified 762 articles from the 6 selected nutrition journals and 77 nutrition-related articles from the 4 selected public health journals that met our search criteria. Only 7% of the 762 papers in nutrition journals had at least 1 of the 5 action-oriented research characteristics, compared with 36% of the 77 nutrition-related papers in the public health journals. Of all 80 articles that had at least 1 action-oriented research characteristic, only 5 articles (6.25%) embodied all 5 characteristics. Articles with action-oriented research covered a broad range of topics and processes/influences, including policy, workforce development, and schools, as well as actors, such as program staff, store owners, parents, and school staff. In addition, various research methods were used, such as stakeholder analysis, ethnographic narrative, iterative action research, and decision tree modeling, as well as different approaches, including participant-observer and community-based participatory research. Action-oriented research represents a small fraction of articles published in nutrition journals, especially compared with public health journals. This reinforces

A Self-Study of the Teaching of Action Research in a University Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Jung-ah

2011-01-01

Despite the potential benefits of action research, teaching action research in a university setting can present challenges. Analyzing my own experiences of teaching a university-based course on action research, this self-study investigates what my students (all classroom teachers) did and did not understand about action research and what hindered…

At-Risk Students and Thinking: Perspectives from Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Presseisen, Barbara Z., Ed.

This collection of research reports explores teaching cognitive skills to at-risk students. Focus includes the following: (1) broad issues guiding the research; (2) historical perspective; (3) student characteristics; (4) student needs; (5) research on teaching thinking and problem solving; (6) teacher training; and (7) instructional and…

Participatory Action Research: An Overview--What Makes It Tick?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gaffney, Michael

2008-01-01

In this article I outline different elements of action research in an attempt to describe and define participatory action research (PAR). There is a lot more material available to readers these days, some of which I will refer you to in this article. I see my role here is to summarise enough of this material to help support your reading of the…

Participatory Action Research and Impact: An Ecological Ripples Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trickett, Edison J.; Beehler, Sarah

2017-01-01

Assessment of the impact of varied forms of participatory research is enhanced by specific attention to the ripples, such work initiates in the social context. Ripples are defined as consequences either unintended or unanticipated by those carrying out the participatory research. Following a brief documentation of the range of reported ripples in…

Future Perspectives of Biocybernetic Research in Television.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Malik, M. F.; Thwaites, H. M.

This paper describes the future perspectives of biocybernetic communication research applied to television, i.e., the measurement of the information impact of television on both individual human beings and groups in terms of energetic changes in the human body. A summary of the recent state of the art of biocybernetic research includes discussions…

The National Research and Education Network (NREN): Research and Policy Perspectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McClure, Charles R.; And Others

This book provides an overview and status report on the progress made in developing the National Research and Education Network (NREN) as of early 1991. It reports on a number of investigations that provide a research and policy perspective on the NREN and computer-mediated communication (CMC), and brings together key source documents that have…

Ethical issues in action-oriented research in Indonesia.

PubMed

Rachmawaty, Rini

2017-09-01

Action-oriented research is one of the most frequent research types implemented to transform community health in Indonesia. Three researchers and 11 graduate students from a developed country in East Asia conducted a fieldwork program in a remote area in South Sulawesi Province. Although the project was completed, whether or not the international standards for human subject research were applied into that study remains unclear. This study aimed to examine ethical issues raised from that case, analyze constraints to the problems, and recommend alternatives to protect vulnerable populations from being exploited by local/international researchers. A problem-solving approach was used in this study. It began with problem identification, evaluation of the action-oriented research goal, investigation of the constraints to the problem, and recommendation of some relevant alternatives to address the central issue. Ethical Consideration: The approval for conducting the action-oriented research that being investigated in this work was only obtained from the Head of local district. Some ethical issues were found in this case. No special protection for this population, no informed consent was obtained from the participants, exposure to social and economic risks, no future benefits for the subjects, and conflict of interests. Lack of control from the local research ethics committee and lack of competence of local researchers on human subject research were considered as the constraints to the problems. Creating an independent research ethics committee, providing research ethics training to the local researchers, obtaining written/video consents from underserved populations, and meeting local health needs were recommended alternatives to solve these problems. Indonesian government bodies should reform their international collaborative system on research involving human subjects. Exploitation may not occur if all participants as well as all local and national governing bodies

Research Perspectives and Best Practices in Educational Technology Integration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keengwe, Jared

2013-01-01

With advancements in technology continuing to influence all areas of society, students in current classrooms have a different understanding and perspective of learning than the educational system has been designed to teach. Research Perspectives and Best Practices in Educational Technology Integration highlights the emerging digital age, its…

Collaborative action research: implementation of cooperative learning.

PubMed

Smith-Stoner, Marilyn; Molle, Mary E

2010-06-01

Nurse educators must continually improve their teaching skills through innovation. However, research about the process used by faculty members to transform their teaching methods is limited. This collaborative study uses classroom action research to describe, analyze, and address problems encountered in implementing cooperative learning in two undergraduate nursing courses. After four rounds of action and reflection, the following themes emerged: students did not understand the need for structured cooperative learning; classroom structure and seating arrangement influenced the effectiveness of activities; highly structured activities engaged the students; and short, targeted activities that involved novel content were most effective. These findings indicate that designing specific activities to prepare students for class is critical to cooperative learning. Copyright 2010, SLACK Incorporated.

Action Research: Order Out of Chaos.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Geffen, Mitzi

2002-01-01

Describes on Israeli English-as-a-Foreign-Language teacher's action research project that focused on how to teach reading comprehension in English to a class of ninth grade boys. Outlines the teacher's goals, implementation of the project, and thoughts on the outcomes. (Author/VWL)

Action Research Approach on Mobile Learning Design for the Underserved

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kim, Paul H.

2009-01-01

This paper discusses an action research study focused on developing a mobile learning model of literacy development for underserved migrant indigenous children in Latin America. The research study incorporated a cyclical action model with four distinctive stages (Strategize, Apply, Evaluate, and Reflect) designed to guide constituencies involved…

Reducing diabetes health disparities through community-based participatory action research: the Chicago Southeast Diabetes Community Action Coalition.

PubMed Central

Giachello, Aida L.; Arrom, Jose O.; Davis, Margaret; Sayad, Judith V.; Ramirez, Dinah; Nandi, Chandana; Ramos, Catalina

2003-01-01

To address disproportionately high rates of diabetes morbidity and mortality in some of Chicago's medically underserved minority neighborhoods, a group of community residents, medical and social service providers, and a local university founded the Chicago Southeast Diabetes Community Action Coalition, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention REACH 2010 Initiative. A community-based participatory action research model guided coalition activities from conceptualization through implementation. Capacity building activities included training on: diabetes, coalition building, research methods, and action planning. Other activities sought to increase coalition members' understanding of the social causes and potential solutions for health disparities related to diabetes. Trained coalition members conducted epidemiologic analyses, focus groups, a telephone survey, and a community inventory. All coalition members participated in decisions. The participatory process led to increased awareness of the complexities of diabetes in the community and to a state of readiness for social action. Data documented disparities in diabetes. The participatory action research approach (a) encouraged key stakeholders outside of the health care sector to participate (e.g., business sector, church groups); (b) permitted an examination of the sociopolitical context affecting the health of the community; (c) provided an opportunity to focus on preventing the onset of diabetes and its complications; (d) increased understanding of the importance of community research in catalyzing social action aimed at community and systems change and change among change agents. PMID:12815078

Action Research to Encourage Pupils' Active Participation in the Sustainable School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Katsenou, Christina; Flogaitis, Evgenia; Liarakou, Georgia

2015-01-01

This article aims to explore the contribution of action research to the development of active participation of pupils in the context of the sustainable school. Action research is looked at not simply as a methodological tool for the exploration of participation, but as a key element of the educational actions that promote the active participation…

Science in the Elementary School Classroom: Portraits of Action Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDonald, Jane B., Ed.; Gilmer, Penny J., Ed.

Teacher knowledge and skills are critical elements in the student learning process. Action research serves as an increasingly popular technique to engage teachers in educational change in classrooms. This document focuses on action research reports of elementary school teachers. Chapters include: (1) "First Graders' Beliefs and Perceptions of…

Exclusion in an Inclusive Action Research Project: Drawing on Student Perspectives of School Science to Identify Discourses of Exclusion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nystrom, Eva

2007-01-01

This article reports on the outcomes of an action research project on gender and science education carried out in two upper secondary schools in Sweden. The article focuses on how student voices draw on wider societal discourses when they talk about what it means to be natural science students at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The…

Productive Tensions in Youth Participatory Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirshner, Ben

2010-01-01

Youth participatory action research (YPAR) brings young people together with adult researchers to identify, study, and act on relevant social problems. In this chapter, the author draws on examples from a recent YPAR project, called Tracing Transitions, whose aim was to study the impact of school closure on students. After defining YPAR in terms…

Action Research as Primary Vehicle for Inquiry in the Professional Development School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tunks, Jeanne L.

2011-01-01

This Yearbook chapter, a compilation of multiple sources, presents both the history of action research and an analysis of reported action research in the professional development school (PDS) between 1992 and 2010. The history begins prior to the inception of the PDS and provides a theoretical premise for action research in the PDS in subsequent…

Case management: developing practice through action research.

PubMed

Smith, Annetta; Mackay, Seonaid; McCulloch, Kathleen

2013-09-01

This article is a report of an action research study carried out with community nurses to help develop case management within their practice. Using action research principles, nurses reviewed and analysed their current practice and developed recommendations for further embedding case management as a means of supporting patients with complex care needs in their own homes. Findings indicate that a number of factors can influence the community nurse's ability to implement case management. These factors include approaches to case finding, availability of resources and interprofessional working. Important considerations for nurses were the influence of the context of care, the geographical location and the health needs of the local patient population, which meant that case management may need to be adapted to meet local circumstances.

Authentic research projects: Students' perspectives on the process, ownership, and benefits of doing research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernard, Warren

2005-11-01

Authentic research projects are one type of inquiry activity as defined by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1993) and are a core component in science education reform movements. The purpose of this study was to examine high school students' perspectives of an authentic research project. The context for this study was a local Science and Engineering Fair (SEF) that involved students from a Metro-Atlanta public high school. This study provided information about this type of activity from the student's perspective, an emic viewpoint. In this qualitative study, demographic information was used for the purposeful selection of fourteen students making up the study sample. In this descriptive ethnography, data were collected via an open-ended survey, three individual interviews, a web log, and a group interview. Interviews were audio taped and conducted according to the protocol established by Lincoln and Guba (1998). Transcripts of the interviews, web logs, and survey responses were coded and analyzed by the constant comparative method as described by Glaser and Strauss (1965). Reliability and validity were achieved through member checks and triangulation. Using Gowin's Vee diagram (1981) as a theoretical framework for analysis, themes emerged describing the students' research experience. The themes included the students' initial reactions, difficulty getting started, accepting ownership of their project, growing interest, acknowledged benefits of the research experience, and a reflective look back at their experience. Overall, students described the authentic research experience as a worthwhile activity. The implications of the study are two-fold. At the practitioner level, teachers should engage students in research, but should do so in a manner that maximizes authenticity. Examples may include having students present a formal prospectus and work with a scientist mentor. For Science Educators in teacher preparation programs, there should be an

Action Research Built on Uncertain Foundations: The Internship and Action-Research in a Graduate Teaching Degree

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loughland, Tony; Bowen, Margo

2012-01-01

This paper analyses the uncertain foundations of the use of action research in a graduate teaching degree. This analysis is conducted by the course coordinator in partnership with a recent graduate. The uncertainty is traced to the pedagogical incoherence of the course that is caused by philosophical infidelity. The philosophy and practice of the…

Role of research in occupational therapy clinical practice: applying action learning and action research in pursuit of evidence-based practice.

PubMed

du Toit, Sanet H J; Wilkinson, Annette C; Adam, Kerry

2010-10-01

 In South Africa, as in many other countries, the development of research capacity in students and their early professional career is regarded as of major importance. Within the context of clinical education for occupational therapy students at the University of the Free State, a lecturer and her students embarked on a collaborative journey while fulfilling the requirements of their undergraduate curriculum. The outcome is a model promoting evidence-based practice (EBP) during service development on a dementia care ward. The practical use of action learning, action research (ALAR) approach in the clinical context, was used to encourage student engagement in successive small-scale research projects while simulating EBP. The projects ranged from the development of therapeutic multi-sensory environments to compiling activity profiles for identified residents. At the same time, students had the opportunity to experience the value of a scientific approach to practice development, which stimulated their awareness of the importance of research. Reflection by the researcher contributed towards more effective ways for compiling project assignments and a formalised approach for assessing projects. Students described personal and professional gains because of participation in projects against the life-changing experience of rendering a service to elderly persons suffering from dementia. The formalised approach guiding thoughts and actions finally assisted in developing a practical process model that could support EBP. The ALAR model contributed towards a scholarship of practice where the students, clinical educator and residents of a dementia unit all experienced the value of research. © 2010 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal © 2010 Australian Association of Occupational Therapists.

From Voice to Knowledge: Participatory Action Research, Inclusive Debate and Feminism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krumer-Nevo, Michal

2009-01-01

This article discusses the relations between participatory action research and feminist research, through an examination of the metaphor of "voice" and its possible replacement with the idea of "knowledge." The article describes in detail a participatory action research project undertaken in Israel, which was aimed at forging…

Building Action Research Teams: A Case of Struggles and Successes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Du, Fengning

2009-01-01

Teaching teams can hold the promise of being an ideal vehicle in which collaborative action research is conducted. This case documents the mixed results of a team leader's efforts to improve teaching and introduce inquiry-based professional development through action research in a community college. This case paints a realistic and…

Teacher Researchers in Action Research in a Heavily Centralized Education System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kayaoglu, M. Naci

2015-01-01

Action research is characterized by a new paradigm of empowering teachers to monitor their own practices in a more autonomous manner with a vision of challenging and improving their own techniques of teaching through their own participatory research. Yet in spite of this apparently radical shift in the function of the teacher from the constant…

Action Research Localization in China: Three Cases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bai, Yimin

2009-01-01

Since the introduction of the action research into China in the 1980s, especially since the start of the twenty-first century, Chinese education researchers have been trying to localize it in relation to the backdrop of the national curriculum reform in basic education. This article presents three cases in which educators aimed for a conscious…

Compilation of Action Research Papers in English Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherman, Thomas F.; Lundquist, Margaret

This action research compilation contains two research projects: "Increasing Student Appreciation of Poetry through the Use of Contemporary Music" by Paul G. Senjem and "Are Men and Women Created Equal? Gender in the Classroom" by Jennifer Joyce Plitzuweit. The researcher/author of the first paper states that his goal was to…

Assessment in Action: Collaborative Action Research Focused on Mathematics and Science Assessments. Reports of Twenty-Three Teacher-Research Projects.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dearn, Ceri; And Others

The works reported in this book represent a second phase to a 2-day summer conference that focused on assessment in mathematics and science classrooms. This book presents research and findings of a subset of the conference participants who investigated a self-selected aspect of assessment in their educational environments. Action research was the…

Meta-Action Research with Pre-Service Teachers: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Villacañas de Castro, Luis Sebastián

2014-01-01

This article analyses a case of action research collaboratively conducted by a university teacher and 50 students in a master's course in teacher training. Its originality resides in the socio-economic, academic, and conceptual nature of the obstacles encountered in the module; in the meta-theoretical orientation of the action research that was…

Purposeful Action Research: Reconsidering Science and Technology Teacher Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

vanOostveen, Roland

2017-01-01

Initial plans for this project arose from a need to address issues of professional development of science and technology teachers that went beyond the norm available within school board settings. Two teams of 4 teachers responded to an invitation to participate in a collaborative action research project. Collaborative action research was chosen in…

Facts for a Change: Citizen Action Research for Better Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burges, Bill

In an action research project, local citizens and community groups (often in collaboration with school professionals) investigate community-defined issues. Action research is geared to help people think clearly about an issue and find the resources they need to face it. In such a project, citizens develop skills in organizing, finding resources,…

Perspectives of clinician and biomedical scientists on interdisciplinary health research.

PubMed

Laberge, Suzanne; Albert, Mathieu; Hodges, Brian D

2009-11-24

Interdisciplinary health research is a priority of many funding agencies. We surveyed clinician and biomedical scientists about their views on the value and funding of interdisciplinary health research. We conducted semistructured interviews with 31 biomedical and 30 clinician scientists. The scientists were selected from the 2000-2006 membership lists of peer-review committees of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. We investigated respondents' perspectives on the assumption that collaboration across disciplines adds value to health research. We also investigated their perspectives on funding agencies' growing support of interdisciplinary research. The 61 respondents expressed a wide variety of perspectives on the value of interdisciplinary health research, ranging from full agreement (22) to complete disagreement (11) that it adds value; many presented qualified viewpoints (28). More than one-quarter viewed funding agencies' growing support of interdisciplinary research as appropriate. Most (44) felt that the level of support was unwarranted. Arguments included the belief that current support leads to the creation of artificial teams and that a top-down process of imposing interdisciplinary structures on teams constrains scientists' freedom. On both issues we found contrasting trends between the clinician and the biomedical scientists. Despite having some positive views about the value of interdisciplinary research, scientists, especially biomedical scientists, expressed reservations about the growing support of interdisciplinary research.

National action for European public health research.

PubMed

McCarthy, Mark; Zeegers Paget, Dineke; Barnhoorn, Floris

2013-11-01

Research and innovation are the basis for improving health and health services. The European Union (EU) supports research through multi-annual programmes. Public Health Innovation and Research in Europe (PHIRE) investigated how European countries cooperate for action in public health research. In PHIRE, following stakeholder workshops and consultations, a national report on public health research was created for 24 of 30 European countries. The report template asked five questions, on national links to European public health research and on national research through the Structural Funds and Ministry of Health. The national reports were assessed with framework analysis, and the country actions were classified strong/partial/weak or none. There were responses to the five questions sufficient for this analysis for between 14 and 20 countries Six countries had public health research aligned with the EU, while three (large) countries were reported not aligned. Only two countries expressed strong engagement in developing public health research within Horizon 2020: most Ministries of Health had no position and only had contact with EU health research through other ministries. Only two countries reported use of the 2007-13 Structural Funds for public health research. While seven Ministries of Health led research from their own funds, or linked with Ministries of Science in six, the Ministries of Health of seven countries were reported not to be involved in public health research. Ministries of Health and stakeholders are poorly engaged in developing public health research, with the Horizon 2020 research programme, or the Structural Funds. The European Commission should give more attention to coordination of public health research with member states if it is to give best value to European citizens.

The Right Stuff: White Male Perspectives on Merit, Measurement, and Affirmative Action Admissions to Graduate Professional Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lipson, Helen D.

This exploratory study examines several facets of everyday perspectives on merit and the meritocratic allocation of rewards and opportunities, focusing on race-targeted, affirmative action admissions of Blacks and Latinos to law schools, medical schools, and Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs. Subjects were 32 white, male college…

Caught in the Middle: Understanding Asian Pacific American Perspectives on Affirmative Action through Blumer's Group Position Theory.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Inkelas, Karen Kurotsuchi

2003-01-01

This study examines Asian Pacific American undergraduates' views on affirmative action and their perspectives on U.S. race relations through Herbert Blumer's (1958) theory of group position. Results indicate that Asian Pacific American (APA) students may perceive other minority student applicants as inferior to APA applicants and feel threatened…

How To Conduct Collaborative Action Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sagor, Richard

Collaborative action research, conducted by teams of practitioners, is a process that enables teachers: (1) to improve student learning, (2) to improve their own practice, (3) to contribute to the development of their own profession, and (4) to overcome the isolation commonly experienced by classroom teachers. By promoting collegial relationships…

Perspectives on the Research History of Giyoo Hatano

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Inagaki, Kayoko; Miyake, Naomi

2007-01-01

In this article, we trace the development of Hatano's research, focusing on the core of his research interest, namely, expertise, conceptual development, and classroom learning. He held both Piagetian constructivist views and Vygotskian sociocultural perspectives in balance, and preferred to study human cognition executed in everyday life. This…

Lessons from the Field: Participatory Action Research in a Family Research Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robison, Dorothy; Krauss, Marty Wyngaarden

2003-01-01

This paper describes development of a study that includes participatory action research, specifically the establishment of a family advisory committee. The study involved a survey of Massachusetts families of children with disabilities. Suggestions for establishing and integrating the committee into the research enterprise are offered, as are…

Action Research and Its History as an Adult Education Movement for Social Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glassman, Michael; Erdem, Gizem; Bartholomew, Mitchell

2013-01-01

This article is an attempt to tell the story of action research as it has developed over the last half century. Action research has become an important part of a number of research programs, especially in the field of education. Action research is a powerful idea centering on humans' ability to break free from deleterious social habits…

Language Teacher Action Research: Achieving Sustainability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Emily; Burns, Anne

2016-01-01

Action research (AR) is becoming increasingly popular in ELT contexts as a means of continuous professional development. The positive impacts of AR on language teacher development are well documented, but the important question of how those impacts can be sustained over time is virtually unexplored. Drawing on findings from a study of teachers in…

Action Learning in Postgraduate Research Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marchand, Trevor

2017-01-01

This account of practice explores the benefits and challenges of using Action Learning (AL) with junior researchers. Findings are grounded in an AL set of six doctoral students, organised and convened by the author. The case study reveals the range of emotional and structural hurdles that Ph.D. candidates typically face in completing their…

Multilingual Affordances in a Swedish Preschool: An Action Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ljunggren, Åsa

2016-01-01

This article summarizes the work and the main findings of an action research project that was conducted in an early childhood education and care setting in the city of Malmö, Sweden in the autumn of 2013 and spring 2014. Rönnerman's model (Aktionsforskning i praktiken: förskola och skola på vetenskaplig grund [Action research in practice:…

Introduction to the Special Series on Participatory Action Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Park, Hyun-Sook; Meyer, Luanna; Goetz, Lori

1998-01-01

This introductory article discusses the benefits of participatory action research (PAR), including the empowerment of participants in research and the research process, the difficulties PAR presents, and summarizes following articles in a special series on the facets of PAR. (CR)

Indigenous Storytelling and Participatory Action Research

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Storytelling, in its various forms, has often been described as a practice with great emancipatory potential. In turn, Indigenous knowledge shows great promise in guiding a participatory action research (PAR) methodology. Yet these two approaches are rarely discussed in relation to one another, nor, has much been written in terms of how these two approaches may work synergistically toward a decolonizing research approach. In this article, I report on a community-driven knowledge translation activity, the Peoples’ International Health Tribunal, as an exemplar of how narrative and PAR approaches, guided by local Indigenous knowledge, have great potential to build methodologically and ethically robust research processes. Implications for building globally relevant research alliances and scholarship are further discussed, particularly in relation to working with Indigenous communities. PMID:28462305

Strategic Approaches to Practice: An Action Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burwell, Kim; Shipton, Matthew

2013-01-01

The importance of personal practice for instrumentalists and vocalists is well established among researchers, and axiomatic for practitioners. This paper reports on a phase of an action research project, investigating student approaches to personal practice. Following a preliminary questionnaire study, a residential clinic was conducted by…

Photovoice Participatory Action Research for the Communication Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Lance Brendan

2017-01-01

Courses: Qualitative research methods, health communication, organizational communication, or any course that could incorporate advocacy or social change into the content area. Objectives: On completion of this assignment, students will (1) understand why and how action research is undertaken; (2) develop skill in perceiving and representing the…

Classroom-Oriented Research from a Complex Systems Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larsen-Freeman, Diane

2016-01-01

Bringing a complex systems perspective to bear on classroom-oriented research challenges researchers to think differently, seeing the classroom ecology as one dynamic system nested in a hierarchy of such systems at different levels of scale, all of which are spatially and temporally situated. This article begins with an introduction to complex…

Thinking Like Researchers: Action Research and Its Impact on Novice Teachers' Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Janine; Clayton, Courtney; Broome, John

2018-01-01

This project investigated the effects of novice teachers' responses to an action research project conducting during the student-teaching semester. This study drew on a framework that considered the participants' process of research, practice of teaching, and identity as a researcher and utilized a qualitative, multiple case-study approach with an…

Creative Pedagogies and Collaboration: An Action Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuntz, Aaron M.; Presnall, Marni M.; Priola, Maria; Tilford, Amy; Ward, Rhiannon

2013-01-01

This action research study involves nine elementary school teacher-researchers, one university faculty member, and one graduate student engaged in developing creative pedagogical practices in one elementary school in an urban school in Alabama, USA. Participants found that a teacher's experience of agency and their ability to work creatively…

Developmental Advising for Marginalized Community College Students: An Action Research Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Terrica S.

2013-01-01

The purpose of this action research study was to understand, evaluate, and improve the developmental advising practices used at a Washington State community college. This action research study endeavored to strengthen the developmental advising model originally designed to support the college's marginalized students. Guiding questions for the…

Training in dissemination and implementation research: a field-wide perspective.

PubMed

Proctor, Enola K; Chambers, David A

2017-09-01

We report outcomes of an NIH-convened meeting on training for dissemination and implementation (D&I) research, focused on accelerating translation of research to healthcare practice. Participants included leaders of current trainings, center directors, and those trained in existing programs. Given the large proportion of D&I research focused on cancer control, mental health, and substance abuse, participants overwhelmingly reflected the experiences and challenges of gaining capacity in behavioral health-related D&I research. The 2-day meeting required participants to draw upon their experiences to help build a field-wide perspective for D&I research training, identify resources needed to support this perspective, and brainstorm gaps in training that needed to be filled. Questions were sent to participants in advance, and responses were synthesized and presented to discuss during the meeting. A preliminary "field-wide" perspective emerged, spanning multiple disciplines, training models, and career levels. Current programs face high demand, need for continued evolution to reflect field advances, and sustainability challenges. Current gaps include implementation practice and predoctoral training. Federal funding is key to D&I research training, be it through grants or agency-led training programs, in order to span and address specialized disease and disorder foci and career tracks.

Effectiveness of the implementation of an evidence-based nursing model using participatory action research in oncohematology: research protocol.

PubMed

Abad-Corpa, Eva; Meseguer-Liza, Cristobal; Martínez-Corbalán, José Tomás; Zárate-Riscal, Lourdes; Caravaca-Hernández, Amor; Paredes-Sidrach de Cardona, Antonio; Carrillo-Alcaraz, Andrés; Delgado-Hito, Pilar; Cabrero-García, Julio

2010-08-01

To generate changes in nursing practice introducing an evidence-based clinical practice (EBCP) model through a participatory process. To evaluate the effectiveness of the changes in terms of nurse-sensitive outcome (NSO). For international nursing science, it is necessary to explore the reasons for supporting EBCP and evaluate the real repercussions and effectiveness. A mixed methods study with a sequential transformative design will be conducted in the bone marrow transplant unit of a tertiary-level Spanish hospital, in two time periods >12 months (date of approval of the protocol: 2006). To evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention, we will use a prospective quasi-experimental design with two non-equivalent and non-concurrent groups. NSO and patient health data will be collected: (a) impact of psycho-social adjustment; (b) patient satisfaction; (c) symptom control; (d) adverse effects. All patients admitted during the period of time will be included, and all staff working on the unit during a participatory action research (PAR). The PAR design will be adopted from a constructivist paradigm perspective, following Checkland's "Soft Systems" theoretical model. Qualitative techniques will be used: 2-hour group meetings with nursing professionals, to be recorded and transcribed. Field diaries (participants and researchers) will be drawn up and data analysis will be carried out by content analysis. PAR is a rigorous research method for introducing changes into practice to improve NSO.

Improving emergency care pathways: an action research approach.

PubMed

Endacott, Ruth; Cooper, Simon; Sheaff, Rod; Padmore, Jacqueline; Blakely, Gillian

2011-03-01

Clinicians and managers across specialities are under pressure to review treatment and referral pathways to enable evidence-based practice, improve patient flow and provide a seamless service. This study outlines the processes and outcomes of an action research study conducted to reduce inappropriate attendances and unplanned pressures on Emergency Department (ED) staff in an English hospital during 2006-2008. Action research, comprising three action/reflection cycles conducted with participants, was used. Data were collected using retrospective patient record review (n=35,200) interviews with staff members (n=28), observation of patient pathways (n=38 patients) and measurement of team climate (n=31) with literature reviews also informing each cycle of data collection. ED attendance and hospital emergency admission data were largely similar to the national picture with regards to time/day of attendance and seasonal variation. However, in the 'adult majors' subgroup, mean attendance on a Monday was significantly higher than the rest of the week (p<0.001) and 36% were self-referrals. Observation data revealed that patients were informally assessed by reception staff and directed to majors or minors; this practice was replaced by reinstatement of triage. Patients identified as 'inappropriate' were managed inconsistently, irrespective of department workload. ED attendance decreased as the project progressed and the number of attendees resulting in hospital admission rose slightly. Study data suggest that inappropriate attendances decreased; however, data collection exposed gaps in the existing management information systems and inconsistencies in working practices in the ED. Action research can have a practical value besides contributing to knowledge.

From Reluctant Teacher to Empowered Teacher-Researcher: One Teacher's Journey toward Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Esposito, Jennifer; Smith, Shayla

2006-01-01

The focus of this paper will be one of the authors' transformation from reluctant teacher-researcher to empowered teacher-researcher. The authors will describe Shayla's journey through action research because it was this journey from circumspection to empowerment that strengthened her in ways that she had not foreseen or anticipated. It allowed…

The Importance of Early Experiences: Clinical, Research, and Policy Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zeanah, Charles H.

2009-01-01

The degree to which early adverse experiences exert long term effects on development and how much early adversity may be overcome through subsequent experiences are important mental health questions. The clinical, research and policy perspectives on these questions lead to different answers. From a clinical perspective, change is always possible,…

Critical Perspectives on Methodology in Pedagogic Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kahn, Peter

2015-01-01

The emancipatory dimension to higher education represents one of the sector's most compelling characteristics, but it remains important to develop understanding of the sources of determination that shape practice. Drawing on critical realist perspectives, we explore generative mechanisms by which methodology in pedagogic research affects the…

How did I not see that? Perspectives of nonconsumer mental health researchers on the benefits of collaborative research with consumers.

PubMed

Happell, Brenda; Gordon, Sarah; Bocking, Julia; Ellis, Pete; Roper, Cath; Liggins, Jackie; Platania-Phung, Chris; Scholz, Brett

2018-03-12

Coproduction of research between consumers of mental health services and nonconsumer mental health researchers is increasing. There is some research available describing consumer perspectives of this experience. However, there is a notable lack of research on other (nonconsumer) researcher experiences of and views about consumer involvement in coproduced research. A qualitative exploratory study was undertaken to examine perspectives of mental health researchers about consumer involvement in research. In-depth individual interviews were undertaken with 11 nonconsumer mental health researchers in Australia and New Zealand. Interview transcripts were analysed to identify major themes. There were three interacting themes: the salience of experiential difference, expanded learning, and enhanced research. The dynamic between different perspectives and learning had the effect of enhancing research across the spectrum of study phases and in ensuring research was of value to different groups. The findings emphasize the important contribution consumer researchers can make to mental health research by bringing their unique perspective and enhancing an environment of mutual learning. Findings also point to the need for foregrounding the numerous benefits of joint research between consumer and other researchers to enhance and improve clinical practice and the development of policy. © 2018 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.

A psychosocial approach in humanitarian forensic action: The Latin American perspective.

PubMed

Hofmeister, Ute; Navarro, Susana

2017-11-01

Forensic humanitarian action is aimed at alleviating suffering and maintaining human dignity, with the victims and their families at the core. International recommendations emphasize the importance of psychological support and psychosocial work as an integral part of forensic investigations into missing persons. Psychosocial action does not simply refer to emotional support but is based on the idea of the individual being the holder of rights, encouraging decision taking, affirming actions, and elaborating personal and collective histories. In this framework, forensics and psychosocial sciences need to work in complementary and coordinated interaction for the benefit of the families and communities. For forensic investigations to be restorative - their ultimate humanitarian objective - there are certain additional conditions apart from those of scientific quality and ethics: respect, information and coordination are among the main pillars for forensic action with a psychosocial approach, taking into account the need to treat on an individual and collective level the continuous psychological affectations caused by the disappearance of a loved one. On this basis, psychological and psychosocial accompaniment of the victims can contribute to the victims' healing process and also improve the forensic investigations themselves. This article, which is based on the experience of two decades of practical forensic and psychosocial work in the field, explains the main psychological effects of disappearances and the resulting needs. It gives a short historical overview of the origins and developments in psychosocial support and a perspective in relation to the search for missing persons and forensic interventions in Latin America. It goes on to demonstrate how coordinated interaction among the forensic and psychosocial fields strengthens both of them to the benefit of the affected families, groups and communities. Finally, it takes up some of the international recommendations

[Communication and citizenship empowerment in health care: a case of action-research in a polarized Venezuela].

PubMed

Nahón Serfaty, Isaac; Eid, Mahmoud

2015-07-01

An action-research project was implemented in Venezuela from 2009-2013 to empower social activists and patients in their fight against breast cancer (BC). The project was implemented in a context of high political and social polarization of the so-called «Bolivarian revolution». Based on an ecological perspective of health activism and communication, that encompasses the interpersonal, group and social levels, a series of activities were celebrated to develop the advocacy capabilities of citizens, especially women, expand the collaborative networks among different stakeholders, and promote a consensual view between social and institutional actors about a national response to fight BC. A horizontal and participatory communication allowed that the voice of usually marginalized actors was heard in the process of shaping health care policy.

Participatory Action Research and Environmental Learning: Implications for Resilient Forests and Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ballard, Heidi L.; Belsky, Jill M.

2010-01-01

How can a participatory approach to research promote environmental learning and enhance social-ecological systems resilience? Participatory action research (PAR) is an approach to research that its' supporters claim can foster new knowledge, learning, and action to support positive social and environmental change through reorienting the standard…

Critical Issues in Research Design in Action Research in an SME Development Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGrath, Helen; O'Toole, Thomas

2012-01-01

Purpose: The main aim of this paper is to develop guidelines on the critical issues to consider in research design in an action research (AR) environment for SME network capability development. Design/methodology/approach: The issues in research design for AR studies are developed from the authors' experience in running learning sets but, in…

Theme and Variations: One Middle School's Interpretation of Mandated Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sheridan-Thomas, Heather K.

2006-01-01

In the current climate of accountability, action research is one way for teachers to evaluate instructional changes designed to improve assessment results. It may become increasingly common for administrators to mandate teacher involvement in action research, yet few studies have been conducted in such settings. This article focuses on one middle…

The Case for Pedagogical Action Research in Psychology Learning and Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Norton, Lin

2014-01-01

It is just over 12 years since "Psychology Teaching Review"'s first Special Issue on action research psychology. In the guest editorial for that issue Lin Norton suggested that pedagogical action research can be controversial, and that for some academic psychologists it appears to be more than curriculum development rather than…

Theories on Drug Abuse: Selected Contemporary Perspectives. Research Monograph 30.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lettieri, Dan J., Ed.; And Others

This volume presents various theoretical orientations and perspectives of the drug abuse research field, derived from the social and biomedical sciences. The first section contains a separate theoretical overview for each of the 43 theories or perspectives. The second section contains five chapters which correspond to the five components of a drug…

Using Action Research to Foster Positive Social Values

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benton, Jean

2005-01-01

"Using Action Research to Foster Positive Social Values" provides teachers with a unique framework in which to consider classroom violence. It uses actual case studies and working models done through classroom research to produce more effective classrooms that foster positive social values. The author lays out a theoretical framework for: (1)…

Content Analysis of Master Theses and Dissertations Based on Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Durak, Gürhan; Yünkül, Eyup; Cankaya, Serkan; Akpinar, Sükran; Erten, Emine; Inam, Nazmiye; Taylan, Ufuk; Tastekin, Eray

2016-01-01

Action Research (AR) is becoming popular in the field of education, and according to literature, it could be stated that AR studies have positive influence on practice in education. The present study aims at conducting content analysis of action research (AR) master theses and doctoral dissertations submitted at the level of Turkish higher…

Authenticity, Aims and Authority: Navigating Youth Participatory Action Research in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubin, Beth C.; Ayala, Jennifer; Zaal, Mayida

2017-01-01

Motivated by the addition of a curriculum standard for active citizenship into New Jersey's social studies standards a group of educators and researchers set out to integrate an action research curriculum, based on a youth participatory action research (YPAR) model, into social studies classrooms. Adapting YPAR, with its promising blend of…

Teacher to Researcher: Reflections on a New Action Research Program for University EFL Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Anne; Westmacott, Anne

2018-01-01

One of the current challenges facing many universities is how to support teachers in becoming researchers. This article discusses the experiences at a small private Chilean university of a new action research programme that was developed as a vehicle for helping teachers to become involved in research and write a research publication for…

Teaching Action Research: The Role of Demographics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mcmurray, Adela J.

2006-01-01

This article summarizes a longitudinal study of employed MBA students with particular emphasis on findings involving their choice of action research model to implement personal and organizational change in their environment. A multi-method approach merging both quantitative and qualitative techniques was utilized. A questionnaire consisting of…

Towards a Collaborative Action Research in Spain to Improve Teaching Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fernández-Díaz, Elia; Calvo, Adelina; Rodríguez-Hoyos, Carlos

2014-01-01

This article describes a collaborative action research process in pre-school and primary education in Spain during a four-year period (2006-2010). The aim was the need to promote a level of reflection among the participants as to their teaching practice. The methodology used was a technologically mediated action research process. The results are…

Exploring Scientific, Artistic, Moral and Technical Reflection in Teacher Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luttenberg, Johan; Oolbekkink-Marchand, Helma; Meijer, Paulien

2018-01-01

Reflection in action research is a complicated matter because of the many domains of reflection and most significantly, the lack of understanding of these domains of reflection in action research and how these are supported. In this paper, we propose a framework based on four domains of reflection, namely, scientific, artistic, moral and technical…

Idea and Action: Action Research and the Development of Conceptual Change Teaching of Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tabachnick, B. Robert; Zeichner, Kenneth M.

1999-01-01

Describes and analyzes an action-research seminar for prospective elementary and secondary teachers in terms of how it facilitated prospective teachers' learning to teach for conceptual change. Contains 37 references. (Author/WRM)

Growth Hormone Research Society perspective on biomarkers of GH action in children and adults.

PubMed

Johannsson, Gudmundur; Bidlingmaier, Martin; Biller, Beverly M K; Boguszewski, Margaret; Casanueva, Felipe F; Chanson, Philippe; Clayton, Peter E; Choong, Catherine S; Clemmons, David; Dattani, Mehul; Frystyk, Jan; Ho, Ken; Hoffman, Andrew R; Horikawa, Reiko; Juul, Anders; Kopchick, John J; Luo, Xiaoping; Neggers, Sebastian; Netchine, Irene; Olsson, Daniel S; Radovick, Sally; Rosenfeld, Ron; Ross, Richard J; Schilbach, Katharina; Solberg, Paulo; Strasburger, Christian; Trainer, Peter; Yuen, Kevin C J; Wickstrom, Kerstin; Jorgensen, Jens O L

2018-03-01

The Growth Hormone Research Society (GRS) convened a Workshop in 2017 to evaluate clinical endpoints, surrogate endpoints and biomarkers during GH treatment of children and adults and in patients with acromegaly. GRS invited 34 international experts including clinicians, basic scientists, a regulatory scientist and physicians from the pharmaceutical industry. Current literature was reviewed and expert opinion was utilized to establish the state of the art and identify current gaps and unmet needs. Following plenary presentations, breakout groups discussed questions framed by the planning committee. The attendees re-convened after each breakout session to share the group reports. A writing team compiled the breakout session reports into a document that was subsequently discussed and revised by participants. This was edited further and circulated for final review after the meeting. Participants from pharmaceutical companies were not part of the writing process. The clinical endpoint in paediatric GH treatment is adult height with height velocity as a surrogate endpoint. Increased life expectancy is the ideal but unfeasible clinical endpoint of GH treatment in adult GH-deficient patients (GHDA) and in patients with acromegaly. The pragmatic clinical endpoints in GHDA include normalization of body composition and quality of life, whereas symptom relief and reversal of comorbidities are used in acromegaly. Serum IGF-I is widely used as a biomarker, even though it correlates weakly with clinical endpoints in GH treatment, whereas in acromegaly, normalization of IGF-I may be related to improvement in mortality. There is an unmet need for novel biomarkers that capture the pleiotropic actions of GH in relation to GH treatment and in patients with acromegaly. © 2018 Growth Hormone Research Society.

Towards a Reflection Repertoire: Using a Thinking Tool to Understand Tensions in an Action Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aas, Marit

2014-01-01

Most action researchers agree that action research consists of cycles of planning, acting, reflecting, and taking further action. However, in action research literature, there is something missing. The nature of reflection in the action research process, including its relationship with the tensions that arise while discussing purposes, processes,…

Community pharmacy as a setting for public health nutrition action: Australian nutritionists' perspectives.

PubMed

Maher, Judith H; Lowe, John; Hughes, Roger

2015-07-01

To explore public health nutritionists' perceptions of nutrition and its place in community pharmacy (CP) presently and into the future; and to explore perceived opportunities, feasibility and scope of public health nutrition (PHN) interventions in CP, with a focus on maternal and infant nutrition. Qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and drew on hermeneutics as the theoretical framework for analysis and interpretation. Queensland, Australia. Public health nutritionists, identified through purposive, criterion sampling, were chosen due to (i) their role as potential stakeholders, (ii) their knowledge and emphasis on nutrition and (iii) their practice experience. Opportunities for PHN action focused primarily on actions relating to early nutrient supplementation in pregnancy and breast-feeding protection and promotion. Opportunities in CP were constrained by practitioners' perception of (i) conflict between health care and commercial interests in CP, (ii) problematic practices in CP and (iii) values and motivations of practitioners and other stakeholders in the CP sector. Strategies were suggested to improve practices and enhance the setting from a PHN perspective. Participants suggested both collaborative and regulatory approaches to achieve settings-based changes, identifying the need for these to coexist for effective outcomes. Public health nutritionists suggest that opportunities for PHN action are constrained by perceived conflicted interests and that consumers need to be adequately protected from the influence of commercial interests. PHN action in this setting needs adequate reflection on evidence as well as ethics ensuring that practices are 'for the good' of mothers and infants.

Understanding Ethical Issues of Research Participation from the Perspective of Participating Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Broome, Marion E.

2017-01-01

Background The past twenty years have seen distinct shifts in the way the participation of children and adolescents in research is viewed. This has been emphasized by the growing pediatric research enterprise. Additional information on children’s and adolescents’ experiences during research participation is needed to better inform researchers on the ethical conduct of research with this vulnerable population. Aims The objective of this analysis was to examine ethical issues in research with children and adolescents from their perspective as participants, including: assent, parental consent, risk perception, impact of research participation, and incentives. Methods This systematic review was conducted per the Long et al. framework by means of an iterative searching process. Using the key words ‘research ethics’ and ‘child or pediatric or adolescent’, PubMed, CINAHL, and EBSCOhost databases were searched to identify articles. Limitations placed on the original searches were: English language, year of publication between 2003–2014, humans, abstract available, and age birth–18 years. Findings Twenty-three empiric studies were identified and formed the sample. Included studies represented a diverse range of areas of research, methods, settings, sample demographics, authors, and journals. Discussion Even young children demonstrated the ability to understand essential elements of research, although there is variability in children’s level of understanding. Trust was a significant contributing factor to children’s and adolescents’ participation in research, and also shaped their assessments of risk. Research participation was mainly beneficial for children and adolescents. Incentives were mainly viewed positively, although concerns of possible undue influence were expressed. Linking Evidence to Action This systematic review highlights the importance of including the perspectives of children and adolescents and provides researchers and nurse clinicians

Exploring the Experiences of Faculty-Led Teams in Conducting Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Qi; Amundsen, Cheryl

2015-01-01

Action research has been suggested as a useful way to support university faculty to improve teaching and learning. However, there seems to be little knowledge about how faculty (and those who work with them) experience the process of doing action research. In order to explore team members' in-depth experience about what they learned and how they…

Exploring Action Research as an Enduring Experience of Professional Development for Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hummel, Robin Ellen

2017-01-01

This study was an inquiry into the influence of action research on teachers' practice and an exploration of the idea that teaching is synonymous with learning. After 14 participants engaged in individual action research projects that were facilitated by the researcher, the qualitative method of narrative inquiry was used to gather data from the…

Action Research as a Practice-Based Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kemmis, Stephen

2009-01-01

Action research changes people's practices, their understandings of their practices, and the conditions under which they practice. It changes people's patterns of "saying", "doing" and "relating" to form new patterns--new ways of life. It is a meta-practice: a practice that changes other practices. It transforms the…

21 CFR 1301.32 - Action on applications for research in Schedule I substances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 9 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Action on applications for research in Schedule I... REGISTRATION OF MANUFACTURERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AND DISPENSERS OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES Action on Application for Registration: Revocation Or Suspension of Registration § 1301.32 Action on applications for research in...

Climate change effects on human health in a gender perspective: some trends in Arctic research.

PubMed

Natalia, Kukarenko

2011-01-01

Climate change and environmental pollution have become pressing concerns for the peoples in the Arctic region. Some researchers link climate change, transformations of living conditions and human health. A number of studies have also provided data on differentiating effects of climate change on women's and men's well-being and health. To show how the issues of climate and environment change, human health and gender are addressed in current research in the Arctic. The main purpose of this article is not to give a full review but to draw attention to the gaps in knowledge and challenges in the Arctic research trends on climate change, human health and gender. A broad literature search was undertaken using a variety of sources from natural, medical, social science and humanities. The focus was on the keywords. Despite the evidence provided by many researchers on differentiating effects of climate change on well-being and health of women and men, gender perspective remains of marginal interest in climate change, environmental and health studies. At the same time, social sciences and humanities, and gender studies in particular, show little interest towards climate change impacts on human health in the Arctic. As a result, we still observe the division of labour between disciplines, the disciplinary-bound pictures of human development in the Arctic and terminology confusion. Efforts to bring in a gender perspective in the Arctic research will be successful only when different disciplines would work together. Multidisciplinary research is a way to challenge academic/disciplinary homogeneity and their boundaries, to take advantage of the diversity of approaches and methods in production of new integrated knowledge. Cooperation and dialogue across disciplines will help to develop adequate indicators for monitoring human health and elaborating efficient policies and strategies to the benefit of both women and men in the Arctic. Global Health Action 2011. © 2011 Kukarenko

Moving Beyond a Deficit Perspective with Qualitative Research Methods.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anzul, Margaret; Evans, Judith F.; King, Rita; Tellier-Robinson, Dora

2001-01-01

Four researchers argue the merits of qualitative methodology and its particular relevance to those in special education who seek to move beyond a deficit perspective. Unconstrained by defined variables and decontextualized settings, qualitative methods allowed the researchers to extend the scope of their studies beyond originally stated research…

Identifying the Priorities and Practices of Virtual School Educators Using Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dawson, Kara; Dana, Nancy Fichtman; Wolkenhauer, Rachel; Krell, Desi

2013-01-01

This study examined the nature of thirty virtual educators' action research questions during a yearlong action research professional development experience within a large, state-funded virtual school. Virtual educators included instructional personnel (i.e., individuals responsible for teaching virtual courses) and noninstructional personnel…

Grasping the Agent’s Perspective: A Kinematics Investigation of Linguistic Perspective in Italian and German

PubMed Central

Gianelli, Claudia; Marzocchi, Michele; Borghi, Anna M.

2017-01-01

Every day, we primarily experience actions as agents, by having a concrete perspective on our actions, their means and goals. This peculiar perspective is what allows us to successfully plan and execute our actions in a dense social environment. Nevertheless, in this environment actions are also perceived from an observer’s perspective. Adopting such a perspective helps us to understand and respond to other’s people actions and their outcomes. Importantly, similar experiences of being agent and observer occur also when actions are not physically acted/perceived but are merely linguistically shared. In this paper we present two exploratory studies, one in Italian and one in German, in which we applied a direct comparison of three singular perspectives in combination with different verb categories. First, second and third person pronouns were combined with action and interaction verbs, i.e., verbs implying an interaction with an object – e.g., grasp – or an interaction with an object and another person – e.g., give. By means of kinematics recording, we analyzed participants’ reaching-grasping responses to a mouse while they were presented with the different combinations of linguistic stimuli (pronouns and verb type). Results of Experiment 1 on reaching show that, when they are preceded by YOU, interaction verbs reached the velocity peak earlier than action verbs, since a further motor act will follow. Thus pronouns influence perspective taking and while comprehending language we are sensitive to the motor chain organization of verbs. The absence of the same effects in Experiment 2 is likely due to the fact that, being the pronoun in German mandatory, it is perceived as less salient than in Italian. Overall our result supports the idea that language is grounded in the motor system in a flexible way, and highlights the need for cross-linguistic studies in the field of embodied language processing. PMID:28223947

Initiating Teachers' Action Research: Empowering Teachers' Voices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bognar, Branko

2013-01-01

The role of a teacher as an action researcher in Croatia is still insufficiently appreciated and promoted in initial teachers' training, school students learning and in the employed teachers' professional post-qualification development. In this country, teachers are most frequently perceived as mediators or technicians whose task is to prepare and…

Action Research Facilitated by University-School Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuan, Rui; Lee, Icy

2015-01-01

While Action Research (AR) is promoted as a powerful route for teachers' professional development, different contextual challenges may arise during the process; teachers may be helped to overcome these challenges with the guidance of external facilitators. Drawing on data from interviews and the teachers' AR reports, this article explores how two…

Indigenizing Teacher Education: An Action Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kitchen, Julian; Raynor, Marg

2013-01-01

This action research report focuses on a new elective course entitled "Indigenizing Education: Education for/about Aboriginal Peoples" that was developed and taught by two teacher educators--one Euro-Canadian and the other Metis. The purpose of the course was to increase understanding of Indigenous peoples and of the impact of…

Designing and Implementing Collaborative Improvement in the Extended Manufacturing Enterprise: Action Learning and Action Research (ALAR) in CO-IMPROVE

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coghlan, David; Coughlan, Paul

2006-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide a design and implementation framework for ALAR (action learning action research) programme which aims to address collaborative improvement in the extended manufacturing enterprise. Design/methodology/approach: This article demonstrates the design of a programme in which action learning and action…

Contributing Meaning to Research in Developmental Disabilities: Integrating Participatory Action and Methodological Rigor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powers, Laurie E.

2017-01-01

Action research approaches reflecting power sharing by academic and community researchers, full engagement of community partners across all study phases, and ongoing commitment to partnership and capacity building have been increasingly embraced, particularly in research affecting marginalized populations. Findings suggest action research…

Enhancing Students' Creative Writing Skills: An Action Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nasir, Laraib; Naqvi, Syeda Meenoo; Bhamani, Shelina

2013-01-01

This research aimed to improve written expression (composition) skills of 5th grade students of an elite private school. The research was designed under the paradigm of action research. A total sample of 39 students' from the same grade was chosen for the study. The baseline assessment was carried out to explore the pre-intervention writing skill…

Valuing Student Teachers' Perspectives: Researching Inclusively in Inclusive Education?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black-Hawkins, Kristine; Amrhein, Bettina

2014-01-01

This paper considers how engaging with the principles of inclusive research can enhance research studies that set out to understand the experiences of student teachers on initial teacher education programmes. It does so by describing the methodological development of an on-going study of student teachers' perspectives on working with diverse…

Building Capacity through Action Research Curricula Reviews

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Vanessa; Coombe, Leanne; Robinson, Priscilla

2015-01-01

In Australia, graduates of Master of Public Health (MPH) programmes are expected to achieve a set of core competencies, including a subset that is specifically related to Indigenous health. This paper reports on the methods utilised in a project which was designed using action research to strengthen Indigenous public health curricula within MPH…

Using Participatory Action Research to Address Absenteeism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ferrell, Elizabeth W.; Nance, Cara N.; Torres, Amanda L.; Torres, Selina M.

2014-01-01

Many urban high schools serving low-income families have below-average attendance rates, which can indicate that fewer students are prepared to matriculate into college and career opportunities. Through the use of participatory action research (PAR), we--a group of four educators at Wilson High School--have changed school policies and procedures…

When Action-Inaction Framing Leads to Higher Escalation of Commitment: A New Inaction-Effect Perspective on the Sunk-Cost Fallacy.

PubMed

Feldman, Gilad; Wong, Kin Fai Ellick

2018-04-01

Escalation of commitment to a failing course of action occurs in the presence of (a) sunk costs, (b) negative feedback that things are deviating from expectations, and (c) a decision between escalation and de-escalation. Most of the literature to date has focused on sunk costs, yet we offer a new perspective on the classic escalation-of-commitment phenomenon by focusing on the impact of negative feedback. On the basis of the inaction-effect bias, we theorized that negative feedback results in the tendency to take action, regardless of what that action may be. In four experiments, we demonstrated that people facing escalation-decision situations were indeed action oriented and that framing escalation as action and de-escalation as inaction resulted in a stronger tendency to escalate than framing de-escalation as action and escalation as inaction (mini-meta-analysis effect d = 0.37, 95% confidence interval = [0.21, 0.53]).

Introducing a new COST Action: ES1306: Connecting European Connectivity Research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keesstra, Saskia; Cerda, Artemi; Parsons, Tony; Vericat, Damià; Wainwright, John; Heckmann, Tobias; Mueller, Eva; Poeppl, Ronald; Brazier, Richard; Nunes, Joao; Brardinoni, Francesco; Marques, Maria Jose

2014-05-01

In November 2013 a new COST Action entitled 'Connecting European Connectivity Research' was approved by the European Union. This Action aims to connect researchers across Europe (and beyond) that study the concept of water and sediment connectivity. Successful prediction of pathways of storm runoff generation and associated soil erosion is of considerable societal importance, including off-site impacts such as water quality and the provision of related ecosystem services. Recently, the role of connectivity in controlling runoff and erosion has received significant and increasing scientific attention, though in a disparate and uncoordinated way. There is a wealth of experience and expertise in connectivity across Europe that could be harnessed to ensure that the potential already demonstrated in key studies can be more widely fulfilled; to move forward along agreed lines and identify emerging goals, and to benefit from cross-fertilization of ideas from the fields of Hydrology, Soil Science, Geomorphology and Ecology. The key benefit of this Action will be to establish connectivity as a research paradigm. The Action will then permit transfer of current understanding into useable science, by developing it's conceptual basis and transferring it into a series of monitoring and modelling tools that will provide the platform for indices that will inform holistic management of catchment systems. In this presentation we want to show you the planned actions of this new COST Action.

Academic Librarians and Research: A Study of Canadian Library Administrator Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berg, Selinda Adelle; Jacobs, Heidi L. M.; Cornwall, Dayna

2013-01-01

Within the literature exploring the role of research in academic librarianship, very little attention has been paid to the perspectives of upper library administrators. This perspective is critical because library administrators play a key role in hiring, evaluating, supporting, promoting, and tenuring professional librarians. As a way of bringing…

A Perspective on Research Challenges in Information Security

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-11-01

UNCLASSIFIED A Perspective on Research Challenges in Information Security Tamas Abraham, David Adie, Angela Billard, Paul Buckland, Michael Frangos ...Abstract (U) 4. AUTHORS Tamas Abraham, David Adie, Angela Billard, Paul Buckland, Michael Frangos , Ben Long, Mar- tin Lucas, Paul Montague, Dean Philp

A Signature Pedagogy for Leadership Education: Preparing Principals through Participatory Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sappington, Neil; Baker, Paul J.; Gardner, Dianne; Pacha, Joe

2010-01-01

This study proposes participatory action research as a signature pedagogy for principal preparation programs. Signature pedagogies bring professional knowledge and core values together in distinctive teaching and learning arrangements. A rationale and learning results are presented that describe key components of action research intended to help…

Black Education: A Transformative Research and Action Agenda for the New Century

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, Joyce E., Ed.

2005-01-01

This volume presents the findings and recommendations of the American Educational Research Association's (AERA) Commission on Research in Black Education (CORIBE) and offers new directions for research and practice. By commissioning an independent group of scholars of diverse perspectives and voices to investigate major issues hindering the…

Co-Teaching an Online Action Research Class

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilson, Brent G.; Linder VanBerschot, Jennifer

2014-01-01

Two instructors report our experience co-teaching an action research (AR) required as part of an e-learning master's degree. Adopting a practice-centered stance we focus on the course activities of participants (instructors and students), with particular attention to the careful crafting of course elements with the goal of achieving an…

Conceptualizing Indicator Domains for Evaluating Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piggot-Irvine, Eileen; Rowe, Wendy; Ferkins, Lesley

2015-01-01

The focus of this paper is to share thinking about meta-level evaluation of action research (AR), and to introduce indicator domains for assessing and measuring inputs, outputs and outcomes. Meta-level and multi-site evaluation has been rare in AR beyond project implementation and participant satisfaction. The paper is the first of several…

Participatory action research: considerations for ethical review.

PubMed

Khanlou, N; Peter, E

2005-05-01

This paper addresses the distinctive nature of participatory action research (PAR) in relation to ethical review requirements. As a framework for conducting research and reducing health disparities, PAR is gaining increased attention in community and public health research. As a result, PAR researchers and members of Research Ethics Boards could benefit from an increased understanding of the array of ethical concerns that can arise. We discuss these concerns in light of commonly held ethical requirements for clinical research (social or scientific value, scientific validity, fair subject/participant selection, favourable risk-benefit ratio, independent review, informed consent, and respect for potential and enrolled participants) and refer to guidelines specifically developed for participatory research in health promotion. We draw from our community-based experiences in mental health promotion research with immigrant and culturally diverse youth to illustrate the ethical advantages and challenges of applying a PAR approach. We conclude with process suggestions for Research Ethics Boards.

Utilizing Action Research to Improve Counseling Education Course Work for Culturally Diverse Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Vries, Sabina; McDonald, Deirdre; Mayorga, Mary G.

2017-01-01

This article informs counselor educators and psychologists on how to utilize action research to evaluate diverse students, course work, and to improve classroom instruction. A paucity exists in research investigating educational needs of diverse counseling students. The present action research study examined educational experiences of diverse…

Integrating Geospatial Technologies, Action Research, and Curriculum Theory to Promote Ecological Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agnello, Mary Frances; Carpenter, Penny

2010-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine and report on the impact of integrating geospatial technology and ecological literacy into an educational leadership Master's class block comprised of action research and curriculum theory. Design/methodology/approach: Action and teacher research informed by environmental issues framed an action…

The Contribution of Pragmatism to Understanding Educational Action Research: Value and Consequences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hammond, Michael

2013-01-01

This paper argues that action research finds a rationale in the pragmatic position that knowledge is provisional and generated through a transaction between agent and environment. Action research finds a further methodological rationale in the pragmatic view that knowledge is generated within indeterminate situations, requires habits of reflection…

Literate Bodies: Multigenerational Participatory Action Research and Embodied Methodologies as Critical Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fox, Madeline

2012-01-01

The recent study Polling for Justice (PFJ) used a multigenerational participatory action research approach with embodied methodologies to document youth experiences of education, criminal justice, and public health in New York City. Through an exploration of the PFJ project, this column demonstrates how participatory action research and embodied…

Integral Methodological Pluralism in Science Education Research: Valuing Multiple Perspectives

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Nancy T.; Callihan, Laurie P.

2013-01-01

This article examines the multiple methodologies used in educational research and proposes a model that includes all of them as contributing to understanding educational contexts and research from multiple perspectives. The model, based on integral theory (Wilber in a theory of everything. Shambhala, Boston, 2000) values all forms of research as…

Discomfort as a Means of Pre-Service Teachers' Professional Development--An Action Research as Part of the "Research Literacy" Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Amir, Aliza; Mandler, Daphna; Hauptman, Sara; Gorev, Dvora

2017-01-01

This paper focus on defining a research question while conducting action research among third-year students attending a course on Research Literacy at a teacher education college. This paper discusses the process of preparing for and conducting action research among third-year students attending a course on Research Literacy at a teacher education…

Is There an "F" in Your PAR? Understanding, Teaching and Doing Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lorenzetti, Liza; Walsh, Christine Ann

2014-01-01

Participatory Action Research (PAR) is increasingly recognized within academic research and pedagogy. What are the benefits of including feminism within participatory action research and teaching? In responding to this question, we discuss the similarities and salient differences between PAR and feminist informed PAR (FPAR). There are eight themes…

Applications of Participatory Action Research with Students Who Have Disabilities. ERIC/OSEP Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Warger, Cynthia; Burnette, Jane

This brief paper defines participatory action research, reviews the literature on its use, and offers examples of how researchers and practitioners are applying principles of participatory action research data to select effective practices and support change and innovation in schools. Generation of data-based strategies in natural environments is…

"I'm Not so Sure…": Teacher Educator Action Research into Uncertainty

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rogers, Carrie

2016-01-01

Using a framework of uncertainty that is informed by Hannah Arendt's philosophy this four-semester action research project describes the creation and analysis of an assignment that allows teacher candidates to explore their own uncertainties in regards to the teaching profession. This action research project examines the assignment and its…

Transformative Change in Higher Education through Participatory Action Research: A Capabilities Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Melanie; Loots, Sonja

2018-01-01

As a methodological approach, participatory action research (PAR), and its variant of critical action research in education, aims to further social justice and generate transformative change. Although this understanding of PAR is well rehearsed, there is still a gap in detailed explorations of the transformative impact of PAR projects in higher…

Action, Interaction, and Transaction: Three Means of Viewing the Communication "World."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eadie, William F.

Three philosophical perspectives on communication research are identified, described, and compared. First, communication of "action," a one-way approach, is a type of "cybernetic" theory of communication involving observation and experience in developing patterns of communication performance. It is simplistic, has a weak capacity for replication…

[Modification of nursing practice through reflection: participatory action research].

PubMed

Delgado Hito, P; Sola Prado, A; Mirabete Rodríguez, I; Torrents Ros, R; Blasco Afonso, M; Barrero Pedraza, R; Catalá Gil, N; Mateos Dávila, A; Quinteiro Canedo, M

2001-01-01

Technology and complex techniques are inevitably playing an increasing role in intensive care units. They continue to characterize nursing care and in some cases dehumanize it. The general aim of this study was to stimulate reflection on nursing care. The study was based on the participation of the investigators with the goal of producing changes in nursing practice. Qualitative methodology in the form of participatory action research and the Kemmis and McTaggart method were used. Data were collected through systematic observation, seven group meetings and document analysis. Eight nurses took part in the study. The meetings were recorded and transcribed verbatim into a computer. This process and the meaning of the verbatim transcription (codification/categorization process and document synthesis cards) were analyzed. The results of this study enabled exploration of the change in nursing practice and showed that the reflection in action method stimulates changes in practice. The new way of conceiving nursing action has increased nursing care quality and its humanization since it shows greater respect for the patient, provides families with closer contact and greater support, improves coordination of nursing care acts and increases collaboration among professionals.In conclusion, participatory action research is a valid and appropriate method that nurses can use to modify their daily practice.

Intentionality and Developing Researcher Competence on a UK Master's Course: An Ecological Perspective on Research Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stelma, Juup; Fay, Richard

2014-01-01

This paper presents an ecological perspective on the developing researcher competence of participants in the research education component of a professionally oriented master's course. There is a particular focus on the intentionality (as in "purpose") of the participants' research education activity. The data used to develop the…

21 CFR 1301.32 - Action on applications for research in Schedule I substances.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 9 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Action on applications for research in Schedule I... Registration: Revocation Or Suspension of Registration § 1301.32 Action on applications for research in Schedule I substances. (a) In the case of an application for registration to conduct research with...

Teacher Identity Development through Action Research: A Chinese Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuan, Rui; Burns, Anne

2017-01-01

This study explores how two language teachers constructed and reconstructed their professional identities through their action research (AR) facilitated by university researchers in China. Informed by the theory of 'community of practice', the findings of the study show that AR exerted a transformative impact on the teachers' identity development.…

Sociocultural Research on Mathematics Education: An International Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Atweh, Bill, Ed.; Forgasz, Helen, Ed.; Nebres, Ben, Ed.

This book, based on research on sociocultural aspects of mathematics education, presents contemporary and international perspectives on social justice and equity issues that impact mathematics education. In particular, it highlights the importance of three interacting and powerful factors--gender, social, and cultural dimensions. The book is…

The Role of Action Research in Empowering Teachers to Change Their Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradley-Levine, Jill; Smith, Joshua; Carr, Kari

2009-01-01

Universities need to work with teachers to dispel the belief that research is disconnected from practice and teachers must be open to the benefits of action inquiry. This study examined the process and impact of conducting action research on teachers' perceptions of practice and professionalism. Twelve teachers enrolled in a master's level course…

Data management in clinical research: Synthesizing stakeholder perspectives.

PubMed

Johnson, Stephen B; Farach, Frank J; Pelphrey, Kevin; Rozenblit, Leon

2016-04-01

This study assesses data management needs in clinical research from the perspectives of researchers, software analysts and developers. This is a mixed-methods study that employs sublanguage analysis in an innovative manner to link the assessments. We performed content analysis using sublanguage theory on transcribed interviews conducted with researchers at four universities. A business analyst independently extracted potential software features from the transcriptions, which were translated into the sublanguage. This common sublanguage was then used to create survey questions for researchers, analysts and developers about the desirability and difficulty of features. Results were synthesized using the common sublanguage to compare stakeholder perceptions with the original content analysis. Individual researchers exhibited significant diversity of perspectives that did not correlate by role or site. Researchers had mixed feelings about their technologies, and sought improvements in integration, interoperability and interaction as well as engaging with study participants. Researchers and analysts agreed that data integration has higher desirability and mobile technology has lower desirability but disagreed on the desirability of data validation rules. Developers agreed that data integration and validation are the most difficult to implement. Researchers perceive tasks related to study execution, analysis and quality control as highly strategic, in contrast with tactical tasks related to data manipulation. Researchers have only partial technologic support for analysis and quality control, and poor support for study execution. Software for data integration and validation appears critical to support clinical research, but may be expensive to implement. Features to support study workflow, collaboration and engagement have been underappreciated, but may prove to be easy successes. Software developers should consider the strategic goals of researchers with regard to the

Research as Discovery, Teaching as Trust: Developing New Perspectives through Teacher Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blumenreich, Megan; Rodriguez, Rafaela

2016-01-01

This paired-format article describes how one of the authors (Rodriguez) undertook a teacher research study of homework in the urban first-grade classroom in which she was a paraprofessional. Her findings influenced her to broaden her perspective on homework. Her graduate professor (Blumenreich) discusses the challenge of supporting a student to…

Space Weather Research: Indian perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhardwaj, Anil; Pant, Tarun Kumar; Choudhary, R. K.; Nandy, Dibyendu; Manoharan, P. K.

2016-12-01

Space weather, just like its meteorological counterpart, is of extreme importance when it comes to its impact on terrestrial near- and far-space environments. In recent years, space weather research has acquired an important place as a thrust area of research having implications both in space science and technology. The presence of satellites and other technological systems from different nations in near-Earth space necessitates that one must have a comprehensive understanding not only of the origin and evolution of space weather processes but also of their impact on technology and terrestrial upper atmosphere. To address this aspect, nations across the globe including India have been investing in research concerning Sun, solar processes and their evolution from solar interior into the interplanetary space, and their impact on Earth's magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere system. In India, over the years, a substantial amount of work has been done in each of these areas by various agencies/institutions. In fact, India has been, and continues to be, at the forefront of space research and has ambitious future programs concerning these areas encompassing space weather. This review aims at providing a glimpse of this Indian perspective on space weather research to the reader and presenting an up-to-date status of the same.

Participatory action research: involving students in parent education.

PubMed

Fowler, Cathrine; Wu, Cynthia; Lam, Winsome

2014-01-01

Competition for scarce clinical placements has increased requiring new and innovative models to be developed to meet the growing need. A participatory action research project was used to provide a community nursing clinical experience of involvement in parent education. Nine Hong Kong nursing students self-selected to participate in the project to implement a parenting program called Parenting Young Children in a Digital World. Three project cycles were used: needs identification, skills development and program implementation. Students were fully involved in each cycle's planning, action and reflection phase. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected to inform the project. The overall outcome of the project was the provision of a rich and viable clinical placement experience that created significant learning opportunities for the students and researchers. This paper will explore the student's participation in this PAR project as an innovative clinical practice opportunity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Action Researchers Encountering Ethical Review: A Literature Synthesis on Challenges and Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fouché, Christa B.; Chubb, Laura A.

2017-01-01

Action research (AR) comprises a diverse family of methodologies. Common amongst most types of AR are both an emergent design--leading to action or change--and participation or community involvement. While this type of research has expanded considerably since the early 2000s, the criteria used for ethical review have apparently been slow to adapt…

Action Research on the Application of Variation Theory in Mathematics Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bragg, Leicha A.

2017-01-01

This article reports on action research that was undertaken while teaching a mathematics education subject to a series of cohorts of final-year primary pre-service teachers at a university in Australia. My aim was to increase the understanding of an assessment task, as well as its intrinsic value. Each action research cycle involved the…

Defining Health Research for Development: The perspective of stakeholders from an international health research partnership in Ghana and Tanzania.

PubMed

Ward, Claire Leonie; Shaw, David; Anane-Sarpong, Evelyn; Sankoh, Osman; Tanner, Marcel; Elger, Bernice

2017-05-03

The study uses a qualitative empirical method to define Health Research for Development. This project explores the perspectives of stakeholders in an international health research partnership operating in Ghana and Tanzania. We conducted 52 key informant interviews with major stakeholders in an international multicenter partnership between GlaxoSmithKline (GSK, Vaccine Developer) and the global health nonprofit organisation PATH and its Malaria Vaccine Initiative program (PATH/MVI, Funder-Development Partner), (RTS, S) (NCT00866619). The respondents included teams from four clinical research centres (two centres in Ghana and two in Tanzania) and various collaborating partners. This paper analyses responses to the question: What is Health Research for Development? Based on the stakeholders' experience the respondents offered many ways of defining Health Research for Development. The responses fell into four broad themes: i) Equitable Partnerships; ii) System Sustainability; iii) Addressing Local Health Targets, and iv) Regional Commitment to Benefit Sharing. Through defining Health Research for Development six key learning points were generated from the four result themes: 1) Ensure there is local research leadership working with the collaborative partnership, and local healthcare system, to align the project agenda and activities with local research and health priorities; 2) Know the country-specific context - map the social, health, legislative and political setting; 3) Define an explicit development component and plan of action in a research project; 4) Address the barriers and opportunities to sustain system capacity. 5) Support decentralised health system decision-making to facilitate the translation pathway; 6) Govern, monitor and evaluate the development components of health research partnerships. Overall, equity and unity between partners are required to deliver health research for development. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Studying Studies on Teacher Reflection and Action: An Appraisal of Research Contributions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marcos, Juan Jose Mena; Tillema, Harm

2006-01-01

For decades a substantial body of research on teacher reflection and action has been conducted. This research contains a wealth of information on teachers' thinking about their daily work in classrooms. But what do these studies tell us about the linkage between thought and action in actual teaching? How do they contribute to our understanding, or…

An Investigation of Preschool Teachers' Ways of Seeing Action Research Using Phenomenography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lam, Ho Cheong

2016-01-01

One of the purposes of introducing the use of action research in schools is to bring about educational change in policy and practice. To make this happen, it is of paramount importance to look into how teachers actually see action research. We, the writers of this paper, are teacher educators, teaching preschool teachers courses related to action…

Exploring the Connections between Action Research and Teacher Leadership: A Reflection on Teacher-Leader Research for Confronting New Challenges

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolkenhauer, Rachel; Hill, Ashley Pennypacker; Dana, Nancy Fichtman; Stukey, Marisa

2017-01-01

This reflective article examines the relationship between teachers' engagement in action research and their ability to lead within their schools. As part of "The New Educator's" special issue, "Developing an Inquiry Stance toward Instructional Improvement: Teacher-Leader Action Research," this article demonstrates the…

Participatory Action Research and Its Meanings: Vivencia, Praxis, Conscientization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glassman, Michael; Erdem, Gizem

2014-01-01

This article traces the development of the "second" and arguably more well-known "genre" of participatory action research (PAR). The article argues that the origins of PAR are highly distributed and cannot really be traced back to the ideas of a single person or even a single group of researchers. Instead, the development of…

Pathways to Co-Impact: Action Research and Community Organising

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Banks, Sarah; Herrington, Tracey; Carter, Kath

2017-01-01

This article introduces the concept of "co-impact" to characterise the complex and dynamic process of social and economic change generated by participatory action research (PAR). It argues that dominant models of research impact tend to see it as a linear process, based on a donor-recipient model, occurring at the end of a project…

Values-Based Self-Reflective Action Research for Promoting Gender Equality: Some Unexpected Lessons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wood, Lesley

2014-01-01

The idea of using values as a means of guiding our research decisions and judging the validity of our claims of knowledge is well established in literature on the self-reflective genre of action research. Values in action research should always result in virtuous behaviour--to promote the general social good. However, ideas of what constitutes the…

Community action research track: Community-based participatory research and service-learning experiences for medical students.

PubMed

Gimpel, Nora; Kindratt, Tiffany; Dawson, Alvin; Pagels, Patti

2018-04-01

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and service-learning are unique experiential approaches designed to train medical students how to provide individualized patient care from a population perspective. Medical schools in the US are required to provide support for service-learning and community projects. Despite this requirement, few medical schools offer structured service-learning. We developed the Community Action Research Track (CART) to integrate population medicine, health promotion/disease prevention and the social determinants of health into the medical school curriculum through CBPR and service-learning experiences. This article provides an overview of CART and reports the program impact based on students' participation, preliminary evaluations and accomplishments. CART is an optional 4‑year service-learning experience for medical students interested in community health. The curriculum includes a coordinated longitudinal program of electives, community service-learning and lecture-based instruction. From 2009-2015, 146 CART students participated. Interests in public health (93%), community service (73%), primary care (73%), CBPR (60%) and community medicine (60%) were the top reasons for enrolment. Significant improvements in mean knowledge were found when measuring the principles of CBPR, levels of prevention, determining health literacy and patient communication strategies (all p's < 0.05). Most students (73%) were satisfied with CART. Projects were disseminated by at least 65 posters and four oral presentations at local, national and international professional meetings. Six manuscripts were published in peer-reviewed journals. CART is an innovative curriculum for training future physicians to be community-responsive physicians. CART can be replicated by other medical schools interested in offering a longitudinal CBPR and service-learning track in an urban metropolitan setting.

Cultivating the power of partnerships in feminist participatory action research in women's health.

PubMed

Ponic, Pamela; Reid, Colleen; Frisby, Wendy

2010-12-01

Feminist participatory action research integrates feminist theories and participatory action research methods, often with the explicit intention of building community-academic partnerships to create new forms of knowledge to inform women's health. Despite the current pro-partnership agenda in health research and policy settings, a lack of attention has been paid to how to cultivate effective partnerships given limited resources, competing agendas, and inherent power differences. Based on our 10+ years individually and collectively conducting women's health and feminist participatory action research, we suggest that it is imperative to intentionally develop power-with strategies in order to avoid replicating the power imbalances that such projects seek to redress. By drawing on examples from three of our recent feminist participatory action projects we reflect on some of the tensions and complexities of attempting to cultivate power-with research partnerships. We then offer skills and resources needed by academic researchers to effectively harness the collective resources, agendas, and knowledge that each partner brings to the table. We suggest that investing in the process of cultivating power-with research partnerships ultimately improves our collective ability to understand and address women's health issues. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

How action researchers use anxiety to facilitate change in health care.

PubMed

Evans, Nicola; Hopkinson, Jane

2016-06-01

The aim of this paper is to report on the role of an action researcher in a study investigating the change process in a health service context where a new assessment clinic was developed to manage the excessive waiting list for that service. For effective organisational change in health, there is a suggestion that change agents need to be emotionally intelligent; recognising the emotional state of individuals, reconciling that with the organisational drivers and making an assessment of readiness for organisational change. Anxiety features throughout this literature and there is a suggestion that being aware of anxiety and managing anxiety is within the emotionally intelligent change agent's repertoire, but there is a gap in the literature that explains this relationship in detail. Data were generated to investigate the discrete nature of the role of the action researcher during this organisational change that spanned two years, through three methods: participant observations in the field captured in field notes (n = 72); observations of team meetings that had been recorded and transcribed (n = 13); interviews with key informants pre- and postintervention (n = 14); a reflexive diary one document of 8920 words (n = 1). The data illuminating the interaction between the action researcher and participants were synthesised into two broad themes: how the action researcher introduced anxiety into the system; how the action researcher facilitated the participants to tolerate change anxiety. The findings from this study can be applied in clinical practice where change in practice is planned. Part of the requirement of a change agent in the NHS might be to be sufficiently emotionally literate to understand anxiety in the participant system and manage it to effect change. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Putting the Politics of Research with Animals in Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horton, Larry

1988-01-01

A discussion of the relationship of politics and the welfare of research animals looks at the nineteenth-century history of the issue, current activism in Europe, recent legislative and political action in the United States, and the position of the biomedical community, and provides guidelines for political action. (MSE)

Planning for Action Research: Looking at Practice through a Different Lens

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hahn, Heidi A.

2012-08-03

It has been my experience that behavioral science practitioners, including myself, often 'back into' action research. That is, we start out doing a process improvement or intervention and discover something along the way - generalizable knowledge - that seems worthwhile to share with our community of practice. What if, instead of looking at these projects from the point of view of practitioners, we looked at them as research from the outset? Would that change the outcome or generate additional knowledge? This paper compares and contrasts process improvement and action research methods, and illustrates how use of a research 'lens' canmore » enhance behavioral science interventions and the knowledge that may result from them.« less

Emotions and Reflexivity in Feminised Education Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burman, Erica

2006-01-01

The paper addresses contemporary relations between emotions, gender and feminist action research. Starting from analysis of the increasing emotionalisation of everyday life, it explores the quasi-feminist--or what the author calls "feminised"--forms of incitement to reflexive confession that are increasingly gaining favour within professional and…

How to Ensure Ethicality of Action Research in the Classroom?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peltokorpi, Eeva-Liisa; Määttä, Kaarina; Uusiautti, Satu

2012-01-01

During the past few years, child research has increased both when it comes to various disciplines and various methods. The purpose of this article is to discuss those common, special ethical viewpoints that the researcher has to take into consideration when conducting action research in the classroom. The article is based on the…

Action Research: An Educational Leader's Guide to School Improvement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glanz, Jeffrey

Useful as a classroom text and self-teaching tool, this book outlines the process of designing and reporting action research projects in schools. The underlying assumption of the book is that research is not a domain that belongs only to academics, but is a powerful approach that can be used by practitioners to contribute to school renewal and…

[Research of RAAS: progress and perspective].

PubMed

Akazawa, Hiroshi; Komuro, Issei

2012-09-01

Pharmacological inhibitions of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) are crowned with one of the greatest success in the current field of cardiovascular medicine. In addition to the systemic effects including elevation of blood pressure and retention of sodium and water, sustained and excessive RAAS activation has direct and deleterious effects on a wide variety of tissues. Recent studies have deciphered the regulatory mechanisms underlying tissue RAAS activation at cellular and molecular levels, and suggested pathogenic roles of RAAS activation in hitherto unanticipated disorders such as muscular dystrophy, osteoporosis, cancer, and aging itself. Novel drugs targeting RAAS are under research and development in search for further efficacy, specificity, and even multifunctionality. This review will discuss the current progress and future perspective of RAAS research.

Linking Participatory Action Research, Global Education, and Social Justice: Emerging Issues from Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaukko, Mervi; Fertig, Michael

2016-01-01

This article focuses on the practical, ontological, and epistemological similarities and differences between global education and participatory action research (PAR). The paper starts by presenting classical definitions of action research, highlighting their similarities with the ideas of global education. Considering the aim of global education…

Research Participation as Work: Comparing the Perspectives of Researchers and Economically Marginalized Populations

PubMed Central

Page, Kimberly

2012-01-01

We examined the historical and regulatory framework of research with human participants in the United States, and described some possible unintended consequences of this framework in the context of paying young injection drug users for their time participating in behavioral and medical research. We drew upon our own experiences while conducting a long-running epidemiological study of hepatitis C virus infection. We found that existing ethical and regulatory framings of research participation may lead to injustices from the perspectives of research participants. We propose considering research participation as a specialized form of work and the use of community advisory boards to facilitate discussion about appropriate compensation for research participation among economically marginalized populations. PMID:22594754

Action Research Projects in Pre-Service Teacher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clayton, Courtney; Meadows, George

2013-01-01

Classroom-centered Action Research Projects are an integral component of the M.S. in Elementary Education Program at the University's (pseudonym) College of Education. This article provides a summary and discussion of the projects completed by students in the Science, Technology, Literacy and English Language Learner Specializations of the…

Montage: Improvising in the Land of Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Windle, Sheila; Sefton, Terry

2011-01-01

This paper and its appended multi-media production describe the rationale and process of creating and presenting a "digitally saturated" (Lankshear & Knobel, 2003), multi-layered, synchronous "montage" (Denzin & Lincoln, 2003) of educational Action Research findings. The authors contend that this type of presentation, arising from the fusion of…

Carrying Out Collaborative Action Research in a Practicum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ho, Belinda

2013-01-01

To help in-service English teachers improve their teaching practices and pupils' learning opportunities through an enquiry-oriented and cooperative approach, the author carried out collaborative action research during a practicum in a teacher education course at a university in Hong Kong. This article describes how the collaborative research…

Action Research as Instructional Supervision: Suggestions for Principals

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glanz, Jeffrey

2005-01-01

Supervision based on collaboration, participative decision making, and reflective practice is the hallmark of a viable school improvement program that is designed to promote teaching and learning. Action research has gradually emerged as an important form of instructional supervision to engage teachers in reflective practice about their teaching…

Realising dignity in care home practice: an action research project.

PubMed

Gallagher, Ann; Curtis, Katherine; Dunn, Michael; Baillie, Lesley

2017-06-01

More than 400,000 older people reside in over 18,000 care homes in England. A recent social care survey found up to 50% of older people in care homes felt their dignity was undermined. Upholding the dignity of older people in care homes has implications for residents' experiences and the role of Registered Nurses. The study aimed to explore how best to translate the concept of dignity into care home practice, and how to support this translation process by enabling Registered Nurses to provide ethical leadership within the care home setting. Action research with groups of staff (Registered Nurses and non-registered caregivers) and groups of residents and relatives in four care homes in the south of England to contribute to the development of the dignity toolkit. Action research groups were facilitated by 4 researchers (2 in each care home) to discuss dignity principles and experiences within care homes. These groups reviewed and developed a dignity toolkit over six cycles of activity (once a month for 6 months). The Registered Nurses were individually interviewed before and after the activity. Hard copy and online versions of a dignity toolkit, with tailored versions for participating care homes, were developed. Registered Nurses and caregivers identified positive impact of making time for discussion about dignity-related issues. Registered Nurses identified ongoing opportunities for using their toolkit to support all staff. Nurses and caregivers expressed feelings of empowerment by the process of action research. The collaborative development of a dignity toolkit within each care home has the potential to enable ethical leadership by Registered Nurses that would support and sustain dignity in care homes. Action research methods empower staff to maintain dignity for older people within the care home setting through the development of practically useful toolkits to support everyday care practice. Providing opportunities for caregivers to be involved in such

Motivating an Action Design Research Approach to Implementing Online Training in an Organisational Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rogerson, Christine; Scott, Elsje

2013-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of Action Design Research (ADR), a combination of Action Research and Design Science Research, as a methodology to examine how the implementation of e-learning will affect the learning outcomes for staff training in an organisational context. The research involves an intervention in the…

Informatics in clinical research in oncology: current state, challenges, and a future perspective.

PubMed

Chahal, Amar P S

2011-01-01

The informatics landscape of clinical trials in oncology has changed significantly in the last 10 years. The current state of the infrastructure for clinical trial management, execution, and data management is reviewed. The systems, their functionality, the users, and the standards available to researchers are discussed from the perspective of the oncologist-researcher. Challenges in complexity and in the processing of information are outlined. These challenges include the lack of communication and information-interchange between systems, the lack of simplified standards, and the lack of implementation and adherence to the standards that are available. The clinical toxicology criteria from the National Cancer Institute (CTCAE) are cited as a successful standard in oncology, and HTTP on the Internet is referenced for its simplicity. Differences in the management of information standards between industries are discussed. Possible future advances in oncology clinical research informatics are addressed. These advances include strategic policy review of standards and the implementation of actions to make standards free, ubiquitous, simple, and easily interpretable; the need to change from a local data-capture- or transaction-driven model to a large-scale data-interpretation model that provides higher value to the oncologist and the patient; and the need for information technology investment in a readily available digital educational model for clinical research in oncology that is customizable for individual studies. These new approaches, with changes in information delivery to mobile platforms, will set the stage for the next decade in clinical research informatics.

An ergonomics action research demonstration: integrating human factors into assembly design processes.

PubMed

Village, J; Greig, M; Salustri, F; Zolfaghari, S; Neumann, W P

2014-01-01

In action research (AR), the researcher participates 'in' the actions in an organisation, while simultaneously reflecting 'on' the actions to promote learning for both the organisation and the researchers. This paper demonstrates a longitudinal AR collaboration with an electronics manufacturing firm where the goal was to improve the organisation's ability to integrate human factors (HF) proactively into their design processes. During the three-year collaboration, all meetings, workshops, interviews and reflections were digitally recorded and qualitatively analysed to inform new 'actions'. By the end of the collaboration, HF tools with targets and sign-off by the HF specialist were integrated into several stages of the design process, and engineers were held accountable for meeting the HF targets. We conclude that the AR approach combined with targeting multiple initiatives at different stages of the design process helped the organisation find ways to integrate HF into their processes in a sustainable way. Researchers acted as a catalyst to help integrate HF into the engineering design process in a sustainable way. This paper demonstrates how an AR approach can help achieve HF integration, the benefits of using a reflective stance and one method for reporting an AR study.

Critical Lessons from the Transactional Perspective on Early Literacy Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitmore, Kathryn F.; Martens, Prisca; Goodman, Yetta M.; Owocki, Gretchen

2004-01-01

This article is a synthesis of early literacy research organized according to critical lessons that delineate our shared knowledge base that we name a 'transactional perspective on early literacy development.' The critical lessons are grouped into three sets to present the continuum of methodological stances that interpretive researchers take as…

International Relations. International Perspectives on Higher Education Research. Volume 3

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tight, Malcolm, Ed.

2005-01-01

This is the third volume of International Perspectives on Higher Education Research, a series which aims to feature something of the variety of research being undertaken into higher education systems and issues outside of North America. The theme of this volume is International Relations, or how students, academics, universities and higher…

Examining Research Questions on Germination from the Perspective of Scientific Creativity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Demir Kaçan, Sibel

2015-01-01

This study was conducted with the participation of 31 pre-service science teachers. Participants were asked to develop various research questions on germination. The study aims to examine research questions on the subject germination from the perspective of scientific creativity. The research questions were examined using the fluency, science…

Admiral nursing competency project: practice development and action research.

PubMed

Dewing, Jan; Traynor, Victoria

2005-07-01

Admiral Nurses are specialist dementia care nurses working in the community with carers of those who have a dementia. The aim of the competency project (2000-2003) was threefold. Firstly to work collaboratively with these specialist nurses to facilitate the development a competency framework that reflects the needs of the Admiral Nursing Service. Secondly, to provide a way to structure evidence demonstrating evolving competency. Thirdly, to specifically enable the nurses to demonstrate evidence of achieving the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council's Higher Level Practice standard. The two complementary approaches of emancipatory action research and systematic practice development were adopted. Methods were taken from action research and systematic practice development approaches with an emphasis on promoting and enabling enlightenment, critical reflection, ownership and creating the best conditions for long-term commitment to the competency framework. The main outcome from this project was the development of a specialist nursing competency framework. The Admiral Nurses' Competency Framework is made up of a set of eight core competencies with three levels of competency statements, loosely structured around the Higher Level Practice standard, and guidance documentation to illustrate how work-based evidence can be generated to demonstrate competence. There were also process-derived outcomes associated with combining systematic practice development with emancipatory action research that had an impact on the culture. The main outcomes here were that practitioners engaged in and experienced learning about how to research their own practice and the consequences of doing this. They also learnt about specialist nursing practice more widely than Admiral Nursing. Finally, there was some increase in awareness about the culture within their teams and organizations. The final competency framework reflects the needs of the service, is owned by the majority of practitioners and

Identification of current priorities for research in humanitarian action: proceedings of the First Annual UN OCHA Policy and Research Conference.

PubMed

Foran, Mark P; Greenough, Paul G; Thow, Andrew; Gilman, Daniel; Schütz, Andreas; Chandran, Rahul; Baiocchi, Allegra

2012-06-01

On December 12-13, 2011, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) hosted a humanitarian policy and research conference on the theme of "Risk, Adaptation and Innovation in Humanitarian Action." The four sessions of the conference covered humanitarian action in a changing world, adaptation and innovation in humanitarian action, humanitarian action in protracted and violent conflict, and effective humanitarian action. This special report contains summaries of presentations in each session and the conclusions resulting from the discussions throughout. Through a process of open discussion, debate, and a closing survey, the conference participants identified four top priorities in humanitarian research for the coming years: evidence-driven humanitarian decision-making; accountability and transparency; risk and agility; and partnership. In addition to plans for a 2nd Annual Research and Policy conference in December of 2012, specific outcomes of the conference include a series of regional workshops in 2012 and 2013, launching with Asia, Africa and the Middle East; creation of Policy Working Groups (PWG) for each research priority identified; and a new flagship OCHA publication, to be launched in late 2012 or early 2013, which will share the progress made on the research priorities identified.

Mapping a Research Agenda for Home Care Safety: Perspectives from Researchers, Providers, and Decision Makers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Macdonald, Marilyn; Lang, Ariella; MacDonald, Jo-Anne

2011-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative interpretive design was to explore the perspectives of researchers, health care providers, policy makers, and decision makers on key risks, concerns, and emerging issues related to home care safety that would inform a line of research inquiry. Defining safety specifically in this home care context has yet to be…

Fresh Faces, New Places: Moving beyond Teacher-Researcher Perspectives in Hip-Hop-Based Education Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Irby, Decoteau J.; Hall, H. Bernard

2011-01-01

Grounded in critical and culturally relevant theory, hip-hop-based education (HHBE) research documents the use of hip-hop in educational settings. Despite the richness of the emerging field, overreliance on teacher-researcher perspectives leaves much to be desired. Little is known of the extent and ways HHBE is used by nonresearching K-12…

Behavior, Experience and Expression: Some Research Considerations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romanyshyn, Robert D.

Utilizing research conducted on nostalgia, this paper shows how a phenomenological approach assists in understanding behavior, experience and expression. Moreover, a clearer understanding of them aids one's research with and comprehension of nostalgia. Human action can be studied from the experiential, behavioral and expressive perspectives. These…

Public Presentation versus Private Actions in Psychotherapy Research, Training and Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMullen, Linda M.

1995-01-01

Reacts to Martin's (1995) essay concerning scientism in psychotherapy. Contends that the image psychotherapists' present to the public is often quite different from private actions, and that a focus of these private actions might reveal not only a less scientific endeavor, but also a paradigm for future research. (JPS)

Transforming Language Ideologies through Action Research: A Case Study of Bilingual Science Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Eunah

2012-01-01

This qualitative case study explored a third grade bilingual teacher's transformative language ideologies through participating in a collaborative action research project. By merging language ideologies theory, Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), and action research, I was able to identify the analytic focus of this study. I analyzed…

A Collaborative Action Research Project towards Embedding ESD within the Higher Education Curriculum

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cebrián, Gisela

2017-01-01

Purpose: This paper aims to present a collaborative action research project conducted at the University of Southampton with the aim to promote curriculum and professional development in education for sustainable development (ESD) and learn from everyday practices of academics. Design/methodology/approach: An action research approach guided by…

A Collaborative Action Research Approach to Professional Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bleicher, Robert E.

2014-01-01

The field of professional development is moving towards the notion of professional learning, highlighting the active learning role that teachers play in changing their knowledge bases, beliefs and practice. This article builds on this idea and argues for creating professional learning that is guided by a collaborative action research (CAR)…

Minesweeper and Hypothetical Thinking Action Research & Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Jacob J.

2010-01-01

This Action Research project and Pilot Study was designed and implemented to improve students' hypothetical thinking abilities by exploring the possibility that learning and playing the computer game Minesweeper may inherently help improve hypothetical thinking. One objective was to use educational tools to make it easier for students to learn the…

Using Action Research to Improve Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ahrens, Christie L.; Brant, Mary Ellen; Lee, E. Suzanne

2007-01-01

Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois offers a Master of Arts in Teaching and Leadership (MATL) degree program for certified teachers in the state of Illinois. This professional development program is provided through a partnership with Pearson Achievement Solutions. The program employs an action research model to guide teachers in…

Student-to-Student Legacies in Exploratory Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moran, Katherine

2017-01-01

In 2013/2014, I conducted two consecutive cycles of exploratory action research aimed at improving the quality of my French engineering students' oral presentations in English. Each cycle involved a different group of students. I collaborated with the students extensively throughout the project and found that the experience was highly beneficial…

Learning Networks--Enabling Change through Community Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bleach, Josephine

2016-01-01

Learning networks are a critical element of ethos of the community action research approach taken by the Early Learning Initiative at the National College of Ireland, a community-based educational initiative in the Dublin Docklands. Key criteria for networking, whether at local, national or international level, are the individual's and…

The State of Space Propulsion Research

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sackheim, R. L.; Cole, J. W.; Litchford, R. J.

2006-01-01

The current state of space propulsion research is assessed from both a historical perspective, spanning the decades since Apollo, and a forward-looking perspective, as defined by the enabling technologies required for a meaningful and sustainable human and robotic exploration program over the forthcoming decades. Previous research and technology investment approaches are examined and a course of action suggested for obtaining a more balanced portfolio of basic and applied research. The central recommendation is the establishment of a robust national Space Propulsion Research Initiative that would run parallel with systems development and include basic research activities. The basic framework and technical approach for this proposed initiative are defined and a potential implementation approach is recommended.

Facilitating the implementation and efficacy of health-promoting schools via an action-research approach in Taiwan.

PubMed

Chang, Fong-Ching; Liu, Chieh-Hsing; Liao, Li-Ling; Niu, Yu-Zhen; Cheng, Chi-Chia; Chou, Hsin-Pei; Chang, Tzu-Chau

2014-06-01

Taiwan launched its evidence-based health-promoting school (HPS) program via an action-research approach in 2010. The program featured a collaborative partnership between schools, local education authorities and university support networks. This study was focused on examining whether an HPS action-research approach was effective in advancing HPS implementation, perceived HPS impact and perceived HPS efficacy in Taiwan. In 2011, questionnaires were sent to 900 sample schools in Taiwan. A total of 621 schools returned the questionnaire, including 488 primary schools and 133 middle schools. The response rate was 69%. This study compared the difference in HPS implementation status, perceived HPS impact and perceived HPS efficacy between those schools that had implemented action-research HPS (138 schools) and those that had not (483 schools). The univariate analysis results indicated that the HPS implementation levels for components that included school health policies, physical environment, social environment, teaching activities and school-community relations were significantly higher in action-research schools than in non-action-research schools. Teachers in action-research schools reported significantly higher levels of HPS impact and HPS efficacy than non-action-research schools. The multivariate analysis results indicated that after controlling for school level and HPS funding, the HPS action-research approach was significantly positively related to greater levels of HPS implementation, perceived HPS impact and perceived HPS efficacy.

International Multidisciplinary Research and Education: A Mountain Geography Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bishop, Michael P.

2009-01-01

Collaborative international research projects represent excellent opportunities for students to obtain unique and life-altering educational experiences. Dynamic interactions with people from a variety of countries, institutions, and departments, in diverse situations, provides students with new perspectives, encourages them to operate in a…

Andragogy as a didactic perspective in the attitudes of nurse instructors in Finland.

PubMed

Janhonen, S

1991-08-01

In this article the didactic perspectives of nurse instructors (NIs) is examined with the help of andragogy defined by the concepts of self-directed learning, learning as a process and lifelong learning. The results of a pilot study of ongoing research on the educational perspective of NIs, are used as examples to discuss how far NIs have accepted the features of andragogy as their didactic perspective both in their public stance and in their actions as described by NIs themselves.

Action Research in Professional Work: Developing New Practices through Design, Dialogue or Learning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lahn, Leif Chr.

This paper examines action research that has been carried out in organizations consisting of predominantly highly educated personnel. The paper revolves around discussion of the Scandinavian model of action research, asking to what degree this model, which has been developed within the framework of industrial democracy, might also serve as a…

Too Hard, Too Soft or Just about Right: Paradigms in Music Teachers' Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cain, Tim

2012-01-01

This article considers some paradigms of educational research, and their relation to teachers' action research in their classrooms or studios. The positivist/scientific paradigm and the interpretive/naturalist paradigm are examined, with reference to two cases of music teachers' action research studies. These studies are found to be flawed because…

Need for Affect, Need for Cognition, and the Intention-Fruit Consumption Relationship: An Action-Control Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Bruijn, Gert-Jan; Keer, Mario; van den Putte, Bas; Neijens, Peter

2012-01-01

Objective: Predictors of action-control profiles are useful targets for health behaviour change interventions, but action-control research has not focused on fruit consumption and has not yet included need for affect and need for cognition, despite the demonstrated usefulness of these variables in a broad range of research. The role of these…

Researching Multilingualism and Superdiversity: Grassroots Actions and Responsibilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wei, Li

2014-01-01

The articles in this thematic issue document studies of grassroots actions in promoting multilingualism across different sectors of society as well as in different social and professional domains. In doing so, the contributors raise issues of the relevance of the notion of community in the age of superdiversity and the researcher's…

Embodying Others in Immersive Virtual Reality: Electro-Cortical Signatures of Monitoring the Errors in the Actions of an Avatar Seen from a First-Person Perspective.

PubMed

Pavone, Enea Francesco; Tieri, Gaetano; Rizza, Giulia; Tidoni, Emmanuele; Grisoni, Luigi; Aglioti, Salvatore Maria

2016-01-13

Brain monitoring of errors in one's own and other's actions is crucial for a variety of processes, ranging from the fine-tuning of motor skill learning to important social functions, such as reading out and anticipating the intentions of others. Here, we combined immersive virtual reality and EEG recording to explore whether embodying the errors of an avatar by seeing it from a first-person perspective may activate the error monitoring system in the brain of an onlooker. We asked healthy participants to observe, from a first- or third-person perspective, an avatar performing a correct or an incorrect reach-to-grasp movement toward one of two virtual mugs placed on a table. At the end of each trial, participants reported verbally how much they embodied the avatar's arm. Ratings were maximal in first-person perspective, indicating that immersive virtual reality can be a powerful tool to induce embodiment of an artificial agent, even through mere visual perception and in the absence of any cross-modal boosting. Observation of erroneous grasping from a first-person perspective enhanced error-related negativity and medial-frontal theta power in the trials where human onlookers embodied the virtual character, hinting at the tight link between early, automatic coding of error detection and sense of embodiment. Error positivity was similar in 1PP and 3PP, suggesting that conscious coding of errors is similar for self and other. Thus, embodiment plays an important role in activating specific components of the action monitoring system when others' errors are coded as if they are one's own errors. Detecting errors in other's actions is crucial for social functions, such as reading out and anticipating the intentions of others. Using immersive virtual reality and EEG recording, we explored how the brain of an onlooker reacted to the errors of an avatar seen from a first-person perspective. We found that mere observation of erroneous actions enhances electrocortical markers of

Initiating an Action Research Programme for University EFL Teachers: Early Experiences and Responses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burns, Anne; Westmacott, Anne; Ferrer, Antonieta Hidalgo

2016-01-01

Accounts of how teacher educators begin to plan, develop, and support action research programmes for language teachers are rare, as are descriptions of the responses of the teachers who participate. This article documents and analyses the initial processes of introducing and supporting a new programme of action research for language teachers at…

Focus on Cultural Issues in Research: Developing and Implementing Native American Postcolonial Participatory Action Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stone, Joseph B.

Indian country presents even the most seasoned and careful researcher with numerous methodological issues. Two of the most salient of these are appropriate understanding of postcolonial stress in tribal communities, and the use of participatory action research methods and models in a culturally sensitive manner. This paper explains postcolonial…

Action Research and Collaboration: A New Perspective in Social Research and Language Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fandiño, Yamith José

2007-01-01

The disconnection between what counts as social research (SR) and what serves society's needs and interests results in a way of theorizing which, while useful, does not integrate theory and practice; a form of social theory that is not embodied in real lives and does not help non-academic people understand their contexts and practices. This…

Research & Action Report. Volume 30, Number 2, Spring/Summer 2009

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mongeon, Rebecca, Ed.; Tambascio, Donna, Ed.

2009-01-01

The "Research & Action Report," published twice a year, describes the latest activities and initiatives at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW). Typically featured are: news about the Centers, interviews with researchers, commentary on recent events or social trends affecting women and girls, and announcements of new publications. Articles…

Research & Action Report. Volume 31, Number 1, Fall/Winter 2009

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mongeon, Rebecca, Ed.; Tambascio, Donna, Ed.

2009-01-01

The "Research & Action Report," published twice a year, is a window on the activities and initiatives at the Wellesley Centers for Women. The report typically features news about the Centers, interviews with researchers, commentary on recent events or social trends affecting women and girls, announcements of new publications, and…

Navigating the Challenges Arising from University-School Collaborative Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yuan, Rui; Mak, Pauline

2016-01-01

Despite increasing evidence showing the benefits language teachers can reap from university-school collaborative action research (CAR), scant attention has been given to how university researchers collaborate with language teachers, what challenges they might encounter, and how they navigate such challenges in CAR. To fill the gap, this study…

Research & Action Report. Volume 31, Number 2, Spring/Summer 2010

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mongeon, Rebecca, Ed.; Tambascio, Donna, Ed.

2010-01-01

The "Research & Action Report," published twice a year, is a window on the activities and initiatives at the Wellesley Centers for Women. The report typically features news about the Centers, interviews with researchers, commentary on recent events or social trends affecting women and girls, announcements of new publications, and…

Action Research: A Spiral Inquiry for Valid and Useful Knowledge

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moghaddam, Alireza

2007-01-01

This article discusses methodological and philosophical issues linked to action research. The concepts of subjectivity and objectivity--potential sources of bias that mislead researchers in dealing with these concepts--and how to cope with them are discussed. Controversial issues of truth in positivism, postpositivism, and other schools of…

Analysis of the Problems in Language Teachers' Action Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Han, Ligang

2017-01-01

In-service language teachers' professional development is a crucial factor that influences the teaching and learning effectiveness. Educational action research is considered by many researchers and scholars as an effective way or approach for language teachers' professional development. This article reports a case study of in-service English…

Research & Action Report. Volume 33, Number 1, Fall/Winter 2011

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kellett, Megan, Ed.; Tambascio, Donna, Ed.

2011-01-01

The "Research & Action Report," published twice a year, is a window on the activities and initiatives at the Wellesley Centers for Women. The report typically features news about the Centers, interviews with researchers, commentary on recent events or social trends affecting women and girls, announcements of new publications, and…

Research & Action Report. Volume 32, Number 1, Fall/Winter 2010

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mongeon, Rebecca, Ed.; Tambascio, Donna, Ed.

2010-01-01

The "Research & Action Report," published twice a year, is a window on the activities and initiatives at the Wellesley Centers for Women. The report typically features news about the Centers, interviews with researchers, commentary on recent events or social trends affecting women and girls, announcements of new publications, and…

Action Research Networks: Role and Purpose in the Evaluation of Research Outcomes and Impacts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zornes, Deborah; Ferkins, Lesley; Piggot-Irvine, Eileen

2016-01-01

The focus of this paper is to share thinking about networks in action research (AR) and to consider their role, purpose, and how networks' outcomes and impacts might be evaluated. Networks are often a by-product of AR projects, yet research focused on the network itself as part of a project is rare. The paper is one of several associated with the…

Preschooler's Understanding of the Role of Mental States and Action in Pretense

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ganea, Patricia A.; Lillard, Angeline S.; Turkheimer, Eric

2004-01-01

This research investigated 3- to 5-year-old's understanding of the role of intentional states and action in pretense. There are two main perspectives on how children conceptualize pretense. One view is that children understand the mental aspects of pretending (the rich interpretation). The alternative view is that children conceptualize pretense…

Technology transfer needs and experiences: The NASA Research Center perspective

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gross, Anthony R.

1992-01-01

Viewgraphs on technology transfer needs and experiences - the NASA Research Center perspective are provided. Topics covered include: functions of NASA, incentives and benefits, technology transfer mechanisms, economics of technology commercialization, examples, and conclusions.

Integrating surveillance data on water-related diseases and drinking-water quality; action-research in a Brazilian municipality.

PubMed

Queiroz, Ana Carolina Lanza; Cardoso, Laís Santos de Magalhães; Heller, Léo; Cairncross, Sandy

2015-12-01

The Brazilian Ministry of Health proposed a research study involving municipal professional staff conducting both epidemiological and water quality surveillance to facilitate the integration of the data which they collected. It aimed to improve the intersectoral collaboration and health promotion activities in the municipalities, especially regarding drinking-water quality. We then conducted a study using the action-research approach. At its evaluation phase, a technique which we called 'the tree analogy' was applied in order to identify both possibilities and challenges related to the proposed interlinkage. Results showed that integrating the two data collection systems cannot be attained without prior institutional adjustments. It suggests therefore the necessity to unravel issues that go beyond the selection and the interrelation of indicators and compatibility of software, to include political, administrative and personal matters. The evaluation process led those involved to re-think their practice by sharing experiences encountered in everyday practice, and formulating constructive criticisms. All this inevitably unleashes a process of empowerment. From this perspective, we have certainly gathered some fruit from the Tree, but not necessarily the most visible.

Strategic emphases for tropical diseases research: a TDR perspective.

PubMed

Remme, Jan H F; Blas, Erik; Chitsulo, Lester; Desjeux, Philippe M P; Engers, Howard D; Kanyok, Thomas P; Kengeya Kayondo, Jane F; Kioy, Deborah W; Kumaraswami, Vasanthapuram; Lazdins, Janis K; Nunn, Paul P; Oduola, Ayoade; Ridley, Robert G; Toure, Yeya T; Zicker, Fabio; Morel, Carlos M

2002-10-01

Setting priorities for health research is a difficult task, especially for the neglected diseases of the poor. A new approach to priority setting for tropical diseases research has been adopted by the UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (known as the TDR). Priorities are defined on the basis of a comprehensive analysis of research needs and research opportunities for each of the ten major tropical diseases in the TDR portfolio. The resulting strategic emphases matrix reflects the priorities for tropical diseases research from the perspective of the TDR. Its purpose is not to impose global research priorities, but we believe the results could be useful to other organizations.

Female Teachers' Professional Development through Action Research Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hassen, Rukya

2016-01-01

This is a study on teachers' professional development through action research practice. The participants of the study were 23 English Language Teachers (ELT) who teach in high schools, preparatory schools and colleges in Debre Markos, in Dessie and around in 2014. The methods of data collection were teacher reflection, and in-depth interview. The…

Responsible Action Research for the Pursuit of Justice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feldman, Allan; Bennett, Kory; Vernaza-Hernández, Vanessa

2015-01-01

The pursuit of justice has concerned human beings for centuries and, despite its importance, often remains outside the boundaries of our educational systems. This article reports on a study of an action research seminar for a group of teacher leaders in a position to instigate positive change within their educational context, and make their…

Learning from Action Research about Science Teacher Preparation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitchener, Carole P.; Jackson, Wendy M.

2012-01-01

In this article, we present a case study of a beginning science teacher's year-long action research project, during which she developed a meaningful grasp of learning from practice. Wendy was a participant in the middle grade science program designed for career changers from science professions who had moved to teaching middle grade science. An…

Using Action Research to Investigate Social Networking Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Worrall, Lisa; Harris, Katy

2013-01-01

This article outlines the first cycle of an Action Research (AR) investigation into why professional learners are not using the Social Networking Technologies (SNTs) of their bespoke website. It presents the rationale of how this study came about, the ontological and epistemological stance of the authors and how this led to the particular choice…

Action Research. Case Studies in TESOL Practice Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edge, Julian, Ed.

Chapter titles in this book include the following: "Attitude and Access: Building a New Teaching/Learning Community in TESOL" (Julian Edge); "Here It Is, Rough Though It May Be: Basic Computer for ESL" (Alison Perkins); "An 'It's Not Action Research Yet, but I'm Getting There' Approach to Teaching Writing" (Neil Cowie); "Early Reflections:…

Blogging across the Curriculum: An Action Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nichols, Andrea

2012-01-01

"Blogging across the curriculum: Integrating blogging in the elementary classroom" is an Action Research Project that sought to explore the level of engagement in the writing process by students in grades 3, 4 & 5 while blogging across the curriculum. Blogging took place in homeroom classrooms as well as in the school's math, science and…

The Purpose of Mess in Action Research: Building Rigour though a Messy Turn

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cook, Tina

2009-01-01

Mess and rigour might appear to be strange bedfellows. This paper argues that the purpose of mess is to facilitate a turn towards new constructions of knowing that lead to transformation in practice (an action turn). Engaging in action research--research that can disturb both individual and communally held notions of knowledge for practice--will…

Action Research in Graduate Teacher Education: A Review of the Literature 2000-2015