Sample records for narrative action research

  1. A Narrative Study of Iranian EFL Teachers' Experiences of Doing Action Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mehrani, Mehdi B.

    2017-01-01

    The present narrative study examined the purposes that language teachers pursue in their research studies. The study also explored the opportunities and challenges that teachers experience while doing action research. Data were collected through a survey of narrative frames among 68 teachers, reflective essays written by 9 teachers and individual…

  2. Conducting Action Research in Kenyan Primary Schools: A Narrative of Lived Experiences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Otienoh, Ruth

    2015-01-01

    This paper is a narrative of my personal experiences of conducting action research in Kenyan primary schools. It highlights the opportunities, successes, challenges and dilemmas I encountered during the process: from the school hunting period, to the carrying out of the actual research in two schools, with four teachers. This study reveals that…

  3. Knowledge Generated by Audiovisual Narrative Action Research Loops

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bautista Garcia-Vera, Antonio

    2012-01-01

    We present data collected from the research project funded by the Ministry of Education and Science of Spain entitled "Audiovisual Narratives and Intercultural Relations in Education." One of the aims of the research was to determine the nature of thought processes occurring during audiovisual narratives. We studied the possibility of…

  4. Narrative methods in quality improvement research

    PubMed Central

    Greenhalgh, T; Russell, J; Swinglehurst, D

    2005-01-01

    

 This paper reviews and critiques the different approaches to the use of narrative in quality improvement research. The defining characteristics of narrative are chronology (unfolding over time); emplotment (the literary juxtaposing of actions and events in an implicitly causal sequence); trouble (that is, harm or the risk of harm); and embeddedness (the personal story nests within a particular social, historical and organisational context). Stories are about purposeful action unfolding in the face of trouble and, as such, have much to offer quality improvement researchers. But the quality improvement report (a story about efforts to implement change), which is common, must be distinguished carefully from narrative based quality improvement research (focused systematic enquiry that uses narrative methods to generate new knowledge), which is currently none. We distinguish four approaches to the use of narrative in quality improvement research—narrative interview; naturalistic story gathering; organisational case study; and collective sense-making—and offer a rationale, describe how data can be collected and analysed, and discuss the strengths and limitations of each using examples from the quality improvement literature. Narrative research raises epistemological questions about the nature of narrative truth (characterised by sense-making and emotional impact rather than scientific objectivity), which has implications for how rigour should be defined (and how it might be achieved) in this type of research. We offer some provisional guidance for distinguishing high quality narrative research in a quality improvement setting from other forms of narrative account such as report, anecdote, and journalism. PMID:16326792

  5. Narratives of Adolescent Girls Journeying via Feminist Participatory Action Research through the Aftermath of Divorce

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Botha, Carolina S.; Hay, Johnnie

    2016-01-01

    This article documents the (often counter-normative) narrative journey of four South African adolescent girls whose biological parents had divorced--and one (or both) parent(s) remarried. Through purposive sampling within a qualitative research paradigm of feminist participatory action research, they were supported in group context by the primary…

  6. Action starring narratives and events: Structure and inference in visual narrative comprehension.

    PubMed

    Cohn, Neil; Wittenberg, Eva

    Studies of discourse have long placed focus on the inference generated by information that is not overtly expressed, and theories of visual narrative comprehension similarly focused on the inference generated between juxtaposed panels. Within the visual language of comics, star-shaped "flashes" commonly signify impacts, but can be enlarged to the size of a whole panel that can omit all other representational information. These "action star" panels depict a narrative culmination (a "Peak"), but have content which readers must infer, thereby posing a challenge to theories of inference generation in visual narratives that focus only on the semantic changes between juxtaposed images. This paper shows that action stars demand more inference than depicted events, and that they are more coherent in narrative sequences than scrambled sequences (Experiment 1). In addition, action stars play a felicitous narrative role in the sequence (Experiment 2). Together, these results suggest that visual narratives use conventionalized depictions that demand the generation of inferences while retaining narrative coherence of a visual sequence.

  7. Narrative, emotion and action: analysing 'most memorable' professionalism dilemmas.

    PubMed

    Rees, Charlotte E; Monrouxe, Lynn V; McDonald, Laura A

    2013-01-01

    research into issues related to professionalism by exploring relationships between narrative, emotion and action in the context of written narratives of most memorable dilemmas. We encourage medical educators to help students construct coherent and emotionally integrated narratives to make sense of negative professionalism dilemmas. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2013.

  8. Action starring narratives and events: Structure and inference in visual narrative comprehension

    PubMed Central

    Cohn, Neil; Wittenberg, Eva

    2015-01-01

    Studies of discourse have long placed focus on the inference generated by information that is not overtly expressed, and theories of visual narrative comprehension similarly focused on the inference generated between juxtaposed panels. Within the visual language of comics, star-shaped “flashes” commonly signify impacts, but can be enlarged to the size of a whole panel that can omit all other representational information. These “action star” panels depict a narrative culmination (a “Peak”), but have content which readers must infer, thereby posing a challenge to theories of inference generation in visual narratives that focus only on the semantic changes between juxtaposed images. This paper shows that action stars demand more inference than depicted events, and that they are more coherent in narrative sequences than scrambled sequences (Experiment 1). In addition, action stars play a felicitous narrative role in the sequence (Experiment 2). Together, these results suggest that visual narratives use conventionalized depictions that demand the generation of inferences while retaining narrative coherence of a visual sequence. PMID:26709362

  9. Narrative interviews: an important resource in qualitative research.

    PubMed

    Muylaert, Camila Junqueira; Sarubbi, Vicente; Gallo, Paulo Rogério; Neto, Modesto Leite Rolim

    2014-12-01

    Objetives This methodological study explain and emphasize the extent and fertility of the narrative interview in qualitative research. Methods To describe the narrative method within the qualitative research. Results The qualitative research method is characterized by addressing issues related to the singularities of the field and individuals investigated, being the narrative interviews a powerful method for use by researchers who aggregate it. They allow the deepening of research, the combination of life stories with socio-historical contexts, making the understanding of the senses that produce changes in the beliefs and values that motivate and justify the actions of possible informants. Conclusion The use of narrative is an advantageous investigative resource in qualitative research, in which the narrative is a traditional form of communication whose purpose is to serve content from which the subjective experiences can be transmitted.

  10. An Alternative Way of Responding to Powerful Ideas: Notes to Accompany the Poem Entitled "Five Principles of Quality in Narratives of Action Research"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saunders, Lesley

    2007-01-01

    This paper is written in a personal capacity and mainly takes the form of a poem--in five sections--composed as a response to some of the ideas in the article by Hannu Heikkinen and colleagues in this same issue of "Educational Action Research": "Action research as narrative: five principles for validation". The poem takes its…

  11. Critical and Creative Reflective Inquiry: Surfacing Narratives to Enable Learning and Inform Action

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cardiff, Shaun

    2012-01-01

    Narratives are being increasingly used in nursing and action research. In this participatory action research study, nurse leaders of an acute care of the older person unit collectively, critically and creatively reflected on lived experiences in order to explore the concept of person-centred leadership within their own practice. This paper…

  12. Narratives and Activity Theory as Reflective Tools in Action Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stuart, Kaz

    2012-01-01

    Narratives and activity theory are useful as socially constructed data collection tools that allow a researcher access to the social, cultural and historical meanings that research participants place on events in their lives. This case study shows how these tools were used to promote reflection within a cultural-historical activity theoretically…

  13. 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.…

  14. "Response to Comments": Finding the Narrative in Narrative Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coulter, Cathy A.

    2009-01-01

    The author responds to comments by Barone (2009), Clandinin and Murphy (2009), and M. W. Smith (2009) on "The Construction Zone: Literary Elements in Narrative Research" (Coulter & M. L. Smith, 2009). She clarifies issues regarding point of view, authorial surplus, narrative coherence, and the relational qualities of narrative research. She…

  15. Discourse on Narrative Research: The Construction Zone--Literary Elements in Narrative Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coulter, Cathy A.; Smith, Mary Lee

    2009-01-01

    Narrative research has become part of the landscape of education inquiry, yet its theory and practice are still debated and evolving. This article addresses the construction of narratives using literary elements common to nonfiction and fiction writings. The authors discuss these elements and use four narratives to illustrate them. They address…

  16. 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…

  17. Narrative research in psychotherapy: a critical review.

    PubMed

    Avdi, Evrinomy; Georgaca, Eugenie

    2007-09-01

    This paper is a review of studies which utilise the notion of narrative to analyse psychotherapy. Its purpose is to systematically present this diverse field of research, to highlight common themes and divergences between different strands and to further the development and integration of narrative research in psychotherapy. The paper reviews studies which employ an applied textual analysis of narratives produced in the context of psychotherapy. Criteria for inclusion of studies are, firstly, the analysis of therapeutic and therapy-related texts and, secondly, the adoption of a narrative psychological perspective. The studies were examined on the basis of the notion of narrative they employ and the aspects of client narratives they focus on, and were grouped accordingly in the review. The majority of the studies reviewed assume a constructivist approach to narrative, adopt a representational view of language, focus primarily on client micro-narratives and relate to cognitive-constructivist and process-experiential psychotherapeutic approaches. A smaller group of studies assume a social constructionist approach to narrative and a functional view of language, focus on micro-narratives, highlight the interactional and wider social aspects of narrative and relate to postmodern trends in psychotherapy. The range of conceptualisations of narrative in the studies reviewed, from a representational psychological view to a constructionist social view, reflects tensions within narrative psychology itself. Moreover, two trends can be discerned in the field reviewed, narrative analysis of therapy, which draws from narrative theory and utilises the analytic approaches of narrative research to study psychotherapy, and analyses of narrative in therapy, which study client narratives using non-narrative qualitative methods. Finally, the paper highlights the need for integration of this diverse field of research and urges for the development of narrative studies of psychotherapy

  18. Testimony in Narrative Educational Research: A Qualitative Interview, Narrative Analysis and Epistemological Evaluation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Christopher, Justin

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to assess issues that arise in the context of epistemological claims in narrative educational research by means of narrative analysis and epistemological evaluation. The research questions which guided the study were: 1) To what extent is epistemology considered by narrative educational researchers?; 2) What issues do…

  19. Visualizing Community: Understanding Narrative Inquiry as Action Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Caine, Vera

    2010-01-01

    Throughout the school year I invited children in a Grade Two/Three learning strategies classroom to participate in a visual narrative inquiry. The intention was to explore children's knowledge of community in artful ways; the children photographed and wrote in what was often an iterative process, where writing/talking and photographing…

  20. 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…

  1. Personal Narratives in Life History Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Germeten, Sidsel

    2013-01-01

    In this article I discuss how to create personal narratives in life history research methodology. People tell stories of their lives, and the researchers make these stories into life histories. Based on theoretical perspectives on "discourse" inspired by Michel Foucault, narratives are seen as ways of positioning oneself as a…

  2. Narrative research on mental health recovery: two sister paradigms.

    PubMed

    Spector-Mersel, Gabriela; Knaifel, Evgeny

    2017-06-24

    Despite the breadth of narrative studies on individuals with severe mental illness, the suitability of narrative inquiry to exploring mental health recovery (MHR) has not been examined. (1) Examining the appropriateness of narrative inquiry to studying MHR; (2) assessing the extent to which narrative studies on MHR conform to the unique features of narrative research, as a distinctive form of qualitative inquiry. Review of empirical, theoretical and methodological literature on recovery and narrative inquiry. Considering the perspectives of recovery and narrative as paradigms, the similarity between their ontology and epistemology is shown, evident in 10 common emphases: meaning, identity, change and development, agency, holism, culture, uniqueness, context, language and giving voice. The resemblance between these "sister" paradigms makes narrative methodology especially fruitful for accessing the experiences of individuals in recovery. Reviewing narrative studies on MHR suggests that, currently, narrative research's uniqueness, centered on the holistic principle, is blurred on the philosophical, methodological and textual levels. Well-established narrative research has major implications for practice and policy in recovery-oriented mental health care. The narrative inquiry paradigm offers a possible path to enhancing the distinctive virtues of this research, realizing its potential in understanding and promoting MHR.

  3. Narrative inquiry: a relational research methodology for medical education.

    PubMed

    Clandinin, D Jean; Cave, Marie T; Berendonk, Charlotte

    2017-01-01

    Narrative research, an inclusive term for a range of methodologies, has rapidly become part of medical education scholarship. In this paper we identify narrative inquiry as a particular theoretical and methodological framework within narrative research and outline its characteristics. We briefly summarise how narrative research has been used in studying medical learners' identity making in medical education. We then turn to the uses of narrative inquiry in studying medical learners' professional identity making. With the turn to narrative inquiry, the shift is to thinking with stories instead of about stories. We highlight four challenges in engaging in narrative inquiry in medical education and point toward promising future research and practice possibilities. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

  4. Polyphony in the Classroom: Reporting Narrative Action Research Reflexively

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Niemi, Reetta; Heikkinen, Hannu L. T.; Kannas, Lasse

    2010-01-01

    In this article we will present a reflexive way of producing a narrative analysis on teaching and learning that involves all participants of the pedagogical process. Our theoretical contribution rests on the concept "lived pedagogy", adapted from Max van Manen's term "lived experience". Like van Manen, we start by asking the…

  5. "I Could Go Work in a Factory, but This Is Something I Want to Achieve": Narratives into Social Action

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McMillan, Wendy

    2004-01-01

    This paper is conceptually informed by a reading of Peter McLaren's work (1993). Drawing on the relationship that he signals between identity, narrative, and social action, it sets out to examine the ways in which identity shapes narratives of academic performance and consequent action. Specifically, I present the narratives of academic…

  6. Action Research and Narrative Inquiry: Five Principles for Validation Revisited

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heikkinen, Hannu L. T.; Huttunen, Rauno; Syrjala, Leena; Pesonen, Jyri

    2012-01-01

    The article continues the discussion of the five quality principles proposed by Heikkinen, Huttunen, and Syrjala, published in 2007 in "Educational Action Research". In the present article, the authors reconsider the five principles: historical continuity; reflexivity; dialectics; workability; and evocativeness. These five principles are…

  7. 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…

  8. Narratives about illness and medication: a neglected theme/new methodology within pharmacy practice research. Part II: medication narratives in practice.

    PubMed

    Ryan, Kath; Bissell, Paul; Morecroft, Charles

    2007-08-01

    Part 2 of this paper aims to provide a methodological framework for the study of medication narratives, including a semi-structured interview guide and suggested method of analysis, in an attempt to aid the development of narrative scholarship within pharmacy practice research. Examples of medication narratives are provided to illustrate their diversity and usefulness. The framework is derived from the work of other researchers and adapted for our specific purpose. It comes from social psychology, narrative psychology, narrative anthropology, sociology and critical theory and fits within the social constructionist paradigm. The suggested methods of analysis could broadly be described as narrative analysis and discourse analysis. Examples of medication narratives are chosen from a variety of sources and brief interpretations are presented by way of illustration. Narrative analysis, a neglected area of research in pharmacy practice, has the potential to provide new understanding about how people relate to their medicines, how pharmacists are engaged in producing narratives and the importance of narrative in the education of students. IMPACT OF THE ARTICLE: This article aims to have the following impact on pharmacy practice research: Innovative approach to researching and conceptualising the use of medicines. Introduction of a new theoretical perspective and methodology. Incorporation of social science research methods into pharmacy practice research. Development of narrative scholarship within pharmacy.

  9. 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

  10. Barriers and facilitators for integrating digital narratives in secondary school science instruction: A media specialist's action research study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Midland, Susan

    Media specialists are increasingly assuming professional development roles as they collaborate with teachers to design instruction that combines content with technology. I am a media specialist in an independent school, and collaborated with two science teachers over a three-year period to integrate technology with their instruction. This action study explored integration of a digital narrative project in three eighth-grade earth science units and one ninth-grade physics unit with each unit serving as a cycle of research. Students produced short digital documentaries that combined still images with an accompanying narration. Students participating in the project wrote scripts based on selected science topics. The completed scripts served as the basis for the narratives. These projects were compared with a more traditional science writing project. Barriers and facilitators for implementation of this type of media project in a science classroom were identified. Lack of adequate access to computers proved to be a significant mechanical barrier. Acquisition of a laptop cart reduced but did not eliminate the technology access issues. The complexity of the project increased implementation time in comparison with traditional alternatives. Evaluation of the completed media projects presented problems. Scores by outside evaluators reflected evaluator unfamiliarity with assessing multimedia projects rather than student performance. Despite several revisions of the assessment rubric, low inter-rater reliability remained a concern even in the last cycle. This suggests that evaluation of media could present issues for teachers who attempt projects of this kind. A writing frame was developed to facilitate production of scripts. This reduced the time required to produce the scripts, but produced writing that was formulaic in the teacher's estimate. A graphic organizer was adopted in the final cycle to address this concern. New insights emerged as the study progressed through the

  11. On the Epistemology of Narrative Research in Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Caduri, Galit

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to explore the epistemological foundations of narrative research in education. In particular, I seek to explain how one can obtain knowledge, given its origin in teachers' subjective experiences. The problem with rhetorical and aesthetic criteria that narrative researchers use to warrant their knowledge claims is not…

  12. Multimodal Narrative Inquiry: Six Teacher Candidates Respond

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Morawski, Cynthia M.; Rottmann, Jennifer

    2016-01-01

    In this paper we present findings of a study on the implementation of a multimodal teacher narrative inquiry component, theoretically grounded by Rosenblatt's theory of transaction analysis, methodologically supported by action research and practically enacted by narrative inquiry and multimodal learning. In particular, the component offered…

  13. Taking a narrative approach to grief research: finding meaning in stories.

    PubMed

    Gilbert, Kathleen R

    2002-04-01

    This article explores the concepts of narrative as story, of storytelling, and of the narrative approach to qualitative research. Within this, I will also examine the social nature of narrative and the implications of this for research. I will look at the process of conducting a narrative study and the implications for participation in such a project and for the researcher investigating a phenomenon through this frame. In particular, the need to create stories to make order of disorder and find meaning in the meaningless is particularly relevant to the study of grief. In looking at the process of conducting a narrative study, questions about what can be analyzed and how it might be presented, some strengths and limitations of the narrative approach, and ethical questions also are considered.

  14. Analysing implementer narratives on addressing health inequity through convergent action on the social determinants of health in India.

    PubMed

    Nambiar, Devaki; Muralidharan, Arundati; Garg, Samir; Daruwalla, Nayreen; Ganesan, Prathibha

    2015-11-17

    Understanding health inequity in India is a challenge, given the complexity that characterise the lives of its residents. Interpreting constructive action to address health inequity in the country is rare, though much exhorted by the global research community. We critically analysed operational understandings of inequity embedded in convergent actions to address health-related inequalities by stakeholders in varying contexts within the country. Two implementer groups were purposively chosen to reflect on their experiences addressing inequalities in health (and its determinants) in the public sector working in rural areas and in the private non-profit sector working in urban areas. A representing co-author from each group developed narratives around how they operationally defined, monitored, and addressed health inequality in their work. These narratives were content analysed by two other co-authors to draw out common and disparate themes characterising each action context, operational definitions, shifts and changes in strategies and definitions, and outcomes (both intended and unintended). Findings were reviewed by all authors to develop case studies. We theorised that action to address health inequality converges around a unifying theme or pivot, and developed a heuristic that describes the features of this convergence. In one case, the convergence was a single decision-making platform for deliberation around myriad village development issues, while in the other, convergence brought together communities, legal, police, and health system action around one salient health issue. One case emphasized demand generation, the other was focussed on improving quality and supply of services. In both cases, the operationalization of equity broke beyond a biomedical or clinical focus. Dearth of data meant that implementers exercised various strategies to gather it, and to develop interventions - always around a core issue or population. This exercise demonstrated the

  15. Use of narratives to enhance learning of research ethics in residents and researchers.

    PubMed

    Sim, Kang; Sum, Min Yi; Navedo, Deborah

    2015-03-10

    Past didactic pedagogy on biomedical research ethics and informed consent in our program had resulted in passive memorization of information and disengaged learning within psychiatry residents and clinical researchers. The question is how do we better motivate and engage learners within the session. Thus, we incorporated narratives into the learning environment and hypothesised that the use of narratives in the teaching of biomedical research ethics and informed consent would be associated with greater engagement, motivation, understanding, reflective learning and effectiveness of the teaching session. The narratives were chosen from the history of research ethics and the humanities literature related to human subject research. Learners were asked to provide post-session feedback through an anonymised questionnaire on their learning session. An outcomes logic model was used for assessment with focus on immediate outcomes such as engagement, motivation, understanding and reflective learning. Overall, 70.5% (N = 273) of the learners responded to the questionnaire. Amongst the respondents, 92.6% (N = 253) of the participants ranked use of narratives as most helpful in appreciating the historical context of research ethics and informed consent in research. The majority felt engaged (89.8%, N = 245), more motivated to learn (77.5%, N = 212) and better equipped (86.4%, N = 236) about the subject matter. Better appreciation of the learning topic, engagement, motivation to learn, equipping were strongly correlated with the promotion of reflective learning, effectiveness of teaching, promotion of critical thinking and overall positive rating of the teaching session on research ethics (all p < 0.001). Multivariate analyses found that the use of narratives was associated with higher overall rating of the teaching session (p = 0.003) and promotion of critical thinking (p = 0.02). Results revealed that the use of narratives could enhance

  16. "Comments on Coulter and Smith": Relational Ontological Commitments in Narrative Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clandinin, D. Jean; Murphy, M. Shaun

    2009-01-01

    In this comment article on Coulter and Smith (2009), the authors raise concerns that focusing exclusively on issues of representation may lead readers to misunderstandings about narrative research. The authors argue that narrative ways of thinking about the phenomena under study are interwoven with narrative research methodologies. Drawing on…

  17. Learning from Stories: Narrative Interviewing in Cross-cultural Research

    PubMed Central

    Mattingly, Cheryl; Lawlor, Mary

    2010-01-01

    This paper argues for the importance of eliciting stories when trying to understand the point of view and personal experience of one's informants. It also outlines one approach to eliciting and analyzing narrative data as part of a complex and multi-faceted ethnographic study. The paper draws upon ethnographic research among African-American families who have children with serious illnesses or disabilities. However, it is not a report of research findings per se. Rather, it is primarily a conceptual paper that addresses narrative as a research method. Features that distinguish a story from other sorts of discourse are sketched and current discussions in the occupational therapy and social science literature concerning the importance of narrative are examined. The heart of the paper focuses on a single narrative interview and examines what we learn about the client and family caregiver perspective through stories. PMID:21399739

  18. Narratives, choices, alienation, and identity: learning from an elementary science teacher

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Upadhyay, Bhaskar

    2009-09-01

    As we contemplate on teacher identity research, there is a need to place a teacher's narratives or story-lines at the center of that work. In this forum, in response to the insightful commentary from Stephen Ritchie and Maria Iñez Mafra Goulart and Eduardo Soares, I place a greater emphasis on understanding Daisy's narratives from an existing social identity framework. Narratives tell us intricate and complex actions that a teacher has taken both personally and professionally. Additionally, narratives help us see implicit nature of identity explicitly. Therefore, a greater focus has to be placed on interactions and utterances of a teacher to make sense of who they are and what they do as expressed by their own words (identity and action). Finally, I join with Ritchie and Goulart and Soares to advocate that identity research needs to include participants as co-researchers and co-authors as identities are very personal and complex to be fully understood by the outsiders (researchers).

  19. Becoming Theatrical: Performing Narrative Research, Staging Visual Representation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Valle, Jan W.; Connor, David J.

    2012-01-01

    This article describes a collaborative project among the author of a book about mothers and special education (based on a collection of oral narratives of mothers who represent diverse generations, races, and social classes), a playwright, and an artist. Together, they created a theatrical and visual staging of the author's narrative research. The…

  20. Participatory Action Research with College Students with Disabilities: Photovoice for an Inclusive Campus

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Agarwal, Neelam; Moya, Eva M.; Yasui, Naoko Yura; Seymour, Corene

    2015-01-01

    College students with disabilities face various barriers to academic and social engagement. The present project was conducted based on principles of participatory action research (PAR) using Photovoice method with six students, gathering images representing such barriers, and developing narratives to describe the problems as well as possible ways…

  1. When all children comprehend: increasing the external validity of narrative comprehension development research

    PubMed Central

    Burris, Silas E.; Brown, Danielle D.

    2014-01-01

    Narratives, also called stories, can be found in conversations, children's play interactions, reading material, and television programs. From infancy to adulthood, narrative comprehension processes interpret events and inform our understanding of physical and social environments. These processes have been extensively studied to ascertain the multifaceted nature of narrative comprehension. From this research we know that three overlapping processes (i.e., knowledge integration, goal structure understanding, and causal inference generation) proposed by the constructionist paradigm are necessary for narrative comprehension, narrative comprehension has a predictive relationship with children's later reading performance, and comprehension processes are generalizable to other contexts. Much of the previous research has emphasized internal and predictive validity; thus, limiting the generalizability of previous findings. We are concerned these limitations may be excluding underrepresented populations from benefits and implications identified by early comprehension processes research. This review identifies gaps in extant literature regarding external validity and argues for increased emphasis on externally valid research. We highlight limited research on narrative comprehension processes in children from low-income and minority populations, and argue for changes in comprehension assessments. Specifically, we argue both on- and off-line assessments should be used across various narrative types (e.g., picture books, televised narratives) with traditionally underserved and underrepresented populations. We propose increasing the generalizability of narrative comprehension processes research can inform persistent reading achievement gaps, and have practical implications for how children learn from narratives. PMID:24659973

  2. A narrative method for consciousness research

    PubMed Central

    Díaz, José-Luis

    2013-01-01

    Some types of first-person narrations of mental processes that constitute phenomenological accounts and texts, such as internal monolog statements, epitomize the best expressions and representations of human consciousness available and therefore may be used to model phenomenological streams of consciousness. The type of autonomous monolog in which an author or narrator declares actual mental processes in a think aloud manner seems particularly suitable for modeling streams of consciousness. A narrative method to extract and depict conscious processes, operations, contents, and states from an acceptable phenomenological text would require three subsequent steps: operational criteria for producing and/or selecting a phenomenological text, a system for detecting text items that are indicative of conscious contents and processes, and a procedure for representing such items in formal dynamic system devices such as Petri nets. The requirements and restrictions of each of these steps are presented, analyzed, and applied to phenomenological texts in the following manner: (1) the relevance of introspective language and narrative analyses to consciousness research and the idea that specific narratives are of paramount interest for such investigation is justified; (2) some of the obstacles and constraints to attain plausible consciousness inferences from narrative texts and the methodological requirements to extract and depict items relevant to consciousness contents and operations from a suitable phenomenological text are examined; (3) a preliminary exercise of the proposed method is used to analyze and chart a classical interior monolog excerpted from James Joyce’s Ulysses, a masterpiece of the stream-of-consciousness literary technique and, finally, (4) an inter-subjective evaluation for inter-observer agreement of mental attributions of another phenomenological text (an excerpt from the Intimate Journal of Miguel de Unamuno) is presented using some mathematical tools

  3. A narrative method for consciousness research.

    PubMed

    Díaz, José-Luis

    2013-01-01

    Some types of first-person narrations of mental processes that constitute phenomenological accounts and texts, such as internal monolog statements, epitomize the best expressions and representations of human consciousness available and therefore may be used to model phenomenological streams of consciousness. The type of autonomous monolog in which an author or narrator declares actual mental processes in a think aloud manner seems particularly suitable for modeling streams of consciousness. A narrative method to extract and depict conscious processes, operations, contents, and states from an acceptable phenomenological text would require three subsequent steps: operational criteria for producing and/or selecting a phenomenological text, a system for detecting text items that are indicative of conscious contents and processes, and a procedure for representing such items in formal dynamic system devices such as Petri nets. The requirements and restrictions of each of these steps are presented, analyzed, and applied to phenomenological texts in the following manner: (1) the relevance of introspective language and narrative analyses to consciousness research and the idea that specific narratives are of paramount interest for such investigation is justified; (2) some of the obstacles and constraints to attain plausible consciousness inferences from narrative texts and the methodological requirements to extract and depict items relevant to consciousness contents and operations from a suitable phenomenological text are examined; (3) a preliminary exercise of the proposed method is used to analyze and chart a classical interior monolog excerpted from James Joyce's Ulysses, a masterpiece of the stream-of-consciousness literary technique and, finally, (4) an inter-subjective evaluation for inter-observer agreement of mental attributions of another phenomenological text (an excerpt from the Intimate Journal of Miguel de Unamuno) is presented using some mathematical tools.

  4. Narrative change, narrative stability, and structural constraint: The case of prisoner reentry narratives

    PubMed Central

    Harding, David J.; Dobson, Cheyney C.; Wyse, Jessica J. B.; Morenoff, Jeffrey D.

    2016-01-01

    Cultural sociologists and other social scientists have increasingly used the concept of narrative as a theoretical tool to understand how individuals make sense of the links between their past, present, and future, how individuals construct social identities from cultural building blocks, and how culture shapes social action and individual behavior. Despite its richness, we contend that the narratives literature has yet to grapple with narrative change and stability when structural constraints or barriers challenge personal narratives and narrative identities. Particularly for marginalized groups, the potential incompatibility of personal narratives with daily experiences raises questions about the capacity of narratives to influence behavior and decision-making. In this study we draw on prospective longitudinal data on the reentry narratives and narrative identities of former prisoners to understand how narratives do and not change when confronted with contradictory experiences and structural constraints. We identify and describe the processes generating narrative change and stability among our subjects. These findings inform a framework for studying narrative change and stability based on four factors: the content of the narrative itself, the structural circumstances experienced by the individual, the institutional contexts in which the individual is embedded, and the social networks in which the individual is embedded. PMID:28316785

  5. Instruments of Change: An Action Research Study of Studio Art Instruction in Teacher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Soganci, Ismail O.

    2016-01-01

    This article narrates a nine-month action research project conducted in order to improve studio art instruction in a preservice art education programme in Turkey. Setting out to determine the relevant problems through interpretation of conversations, anecdotes, essays and observations of 16 third-year BA students, the instructional atmosphere was…

  6. Research studies on patients' illness experience using the Narrative Medicine approach: a systematic review

    PubMed Central

    Fioretti, Chiara; Mazzocco, Ketti; Oliveri, Serena; Masiero, Marianna; Pravettoni, Gabriella

    2016-01-01

    Objective Since its birth about 30 years ago, Narrative Medicine approach has increased in popularity in the medical context as well as in other disciplines. This paper aims to review Narrative Medicine research studies on patients' and their caregivers' illness experience. Setting and participants MEDLINE, Psycinfo, EBSCO Psychological and Behavioural Science, The Cochrane Library and CINAHL databases were searched to identify all the research studies which focused on the Narrative Medicine approach reported in the title, in the abstract and in the keywords the words ‘Narrative Medicine’ or ‘Narrative-based Medicine’. Primary and secondary outcome measures: number of participants, type of disease, race and age of participants, type of study, dependent variables, intervention methods, assessment. Results Of the 325 titles screened, we identified 10 research articles fitting the inclusion criteria. Our systematic review showed that research on Narrative Medicine has no common specific methodology: narrative in Medicine is used as an intervention protocol as well as an assessment tool. Patients' characteristics, types of disease and data analysis procedures differ among the screened studies. Conclusions Narrative Medicine research in medical practice needs to find clear and specific protocols to deepen the impact of narrative on medical practice and on patients' lives. PMID:27417197

  7. Empowering social action through narratives of identity and culture.

    PubMed

    Williams, Lewis; Labonte, Ronald; O'Brien, Mike

    2003-03-01

    Concern at widening health and wealth inequities between communities accompanying processes of globalization in recent years are reflected in contemporary definitions of health promotion, premised on the stratagem of individuals and communities increasing control over factors that determine health, thereby improving their health status. Such community empowerment practice is commonly accepted within the health promotion literature as encompassing intrapersonal, interpersonal and socio-political elements. Less articulated and understood, however, are the processes whereby the identities and cultures of marginalized communities intersect with and reverberate through these levels of action. The potential of identity and culture as important individual and community resources within social action takes on further significance within global-ized contexts, which simultaneously expose marginalized communities to dominant cultural power relations while affording members new avenues for cultural expression. In this paper we highlight culture and identity as important aspects of the empowerment process, drawing on the experiences of migrant Tongan and Samoan women throughout a social action process in Aotearoa/New Zealand. In particular, narratives of identity and culture within storytelling as an empowerment practice are explicated, as is the articulation of identity and culture within more structurally orientated power relations throughout subsequent activities related to policy advocacy.

  8. The Inevitability and Importance of Genres in Narrative Research on Teaching Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rosiek, Jerry; Atkinson, Becky

    2007-01-01

    The authors examine the field of contemporary teacher knowledge research. Specifically, they examine the use of narrative representations by researchers in this field. They make a general argument for the development of distinct narrative genres in teacher knowledge research because considerations of distinct genre styles can help researchers…

  9. The Stories We Need: Anthropology, Philosophy, Narrative and Higher Education Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scutt, Cecily; Hobson, Julia

    2013-01-01

    As higher education research is largely practised by those immersed within the university, the questions we ask, and the stories we tell, over time co-create the university itself. Using Bruner's concept of the "narrative mode," we argue for a revaluing of narrative and storytelling within higher education research. We ground our…

  10. Becoming Researchers: A Narrative Study of Chinese University EFL Teachers' Research Practice and Their Professional Identity Construction

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Xu, Yueting

    2014-01-01

    This article reports on a narrative study of university EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers' research practices and their identity construction as researchers in China. Drawing upon data from narrative frames among 104 teachers and in-depth interviews with four teachers, the study reveals that teachers' increased research engagement, as…

  11. A partnership model for a reflective narrative for researcher and participant.

    PubMed

    Murphy, Gill; Peters, Kath; Wilkes, Lesley; Jackson, Debra

    2016-09-01

    Background Conceptual frameworks are important to ensure a clear underpinning research philosophy. Further, the use of conceptual frameworks can support structured research processes. Aim To present a partnership model for a reflective narrative for researcher and participant. Discussion This paper positions the underpinning philosophical framework of the model in social constructionism (the idea that jointly constructed understandings form the basis for shared assumptions) and narrative enquiry. The model has five stages - study design, invitation to share a research space and partnership, a metaphorical research space, building a community story, and reading the community story to others. Core principles of the partnership model are continual reflection by the researcher, potential reflections by participants, reciprocal sharing, and partnership in research. Conclusion A 'trajectory of self' for both participants and researchers can be enhanced within reflective partnerships. Implications for practice This model can be applied to studies that use narrative enquiry and are seeking a humanistic approach with participant engagement.

  12. Knitting Teacher: A Narrative Inquiry of a Researcher Who Has Been Researched

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heydon, Rachel

    2010-01-01

    From the vantages of a teacher who has been researched and an educational researcher who has researched teachers, this inquiry constructs a knitted narrative from journals, letters, and stories written about my time teaching English studies in a remote First Nations' community and articles written about me when I was a research participant in a…

  13. Narratives in Teaching and Research for Justice and Human Rights

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Osler, Audrey; Zhu, Juanjuan

    2011-01-01

    Throughout history individual and collective narratives have been used in struggles for justice. We draw on Sen's theory of justice to examine the potential of narratives in teaching and researching for social justice. Human rights are presented as powerful ethical claims that can be critically examined by learners to consider their rights and…

  14. 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

  15. Storybridging: Four steps for constructing effective health narratives

    PubMed Central

    Boeijinga, Anniek; Hoeken, Hans; Sanders, José

    2017-01-01

    Objective: To develop a practical step-by-step approach to constructing narrative health interventions in response to the mixed results and wide diversity of narratives used in health-related narrative persuasion research. Method: Development work was guided by essential narrative characteristics as well as principles enshrined in the Health Action Process Approach. Results: The ‘storybridging’ method for constructing health narratives is described as consisting of four concrete steps: (a) identifying the stage of change, (b) identifying the key elements, (c) building the story, and (d) pre-testing the story. These steps are illustrated by means of a case study in which an effective narrative health intervention was developed for Dutch truck drivers: a high-risk, underprivileged occupational group. Conclusion: Although time and labour intensive, the Storybridging approach suggests integrating the target audience as an important stakeholder throughout the development process. Implications and recommendations are provided for health promotion targeting truck drivers specifically and for constructing narrative health interventions in general. PMID:29276232

  16. 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…

  17. Narrative communication in cancer prevention and control: a framework to guide research and application.

    PubMed

    Kreuter, Matthew W; Green, Melanie C; Cappella, Joseph N; Slater, Michael D; Wise, Meg E; Storey, Doug; Clark, Eddie M; O'Keefe, Daniel J; Erwin, Deborah O; Holmes, Kathleen; Hinyard, Leslie J; Houston, Thomas; Woolley, Sabra

    2007-06-01

    Narrative forms of communication-including entertainment education, journalism, literature, testimonials, and storytelling-are emerging as important tools for cancer prevention and control. To stimulate critical thinking about the role of narrative in cancer communication and promote a more focused and systematic program of research to understand its effects, we propose a typology of narrative application in cancer control. We assert that narrative has four distinctive capabilities: overcoming resistance, facilitating information processing, providing surrogate social connections, and addressing emotional and existential issues. We further assert that different capabilities are applicable to different outcomes across the cancer control continuum (e.g., prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship). This article describes the empirical evidence and theoretical rationale supporting propositions in the typology, identifies variables likely to moderate narrative effects, raises ethical issues to be addressed when using narrative communication in cancer prevention and control efforts, and discusses potential limitations of using narrative in this way. Future research needs based on these propositions are outlined and encouraged.

  18. Dominant Cultural Narratives, Racism, and Resistance in the Workplace: A Study of the Experiences of Young Black Canadians.

    PubMed

    Hasford, Julian

    2016-03-01

    Although many studies have examined lived experiences of racism and resistance in various contexts, relatively little research has examined such experiences among Black youth within the workplace-particularly in the Canadian context. In this study I use qualitative analyses of narrative interviews with 24 Black Canadian youth and young adults (aged 16-35) to examine the impact of dominant cultural narratives on lived experiences of workplace racism and resistance. Findings are presented using theatrical games as a central conceptual metaphor, suggesting that: (a) dominant cultural narratives have a major impact on relational dynamics of oppression in the workplace; (b) identity performance is a critical strategy for negotiating dominant cultural narratives in the workplace; and (c) panopticism (the internalized gaze) is a significant aspect of internalized oppression. Implications for future research and action are discussed. © Society for Community Research and Action 2016.

  19. Use of unsolicited first-person written illness narratives in research: systematic review.

    PubMed

    O'Brien, Mary R; Clark, David

    2010-08-01

    This paper is a report of a methodological systematic review conducted to critically analyze the use of unsolicited first-person written illness narratives for research purposes. Documenting illness experiences through written narratives enables individuals to record the impact of illness on themselves and those closest to them. In health research, unsolicited first-person written illness narratives are recognized increasingly as legitimate data sources. To date there has been no critical evaluation of the method. The ISI Web of Knowledge; CINAHL; PubMed; MEDLINE; PsycINFO; Science Direct; Cochrane Library databases and the internet metasearch engine 'Dogpile' were searched for the period up to 2009. The search terms were: 'patient experience', 'narratives', 'autobiography', 'pathography', 'written narratives', 'illness narratives', 'internet', 'published', 'unsolicited'. Recommendations within the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination guidance informed the review. Eligible studies were evaluated according to inclusion/exclusion criteria. The data were extracted by one reviewer and monitored by the second reviewer. Eighteen papers met the inclusion criteria, 12 from the original search in 2008 and six from the updated search in October 2009. Nine used unpublished (internet) narratives, eight used published (print) accounts and one drew on both genres. The method has been used to explore a wide range of illness experiences. There was lack of agreement on key terminology. Methodological issues were often poorly-described, and confused ethical stances were reported. The lack of methodological detail in published papers requires attention if this method is to be used effectively in healthcare research. The confused ethical stance adopted needs to be addressed and clarified. A theoretical conceptual framework to define and describe the method accurately is urgently required.

  20. Rethinking Texts: Narrative and the Construction of Qualitative Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holley, Karri A.; Colyar, Julia

    2009-01-01

    This article outlines how a theory of narrative can be used to deconstruct qualitative research texts. Although research texts are a distinct genre in comparison with works of fiction, the basic components of literary activity are similar. Researchers structure and emphasize data and participants in various ways to tell a logical story. Narrative…

  1. Narrative Pedagogy: Transforming Nursing Education Through 15 Years of Research in Nursing Education.

    PubMed

    Ironside, Pamela M

    This article provides a review of current disciplinary understanding of Narrative Pedagogy and describes the implications for ongoing transformation in nursing education. Narrative Pedagogy has been enacted and investigated by teachers around the world for more than 15 years. Few nursing educational innovations or pedagogies in nursing have been adopted in such an array of settings/levels. A review of the nursing literature was conducted to locate reports of research on and teaching innovations derived from Narrative Pedagogy. Narrative Pedagogy has an extensive and longitudinal body of research describing how the approach contributes to the educational transformation the discipline seeks. Narrative Pedagogy and the growing literature describing how it is enacted provides a way for teachers and students to persist in questioning their current understanding of nursing, the ways they think about the situations they encounter, and how their practice can best be learned.

  2. Narrative as Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hendry, Petra Munro

    2010-01-01

    The author suggests that all research is narrative. Resituating all research as narrative, as opposed to characterizing narrative as one particular form of inquiry, provides a critical space for rethinking "research" beyond current dualisms and bifurcations that create boundaries that limit the capacity for dialogue across diverse epistemologies.…

  3. Teachers as researchers: a narrative pedagogical approach to transforming a graduate family and health promotion course.

    PubMed

    Brykczynski, Karen A

    2012-01-01

    Scholarship of teaching in nursing is illustrated by describing the development, implementation, evaluation, and revision of a family and health promotion course for graduate family nurse practitioner students. A narrative pedagogical approach that combines conventional pedagogy with action research is used. The work, an example of curriculum as dialogue, illustrates how teachers can incorporate research, evaluation, and reflection into their daily teaching practice. Given adequate support, these evaluation and research activities could constitute part of the scholarship of teaching, and, as such, would warrant allocation of time in faculty workloads and formal acknowledgment in annual performance evaluations and promotion and tenure decisions. The importance of increasing the clinical relevance of the scholarship of teaching in a practice discipline such as nursing is also emphasized.

  4. Narratives as Zones of Dialogic Constructions: A Bakhtinian Approach to Data in Qualitative Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vitanova, Gergana

    2013-01-01

    Narratives have become increasingly important in the field of applied linguistics, as recent publications have illustrated, yet narrative analysis could still be considered undertheorized. This article outlines a specific, dialogical approach to the narrative analysis of data in qualitative research. Building on Bakhtin's notion of dialogue,…

  5. 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

  6. Changing essay writing in undergraduate nursing education through action research: a Swedish example.

    PubMed

    Friberg, Febe; Lyckhage, Elisabeth Dahlborg

    2013-01-01

    This article describes the development of literature-based models for bachelor degree essays in Swedish undergraduate nursing education. Students' experiences in a course with literature-based models for bachelor degree essays are discussed. The ever-growing body of nursing research and specialized and complex health care practices make great demands on nursing education in terms of preparing students to be both skilled practitioners and users of research. Teaching to help students understand evidence-based practice is a challenge for nursing education. Action research was used to generate knowledge of and practical solutions to problems in everyday locations. Six models were developed: concept analysis, contributing to evidence-based nursing by means of quantitative research, contributing to evidence-based nursing by means of qualitative research, discourse analysis, analysis of narratives, and literature review. Action research was found to be a relevant procedure for changing ways of working with literature-based, bachelor degree essays. The models that were developed increased students' confidence in writing essays and preparedness for the nursing role.

  7. Combining Historical Research and Narrative Inquiry to Create Chronicles and Narratives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wilson, Richard A.

    2007-01-01

    Stories about the Idaho State Library, chronicles and narratives, are reported in my doctoral dissertation (Wilson, 2005). The chronicles, reconstructed from documents and records, provided a presentation of the people, events, and activities to frame the stories. The narratives, excerpted from interviews, provided the rich description and unique…

  8. From Knowing to Understanding Student Empowerment: A Narrative Approach to Research in a Middle School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Horn, Brian R.

    2015-01-01

    This paper examines how, as a teacher researcher, I employed a narrative approach to research to better understand my 8th grade Language Arts students' empowerment in school. Drawing on sociocultural theory, critical pedagogy and a narrative approach to teacher research, students' voices were privileged and compared to the systemic assumptions…

  9. Chronicles of Change: The Narrative Turn and E-Learning Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Friesen, Norm

    2008-01-01

    Narrative case research has been widely utilized in educational inquiry to investigate different and changing positions and perspectives on questions of identity, curriculum and classroom practice. Despite the fact that case-study research of this kind is well suited to the investigation of changing technologies and their interpretation in…

  10. 'I will never ever go back': patients' written narratives of health care communication.

    PubMed

    Denniston, Charlotte; Molloy, Elizabeth; Rees, Charlotte E

    2018-07-01

    Although communication with patients is essential to health care, education designed to develop patient-centred communication often ignores patients' voices. Patient stories may offer a means to explore patient experiences to inform patient-centred communication skills education design. Our research questions were: (i) What are the features of patients' health care communication narratives? (ii) What differences exist between patient narratives evaluated as positive and those evaluated as negative? (iii) How do patients narrate emotion in their narratives? This interpretivist research was underpinned by social constructionism. We employed a narrative approach to design an online questionnaire that was advertised to patients in the community. Analysis of the stories that were generated involved analysis of what was written (i.e. framework analysis) and of how it was written (i.e. attending to linguistic features). Participants shared 180 written narratives about previous health care professional (HCP) communication interactions. Narratives commonly included those of female patients seeking help for musculoskeletal or psychological concerns, which most frequently had occurred within the previous 6 months with male general practitioners in community settings. Framework analysis revealed four key themes: (i) patient actions during consultations; (ii) patient actions afterwards; (iii) lasting legacy, and (iv) interpersonal factors. Patients in narratives evaluated as positive actively engaged during and after interactions, had ongoing positive relationships with HCPs and felt valued in these relationships. Patients in narratives evaluated as negative were either passive or active during the interaction, but mostly failed to return to the HCP and felt devalued in their interaction. Further analysis of the linguistic features of select narratives revealed rich constructions of positive and negative emotions emphasising the lasting legacies of these interactions. Analysis

  11. Narrative research methods in palliative care contexts: two case studies.

    PubMed

    Thomas, Carol; Reeve, Joanne; Bingley, Amanda; Brown, Janice; Payne, Sheila; Lynch, Tom

    2009-05-01

    Narrative methods have played a minor role in research with dying patients to date, and deserve to be more widely understood. This article illustrates the utility and value of these methods through the narrative analysis of semi-structured interview data gathered in a series of interviews with two terminally ill cancer patients and their spouses. The methods and findings associated with these two case studies are outlined and discussed. The authors' contention is that an analytical focus on the naturalistic storytelling of patients and informal carers can throw new light on individuals' perceived illness states and symptoms, care-related needs, behaviors, and desires. In addition, the juxtaposition of two cases that share a number of markers of risk and need at the end of life illustrates how the narrative analysis of patients' experiential accounts can assist in uncovering important distinctions between cases that are of relevance to care management.

  12. 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

  13. Personal narrative approaches in rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury: A synthesis of qualitative research.

    PubMed

    D'Cruz, Kate; Douglas, Jacinta; Serry, Tanya

    2017-08-09

    Although narrative storytelling has been found to assist identity construction, there is little direct research regarding its application in rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury (TBI). The aim of this review was to identify published evidence on the use of personal narrative approaches in rehabilitation following TBI and to synthesise the findings across this literature. A systematic search of four databases was conducted in December 2016. No limit was set on the start date of the search. Personal narrative approaches were defined as direct client participation in sharing personal stories using written, spoken or visual methods. The search retrieved 12 qualitative research articles on the use of personal narrative approaches in TBI rehabilitation. Thematic synthesis of the narrative data and authors' reported findings of the 12 articles yielded an overall theme of building a strengths-based identity and four sub-themes: 1) expressing and communicating to others; 2) feeling validated by the act of someone listening; 3) reflecting and learning about oneself; and 4) being productive. The findings of this review support the use of personal narrative approaches in addressing loss of identity following TBI. Healthcare professionals and the community are encouraged to seek opportunities for survivors of TBI to share their stories.

  14. 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…

  15. The burgeoning field of transdisciplinary adaptation research in Quebec (1998-): a climate change-related public health narrative.

    PubMed

    Gosselin, Pierre; Bélanger, Diane; Lapaige, Véronique; Labbé, Yolaine

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents a public health narrative on Quebec's new climatic conditions and human health, and describes the transdisciplinary nature of the climate change adaptation research currently being adopted in Quebec, characterized by the three phases of problem identification, problem investigation, and problem transformation. A transdisciplinary approach is essential for dealing with complex ill-defined problems concerning human-environment interactions (for example, climate change), for allowing joint research, collective leadership, complex collaborations, and significant exchanges among scientists, decision makers, and knowledge users. Such an approach is widely supported in theory but has proved to be extremely difficult to implement in practice, and those who attempt it have met with heavy resistance, succeeding when they find the occasional opportunity within institutional or social contexts. In this paper we narrate the ongoing struggle involved in tackling the negative effects of climate change in multi-actor contexts at local and regional levels, a struggle that began in a quiet way in 1998. The paper will describe how public health adaptation research is supporting transdisciplinary action and implementation while also preparing for the future, and how this interaction to tackle a life-world problem (adaptation of the Quebec public health sector to climate change) in multi-actors contexts has progressively been established during the last 13 years. The first of the two sections introduces the social context of a Quebec undergoing climate changes. Current climatic conditions and expected changes will be described, and attendant health risks for the Quebec population. The second section addresses the scientific, institutional and normative dimensions of the problem. It corresponds to a "public health narrative" presented in three phases: (1) problem identification (1998-2002) beginning in northern Quebec; (2) problem investigation (2002-2006) in which

  16. 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…

  17. Young children's recall and reconstruction of audio and audiovisual narratives.

    PubMed

    Gibbons, J; Anderson, D R; Smith, R; Field, D E; Fischer, C

    1986-08-01

    It has been claimed that the visual component of audiovisual media dominates young children's cognitive processing. This experiment examines the effects of input modality while controlling the complexity of the visual and auditory content and while varying the comprehension task (recall vs. reconstruction). 4- and 7-year-olds were presented brief stories through either audio or audiovisual media. The audio version consisted of narrated character actions and character utterances. The narrated actions were matched to the utterances on the basis of length and propositional complexity. The audiovisual version depicted the actions visually by means of stop animation instead of by auditory narrative statements. The character utterances were the same in both versions. Audiovisual input produced superior performance on explicit information in the 4-year-olds and produced more inferences at both ages. Because performance on utterances was superior in the audiovisual condition as compared to the audio condition, there was no evidence that visual input inhibits processing of auditory information. Actions were more likely to be produced by the younger children than utterances, regardless of input medium, indicating that prior findings of visual dominance may have been due to the salience of narrative action. Reconstruction, as compared to recall, produced superior depiction of actions at both ages as well as more constrained relevant inferences and narrative conventions.

  18. Framing Effects in Narrative and Non-Narrative Risk Messages.

    PubMed

    Steinhardt, Joseph; Shapiro, Michael A

    2015-08-01

    Narrative messages are increasingly popular in health and risk campaigns, yet gain/loss framing effects have never been tested with such messages. Three experiments examined framing in narrative messages. Experiment 1 found that only the character's decision, not framing, influenced judgments about characters in a narrative derived from a prospect theory context. Experiment 2 found that a framing effect that occurred when presented in a decision format did not occur when the same situation was presented as a narrative. Using a different story/decision context, Experiment 3 found no significant difference in preference for surgery over radiation therapy in a narrative presentation compared to a non-narrative presentation. The results suggest that health and risk campaigns cannot assume that framing effects will be the same in narrative messages and non-narrative messages. Potential reasons for these differences and suggestions for future research are discussed. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

  19. 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…

  20. Use of Narrative Nursing Records for Nursing Research

    PubMed Central

    Park, Hyeoun-Ae; Cho, InSook; Ahn, Hee-Jung

    2012-01-01

    To explore the usefulness of narrative nursing records documented using a standardized terminology-based electronic nursing records system, we conducted three different studies on (1) the gaps between the required nursing care time and the actual nursing care time, (2) the practice variations in pressure ulcer care, and (3) the surveillance of adverse drug events. The narrative nursing notes, documented at the point of care using standardized nursing statements, were extracted from the clinical data repository at a teaching hospital in Korea and analyzed. Our findings were: the pediatric and geriatric units showed relatively high staffing needs; overall incidence rate of pressure ulcer among the intensive-care patients was 15.0% and the nursing interventions provided for pressure-ulcer care varied depending on nursing units; and at least one adverse drug event was noted in 53.0% of the cancer patients who were treated with cisplatin. A standardized nursing terminology-based electronic nursing record system allowed us to explore answers to different various research questions. PMID:24199111

  1. Who speaks? Who looks? Who feels? Point of view in autobiographical narratives.

    PubMed

    Habermas, Tilmann

    2006-04-01

    In this paper, the author aims to substantiate Freud's claim that neurotic illness creates gaps in autobiographical narratives in terms of the narrator's stating and inducing perspectives. He sketches out the role of narrative perspective and the joint taking of a shared perspective by analyst and patient in psychoanalytic therapy. He introduces four ways of representing perspectives in narratives. Three degrees of narrative distortion are exemplified by three excerpts from life narratives and explored in terms of narrative perspective representation. The most comprehensive perspective representation is achieved in the first example by explicitly stating the present perspective of the narrator as well as the past perspective of the story's protagonist by use of mental verbs. In the second narrative, exclusive use of linguistic forms for inducing the protagonist's perspective both overwhelms the narrator and gives the listener an incomplete picture of what happened. Inconsistent motives, denial of responsibility and omission of detail render the third narrative even more difficult to follow. The author discusses the clinical significance of this exploratory analysis of perspectives in narratives in terms of claiming responsibility for one's past action and of level of defence mechanisms, and by highlighting the emotional impact on listeners, which the author suggests is the stronger the more perspectives are left out. He discusses analogies to countertransference. The analysis of narrative perspectives offers an approach for systematic research in psychoanalytic practice.

  2. Counter-Narrative as Method: Race, Policy and Research for Teacher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Milner, H. Richard, IV; Howard, Tyrone C.

    2013-01-01

    The authors argue for a research and conceptual agenda that complicates and disrupts common narratives in teacher education that have serious implications for race. Building on the pivotal work of legal scholar Derrick Bell and through a critical race theory (CRT) lens, this article challenges researchers to broaden and complexify traditional…

  3. Geography Teachers' Stories of Sustainability: An Introduction to Narrative Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brooks, Clare

    2016-01-01

    Geography teacher recruitment and retention is an important issue for the future of geography education. This Special Issue of "International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education" ("IRGEE") tackles this issue head on by focusing on geography teachers' narratives about their experiences of teaching geography, and…

  4. Evidence of Intercultural Communication Competence in Tenth Grader's Narrative Texts

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Guerrero Moya, María Eulalia; Muñoz Ortiz, Liliana; Niño Díaz, Ana María

    2016-01-01

    This action research study explored the effects of an intervention linking both culture and citizenship in a tenth-grade English language class, and aimed at finding evidence of intercultural communicative competence (ICC) skills through the writing of narrative texts in English. Participants were 75 tenth-grade students, between the ages of 14…

  5. Sharing stories: life history narratives in stuttering research.

    PubMed

    Kathard, H

    2001-01-01

    The life experiences of people who stutter (PWS) have not featured prominently in research. Historically, the profession of speech and language therapy has amassed data and developed its theory of stuttering within a positivistic frame. As a consequence, the existing over-arching theory of research and practice does not engage holistically with the dynamic personal, socio-cultural and political contexts of the individual who stutters. Therefore a conceptual shift is required in ontology, epistemology and methodology underpinning the knowledge construction process. The use of the life history narratives as a research tool is promoted. An exploratory study of a single participant is presented to illuminate the methodological approach and emerging theoretical constructs.

  6. Sensory Narratives: Capturing Embodiment in Narratives of Movement, Sport, Leisure and Health

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hunter, Lisa; Emerald, Elke

    2016-01-01

    Narrative research has been employed by many researchers in the field of physical culture (including movement, play, dance, sport, leisure, physical pursuits, physical activity, physical education and health). From our storied worlds, narrative research reveals complex embodied and emplaced social phenomena within this field. However, there are…

  7. What can action learning offer a beleaguered system? A narrative representing the relationship.

    PubMed

    Traeger, James

    2017-05-02

    Purpose This is an attempt to write an account of action learning that is as close to the ground on which it was practised as the author can make it. In that sense, the reader can read what follows below as a kind of autoethnography, a "representation as relationship" as Gergen and Gergen (2002, p. 11) call it. This is because in the opportunity of telling a story about his practice as an action learning facilitator, the author hopes to evoke that which is more akin to the contactful environment of quality action learning than any amount of abstract theorising. Design/methodology/approach This is an example of "narrative inquiry", best judged, according to Sparkes (2002), in terms of the ability of such accounts to "contribute to sociological understanding in ways that, amongst others are self-knowing, self-respecting, self-sacrificing and self-luminous". Findings As the author re-tells this partial account, he has a sense of the massive wider structures around him, but all he can see in his dim lamp is the fleeting glimpse of the local strata. The author traces his hand along the seams, not intending to dig them out, but simply to witness them, or even, in a spirit of yearning, to give them a witnessing of themselves. Originality/value To the author, this is about portraying what action learning feels like, rather than thinks like, for his own and for the benefit of other practitioners.

  8. Story and Discourse: Narrative Structure in Fiction and Film.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chatman, Seymour

    The purpose of this book is to provide a reasoned account of narrative structure, the elements of storytelling, and their combination and articulation. As explained in the introductory chapter, the "what" of narrative is the story, its events (actions, happenings) and existents (characters and settings); the "way" of narrative is discourse, or…

  9. Whose Stories Matter? Re-Vising, Reflecting and Re-Discovering a Researcher's Embodied Experience as a Narrative Inquirer

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McMahon, Jenny; McGannon, Kerry R.

    2016-01-01

    This paper centres on one researcher's narrative inquiry of embodied experience. The purpose of this paper is to initiate and extend dialogue which highlights potential possibilities and limitations for those researchers and participants who choose to engage with the narrative inquiry approach. Of special concern are four points or evocations that…

  10. The ontogenesis of narrative: from moving to meaning

    PubMed Central

    Delafield-Butt, Jonathan T.; Trevarthen, Colwyn

    2015-01-01

    Narrative, the creation of imaginative projects and experiences displayed in expressions of movement and voice, is how human cooperative understanding grows. Human understanding places the character and qualities of objects and events of interest within stories that portray intentions, feelings, and ambitions, and how one cares about them. Understanding the development of narrative is therefore essential for understanding the development of human intelligence, but its early origins are obscure. We identify the origins of narrative in the innate sensorimotor intelligence of a hypermobile human body and trace the ontogenesis of narrative form from its earliest expression in movement. Intelligent planning, with self-awareness, is evident in the gestures and motor expressions of the mid-gestation fetus. After birth, single intentions become serially organized into projects with increasingly ambitious distal goals and social meaning. The infant imitates others’ actions in shared tasks, learns conventional cultural practices, and adapts his own inventions, then names topics of interest. Through every stage, in simple intentions of fetal movement, in social imitations of the neonate, in early proto-conversations and collaborative play of infants and talk of children and adults, the narrative form of creative agency with it four-part structure of ‘introduction,’ ‘development,’ ‘climax,’ and ‘resolution’ is present. We conclude that shared rituals of culture and practical techniques develop from a fundamental psycho-motor structure with its basic, vital impulses for action and generative process of thought-in-action that express an integrated, imaginative, and sociable Self. This basic structure is evident before birth and invariant in form throughout life. Serial organization of single, non-verbal actions into complex projects of expressive and explorative sense-making become conventional meanings and explanations with propositional narrative power

  11. Indigenous Storytelling and Participatory Action Research: Allies Toward Decolonization? Reflections From the Peoples' International Health Tribunal.

    PubMed

    Caxaj, C Susana

    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.

  12. Narrative in cancer research and policy: voice, knowledge and context

    PubMed Central

    Atkinson, Sarah; Rubinelli, Sara

    2014-01-01

    The potential applications of narrative within medical practice are attracting increased interest. In particular, personal narratives afford rich insights into how encounters with cancer and the associated provision of care are experienced, understood and represeted. Such first-person accounts are practically useful in indicating improvements to cancer care and politically significant in providing a means to enable the patient voice and legitimising experiential knowledge alongside a biomedical paradigm. However, personal narratives are necessarily and always constructed in particular social and political contexts and through existing ‘meta-narratives’ relating to cancer, health, illness and a flourishing life. The paper first examines work on personal cancer narratives to critically review the opportunities for narrative within cancer care. We then reflect on the crucial role of meta-narratives of cancer as framings within which personal narratives can be both enabled and constrained. PMID:23347413

  13. Narrativity and enaction: the social nature of literary narrative understanding

    PubMed Central

    Popova, Yanna B.

    2014-01-01

    This paper proposes an understanding of literary narrative as a form of social cognition and situates the study of such narratives in relation to the new comprehensive approach to human cognition, enaction. The particular form of enactive cognition that narrative understanding is proposed to depend on is that of participatory sense-making, as developed in the work of Di Paolo and De Jaegher. Currently there is no consensus as to what makes a good literary narrative, how it is understood, and why it plays such an irreplaceable role in human experience. The proposal thus identifies a gap in the existing research on narrative by describing narrative as a form of intersubjective process of sense-making between two agents, a teller and a reader. It argues that making sense of narrative literature is an interactional process of co-constructing a story-world with a narrator. Such an understanding of narrative makes a decisive break with both text-centered approaches that have dominated both structuralist and early cognitivist study of narrative, as well as pragmatic communicative ones that view narrative as a form of linguistic implicature. The interactive experience that narrative affords and necessitates at the same time, I argue, serves to highlight the active yet cooperative and communal nature of human sociality, expressed in the many forms than human beings interact in, including literary ones. PMID:25202286

  14. Narrativity and enaction: the social nature of literary narrative understanding.

    PubMed

    Popova, Yanna B

    2014-01-01

    This paper proposes an understanding of literary narrative as a form of social cognition and situates the study of such narratives in relation to the new comprehensive approach to human cognition, enaction. The particular form of enactive cognition that narrative understanding is proposed to depend on is that of participatory sense-making, as developed in the work of Di Paolo and De Jaegher. Currently there is no consensus as to what makes a good literary narrative, how it is understood, and why it plays such an irreplaceable role in human experience. The proposal thus identifies a gap in the existing research on narrative by describing narrative as a form of intersubjective process of sense-making between two agents, a teller and a reader. It argues that making sense of narrative literature is an interactional process of co-constructing a story-world with a narrator. Such an understanding of narrative makes a decisive break with both text-centered approaches that have dominated both structuralist and early cognitivist study of narrative, as well as pragmatic communicative ones that view narrative as a form of linguistic implicature. The interactive experience that narrative affords and necessitates at the same time, I argue, serves to highlight the active yet cooperative and communal nature of human sociality, expressed in the many forms than human beings interact in, including literary ones.

  15. Using Vignettes as Self-Reflexivity in Narrative Research of Problematised History Pedagogy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hunter, Philippa

    2012-01-01

    This article focuses on the use of vignettes as an emergent dimension of narrative research writing. The author draws on doctoral research that problematised history curriculum and pedagogy with pre-service teachers in the context of secondary teacher education in New Zealand. Pedagogic crossings of history education sites, and negotiation of…

  16. Death narratives and cervical cancer: Impact of character death on narrative processing and HPV vaccination.

    PubMed

    Krakow, Melinda; Yale, Robert N; Perez Torres, Debora; Christy, Katheryn; Jensen, Jakob D

    2017-12-01

    Narratives hold promise as an effective public health message strategy for health behavior change, yet research on what types of narratives are most persuasive is still in the formative stage. Narrative persuasion research has identified 2 promising features of such messages that could influence behavior: whether characters live or die, and whether characters encounter key barriers. This study investigated the effects of these 2 narrative message features on young women's HPV vaccination intentions and examined mediating psychological processes of narrative persuasion in the context of cervical cancer messages. We manipulated these 2 features in a narrative HPV vaccine intervention targeted to a national sample of U.S. women 18-26 who had not initiated the vaccine (N = 247). Participants were randomized in a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment. Compared to death narratives, survival narratives increased narrative believability and self-efficacy while lowering perceived barriers to vaccination. As features interacted, survival narratives featuring social barriers led to greater narrative transportation (absorption into the story) than other combinations. Moderated mediation analysis tested 10 theoretically derived mediators; transportation and risk severity mediated the narrative-intention relationship. Findings provide evidence for key psychological postulates of narrative persuasion theory. Results inform practical application for the construction of effective narrative message content in cervical cancer prevention campaigns for young women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  17. Narratives of health and illness: Arts-based research capturing the lived experience of dementia.

    PubMed

    Moss, Hilary; O'Neill, Desmond

    2017-01-01

    Introduction This paper presents three artists' residencies in a geriatric medicine unit in a teaching hospital. The aim of the residencies was creation of new work of high artistic quality reflecting the lived experience of the person with dementia and greater understanding of service user experience of living with dementia. This paper also explores arts-based research methodologies in a medical setting. Method Arts-based research and narrative enquiry were the method used in this study. Artists had extensive access to service users with dementia, family carers and clinical team. Projects were created through collaboration between clinical staff, arts and health director, artist, patients and family carers. Each performance was accompanied by a public seminar discussing dementia. Evaluations were undertaken following each residency. The process of creating artistic responses to dementia is outlined, presented and discussed. Results The artworks were well received with repeat performances and exhibitions requested. Evaluations of each residency indicated increased understanding of dementia. The narratives within the artworks aided learning about dementia. The results are a new chamber music composition, a series of visual artworks created collaboratively between visual artist and patients and family carers and a dance film inspired by a dancer's residency, all created through narrative enquiry. These projects support the role of arts-based research as creative process and qualitative research method which contributes to illuminating and exploring the lived experience of dementia. The arts act as a reflective tool for learning and understanding a complex health condition, as well as creating opportunities for increased understanding and public awareness of dementia. Issues arising in arts-based research in medical settings are highlighted, including ethical issues, the importance of service user narrative and multidisciplinary collaboration in arts and health

  18. Science teachers' attempts at integrating feminist pedagogy through collaborative action research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Capobianco, Brenda M.

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of three science teachers attempting to transform their practice by conducting action research on feminist science teaching. The teachers engaged in systematic, self-critical inquiry of their own practice and joined 8 other science teachers to engage in collaborative conversations about the nature of science, science teaching, and science education as a way of coming to a better understanding of how science can be taught for a more diverse group of students. Data were gathered via semistructured interviews, whole-group discussions, classroom observations, and review of supporting documents. Data analysis was based on narrative inquiry, where particular attention was given to the construction and reconstruction of the teachers' stories of their practical inquiries. Results indicated that the teachers as researchers of their own practice gained new knowledge about feminist science teaching and, furthermore, generated a cluster of pedagogical possibilities for inclusive, dynamic science teaching.

  19. The effect of narrative cues on infants' imitation from television and picture books.

    PubMed

    Simcock, Gabrielle; Garrity, Kara; Barr, Rachel

    2011-01-01

    Infants can imitate a novel action sequence from television and picture books, yet there has been no direct comparison of infants' imitation from the 2 types of media. Varying the narrative cues available during the demonstration and test, the current experiments measured 18- and 24-month-olds' imitation from television and picture books. Infants imitated from both media types when full narrative cues (Experiment 1; N = 76) or empty, meaningless narration (Experiment 2; N = 135) accompanied the demonstrations, but they imitated more from television than books. In Experiment 3 (N = 27), infants imitated from a book based on narration alone, without the presence of pictures. These results are discussed in relation to age-related changes in cognitive flexibility and infants' emerging symbolic understanding. © 2011 The Authors. Child Development © 2011 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

  20. The Role of the Narrator in Narrative Inquiry in Education: Construction and Co-Construction in Two Case Studies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bignold, Wendy; Su, Feng

    2013-01-01

    This paper explores narratives as an effective means of capturing multiple identities of research participants in complex social environments in education research. In doing so, it explores the role of the narrator in two case studies in two modes of narrative inquiry. Both studies present narratives of young people, focusing on multiple…

  1. Qualitative Research in Question: A Narrative of Disciplinary Power with/in the IRB

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Tara Star

    2008-01-01

    This article narrates the author's experience of obtaining institutional review board (IRB) approval for her dissertation study. Although her research topic was particularly sensitive, this case is illustrative of the increasing level of difficulty qualitative researchers are facing in conducting not only risky research but also work that is not…

  2. 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…

  3. Local Heroes, Narrative Worlds and the Imagination: The Making of a Moral Curriculum through Experiential Narratives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Conle, Carola; Boone, Michelle

    2008-01-01

    Concern about the impact of narrative worlds and their heroes offered by the media prompted research on encounters with moral models in experiential, narrative curricula. Researchers tracked the extension of a mandated Language Arts curriculum on "heroes" through the experiential narratives of four local heroes chosen collaboratively by teacher,…

  4. Narrative synthesis of equine-assisted psychotherapy literature: Current knowledge and future research directions.

    PubMed

    Lee, Ping-Tzu; Dakin, Emily; McLure, Merinda

    2016-05-01

    Equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) is an innovative emerging approach to mental health treatment. This narrative synthesis explores the current state of knowledge and areas for future research in EAP. Specifically reviewed are qualitative and quantitative empirical studies, including both articles published in peer-reviewed journals and research presented in theses and dissertations. We selected 24 studies for final inclusion in this study, dating between 2005 and 2013, and including the first EAP empirical research completed in 2005. Four of these studies are peer-reviewed journal articles, while 20 are master's theses or doctoral dissertations. The reviewed qualitative research provides initial evidence for the value of EAP for enhancing adolescents' communication and relationship skills. The reviewed experimental and quasi-experimental research provides initial evidence for the value of EAP for enhancing children's and adolescents' emotional, social and behavioural functioning. Yet, conclusions about the effectiveness of EAP must still be considered preliminary due to various methodological limitations in the reviewed research. The narrative review describes these methodological limitations and concludes with recommendations for future research. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Why School-Based Narrative Inquiry in Physical Education Research? An International Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Craig, Cheryl J.; You, JeongAe; Oh, Suhak

    2012-01-01

    While conducting a comparative research study in secondary Physical Education in South Korea and the United States, the question arose as to why the narrative inquiry research method we employed was chosen to study the experiences of teachers teaching the particular subject area to youth enrolled in four secondary schools (middle and high) in…

  6. 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…

  7. Visual narrative structure.

    PubMed

    Cohn, Neil

    2013-04-01

    Narratives are an integral part of human expression. In the graphic form, they range from cave paintings to Egyptian hieroglyphics, from the Bayeux Tapestry to modern day comic books (Kunzle, 1973; McCloud, 1993). Yet not much research has addressed the structure and comprehension of narrative images, for example, how do people create meaning out of sequential images? This piece helps fill the gap by presenting a theory of Narrative Grammar. We describe the basic narrative categories and their relationship to a canonical narrative arc, followed by a discussion of complex structures that extend beyond the canonical schema. This demands that the canonical arc be reconsidered as a generative schema whereby any narrative category can be expanded into a node in a tree structure. Narrative "pacing" is interpreted as a reflection of various patterns of this embedding: conjunction, left-branching trees, center-embedded constituencies, and others. Following this, diagnostic methods are proposed for testing narrative categories and constituency. Finally, we outline the applicability of this theory beyond sequential images, such as to film and verbal discourse, and compare this theory with previous approaches to narrative and discourse. Copyright © 2012 Cognitive Science Society, Inc.

  8. Understanding the Person through Narrative

    PubMed Central

    Hall, Joanne M.; Powell, Jill

    2011-01-01

    Mental health nurses need to know their clients at depth, and to comprehend their social contexts in order to provide holistic care. Knowing persons through their stories, narratives they tell, provides contextual detail and person-revealing characteristics that make them individuals. Narratives are an everyday means of communicating experience, and there is a place for storytelling in nearly all cultures. Thus narrative is a culturally congruent way to ascertain and understand experiences. This means the nurse should ask questions such as “How did that come about?” versus why questions. A narrative approach stands in contrast to a yes/no algorithmic process in conversing with clients. Eliciting stories illustrates the social context of events, and implicitly provides answers to questions of feeling and meaning. Here we include background on narrative, insights from narrative research, and clinical wisdom in explaining how narratively understanding the person can improve mental health nursing services. Implications for theory, practice, and research are discussed. PMID:21994820

  9. 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…

  10. 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

  11. Becoming a teller of tales: Associations between children’s fictional narratives and parent-child reminiscence narratives

    PubMed Central

    Wenner, Jennifer A.; Burch, Melissa M.; Lynch, Julie S.; Bauer, Patricia J.

    2008-01-01

    Previous research has revealed a connection between the contributions parents make while reminiscing and their children’s narratives for personally experienced events. The present research expands the literature by focusing on the connection between parental reminiscing and children’s production of fictional narratives. Four- to 9-year-olds and their parents reminisced about past shared events and then, with an experimenter, the children produced narratives based on wordless picture books. The results revealed that the overall quality of the fictional narratives was correlated with parents’ provision statements that emphasized orientation and evaluation in the reminiscence narrative. For younger children, correlations held for reminiscence narratives about recent events. For older children, correlations held for reminiscence narratives about events from the distant past. The results are consistent with the suggestion that children learn general storytelling skills from adult models. PMID:18062986

  12. Provisions of Trustworthiness in Critical Narrative Research: Bridging Intersubjectivity and Fidelity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moss, Glenda

    2004-01-01

    This paper is a reflective-reflexive examination of provisions of trustworthiness in critical narrative research. The author presents her understanding of provisions of trustworthiness as a science and as an art, and blurs these boundaries as she acknowledges their tension in practice. She weaves between theory and her experience in two…

  13. 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…

  14. 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…

  15. 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…

  16. 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…

  17. Improving the Achievement on Writing Narrative Text through Discussion Starter Story Technique

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Purba, Rodearta

    2018-01-01

    The objective of this study is to find out whether discussion starter story significantly improves the achievement on narrative text of the first grade students of Senior High School. This study was conducted by applying Classroom Action Research (CAR). The subject of this study is the first grade students of SMA Negeri 2 Pangururan in academic…

  18. The Collaborative Action Research Network: 30 Years of Agency in Developing Educational Action Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Somekh, Bridget

    2010-01-01

    This article provides an analysis of the Collaborative Action Research Network's (CARN) origins and development since its foundation in 1976. The author brings the unique perspective of active involvement in CARN almost from its inception, and editorship for many years of its journal "Educational Action Research". Cultural-historical…

  19. 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…

  20. When a hit sounds like a kiss: An electrophysiological exploration of semantic processing in visual narrative.

    PubMed

    Manfredi, Mirella; Cohn, Neil; Kutas, Marta

    2017-06-01

    Researchers have long questioned whether information presented through different sensory modalities involves distinct or shared semantic systems. We investigated uni-sensory cross-modal processing by recording event-related brain potentials to words replacing the climactic event in a visual narrative sequence (comics). We compared Onomatopoeic words, which phonetically imitate action sounds (Pow!), with Descriptive words, which describe an action (Punch!), that were (in)congruent within their sequence contexts. Across two experiments, larger N400s appeared to Anomalous Onomatopoeic or Descriptive critical panels than to their congruent counterparts, reflecting a difficulty in semantic access/retrieval. Also, Descriptive words evinced a greater late frontal positivity compared to Onomatopoetic words, suggesting that, though plausible, they may be less predictable/expected in visual narratives. Our results indicate that uni-sensory cross-model integration of word/letter-symbol strings within visual narratives elicit ERP patterns typically observed for written sentence processing, thereby suggesting the engagement of similar domain-independent integration/interpretation mechanisms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. When a hit sounds like a kiss: an electrophysiological exploration of semantic processing in visual narrative

    PubMed Central

    Manfredi, Mirella; Cohn, Neil; Kutas, Marta

    2017-01-01

    Researchers have long questioned whether information presented through different sensory modalities involves distinct or shared semantic systems. We investigated uni-sensory cross-modal processing by recording event-related brain potentials to words replacing the climactic event in a visual narrative sequence (comics). We compared Onomatopoeic words, which phonetically imitate action sounds (Pow!), with Descriptive words, which describe an action (Punch!), that were (in)congruent within their sequence contexts. Across two experiments, larger N400s appeared to Anomalous Onomatopoeic or Descriptive critical panels than to their congruent counterparts, reflecting a difficulty in semantic access/retrieval. Also, Descriptive words evinced a greater late frontal positivity compared to Onomatopoetic words, suggesting that, though plausible, they may be less predictable/expected in visual narratives. Our results indicate that uni-sensory cross-model integration of word/letter-symbol strings within visual narratives elicit ERP patterns typically observed for written sentence processing, thereby suggesting the engagement of similar domain-independent integration/interpretation mechanisms. PMID:28242517

  2. How problems evolve and dissolve: integrating narrative and strategic concepts.

    PubMed

    Eron, J B; Lund, T W

    1993-09-01

    This article presents an approach to therapy that links narrative and strategic concepts. The term "strategic" is used not in the prescriptive, impositional sense that has come to be associated with the method, but in terms of having a clear therapeutic direction in promoting change. The authors outline an approach to therapy that expands upon the fundamental principles of the MRI (Mental Research Institute) Brief Therapy model, elaborating more upon its constructivist premises than its prescriptive practices. They propose that by mapping how ordinary life events affect a person's preferred view, the therapist can locate the key narrative elements that shape the course of the problem and direct its solution. The authors suggest a framework for how problems evolve and dissolve. When new events are construed as contradicting family members' preferred narrative accounts, problems evolve. Problems dissolve when family members see the event, and the ideas and actions of others, as consonant with their preferred ways of being and acting.

  3. ACADEMIC GENEALOGIES WITH RESPECT TO NARRATIVE IN HUMAN AND SOCIAL SCIENCES AND THEIR IMPLICATION FOR PUBLIC POLICIES

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fujii, Satoshi; Hasegawa, Taiki; Nakano, Takeshi; Hatori, Tsuyoshi

    In human and society science, narrative is regarded as an important issue to understand dynamic actions of human being and society. Therefore, narrative is also expected to be important for public policies that try to improve dynamic actions of human being and society. In th is study, we review academic genealogies with respect to narratives including western philosophy, hermeneutics, historical science, historical philosophy, literary criticism, clinical psychology and sociology, narrative psychology and folklore. Then we discuss how narrative can be pragmatically applied for public policies.

  4. Children's Cognitive and Affective Responses About a Narrative Versus a Non-Narrative Cartoon Designed for an Active Videogame.

    PubMed

    Fernandes Davies, Vanessa; Mafra, Rafaella; Beltran, Alicia; Baranowski, Thomas; Lu, Amy Shirong

    2016-04-01

    This article presents the results of interviews conducted with children regarding their cognitive and affective responses toward a narrative and a non-narrative cartoon. The findings will be used to further explore the role of a narrative in motivating continued active videogame play. Twenty children (8-11 years old of mixed gender) watched two cartoons (narrative and non-narrative) and were subsequently interviewed. A thematic matrix was used to analyze the interviews. The narrative cartoon (n = 11) was only slightly preferred compared with the non-narrative one (n = 9), with little difference among the participants. The theme categories identified during the analyses were plot, characters, and suggestions. The fight scenes were mentioned by the children as a likeable aspect of the narrative cartoon. In the non-narrative cartoon, the vast majority (n = 17) liked the information about physical activity that was provided. The children enjoyed the appearance and personalities of the characters in both cartoons. A discrepancy in the data about the fight scenes (narrative cartoon) and characters (both cartoons) was found among the female participants (i.e., some girls did not like the fight and thought the characters were too aggressive). However, most of the children wanted to see more action in the story, an increase in the number of fight scenes (narrative cartoon), or more information about exercise and examples of exercises they could do (non-narrative cartoon). They also suggested adding a game to the non-narrative cartoon, including more characters, and improving the animation in both cartoons. The children preferred the narrative cartoon because of the story and the fight. Some gender differences were found, which further studies should investigate.

  5. 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)

  6. 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…

  7. The Influence of Patient Identification and Narrative Transportation on Intentions to Participate in Cancer Research.

    PubMed

    Neil, Jordan M; Gough, Aisling; Kee, Frank; George, Thomas J; Pufahl, Jeffrey; Krieger, Janice L

    2018-05-03

    Cancer decision-making interventions commonly utilize narratives as a persuasive strategy to increase identification with the message source, promote involvement with the topic, and elicit greater willingness to adopt recommended behaviors. However, there is little empirical research examining the mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of this strategy in the context of cancer research participation. Data for the current manuscript were collected as part of a larger study conducted with cancer patients (N = 413) from the USA, UK, and the Republic of Ireland. Participants viewed and evaluated video-recorded vignettes, illustrating different strategies for discussing clinical trials participation with family members. Results showed nationality was a significant predictor of identification with the main character (i.e., patient) in the vignette. Unexpectedly, these cross-national differences in identification disappeared when patients currently undergoing treatment had higher perceived susceptibility of their cancer. Identification with the main character in the vignettes was a significant predictor of intentions to participate in cancer research, but only when the mediating role of narrative transportation was considered. The findings demonstrate the importance of considering how individual and social identities influence identification with characters in cancer narratives and yield practical guidance for developing arts-based interventions to increase cancer research participation.

  8. Health Providers' Narratives on Intimate Partner Violence Against Roma Women in Spain.

    PubMed

    Briones-Vozmediano, Erica; La Parra-Casado, Daniel; Vives-Cases, Carmen

    2018-03-01

    This qualitative study identifies health professionals' dominant, adaptive, and liberating narratives regarding inter-ethnic relations when talking about intimate partner violence (IPV) and the health system responses to the way it affects Roma women. Dominant narratives are oppressive internalized stories that shape social perceptions of members of both dominant and minority groups, adaptive narratives refer to those that acknowledge asymmetry and inequality, and liberating narratives directly challenge oppression with resistant views of stereotypes and negative interpretations. A total of 25 in-depth interviews were carried out with healthcare professionals in Spain in 2015. A discourse analysis of the interview transcriptions was conducted, showing the way in which different narratives about Roma people and IPV are combined among health providers. Dominant narratives were more salient: they were used by health providers to reflect prejudicial social perceptions in Spain that depict the Roma as a marginalized and traditional group, to construct Roma women in negative and prejudicial terms as patients, and to explain the existence of the cultural normalization of IPV among Roma women. Adaptive and liberating narratives showed a prevailing ideology in terms of the tendency to socially discriminate against Roma people. Using liberating narratives to train and raise awareness among health professionals about IPV among Roma women could facilitate a positive change in their treatment of Roma women who could be affected by IPV, helping to ameliorate the maintenance of existing prejudices. © Society for Community Research and Action 2018.

  9. Visual Narrative Structure

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cohn, Neil

    2013-01-01

    Narratives are an integral part of human expression. In the graphic form, they range from cave paintings to Egyptian hieroglyphics, from the Bayeux Tapestry to modern day comic books (Kunzle, 1973; McCloud, 1993). Yet not much research has addressed the structure and comprehension of narrative images, for example, how do people create meaning out…

  10. 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…

  11. Children's Cognitive and Affective Responses About a Narrative Versus a Non-Narrative Cartoon Designed for an Active Videogame

    PubMed Central

    Mafra, Rafaella; Beltran, Alicia; Baranowski, Thomas; Lu, Amy Shirong

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Objective: This article presents the results of interviews conducted with children regarding their cognitive and affective responses toward a narrative and a non-narrative cartoon. The findings will be used to further explore the role of a narrative in motivating continued active videogame play. Materials and Methods: Twenty children (8–11 years old of mixed gender) watched two cartoons (narrative and non-narrative) and were subsequently interviewed. A thematic matrix was used to analyze the interviews. Results: The narrative cartoon (n = 11) was only slightly preferred compared with the non-narrative one (n = 9), with little difference among the participants. The theme categories identified during the analyses were plot, characters, and suggestions. The fight scenes were mentioned by the children as a likeable aspect of the narrative cartoon. In the non-narrative cartoon, the vast majority (n = 17) liked the information about physical activity that was provided. The children enjoyed the appearance and personalities of the characters in both cartoons. A discrepancy in the data about the fight scenes (narrative cartoon) and characters (both cartoons) was found among the female participants (i.e., some girls did not like the fight and thought the characters were too aggressive). However, most of the children wanted to see more action in the story, an increase in the number of fight scenes (narrative cartoon), or more information about exercise and examples of exercises they could do (non-narrative cartoon). They also suggested adding a game to the non-narrative cartoon, including more characters, and improving the animation in both cartoons. Conclusions: The children preferred the narrative cartoon because of the story and the fight. Some gender differences were found, which further studies should investigate. PMID:26881473

  12. Putting Nature to the Rack: Narrative Studies as Research.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Thomas, David

    Narrative study of teachers and teaching is seen as sited at the intersection of many current intellectual and professional concerns. These include not only classroom practice and professional careers, but also the Self, Experience, Memory, Identity, Autobiography, Life History, Agency, and Structure. Narrative as genre presents post-modernist…

  13. 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…

  14. 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…

  15. Action Research in Schools: The Practitioners' Perspectives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Song, Liyan; Kenton, Jeffrey M.

    2010-01-01

    This paper presents a study on the effectiveness of an action research model from the perspectives of school educators as action researchers. The study design followed seven action researchers--inservice teachers and school library media specialists--as they completed research projects in their schools. Data came from three different sources:…

  16. Toward an integrative understanding of narrative and emotion processes in Emotion-focused therapy of depression: implications for theory, research and practice.

    PubMed

    Angus, Lynne

    2012-01-01

    This paper addresses the fundamental contributions of client narrative disclosure in psychotherapy and its importance for the elaboration of new emotional meanings and self understanding in the context of Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) of depression. An overview of the multi-methodological steps undertaken to empirically investigate the contributions of client story telling, emotional differentiation and meaning-making processes (Narrative Processes Coding System; Angus et al., 1999) in EFT treatments of depression is provided, followed by a summary of key research findings that informed the development of a narrative-informed approach to Emotion-focused therapy of depression (Angus & Greenberg, 2011). Finally, the clinical practice and training implications of adopting a research-informed approach to working with narrative and emotion processes in EFT are described, and future research directions discussed.

  17. 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…

  18. 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…

  19. Narrative and natural history in the eighteenth century.

    PubMed

    Terrall, Mary

    2017-04-01

    In the eighteenth century, natural histories of animals incorporated narratives about animal behaviour and narratives of discovery and experimentation. Naturalists used first-person accounts to link the stories of their scientific investigations to the stories of the animal lives they were studying. Understanding nature depended on narratives that shifted back and forth in any given text between animal and human, and between individual cases and generalizations about species. This paper explores the uses of narrative through examples from the work of René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur and Abraham Trembley. In all cases, narrative took the genre of natural history well beyond straightforward description and classification. Prose accounts of insect actions and mechanisms worked in tandem with visual narratives embedded in the accompanying illustrations, where artists developed strategies for representing sequences of minute changes over time. By throwing into relief the narrative sections of natural histories, the examples considered here expose the role played by these tales of encounters with the insect world in the making of natural historical knowledge. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Multivalent Narratives: Extending the Narrative Paradigm with Insights from Ancient Indian Rhetoric.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stroud, Scott R.

    Research that has focused on ancient Indian rhetoric, a sub-category of Eastern rhetoric, has largely eschewed focus on the narrative paradigm as a theoretical guide. These narratives often enshrine didactic elements, contradictions, and mythic traits that often confound and inspire Western audiences. These archaic religious/philosophical texts…

  1. Telling Tales: On Evaluation and Narrative. Advances in Program Evaluation. Volume 6.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Abma, Tineke, Ed.

    Essays in this collection explore what a narrative perspective can mean for the practice of program evaluation. Narratives illuminate the value and meaning of a program or policy and can indicate the actions that need to be taken to improve it or to prevent failures in the future. The essays are: (1) "Introduction: Narrative Perspectives on…

  2. The role of conviction and narrative in decision-making under radical uncertainty.

    PubMed

    Tuckett, David; Nikolic, Milena

    2017-08-01

    We propose conviction narrative theory (CNT) to broaden decision-making theory in order to better understand and analyse how subjectively means-end rational actors cope in contexts in which the traditional assumptions in decision-making models fail to hold. Conviction narratives enable actors to draw on their beliefs, causal models, and rules of thumb to identify opportunities worth acting on, to simulate the future outcome of their actions, and to feel sufficiently convinced to act. The framework focuses on how narrative and emotion combine to allow actors to deliberate and to select actions that they think will produce the outcomes they desire. It specifies connections between particular emotions and deliberative thought, hypothesising that approach and avoidance emotions evoked during narrative simulation play a crucial role. Two mental states, Divided and Integrated, in which narratives can be formed or updated, are introduced and used to explain some familiar problems that traditional models cannot.

  3. The role of conviction and narrative in decision-making under radical uncertainty

    PubMed Central

    Tuckett, David; Nikolic, Milena

    2017-01-01

    We propose conviction narrative theory (CNT) to broaden decision-making theory in order to better understand and analyse how subjectively means–end rational actors cope in contexts in which the traditional assumptions in decision-making models fail to hold. Conviction narratives enable actors to draw on their beliefs, causal models, and rules of thumb to identify opportunities worth acting on, to simulate the future outcome of their actions, and to feel sufficiently convinced to act. The framework focuses on how narrative and emotion combine to allow actors to deliberate and to select actions that they think will produce the outcomes they desire. It specifies connections between particular emotions and deliberative thought, hypothesising that approach and avoidance emotions evoked during narrative simulation play a crucial role. Two mental states, Divided and Integrated, in which narratives can be formed or updated, are introduced and used to explain some familiar problems that traditional models cannot. PMID:28804217

  4. 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…

  5. Narrative versus Non-narrative: The Role of Identification, Transportation and Emotion in Reducing Health Disparities

    PubMed Central

    Murphy, Sheila T.; Frank, Lauren B.; Chatterjee, Joyee S.; Baezconde-Garbanati, Lourdes

    2013-01-01

    This research empirically tests whether using a fictional narrative produces a greater impact on health-related knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intention than presenting the identical information in a more traditional, nonfiction, non-narrative format. European American, Mexican American, and African American women (N = 758) were surveyed before and after viewing either a narrative or non-narrative cervical cancer-related film. The narrative was more effective in increasing cervical cancer-related knowledge and attitudes. Moreover, in response to the narrative featuring Latinas, Mexican Americans were most transported, identified most with the characters, and experienced the strongest emotions. Regressions revealed that transportation, identification with specific characters, and emotion each contributed to shifts in knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Thus, narrative formats may provide a valuable tool in reducing health disparities. PMID:24347679

  6. 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…

  7. Social Narrative Writing: (Re)Constructing Kid Culture in the Writer's Workshop.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heffernan, Lee; Lewison, Mitzi

    2003-01-01

    Discusses how children move from personal to social narratives in writing workshops to create stories as tools for social action, addressing inequities in their school lives. Considers how social narratives can be used as tools for constructing and analyzing shared social worlds. (SG)

  8. Narrative and Stories in Adult Teaching and Learning. ERIC Digest.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rossiter, Marsha

    Increasingly, adult educators are using narrative and stories for many reasons, including their deep appeal, satisfaction, and cultural transcendence. As a fundamental structure of human meaning making narrative is a valuable classroom tool in that it can enable students to understand life events, personal actions, and solidify identity formation.…

  9. A Narrative Review of Greek Myths as Interpretative Metaphors in Educational Research and Evaluation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fernandez-Cano, Antonio; Torralbo, Manuel; Vallejo, Monica; Fernandez-Guerrero, Ines M.

    2012-01-01

    This paper reviews a series of Greek myths put forward as cultural narratives that could be used as metaphors or interpretative similes for explanatory and evaluative purposes in educational research and evaluation. These myths have been used in educational research literature, and most of them were found by carrying out an exhaustive search of…

  10. Separate neural systems support representations for actions and objects during narrative speech in post-stroke aphasia☆

    PubMed Central

    Gleichgerrcht, Ezequiel; Fridriksson, Julius; Rorden, Chris; Nesland, Travis; Desai, Rutvik; Bonilha, Leonardo

    2015-01-01

    Background Representations of objects and actions in everyday speech are usually materialized as nouns and verbs, two grammatical classes that constitute the core elements of language. Given their very distinct roles in singling out objects (nouns) or referring to transformative actions (verbs), they likely rely on distinct brain circuits. Method We tested this hypothesis by conducting network-based lesion-symptom mapping in 38 patients with chronic stroke to the left hemisphere. We reconstructed the individual brain connectomes from probabilistic tractography applied to magnetic resonance imaging and obtained measures of production of words referring to objects and actions from narrative discourse elicited by picture naming tasks. Results Words for actions were associated with a frontal network strongly engaging structures involved in motor control and programming. Words for objects, instead, were related to a posterior network spreading across the occipital, posterior inferior temporal, and parietal regions, likely related with visual processing and imagery, object recognition, and spatial attention/scanning. Thus, each of these networks engaged brain areas typically involved in cognitive and sensorimotor experiences equivalent to the function served by each grammatical class (e.g. motor areas for verbs, perception areas for nouns). Conclusions The finding that the two major grammatical classes in human speech rely on two dissociable networks has both important theoretical implications for the neurobiology of language and clinical implications for the assessment and potential rehabilitation and treatment of patients with chronic aphasia due to stroke. PMID:26759789

  11. Politics of love: narrative structures, intertextuality and social agency in the narratives of parents with disabled children.

    PubMed

    Hanisch, Halvor

    2013-11-01

    Recent research has highlighted how parental narratives can be important in the resistance against disabling processes. This article contains analyses of enabling language in narratives published by Scandinavian disability rights organizations. First, drawing on the work of Fisher and Goodley, I point out that the material constitute a threefold: normality narratives, resistance narratives, and narratives that demonstrate an appreciation of the present and the child's individual alterity. Second, I demonstrate that the last narrative draws on Romanticism rather than linguistic resources from disability culture. Third, I show that these narratives are hyperboles - texts that strengthen and emphasise the valuation to the point where the narrative structure transcends narrative consistency. Fourth, drawing on the work of Kristeva, I argue that this form of narration constitutes an intimate politics of love. © 2013 The Author. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2013 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Leadership in Higher Education: Examining the Narratives of Research Managers from Multiple Lenses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Calma, Angelito

    2015-01-01

    This study explores the narratives behind how academics in formal leadership positions perceive their roles as leaders and their leadership development. Fifteen leaders in their varying capacities as managers of research in their universities participated to illustrate the complexities and challenges associated with their roles. Using narrative…

  13. 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…

  14. Narrative theory: II. Self-generated and experimenter-provided negative income shock narratives increase delay discounting.

    PubMed

    Mellis, Alexandra M; Snider, Sarah E; Bickel, Warren K

    2018-04-01

    Reading experimenter-provided narratives of negative income shock has been previously demonstrated to increase impulsivity, as measured by discounting of delayed rewards. We hypothesized that writing these narratives would potentiate their effects of negative income shock on decision-making more than simply reading them. In the current study, 193 cigarette-smoking individuals from Amazon Mechanical Turk were assigned to either read an experimenter-provided narrative or self-generate a narrative describing either the negative income shock of job loss or a neutral condition of job transfer. Individuals then completed a task of delay discounting and measures of affective response to narratives, as well as rating various narrative qualities such as personal relevance and vividness. Consistent with past research, narratives of negative income shock increased delay discounting compared to control narratives. No significant differences existed in delay discounting after self-generating compared to reading experimenter-provided narratives. Positive affect was lower and negative affect was higher in response to narratives of job loss, but affect measures did not differ based on whether narratives were experimenter-provided or self-generated. All narratives were rated as equally realistic, but self-generated narratives (whether negative or neutral) were rated as more vivid and relevant than experimenter-provided narratives. These results indicate that the content of negative income shock narratives, regardless of source, consistently drives short-term choices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

  15. Using Narrative Case Studies in an Online World Religions Course to Stimulate Deep Learning about Islam

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elliott, Sherman Lee

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this action research was to examine how a narrative case study in an online asynchronous world religions course affected learners' understandings, appreciation, and respect for the beliefs and values of others. The world religions course examined a variety of religions including Islam. Ten participants received information about the…

  16. Service users' self-narratives on their journey from shame to pride: tales of transition.

    PubMed

    Natland, Sidsel; Celik, Hilde Dalen

    2015-01-01

    As part of a course on changing attitudes developed by KREM, a Norwegian service user organization, narratives are used to explore and understand identity formation. The process is based on the role of shame in the lives of those whose life experiences lead to a reliance on government social benefits to sustain themselves. Shame is identified as an obstacle that affects everyday life and undermines one's capacity to take actions that can lead to and support self-sufficiency. Exploring oneself through the construction of the fairy tale can provide service users with a renewed sense of empowerment. Using identity formation and the concept of shame as the conceptual framework, this analysis focuses on the use of narratives to construct and interpret stories. It concludes with both practice and research implications of using narratives to acquire an understanding and sensitivity to service user perspectives.

  17. 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…

  18. Quantifying narrative ability in autism spectrum disorder: a computational linguistic analysis of narrative coherence.

    PubMed

    Losh, Molly; Gordon, Peter C

    2014-12-01

    Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by serious difficulties with the social use of language, along with impaired social functioning and ritualistic/repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association in Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5, 5th edn. American Psychiatric Association, Arlington, 2013). While substantial heterogeneity exists in symptom expression, impairments in language discourse skills, including narrative (or storytelling), are universally observed in autism (Tager-Flusberg et al. in Handbook on autism and pervasive developmental disorders, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York, pp 335-364, 2005). This study applied a computational linguistic tool, Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), to objectively characterize narrative performance in high-functioning individuals with autism and typically-developing controls, across two different narrative contexts that differ in the interpersonal and cognitive demands placed on the narrator. Results indicated that high-functioning individuals with autism produced narratives comparable in semantic content to those produced by controls when narrating from a picture book, but produced narratives diminished in semantic quality in a more demanding narrative recall task. This pattern is similar to that detected from analyses of hand-coded picture book narratives in prior research, and extends findings to an additional narrative context that proves particularly challenging for individuals with autism. Results are discussed in terms of the utility of LSA as a quantitative, objective, and efficient measure of narrative ability.

  19. 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…

  20. 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,…

  1. Disrupted narrative and narrative symbol.

    PubMed

    Vuletić, Georgije

    2018-02-01

    In this article a specific type of narrative, which often appears in analytic sessions, is discussed. It is characterized by a seemingly ordinary, everyday topic and by a peculiar disruption of the narrative flow. The threefold structure of this type of narrative is described, along with its main characteristics. One element of this type of narrative is very similar to symbolic content or complex symbolic structures, e.g. dreams, the sort of material that can be used for the purpose of interpretation. The similarities as well as the differences are elaborated in the article. Thanks to the observed general structure and 'symbolic' nature of some parts of the narrative, it is easy to notice some of the unconscious elements, which are not familiar to the patient's ego, and to make an interpretation. Because these elements are close to the threshold of consciousness, the patient willingly accepts an interpretation based on them. This is especially true for patients whose dominant function is thinking. A temporary, working name for this type of narrative is proposed in the article: 'disrupted narrative' - and for its disruptive part 'narrative symbol'. © 2018, The Society of Analytical Psychology.

  2. Examining narrative transportation to anti-alcohol narratives

    PubMed Central

    Banerjee, Smita C.; Greene, Kathryn

    2016-01-01

    This study examined the transportation effects of alcohol consequence narratives varying in source (written by the narrative protagonist vs. protagonist's partner) and type of heath consequence (physical or emotional). Additionally, this study examined the role of narrative transportation and cognitive and discrete affective responses in the persuasion process. In this study, 501 students of a large northern university in the United Kingdom participated and were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions of narratives about alcohol use. Transportation was operationalized as general and self-reflective transportation. Results demonstrated that for narratives written by protagonist, the emotional effect narrative resulted in greater general transportation than the physical effect narrative. However, for narratives written by the protagonist's partner, the physical effect narrative resulted in greater general transportation than the emotional effect narrative. These findings were not substantiated for self-reflective transportation. Finally, results suggest that transportation experienced by anti-alcohol narratives can influence both favourable cognitive response and guilt, which are significant mediators in alcohol-related expectancies. Important theoretical and empirical implications are discussed. PMID:28133436

  3. 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…

  4. Storybridging: Four Steps for Constructing Effective Health Narratives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boeijinga, Anniek; Hoeken, Hans; Sanders, José

    2017-01-01

    Objective: To develop a practical step-by-step approach to constructing narrative health interventions in response to the mixed results and wide diversity of narratives used in health-related narrative persuasion research. Method: Development work was guided by essential narrative characteristics as well as principles enshrined in the Health…

  5. The relative persuasiveness of narrative versus non-narrative health messages in public health emergency communication: Evidence from a field experiment.

    PubMed

    Bekalu, Mesfin A; Bigman, Cabral A; McCloud, Rachel F; Lin, Leesa K; Viswanath, K

    2018-06-01

    Previous studies indicated that narrative health messages are more effective than non-narrative messages in influencing health outcomes. However, this body of evidence does not account for differences in health domain, and little is known about the effectiveness of this message execution strategy during public health emergencies. In this study, we examined the relative effectiveness of the two formats in influencing knowledge and perceived response efficacy related to prevention of pandemic influenza, and determined whether effects of message format vary across population sub-groups. Data for the study come from an experiment fielded in 2013 that involved a nationally representative sample of 627 American adults. Participants were randomly assigned to view either a narrative (n=322) or a non-narrative (n=305) video clip containing closely matched information about knowledge and preventive actions related to pandemic influenza, and completed pre- and post-viewing questions assessing knowledge and perceived response efficacy related to the prevention of pandemic influenza. Results indicated that participants in the non-narrative condition reported greater knowledge and rated pandemic influenza prevention measures as more effective compared with those in the narrative condition. Message format effects did not vary across population sub-groups; post-viewing scores of knowledge and perceptions related to pandemic influenza were consistently higher in the non-narrative condition compared with the narrative condition across five socio-demographic groups: age, gender, education, race/ethnicity and income. We concluded that didactic, non-narrative messages may be more effective than narrative messages to influence knowledge and perceptions during public health emergencies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Action Researchers' Perspectives about the Distinguishing Characteristics of Action Research: A Delphi and Learning Circles Mixed-Methods Study

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rowell, Lonnie L.; Polush, Elena Yu; Riel, Margaret; Bruewer, Aaron

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to identify distinguishing characteristics of action research within the Action Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association. The authors sought to delineate the foundational framework endorsed by this community. The study was conducted during January-April 2012 and employed an…

  7. A Return to the Gold Standard? Questioning the Future of Narrative Construction as Educational Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barone, Tom

    2007-01-01

    Narrative construction is an approach to social research in which data are configured into any of a variety of diachronic, or storied, formats. Having recently gained popularity, this approach is now in danger of marginalization (along with other qualitative and quantitative forms of social research) as a result of politically charged attempts to…

  8. With an Eye on "We": A Teacher Research Study of Students Using Narrative Inquiry to Critique Mexican American History

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Luna, Enrique

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this teacher research study was to examine narrative inquiry as a method for student engagement with course material and the local community. This study sought to understand how students perceived themselves within Mexican American history. While a number of studies have used oral history and narrative effectively, these studies…

  9. 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…

  10. 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,…

  11. The importance of stories in understanding people's relationship to food: narrative inquiry methodology has much to offer the public health nutrition researcher and practitioner.

    PubMed

    O'Kane, Gabrielle; Pamphilon, Barbara

    2016-03-01

    Despite the usefulness of quantitative research, qualitative research methodologies are equally needed to allow researchers to better understand the important social and environmental factors affecting food choice and eating habits. The present paper contributes insights from narrative inquiry, a well-established qualitative methodology, to a food-related doctoral research study. The connections between food shoppers and the producer, family, friends and others in the food system, between eaters and the earth, and how these connections affect people's meaning-making of food and pathways to food citizenship, were explored in the research. The research used narrative inquiry methodology and focus groups for data collection. Five different food-ways in the Canberra region of Australia were selected for the present research; that is, community gardens, community-supported agriculture, farmers' markets, fresh food markets and supermarkets. Fifty-two people voluntarily attended eight focus groups with four to nine participants in each. From a practical perspective, the present paper offers a guide to the way in which narrative inquiry has been applied to one research project. The paper describes the application of narrative inquiry methodology, revealing the important place of narratives in generating new knowledge. The paper further outlines how phased narrative analysis can lead to a defensible and rigorous interpretive framework grounded in the data generated from people's stories and meaning-making. We argue that individual, social and system change will not be possible without further rigorous qualitative studies to inform and complement the empirical basis of public health nutrition practice.

  12. 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,…

  13. Aging and the segmentation of narrative film.

    PubMed

    Kurby, Christopher A; Asiala, Lillian K E; Mills, Steven R

    2014-01-01

    The perception of event structure in continuous activity is important for everyday comprehension. Although the segmentation of experience into events is a normal concomitant of perceptual processing, previous research has shown age differences in the ability to perceive structure in naturalistic activity, such as a movie of someone washing a car. However, past research has also shown that older adults have a preserved ability to comprehend events in narrative text, which suggests that narrative may improve the event processing of older adults. This study tested whether there are age differences in event segmentation at the intersection of continuous activity and narrative: narrative film. Younger and older adults watched and segmented a narrative film, The Red Balloon, into coarse and fine events. Changes in situational features, such as changes in characters, goals, and objects predicted segmentation. Analyses revealed little age-difference in segmentation behavior. This suggests the possibility that narrative structure supports event understanding for older adults.

  14. 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…

  15. Criminal Narrative Experience: Relating Emotions to Offence Narrative Roles During Crime Commission.

    PubMed

    Ioannou, Maria; Canter, David; Youngs, Donna

    2017-10-01

    A neglected area of research within criminality has been that of the experience of the offence for the offender. The present study investigates the emotions and narrative roles that are experienced by an offender while committing a broad range of crimes and proposes a model of criminal narrative experience (CNE). Hypotheses were derived from the circumplex of emotions, Frye, narrative theory, and its link with investigative psychology. The analysis was based on 120 cases. Convicted for a variety of crimes, incarcerated criminals were interviewed and the data were subjected to smallest space analysis (SSA). Four themes of CNE were identified: Elated Hero, Calm Professional, Distressed Revenger, and Depressed Victim in line with the recent theoretical framework posited for narrative offence roles. The theoretical implications for understanding crime on the basis of the CNE as well as practical implications are discussed.

  16. Narrative Inquiry in Physical Education Research: The Story so Far and Its Future Promise

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dowling, Fiona; Garrett, Robyne; lisahunter; Wrench, Alison

    2015-01-01

    At a recent international education conference, current life history and narrative research within Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) was criticised for its seeming inability to "produce anything new" and for lacking "rigour". This paper aims to respond to the criticism and to reassert the strengths of narrative…

  17. 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…

  18. 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…

  19. 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…

  20. Narrative health psychology: once more unto the breach. Introduction.

    PubMed

    Sools, Anneke M; Murray, Michael; Westerhof, Gerben J

    2015-03-01

    In this editorial, we position narrative health psychology as a variety of narrative psychology, a form of qualitative research in health psychology, and a psychological perspective that falls under the interdisciplinary term narrative health research. The aim of this positioning is to explore what are the most important features of the proposed approach and how they are relevant. We illustrate each positioning with the scope and diversity of narrative health psychology brought together in this special issue. Finally, we reflect on where narrative health psychology is now and how it could develop in the future. © The Author(s) 2015.

  1. The Index of Narrative Microstructure: A Clinical Tool for Analyzing School-Age Children's Narrative Performances

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Justice, Laura M.; Bowles, Ryan P.; Kaderavek, Joan N.; Ukrainetz, Teresa A.; Eisenberg, Sarita L.; Gillam, Ronald B.

    2006-01-01

    Purpose: This research was conducted to develop a clinical tool--the Index of Narrative Microstructure (INMIS)--that would parsimoniously account for important microstructural aspects of narrative production for school-age children. The study provides field test age- and grade-based INMIS values to aid clinicians in making normative judgments…

  2. 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.…

  3. Why Narrating Changes Memory: A Contribution to an Integrative Model of Memory and Narrative Processes.

    PubMed

    Smorti, Andrea; Fioretti, Chiara

    2016-06-01

    This paper aims to reflect on the relation between autobiographical memory (ME) and autobiographical narrative (NA), examining studies on the effects of narrating on the narrator and showing how studying these relations can make more comprehensible both memory's and narrating's way of working. Studies that address explicitly on ME and NA are scarce and touch this issue indirectly. Authors consider different trends of studies of ME and NA: congruency vs incongruency hypotheses on retrieving, the way of organizing memories according to gist or verbatim format and their role in organizing positive and negative emotional experiences, the social roots of ME and NA, the rules of conversation based on narrating. Analysis of investigations leads the Authors to point out three basic results of their research. Firstly, NA transforms ME because it narrativizes memories according to a narrative format. This means that memories, when are narrated, are transformed in stories (verbal language) and socialised. Secondly, the narrativization process is determined by the act of telling something within a communicative situation. Thus, relational situation of narrating act, by modifying the story, modifies also memories. The Authors propose the RE.NA.ME model (RElation, NArration, MEmory) to understand and study ME and NA. Finally, this study claims that ME and NA refer to two different types of processes having a wide area of overlapping. This is due to common social, developmental and cultural roots that make NA to include part of ME (narrative of memory) and ME to include part of NA (memory of personal events that have been narrated).

  4. Methodological Pluralism and Narrative Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Michie, Michael

    2013-01-01

    This paper considers how the integral theory model of Nancy Davis and Laurie Callihan might be enacted using a different qualitative methodology, in this case the narrative methodology. The focus of narrative research is shown to be on "what meaning is being made" rather than "what is happening here" (quadrant 2 rather than…

  5. 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…

  6. Narrative Aversion: Challenges for the Illness Narrative Advocate.

    PubMed

    Behrendt, Kathy

    2017-02-01

    Engaging in self-narrative is often touted as a powerful antidote to the bad effects of illness. However, there are various examples of what may broadly be termed "aversion" to illness narrative. I group these into three kinds: aversion to certain types of illness narrative; aversion to illness narrative as a whole; and aversion to illness narrative as an essentially therapeutic endeavor. These aversions can throw into doubt the advantages claimed for the illness narrator, including the key benefits of repair to the damage illness does to identity and life-trajectory. Underlying these alleged benefits are two key presuppositions: that it is the whole of one's life that is narratively unified, and that one's identity is inextricably bound up with narrative. By letting go of these assumptions, illness narrative advocates can respond to the challenges of narrative aversions. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  7. The Importance Of Integrating Narrative Into Health Care Decision Making.

    PubMed

    Dohan, Daniel; Garrett, Sarah B; Rendle, Katharine A; Halley, Meghan; Abramson, Corey

    2016-04-01

    When making health care decisions, patients and consumers use data but also gather stories from family and friends. When advising patients, clinicians consult the medical evidence but also use professional judgment. These stories and judgments, as well as other forms of narrative, shape decision making but remain poorly understood. Furthermore, qualitative research methods to examine narrative are rarely included in health science research. We illustrate how narratives shape decision making and explain why it is difficult but necessary to integrate qualitative research on narrative into the health sciences. We draw on social-scientific insights on rigorous qualitative research and our ongoing studies of decision making by patients with cancer, and we describe new tools and approaches that link qualitative research findings with the predominantly quantitative health science scholarship. Finally, we highlight the benefits of more fully integrating qualitative research and narrative analysis into the medical evidence base and into evidence-based medical practice. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

  8. Replication in Second Language Research: Narrative and Systematic Reviews and Recommendations for the Field

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marsden, Emma; Morgan-Short, Kara; Thompson, Sophie; Abugaber, David

    2018-01-01

    Despite its critical role for the development of the field, little is known about replication in second language (L2) research. To better understand replication practice, we first provide a narrative review of challenges related to replication, drawing on recent developments in psychology. This discussion frames and motivates a systematic review,…

  9. From social talk to social action: shaping the social triad with emotion sharing.

    PubMed

    Peters, Kim; Kashima, Yoshihisa

    2007-11-01

    Seemingly trivial social talk provides fertile ground for emotion sharing (a narrator and audience's realization that they experience the same emotional response toward a target), which in turn creates a coalition between the narrator and the audience, configures the narrator and audience's relationship with the target, and coordinates their target-directed action. In this article, the authors use 4 studies to investigate this thesis. In Studies 1 and 2--where participants rated scenarios in which narrators told them anecdotes--the authors found that when there was emotion sharing (a) participants were more bonded with narrators, (b) the narrator and audience's relationship with the target (as reflected in action tendencies) was determined by the emotionality of the anecdotes, and (c) they coordinated their target-directed actions. Study 3 demonstrated that this effect was indeed due to emotion sharing. Study 4 provided behavioral evidence for the effects of emotion sharing using a 2-person trust game. Together, these studies reveal that the everyday act of social talk is a powerful act that is able to shape the social triad of the narrator, the audience, and the social target, with powerful consequences for social structure and group action. (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved.

  10. Developing Climate Change Literacy With the Humanities: A Narrative Approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Siperstein, S.

    2015-12-01

    Teaching the science and policy of climate change is necessary but insufficient for helping students to develop a robust climate literacy. Climate change educators must also teach students how to evaluate historical trends, to unpack the assumptions in shared cultural narratives, to grapple with ethical dilemmas, and more generally to traverse the turbulence of feeling that is a hallmark of living in a time of global climate chaos. In short, climate literacy must include the skills and strategies of the humanities, and specifically literary and cultural studies. After providing an overview of how literary and cultural studies scholars from around the world are developing innovative pedagogical methods for addressing climate change (drawing on the presenter's experience editing the forthcoming volume Teaching Climate Change in the Humanities), the presentation will then report on a specific Literary Genres course taught at the University of Oregon. The course, offered to undergraduate non-majors who entered the class with little or no knowledge of climate change, constituted a case study of action research into the transdisciplinary teaching of climate change. The presentation will thus draw on quantitative course assessments, student coursework, and the instructor's own experiences in arguing that three key narratives underpin the work we do as multidisciplinary climate change educators: narratives of observation, narratives of speculation, and narratives of conversion. That is, we guide students through the processes of witnessing climate change, imagining more just and sustainable futures, and by so doing, transforming themselves and their communities. In the particular Literary Genres course under consideration, students used the tools of literary and cultural studies first to analyze existing versions of these narratives and then to compose their own versions of these narratives based on their local communities and ecologies. In the context of multidisciplinary

  11. Analyzing women's roles through graphic representation of narratives.

    PubMed

    Hall, Joanne M

    2003-08-01

    A 1992 triangulated international nursing study of women's health was reported. The researchers used the perspectives of feminism and symbolic interactionism, specifically role theory. A narrative analysis was done to clarify the concept of role integration. The narrative analysis was reported in 1992, but graphic/visual techniques used in the team dialogue process of narrative analysis were not reported due to space limitations. These techniques have not been reported elsewhere and thus remain innovative. Specific steps in the method are outlined here in detail as an audit trail. The process would be useful to other qualitative researchers as an exemplar of one novel way that verbal data can be abstracted visually/graphically. Suggestions are included for aspects of narrative, in addition to roles, that could be depicted graphically in qualitative research.

  12. Justifying Action Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Helskog, Guro Hansen

    2014-01-01

    In this paper I use a general philosophy of science perspective in looking at the problem of justifying action research. First I try to clarify the concept of justification, by contrasting it with the concept of validity, which seems to be used almost as a synonym in some parts of the literature. I discuss the need for taking a stand in relation…

  13. Action research, simulation, team communication, and bringing the tacit into voice society for simulation in healthcare.

    PubMed

    Forsythe, Lydia

    2009-01-01

    In healthcare, professionals usually function in a time-constrained paradigm because of the nature of care delivery functions and the acute patient populations usually in need of emergent and urgent care. This leaves little, if no time for team reflection, or team processing as a collaborative action. Simulation can be used to create a safe space as a structure for recognition and innovation to continue to develop a culture of safety for healthcare delivery and patient care. To create and develop a safe space, three qualitative modified action research institutional review board-approved studies were developed using simulation to explore team communication as an unfolding in the acute care environment of the operating room. An action heuristic was used for data collection by capturing the participants' narratives in the form of collaborative recall and reflection to standardize task, process, and language. During the qualitative simulations, the team participants identified and changed multiple tasks, process, and language items. The simulations contributed to positive changes for task and efficiencies, team interactions, and overall functionality of the team. The studies demonstrated that simulation can be used in healthcare to define safe spaces to practice, reflect, and develop collaborative relationships, which contribute to the realization of a culture of safety.

  14. 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…

  15. 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

  16. 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.

  17. 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,…

  18. Friends interventions in psychosis: a narrative review and call to action.

    PubMed

    Harrop, Chris; Ellett, Lyn; Brand, Rachel; Lobban, Fiona

    2015-08-01

    To highlight the importance of friendships to young people with psychosis, and the need for clinical interventions to help maintain peer relationships during illness. To structure a research agenda for developing evidence-based interventions with friends. An argument is developed through a narrative review of (i) the proven efficacy of family interventions, and (by comparison) a relative absence of friend-based interventions; (ii) the particular primacy of friendships and dating for young people, and typical effects of exclusion; and (iii) reduced friendship networks and dating experiences in psychosis, in pre-, during and post-psychosis phases, also links between exclusion and psychosis. We put forward a model of how poor friendships can potentially be a causal and/or maintenance factor for psychotic symptoms. Given this model, our thesis is that interventions aiming to maintain social networks can be hugely beneficial clinically for young people with psychosis. We give a case study to show how such an intervention can work. We call for 'friends interventions' for young people with psychosis to be developed, where professionals directly work with a young person's authentic social group to support key friendships and maintain social continuity. An agenda for future research is presented that will develop and test theoretically driven interventions. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

  19. Toward a Narrative Pedagogy for Interactive Learning Environments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hazel, Paul

    2008-01-01

    The use of narrative within interactive learning environments (ILEs) is widespread. Reviewing recent research in the fields of ethnography, cognitive psychology, neurobiology, discourse analysis, and education, this paper proposes a rationale for the use of narrative in ILEs. Starting with a description of the origin of narrative in the brain, the…

  20. 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.

  1. 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…

  2. 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

  3. Theorizing Foreshadowed Death Narratives: Examining the Impact of Character Death on Narrative Processing and Skin Self-Exam Intentions

    PubMed Central

    JENSEN, JAKOB D.; YALE, ROBERT N.; KRAKOW, MELINDA; JOHN, KEVIN K.; KING, ANDY J.

    2017-01-01

    Narratives are common in health campaigns and interventions, with many depicting individuals battling a particular illness or disease. Past research has focused primarily on the form and effects of survivor stories, but considerably less attention has been devoted to stories in which 1 or more of the central characters passes away. The goal of the current study was to compare the relative persuasive impact of survivor and death narratives in influencing skin prevention behaviors and to test narrative mediators that might explicate underlying mechanisms of effect. To that end, adults (N = 635, M age = 32.43 [SD = 11.23]) were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 narrative intervention conditions in an online message experiment. Participants read 1 of 2 stories about a person with melanoma (Rusty or Diane) that was manipulated as a narrative depicting the survival, death, or foreshadowed death of the main character. Foreshadowed death narratives increased intentions to perform a skin self-exam (SSE), a relationship that was mediated by narrative transportation and perceived SSE benefits. The results support the central postulate of narrative transportation theory and the utility of using foreshadowed death narratives in communication-based interventions designed to increase SSE frequency. PMID:28060585

  4. The relationship between oral and written narratives: A three-year longitudinal study of narrative cohesion, coherence, and structure.

    PubMed

    Pinto, Giuliana; Tarchi, Christian; Bigozzi, Lucia

    2015-12-01

    The relationship between oral language and the writing process at early acquisition stages and the ways the former can enhance or limit the latter has not been researched extensively. The predictive relationship between kindergarten oral narrative competence and the first- and second-grade written narrative competence was explored in a 3-year longitudinal study. Among the first and second graders, the relationship between orthographic competence and narrative competence in written productions was also analysed. One hundred and nine Italian children participated in this study. Kindergarteners produced an oral narrative, whereas the first and second graders produced a written narrative. The oral and written narratives were analysed in terms of cohesion, coherence, and structure. The first-grade orthographic competence was assessed via a dictation task. Multiple linear regression and mediational analyses were performed. Kindergarten oral narrative competence affected the first- and second-grade written narrative competence via a mediational effect of orthographic competence. The results suggest the importance of practicing oral narrative competence in kindergarten and first grade and the value of composition quality independent of orthographic text accuracy. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

  5. Sharing Action Research on Research Day: Students' Perceptions of a Command Performance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Foulger, Teresa S.; Zambo, Debby

    2015-01-01

    This action research study involves two cycles of investigation of Research Day an event at the end of each semester where doctoral students share their latest cycle of action research focused on a problem of practice they are facing. The study sought to understand students' perspectives of Research Day in terms of its instructional intention, how…

  6. Action Research in EdD Programs in Educational Leadership

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Osterman, Karen; Furman, Gail; Sernak, Kathleen

    2014-01-01

    This exploratory study gathered information about the use of action research within doctor of education programs in educational leadership and explored faculty understanding of and perspectives on action research. Survey data established that action research is used infrequently to meet dissertation requirements. Contributing factors include lack…

  7. Increasing mental health literacy via narrative advertising.

    PubMed

    Chang, Chingching

    2008-01-01

    This research explored the effectiveness of narrative advertising and argument advertising in increasing mental illness (depression) literacy. Results showed that narrative advertising was more effective than argument advertising at engaging participants in experiential immersion, resulting in greater sympathy toward those suffering from depression. In addition, narrative advertising better involved participants in issue elaboration and increased willingness to seek professional help. Finally, in comparison with argument advertising, narrative advertisements were rated higher in providing vivid information, resulting in an increase in participants' perceived efficacy in recognizing friends or family suffering from depression.

  8. Beyond Narratives: "Free Drawings" as Visual Data in Addiction Research.

    PubMed

    Klingemann, Justyna; Klingemann, Harald

    2016-05-11

    The study presented here explores the usefulness of visual data when assessing addiction careers from various methodological perspectives. The database consists of 14 "free life-course drawings" produced by seven Swiss and seven Polish male alcohol ex-users, and their life history narratives collected in the context of earlier studies on self-change. The analysis follows the principles of the Barthian visual semiotics approach including the author and the viewer perspective. This is followed by the investigation of the interplay between drawings and narratives in Polish and German. Compared to the detailed narratives following few sub-storylines at the same time, the drawings provide a more coherent and differentiated overall picture especially of the emotional state over the life course: the relative subjective importance of highs and lows; and clearer visualisation of mixed positive and negative feelings; as well as identity concepts, such as the interplay between Mead's I & me.

  9. 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.

  10. Personal and Intergenerational Narratives in Relation to Adolescents' Well-Being

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fivush, Robyn; Bohanek, Jennifer G.; Zaman, Widaad

    2011-01-01

    Narratives of the self are embedded within families in which narrative interaction is a common practice. Especially in adolescence, when issues of identity and emotional regulation become key, narratives provide frameworks for understating self and emotion. The authors' research on family narratives suggests that adolescents' personal narratives…

  11. Structure, Meaning, and Constituency in Visual Narrative Comprehension

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cohn, Neil Thomas

    2012-01-01

    Narrative has been formally studied for at least two millennia, dating back to the writings of Aristotle. While most theories began by describing the construction of plotlines in theatre, most contemporary research on the structure and comprehension of narratives has examined the discourse of spoken language. However, visual narratives in the form…

  12. A Narratable Self as Addressed by Human Rights

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adami, Rebecca

    2017-01-01

    The paper extends the critique in earlier research of human rights as exclusive of otherness and difference by introducing the work of Adriana Cavarero (2000) on a "narratable self." Hence, the formation of human rights is thus about the relations between different narratable selves, not just Western ones. A narrative learning, drawing…

  13. Multidirectional War Narratives in History Textbooks

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    van der Vlies, Tina

    2016-01-01

    This article aims to contribute to the field of textbook research by exploring a new approach in textbook analysis. Inspired by Michael Rothberg's concept of multidirectional memory, this article examines multidirectional narratives in history textbooks: narratives that combine different histories, places and times in a productive way. They…

  14. 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…

  15. 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…

  16. Researching Embodied Learning by Using Videographic Participation for Data Collection and Audiovisual Narratives for Dissemination--Illustrated by the Encounter between Two Acrobats

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Degerbøl, Stine; Nielsen, Charlotte Svendler

    2015-01-01

    The article concerns doing ethnography in education and it reflects upon using "videographic participation" for data collection and the concept of "audiovisual narratives" for dissemination, which is inspired by the idea of developing academic video. The article takes a narrative approach to qualitative research and presents a…

  17. Women Reaching Women: A Story of Change. The Role of Narrative in Building Trust and Commitment during an Action Research Project

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Langley, Dawn

    2012-01-01

    Women Reaching Women was a three-year action research project aimed at raising awareness of world poverty, gender inequality and climate change. The project brought together the National Federation of Women's Institutes, Oxfam, the Everyone Foundation and a unique group of 28 women drawn from Women's Institutes across the country. The project…

  18. Narrating personality change.

    PubMed

    Lodi-Smith, Jennifer; Geise, Aaron C; Roberts, Brent W; Robins, Richard W

    2009-03-01

    The present research investigated the longitudinal relations between personality traits and narratives. Specifically, the authors examined how individual differences in 170 college students' narratives of personality change (a) were predicted by personality traits at the beginning of college, (b) related to actual changes and perceived changes in personality traits during college, and (c) related to changes in emotional health during college. Individual differences in narratives of personality trait change told in the 4th year of college fell into 2 dimensions: affective processing, characterized by positive emotions, and exploratory processing, characterized by meaning making and causal processing. Conscientious, open, and extraverted freshmen told exploratory stories of change as seniors. Emotionally healthy freshmen told stories of change that were high in positive affect. Both positive affective and exploratory stories corresponded to change in emotional stability and conscientiousness during college above and beyond the effects of perceived changes in these traits. In addition, both positive affective and exploratory narratives corresponded to increases in emotional health during college independent of the effects of changes in personality traits. These findings improve our understanding of how individuals conceptualize their changing identity over time.

  19. Narrating Personality Change

    PubMed Central

    Lodi-Smith, Jennifer; Geise, Aaron C.; Roberts, Brent W.; Robins, Richard W.

    2009-01-01

    The present research investigated the longitudinal relations between personality traits and narratives. Specifically, the authors examined how individual differences in 170 college students' narratives of personality change (a) were predicted by personality traits at the beginning of college, (b) related to actual changes and perceived changes in personality traits during college, and (c) related to changes in emotional health during college. Individual differences in narratives of personality trait change told in the 4th year of college fell into 2 dimensions: affective processing, characterized by positive emotions, and exploratory processing, characterized by meaning making and causal processing. Conscientious, open, and extraverted freshmen told exploratory stories of change as seniors. Emotionally healthy freshmen told stories of change that were high in positive affect. Both positive affective and exploratory stories corresponded to change in emotional stability and conscientiousness during college above and beyond the effects of perceived changes in these traits. In addition, both positive affective and exploratory narratives corresponded to increases in emotional health during college independent of the effects of changes in personality traits. These findings improve our understanding of how individuals conceptualize their changing identity over time. PMID:19254112

  20. Narrative Development in Monolingual Spanish-Speaking Preschool Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Castilla-Earls, Anny; Petersen, Douglas; Spencer, Trina; Hammer, Krista

    2015-01-01

    Research Findings: The purpose of this study was to describe differences in the narratives produced by 3-, 4-, and 5- year old Spanish-speaking (SS) children. Narrative productions of 104 typically developing children were collected using a story-retelling task and coded using the Index of Narrative Complexity. The results of this study indicate…

  1. 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…

  2. A Tale of Two Stories: An Exploration of Identification, Message Recall, and Narrative Preferences Among Low-Income, Mexican American Women.

    PubMed

    Davis, Rachel E; Dal Cin, Sonya; Cole, Suzanne M; Reyes, Ligia I; McKenney-Shubert, Shannon J; Fleischer, Nancy L; Densen, Lynna Chung; Peterson, Karen E

    2017-11-01

    Additional research is needed to guide the design of narratives for use in practice-oriented, naturalistic settings to maximize health behavior change, particularly among populations affected by health disparities. This mixed-methods study explored the influence of cultural tailoring and emotional arousal on identification and message recall in narratives promoting childhood obesity prevention among 40 Mexican American mothers. Participants were also asked about narrative exposure, narrative preferences, and beliefs about the purpose of a story. Participants were randomly assigned to listen to two stories: (a) a story tailored on noncultural or cultural variables, and (b) a story designed to enhance or minimize emotional arousal. Participants reported high engagement and identification with all stories. Participants generally envisioned protagonists as Latina, despite limited cues, and identified with protagonists in four ways: sharing personal characteristics; having similar thoughts and feelings; engaging in similar actions; and experiencing similar situations. Mothers were most interested in narratives that helped them to improve their lives. Findings from this study yield several hypotheses for consideration in future study, including ways in which story setting and message enactment may moderate message recall.

  3. 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…

  4. Narrative Skill in Boys with Fragile X Syndrome with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder

    PubMed Central

    Estigarribia, Bruno; Martin, Gary E.; Roberts, Joanne E.; Spencer, Amy; Gucwa, Agnieszka; Sideris, John

    2010-01-01

    We examined recalled narratives of boys with fragile X syndrome with autism spectrum disorder (FXS-ASD; N=28) and without ASD (FXS-O; N=29), and compared them to those of boys with Down syndrome (DS; N=33) and typically developing boys (TD; N=39). Narratives were scored for mentions of macrostructural Story Grammar elements (Introduction, Relationship, Initiating Events, Internal Response, Attempts/Actions, and Ending). We found that narrative recall is predicted by short-term memory and nonverbal mental age levels in almost all groups (except TD), but not by expressive syntax or caregiver education. After adjusting for these covariates, there were no differences between the three groups with intellectual disability (ID). The FXS-ASD group, however, had significantly poorer performance than the TD group on the overall Story Grammar score, and both the FXS-O and FXS-ASD groups had lower Attempts/Actions scores than the TD group. We conclude that some form of narrative impairment may be associated with FXS, that this impairment may be shared by other forms of ID, and that the presence of ASD has a significantly detrimental effect on narrative recall. PMID:21516264

  5. 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…

  6. 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…

  7. 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…

  8. Simulating an Enactment Effect: Pronouns Guide Action Simulation during Narrative Comprehension

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ditman, Tali; Brunye, Tad T.; Mahoney, Caroline R.; Taylor, Holly A.

    2010-01-01

    Recent research has suggested that reading involves the mental simulation of events and actions described in a text. It is possible however that previous findings did not tap into processes engaged during natural reading but rather those triggered by task demands. The present study examined whether readers spontaneously mentally simulate the…

  9. Assuring quality in narrative analysis.

    PubMed

    Bailey, P H

    1996-04-01

    Many nurse-researchers using qualitative strategies have been concerned with assuring quality in their work. The early literature reveals that the concepts of validity and reliability, as understood from the positivist perspective, are somehow inappropriate and inadequate when applied to interpretive research. More recent literature suggests that because of the positivist and interpretive paradigms are epistemologically divergent, the transfer of quality criteria from one perspective to the other is not automatic or even reasonable. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to clarify what the terms quality, trustworthiness, credibility, authenticity, and goodness mean in qualitative research findings. The process of assuring quality, validation, in qualitative research will be discussed within the context of the interpretive method, narrative analysis. A brief review of quality in narrative analysis nursing research will also be presented.

  10. Narrative review of the UK Patient Safety Research Portfolio.

    PubMed

    Waring, Justin; Rowley, Emma; Dingwall, Robert; Palmer, Cecily; Murcott, Toby

    2010-01-01

    The UK Patient Safety Research Portfolio (PSRP) commissioned 38 studies investigating the threats to patient safety in various clinical settings and evaluating safety-related service interventions. This paper reviews 27 of these studies, drawing out emergent and cross-cutting themes in terms of theory, research methods and thematic findings. Given the diversity of PSRP studies, the paper takes a narrative approach that allows for qualitative description, interpretation and synthesis of the studies and their findings. The theoretical review shows the majority of PSRP studies draw upon a patient safety 'orthodoxy', developed from the concepts and models associated with the human factors approach. The methodological review shows that a diverse range of research designs and techniques have been utilized. Although many follow in the 'scientific' tradition, interpretative, mixed and innovative methods have been integral to research. The thematic review of findings highlights significant contributions to knowledge in the areas of 'people', 'organizations', and 'technology'. As well as identifying the various sources of risk in the organization and delivery of patient care, the studies also evaluate and make recommendations about service change and improvement. The PSRP has provided the foundations for significant theoretical, methodological and empirical advances in the area of patient safety. The findings and recommendations make important contributions to policy formulation and implementation as well as professional and managerial practice. Through this body of research the PSRP has supported the formation and growth of a thriving research community across academic, policy and professional communities.

  11. 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…

  12. The burgeoning field of transdisciplinary adaptation research in Quebec (1998–): a climate change-related public health narrative

    PubMed Central

    Gosselin, Pierre; Bélanger, Diane; Lapaige, Véronique; Labbé, Yolaine

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents a public health narrative on Quebec’s new climatic conditions and human health, and describes the transdisciplinary nature of the climate change adaptation research currently being adopted in Quebec, characterized by the three phases of problem identification, problem investigation, and problem transformation. A transdisciplinary approach is essential for dealing with complex ill-defined problems concerning human–environment interactions (for example, climate change), for allowing joint research, collective leadership, complex collaborations, and significant exchanges among scientists, decision makers, and knowledge users. Such an approach is widely supported in theory but has proved to be extremely difficult to implement in practice, and those who attempt it have met with heavy resistance, succeeding when they find the occasional opportunity within institutional or social contexts. In this paper we narrate the ongoing struggle involved in tackling the negative effects of climate change in multi-actor contexts at local and regional levels, a struggle that began in a quiet way in 1998. The paper will describe how public health adaptation research is supporting transdisciplinary action and implementation while also preparing for the future, and how this interaction to tackle a life-world problem (adaptation of the Quebec public health sector to climate change) in multi-actors contexts has progressively been established during the last 13 years. The first of the two sections introduces the social context of a Quebec undergoing climate changes. Current climatic conditions and expected changes will be described, and attendant health risks for the Quebec population. The second section addresses the scientific, institutional and normative dimensions of the problem. It corresponds to a “public health narrative” presented in three phases: (1) problem identification (1998–2002) beginning in northern Quebec; (2) problem investigation (2002–2006

  13. Theorizing Foreshadowed Death Narratives: Examining the Impact of Character Death on Narrative Processing and Skin Self-Exam Intentions.

    PubMed

    Jensen, Jakob D; Yale, Robert N; Krakow, Melinda; John, Kevin K; King, Andy J

    2017-01-01

    Narratives are common in health campaigns and interventions, with many depicting individuals battling a particular illness or disease. Past research has focused primarily on the form and effects of survivor stories, but considerably less attention has been devoted to stories in which 1 or more of the central characters passes away. The goal of the current study was to compare the relative persuasive impact of survivor and death narratives in influencing skin prevention behaviors and to test narrative mediators that might explicate underlying mechanisms of effect. To that end, adults (N = 635, M age = 32.43 [SD = 11.23]) were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 narrative intervention conditions in an online message experiment. Participants read 1 of 2 stories about a person with melanoma (Rusty or Diane) that was manipulated as a narrative depicting the survival, death, or foreshadowed death of the main character. Foreshadowed death narratives increased intentions to perform a skin self-exam (SSE), a relationship that was mediated by narrative transportation and perceived SSE benefits. The results support the central postulate of narrative transportation theory and the utility of using foreshadowed death narratives in communication-based interventions designed to increase SSE frequency.

  14. Walk Little, Look Lots: Tuning into Teachers' Action Research Rhythm

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Eberhardt, Annelie; Heinz, Manuela

    2017-01-01

    This article is a narrative résumé of a year-long collaborative critical inquiry into teaching methods with teachers of modern languages in Irish secondary schools. Putting myself, a cultural stranger and first-time qualitative researcher, at the core of this self-study, I discuss first the context and methodological framework of the study to…

  15. Strengthening the evidence and action on multi-sectoral partnerships in public health: an action research initiative

    PubMed Central

    Willis, C. D.; Greene, J. K.; Abramowicz, A.; Riley, B. L.

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Introduction: The Public Health Agency of Canada’s Multi-sectoral Partnerships Initiative, administered by the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention (CCDP), brings together diverse partners to design, implement and advance innovative approaches for improving population health. This article describes the development and initial priorities of an action research project (a learning and improvement strategy) that aims to facilitate continuous improvement of the CCDP’s partnership initiative and contribute to the evidence on multi-sectoral partnerships. Methods: The learning and improvement strategy for the CCDP’s multi-sectoral partnership initiative was informed by (1) consultations with CCDP staff and senior management, and (2) a review of conceptual frameworks to do with multi-sectoral partnerships. Consultations explored the development of the multi-sectoral initiative, barriers and facilitators to success, and markers of effectiveness. Published and grey literature was reviewed using a systematic search strategy with findings synthesized using a narrative approach. Results: Consultations and the review highlighted the importance of understanding partnership impacts, developing a shared vision, implementing a shared measurement system and creating opportunities for knowledge exchange. With that in mind, we propose a six-component learning and improvement strategy that involves (1) prioritizing learning needs, (2) mapping needs to evidence, (3) using relevant data-collection methods, (4) analyzing and synthesizing data, (5) feeding data back to CCDP staff and teams and (6) taking action. Initial learning needs include investigating partnership reach and the unanticipated effects of multi-sectoral partnerships for individuals, groups, organizations or communities. Conclusion: While the CCDP is the primary audience for the learning and improvement strategy, it may prove useful for a range of audiences, including other government departments and external

  16. 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…

  17. 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…

  18. 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…

  19. 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.

  20. Narrative theory and the dynamics of popular movies.

    PubMed

    Cutting, James E

    2016-12-01

    Popular movies grab and hold our attention. One reason for this is that storytelling is culturally important to us, but another is that general narrative formulae have been honed over millennia and that a derived but specific filmic form has developed and has been perfected over the last century. The result is a highly effective format that allows rapid processing of complex narratives. Using a corpus analysis I explore a physical narratology of popular movies-narrational structure and how it impacts us-to promote a theory of popular movie form. I show that movies can be divided into 4 acts-setup, complication, development, and climax-with two optional subunits of prolog and epilog, and a few turning points and plot points. In 12 studies I show that normative aspects in patterns of shot durations, shot transitions, shot scale, shot motion, shot luminance, character introduction, and distributions of conversations, music, action shots, and scene transitions reduce to 5 correlated stylistic dimensions of movies and can litigate among theories of movie structure. In general, movie narratives have roughly the same structure as narratives in any other domain-plays, novels, manga, folktales, even oral histories-but with particular runtime constraints, cadences, and constructions that are unique to the medium.

  1. 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…

  2. Mission Drift in Qualitative Research, or Moving Toward a Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies, Moving Back to a More Systematic Narrative Review

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jones, Kip

    2004-01-01

    The paper argues that the systematic review of qualitative research is best served by reliance upon qualitative methods themselves. A case is made for strengthening the narrative literature review and using narrative itself as a method of review. A technique is proposed that builds upon recent developments in qualitative systematic review by the…

  3. 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.

  4. Constructing and Using Multimodal Narratives to Research in Science Education: Contributions Based on Practical Classroom

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lopes, J. B.; Silva, A. A.; Cravino, J. P.; Santos, C. A.; Cunha, A.; Pinto, A.; Silva, A.; Viegas, C.; Saraiva, E.; Branco, M. J.

    2014-06-01

    This study deals with the problem of how to collect genuine and useful data about science classroom practices, and preserving the complex and holistic nature of teaching and learning. Additionally, we were looking for an instrument that would allow comparability and verifiability for teaching and research purposes. Given the multimodality of teaching and learning processes, we developed the multimodal narrative (MN), which describes what happens during a task and incorporates data such as examples of students' work, photos, diagrams, etc. Also, it describes teachers' intentions, preserving the nature of teaching practice in natural settings and it is verifiable and comparable. In this paper, we show how the MN was developed and present the protocol that was used for its construction. We identify the main characteristics of the MN and place it in the context of international research. We explore the potential of the MN for research purposes, illustrating its use in a research study that we carried out. We find that the MN provides a way to gather, organize and transform data, avoiding confusing and time-consuming manipulation of data, while minimizing the natural subjectivity of the narrator. The same MN can be used by the same or by different researchers for different purposes. Furthermore, the same MN can be used with different analysis techniques. It is also possible to study research practices on a large scale using MNs from different teachers and lessons. We propose that MNs can also be useful for teachers' professional development.

  5. 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…

  6. Narrative inquiry: Locating Aboriginal epistemology in a relational methodology.

    PubMed

    Barton, Sylvia S

    2004-03-01

    This methodology utilizes narrative analysis and the elicitation of life stories as understood through dimensions of interaction, continuity, and situation. It is congruent with Aboriginal epistemology formulated by oral narratives through representation, connection, storytelling and art. Needed for culturally competent scholarship is an experience of research whereby inquiry into epiphanies, ritual, routines, metaphors and everyday experience creates a process of reflexive thinking for multiple ways of knowing. Based on the sharing of perspectives, narrative inquiry allows for experimentation into creating new forms of knowledge by contextualizing diabetes from the experience of a researcher overlapped with experiences of participants--a reflective practice in itself. The aim of this paper is to present narrative inquiry as a relational methodology and to analyse critically its appropriateness as an innovative research approach for exploring Aboriginal people's experience living with diabetes. Narrative inquiry represents an alternative culture of research for nursing science to generate understanding and explanation of Aboriginal people's 'diabetic self' stories, and to coax open a window for co-constructing a narrative about diabetes as a chronic illness. The ability to adapt a methodology for use in a cultural context, preserve the perspectives of Aboriginal peoples, maintain the holistic nature of social problems, and value co-participation in respectful ways are strengths of an inquiry partial to a responsive and embodied scholarship.

  7. The Relationship between Oral and Written Narratives: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study of Narrative Cohesion, Coherence, and Structure

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pinto, Giuliana; Tarchi, Christian; Bigozzi, Lucia

    2015-01-01

    Background: The relationship between oral language and the writing process at early acquisition stages and the ways the former can enhance or limit the latter has not been researched extensively. Aims: The predictive relationship between kindergarten oral narrative competence and the first- and second-grade written narrative competence was…

  8. 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…

  9. [Sexual initiation, masculinity and health: narratives of young men].

    PubMed

    Rebello, Lúcia Emilia Figueiredo de Sousa; Gomes, Romeu

    2009-01-01

    The main objective of this study was to analyze the narratives of young university students about the experience of sexual initiation. The theoretical and conceptual references used were the sexual scripts of our society that inform people about when, how, where and with whom they should have their sexual experiences, indicating how to act sexually and the reasons why they have to practice some kind of sexual activity. The method used was a qualitative study of narratives from the perspective of dialectic hermeneutics. The methodological design involves the comprehension of sceneries, contexts, environments and characters of the narratives about sexual initiation. The analysis refers to narratives of university students in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Among the meanings of sexual initiation, we emphasize sexual intercourse, the demarcation of a stage of life, the awakening to the opposite sex and the discovery of the body. We observed that the young men's narratives were coherent with what is considered masculine, present in the discourse of different generations. It is concluded that the young men should be encouraged to participate in actions combining health and education aimed at promotion of sexual and reproductive health.

  10. The Narrative-Emotion Process Coding System 2.0: A multi-methodological approach to identifying and assessing narrative-emotion process markers in psychotherapy.

    PubMed

    Angus, Lynne E; Boritz, Tali; Bryntwick, Emily; Carpenter, Naomi; Macaulay, Christianne; Khattra, Jasmine

    2017-05-01

    Recent studies suggest that it is not simply the expression of emotion or emotional arousal in session that is important, but rather it is the reflective processing of emergent, adaptive emotions, arising in the context of personal storytelling and/or Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) interventions, that is associated with change. To enhance narrative-emotion integration specifically in EFT, Angus and Greenberg originally identified a set of eight clinically derived narrative-emotion integration markers were originally identified for the implementation of process-guiding therapeutic responses. Further evaluation and testing by the Angus Narrative-Emotion Marker Lab resulted in the identification of 10 empirically validated Narrative-Emotion Process (N-EP) markers that are included in the Narrative-Emotion Process Coding System Version 2.0 (NEPCS 2.0). Based on empirical research findings, individual markers are clustered into Problem (e.g., stuckness in repetitive story patterns, over-controlled or dysregulated emotion, lack of reflectivity), Transition (e.g., reflective, access to adaptive emotions and new emotional plotlines, heightened narrative and emotion integration), and Change (e.g., new story outcomes and self-narrative discovery, and co-construction and re-conceptualization) subgroups. To date, research using the NEPCS 2.0 has investigated the proportion and pattern of narrative-emotion markers in Emotion-Focused, Client-Centered, and Cognitive Therapy for Major Depression, Motivational Interviewing plus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and EFT for Complex Trauma. Results have consistently identified significantly higher proportions of N-EP Transition and Change markers, and productive shifts, in mid- and late phase sessions, for clients who achieved recovery by treatment termination. Recovery is consistently associated with client storytelling that is emotionally engaged, reflective, and evidencing new story outcomes and self-narrative

  11. Different Schools as Narrative Communities: Identity Narratives in Threefold

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    ter Avest, Ina; Bakker, Cok; Miedema, Siebren

    2008-01-01

    The last decade identity is often and very fruitfully conceptualized as "narrative identity." Neither for individuals nor for groups is identity a given beforehand anymore. On the contrary, identity has to be constructed in an inductive way continuously. Three qualitative research methods are applied to explore in an inductive way the…

  12. 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…

  13. 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…

  14. 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…

  15. The use of abstract paintings and narratives to foster reflective capacity in medical educators: a multinational faculty development workshop

    PubMed Central

    Karkabi, Khaled; Wald, Hedy S; Cohen Castel, Orit

    2014-01-01

    Reflective capacity is integral to core healthcare professional practice competencies. Reflection plays a central role in teacher education as reflecting on teaching behaviours with critical analysis can potentially improve teaching practice. The humanities including narrative and the visual arts can serve as a valuable tool for fostering reflection. We conducted a multinational faculty development workshop aiming to enhance reflective capacity in medical educators by using a combination of abstract paintings and narratives. Twenty-three family physicians or physicians-in-training from 10 countries participated in the workshop. Qualitative assessment of the workshop showed that the combined use of art and narrative was well received and perceived as contributing to the reflective exercise. Participants generally felt that viewing abstract paintings had facilitated a valuable mood transformation and prepared them emotionally for the reflective writing. Our analysis found that the following themes emerged from participants’ responses: (1) narratives from different countries are similar; (2) the use of art helped access feelings; (3) viewing abstract paintings facilitated next steps; (4) writing reflective narratives promoted examination of educational challenges, compassion for self and other, and building an action plan; and (5) sharing of narrative was helpful for fostering active listening and appreciating multiple perspectives. Future research might include comparing outcomes for a group participating in arts–narrative-based workshops with those of a control group using only reflective narrative or in combination with figurative art, and implementing a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods of assessment. PMID:24273319

  16. 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…

  17. 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.

  18. 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…

  19. Using narrative pedagogy: learning and practising interpretive thinking.

    PubMed

    Ironside, Pamela M

    2006-08-01

    This paper reports a hermeneutic study undertaken to explicate students' experiences in educational courses in which teachers enact Narrative Pedagogy. International interest in developing and implementing discipline-specific pedagogies is becoming commonplace as teachers respond to the challenges of preparing students for contemporary practice. Lifeworld Pedagogy, developed in Scandinavia, and Narrative Pedagogy, developed in the United States of America, Canada and New Zealand, are two approaches developed from nursing research for nursing education that provide teachers with research-based alternatives to conventional pedagogy. Further research is needed, however, that addresses how new pedagogies are experienced in schools of nursing. Teachers and students from 22 schools of nursing in the United States of America were interviewed over a 4-year period between 2002 and 2005. Using interpretive phenomenology as the philosophical background and Heideggerian hermeneutics as the method, accounts from 52 participants were analysed by a research team. The theme Learning and Practising Interpretive Thinking reveals how reform is occurring in schools of nursing that use Narrative Pedagogy. It documents how Narrative Pedagogy helps students challenge their assumptions and think through and interpret situations they encounter from multiple perspectives. Findings suggest that by focusing teachers' and students' attention on thinking and interpreting as communal experiences, interpretive pedagogies such as Narrative Pedagogy engage teachers and students in pooling their wisdom, challenging their preconceptions, envisioning new possibilities for providing care and engaging with others to ensure patient-centred care and safety. By documenting students' experiences in courses in which Narrative Pedagogy is used, this study provides teachers with research-based evidence to guide their pedagogical decisions. It extends international efforts to develop discipline

  20. 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…

  1. 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…

  2. 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…

  3. 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

  4. Telling Tales: A Narrative Research Study of the Experiences of New International Academic Staff at an Australian University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Wendy; Myatt, Paula

    2011-01-01

    As the transnational movement of academics continues to increase, some are arguing it is time to look more closely at the challenges faced by new international academic staff. This article reports on a narrative research study exploring the experiences and perceptions of eight international academic staff at a large, research-intensive university…

  5. Enhancing Evidence-Based Public Health Policy: Developing and Using Policy Narratives.

    PubMed

    Troy, Lisa M; Kietzman, Kathryn G

    2016-06-01

    Academic researchers and clinicians have a critical role in shaping public policies to improve the health of an aging America. Policy narratives that pair personal stories with research statistics are a powerful tool to share knowledge generated in academic and clinical settings with policymakers. Effective policy narratives rely on a trustworthy and competent narrator and a compelling story that highlights the personal impact of policies under consideration and academic research that bolsters the story. Awareness of the cultural differences in the motivations, expectations, and institutional constraints of academic researchers and clinicians as information producers and U.S. Congress and federal agencies as information users is critical to the development of policy narratives that impact policy decisions. The current article describes the development and use of policy narratives to bridge cultures and enhance evidence-based public health policies that better meet the needs of older adults. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 42(6), 11-17.]. Copyright 2016, SLACK Incorporated.

  6. 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…

  7. 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…

  8. The Cinematic Narrator: The Logic and Pragmatics of Impersonal Narration.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burgoyne, Robert

    1990-01-01

    Describes "impersonal narration," an approach that defends the concept of the cinematic narrator as a logical and pragmatic necessity. Compares this approach with existing theories of the cinematic narrator, addressing disagreements in the field of film narrative theory. (MM)

  9. Using narratives and storytelling to communicate science with nonexpert audiences.

    PubMed

    Dahlstrom, Michael F

    2014-09-16

    Although storytelling often has negative connotations within science, narrative formats of communication should not be disregarded when communicating science to nonexpert audiences. Narratives offer increased comprehension, interest, and engagement. Nonexperts get most of their science information from mass media content, which is itself already biased toward narrative formats. Narratives are also intrinsically persuasive, which offers science communicators tactics for persuading otherwise resistant audiences, although such use also raises ethical considerations. Future intersections of narrative research with ongoing discussions in science communication are introduced.

  10. Learning to research in first grade: Bridging the transition from narrative to expository texts and tasks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weise, Richard

    Decades of research indicate that students at all academic grade and performance levels perform poorly with informational texts and tasks and particularly with locating assignment-relevant information in expository texts. Students have little understanding of the individual tasks required, the arc of the activity, the hierarchical structure of the information they seek, or how to reconstitute and interpret the information they extract. Poor performance begins with the introduction of textbooks and research assignments in fourth grade and continues into adulthood. However, to date, neither educators nor researchers have substantially addressed this problem. In this quasi-experimental study, we ask if first-grade children can perform essential tasks in identifying, extracting, and integrating assignment-relevant information and if instruction improves their performance. To answer this question, we conducted a 15-week, teacher-led, intervention in two first-grade classrooms in an inner-city Nashville elementary school. We created a computer learning environment (NoteTaker) to facilitate children's creation of a mental model of the research process and a narrative/expository bridge curriculum to support the children's transition from all narrative to all expository texts and tasks. We also created a new scaffolding taxonomy and a reading-to-research model to focus our research. Teachers participated in weekly professional development workshops. The results of this quasi-experimental study indicate that at-risk, first-grade children are able to (a) identify relevant information in an expository text, (b) categorize the information they identify, and (c) justify their choice of category. Children's performance in the first and last tasks significantly improved with instruction, and low-performing readers showed the greatest benefits from instruction. We find that the children's performance in categorizing information depended upon content-specific knowledge that was not

  11. Narrative and emotion process in psychotherapy: an empirical test of the Narrative-Emotion Process Coding System (NEPCS).

    PubMed

    Boritz, Tali Z; Bryntwick, Emily; Angus, Lynne; Greenberg, Leslie S; Constantino, Michael J

    2014-01-01

    While the individual contributions of narrative and emotion processes to psychotherapy outcome have been the focus of recent interest in psychotherapy research literature, the empirical analysis of narrative and emotion integration has rarely been addressed. The Narrative-Emotion Processes Coding System (NEPCS) was developed to provide researchers with a systematic method for identifying specific narrative and emotion process markers, for application to therapy session videos. The present study examined the relationship between NEPCS-derived problem markers (same old storytelling, empty storytelling, unstoried emotion, abstract storytelling) and change markers (competing plotlines storytelling, inchoate storytelling, unexpected outcome storytelling, and discovery storytelling), and treatment outcome (recovered versus unchanged at therapy termination) and stage of therapy (early, middle, late) in brief emotion-focused (EFT), client-centred (CCT), and cognitive (CT) therapies for depression. Hierarchical linear modelling analyses demonstrated a significant Outcome effect for inchoate storytelling (p = .037) and discovery storytelling (p = .002), a Stage × Outcome effect for abstract storytelling (p = .05), and a Stage × Outcome × Treatment effect for competing plotlines storytelling (p = .001). There was also a significant Stage × Outcome effect for NEPCS problem markers (p = .007) and change markers (p = .03). The results provide preliminary support for the importance of assessing the contribution of narrative-emotion processes to efficacious treatment outcomes in EFT, CCT, and CT treatments of depression.

  12. The architecture of visual narrative comprehension: the interaction of narrative structure and page layout in understanding comics.

    PubMed

    Cohn, Neil

    2014-01-01

    How do people make sense of the sequential images in visual narratives like comics? A growing literature of recent research has suggested that this comprehension involves the interaction of multiple systems: The creation of meaning across sequential images relies on a "narrative grammar" that packages conceptual information into categorical roles organized in hierarchic constituents. These images are encapsulated into panels arranged in the layout of a physical page. Finally, how panels frame information can impact both the narrative structure and page layout. Altogether, these systems operate in parallel to construct the Gestalt whole of comprehension of this visual language found in comics.

  13. 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.

  14. 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,…

  15. 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…

  16. 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…

  17. The emotional impact of loss narratives: event severity and narrative perspectives.

    PubMed

    Habermas, Tilmann; Diel, Verena

    2010-06-01

    Out of the complex influences of event, narrative and listener characteristics on narrative emotions, this paper focuses on event severity, narrative perspectives, mood, and dispositions for emotion regulation and empathy. Event severity and perspective representation were systematically varied in sad autobiographical narratives to study their influence on quantity and quality of readers' emotional response. Each of three stories were manipulated to contain elaborated perspectives, only the past protagonists' perspective (dramatic narration), and very little perspectives at all (impersonal narration). We predicted that event severity influences the quantity of emotional response, while degree of perspective representation influences plausibility and whether emotional responses are sympathetic or interactional, that is, directed against the narrator. Hypotheses were confirmed except for plausibility, and perspective representation had an effect only on anger against and dislike of the narrator. In a second study, impersonal narration evoked anger at and negative evaluations of the narrator which were related to blaming the narrator for showing too little emotional involvement. The generalizability of findings across emotions and implications for sharing of emotions in everyday and clinical settings are discussed.

  18. Socioculturally Situated Narratives as Co-Authors of Student Teachers' Learning from Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Philpott, Carey

    2014-01-01

    This paper reports on research into the ways in which student teachers' experiential learning is mediated by socioculturally situated narrative resources. The research uses Wertsch's idea of the narrative template as a co-author of individual narratives. This idea is developed to be useful in the particular context of initial teacher education…

  19. 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…

  20. 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…

  1. Narrative competence in Spanish-speaking adults with Williams syndrome.

    PubMed

    Diez-Itza, Eliseo; Martínez, Verónica; Antón, Aránzazu

    2016-08-01

    Williams syndrome (WS) is a genetic disorder associated with intellectual disability and characterised by displaying an atypical neuropsychological profile, with peaks and valleys, where language skills seem better preserved than non-verbal intelligence. This study researches the narrative competence of nine Spanish-speaking adults with WS. Oral narratives were elicited from a silent film, and narrative coherence was analysed as a function of sequential order of the events narrated at three structure levels, while narrative cohesion was assessed through the frequency of use and type of discourse markers. WS subjects were able to remember a significant proportion of the events from the film, but coherence of narratives, i.e., sequential order of events, was more impaired. Consistently with their linguistic abilities, cohesion of narratives was better preserved, as they used discourse markers to introduce a high proportion of events. Construction of mental models of the narratives may be constrained in WS by non-verbal cognitive abilities, but narrative competence is also determined by textual pragmatic abilities to organize discourse, which should be addressed by specific intervention in narrative competence.

  2. Child, parent, and parent-child emotion narratives: implications for developmental psychopathology.

    PubMed

    Oppenheim, David

    2006-01-01

    Studies using narratives with children and parents offer ways to study affective meaning-making processes that are central in many theories of developmental psychopathology. This paper reviews theory regarding affective meaning making, and argues that narratives are particularly suited to examine such processes. The review of narrative studies and methods is organized into three sections according to the focus on child, parent, and parent-child narratives. Within each focus three levels of analysis are considered: (a) narrative organization and coherence, (b) narrative content, and (c) the behavior/interactions of the narrator(s). The implications of this research for developmental psychopathology and clinical work are discussed with an emphasis on parent-child jointly constructed narratives as the meeting point of individual child and parent narratives.

  3. All Adventurous Women Do: HPV, Narrative, and HBO's Girls.

    PubMed

    Rogers, Brian

    2016-01-01

    This study looks at media portrayals of sexual health through the popular HBO television show Girls. This rhetorical criticism of Girls delineates two emergent narrative themes. First, the show repeatedly discusses human papillomavirus (HPV) in terms of its severity, but it oscillates in terms of representing the degree of significance. Second, the show frames the source of infection as more important than other concerns related to HPV. Ultimately, this analysis demonstrates that Girls perpetuates a problematic narrative plot structure related to issues of HPV transmission; it also provides a largely scientifically accurate portrayal of HPV and promotes open and frank discussions of sexual health. It is argued that mediated narratives, such as Girls, might have the potential to transform social attitudes and actions and should thereby garner attention from health communication scholars and public health advocates.

  4. 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…

  5. 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…

  6. 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…

  7. Using narratives and storytelling to communicate science with nonexpert audiences

    PubMed Central

    Dahlstrom, Michael F.

    2014-01-01

    Although storytelling often has negative connotations within science, narrative formats of communication should not be disregarded when communicating science to nonexpert audiences. Narratives offer increased comprehension, interest, and engagement. Nonexperts get most of their science information from mass media content, which is itself already biased toward narrative formats. Narratives are also intrinsically persuasive, which offers science communicators tactics for persuading otherwise resistant audiences, although such use also raises ethical considerations. Future intersections of narrative research with ongoing discussions in science communication are introduced. PMID:25225368

  8. Using narratives to motivate climate science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stiller-Reeve, Mathew; Bremer, Scott; Blanchard, Anne

    2015-04-01

    This paper presents the lessons learnt by the climate scientists within an interdisciplinary research project called 'TRACKS': Transforming climate knowledge with and for society. The project uses the climate narratives of local people in northeast Bangladesh as a basis for mobilizing high quality climate knowledge for adaptation. To ensure this high quality climate information, the project demands an interdisciplinary approach. This project is therefore a broad, but tight collaboration between climate science and perspectives from social science and the humanities. For the climate scientists involved, the aim was to do research that would provide local people with climate information that would hopefully aid adaptation. The climate research design had to consider the perceptions of the local people in northeast Bangladesh, and what aspects of the local climate that they thought were important. For the climate scientists to gain an appropriate understanding, they were fully integrated into the whole narrative research process. The different disciplines cooperate fully in all aspects of the TRACKS project. The climate scientists were involved in planning the narrative interview survey about weather and how it impacts the lives of local people in northeast Bangladesh. The climate scientists participated in a workshop with social science colleagues from Bangladesh and Norway, to design the research questions, the interview framework, and the data management plan. The climate scientists then travelled to Bangladesh with social scientist colleagues to observe and discuss ten pilot interviews with local people, and to take part in two 'stakeholder-mapping' workshops. On the basis of these interviews and workshops, the climate scientists arranged an interdisciplinary workshop where all the project's researchers designed the climate science research questions together. The climate research questions have therefore been built around a first-hand interdisciplinary experience

  9. The effect of narrative cues on infants’ imitation from television and picture books

    PubMed Central

    Simcock, Gabrielle; Garrity, Kara; Barr, Rachel

    2011-01-01

    Infants can imitate a novel action sequence from television and picture books; yet there has been no direct comparison of infants’ imitation from the two types of media. Varying the narrative cues available during the demonstration and test, we measured 18- and 24-month-olds’ imitation from television and picture books. Infants imitated from both media types when full narrative cues (Experiment 1; N = 76) or empty, meaningless narration (Experiment 2; N = 135) accompanied the demonstrations, but they imitated more from television than books. In Experiment 3 (N = 27), infants imitated from a book based on narration alone, without the presence of pictures. These results are discussed in relation to age-related changes in cognitive flexibility and infants’ emerging symbolic understanding. PMID:21883157

  10. Narrative in Young Children's Digital Art-Making

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sakr, Mona; Connelly, Vince; Wild, Mary

    2016-01-01

    Digital technologies have material and social properties that have the potential to create new opportunities for children's expressive arts practices. The presence and development of oral narratives in young children's visual art-making on paper has been noted in previous research, but little is known about the narratives children create when they…

  11. 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…

  12. Mothering disrupted by illness: a narrative synthesis of qualitative research.

    PubMed

    Vallido, Tamara; Wilkes, Lesley; Carter, Bernie; Jackson, Debra

    2010-07-01

    This paper is a report of a literature review of qualitative empirical research investigating women's experiences of mothering disrupted by illness. As a primary identity, motherhood is endangered by illness. Illness can interfere with a woman's ability to mother her child/children. Healthcare professionals regularly fail to acknowledge a woman's dual identities of mother and patient. CINAHL, Medline, PsychInfo, Scopus and Sociological abstracts were searched 1980-2009. A narrative synthesis was used, with quality appraisal guided by the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme method. Concepts were analysed thematically, explicating common experiences of women disrupted in their mothering by illness. This allowed for both descriptive and narrative synthesis to occur. Thirteen papers were included in the final review. Themes identified were: mechanism of disruption; reframing the mother role; protecting the children; experiencing guilt or shame; problems with healthcare professionals; and living to mother, mothering to live. Women disrupted in their mothering by illness view themselves as a mother first and a patient second. Women found themselves unsupported in their mothering role by healthcare professionals, and this may have left them reluctant to broach difficulties they had relinquishing mothering duties when ill. Nurses are well-positioned to support women in illness by acknowledging the importance of their identity as mothers, offering them opportunities to discuss how illness is disrupting their ability to mother, providing support to help them negotiate the social/emotional distress experienced when mothering is disrupted and, where necessary, referring them to other members of the healthcare team, such as social workers.

  13. Interwoven Story: A Narrative Study of Textiles as Educators

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tremblay-Dion, Catherine-Laura

    2017-01-01

    Drawing from both narrative research and Joe Kincheloe's work of research bricolage this study inquired into how textiles have served as educator throughout my life. Weaving, as the earliest and most integral of textile fabrications, is particularly featured in this narrative inquiry. A loom, in its most basic form, consists of three components; a…

  14. 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.…

  15. Teacher Narratives and Student Engagement: Testing Narrative Engagement Theory in Drug Prevention Education

    PubMed Central

    Miller-Day, Michelle; Hecht, Michael L.; Krieger, Janice L.; Pettigrew, Jonathan; Shin, YoungJu; Graham, John

    2015-01-01

    Testing narrative engagement theory, this study examines student engagement and teachers’ spontaneous narratives told in a narrative-based drug prevention curriculum. The study describes the extent to which teachers share their own narratives in a narrative-based curriculum, identifies dominant narrative elements, forms and functions, and assesses the relationships among teacher narratives, overall lesson narrative quality, and student engagement. One hundred videotaped lessons of the keepin’ it REAL drug prevention curriculum were coded and the results supported the claim that increased narrative quality of a prevention lesson would be associated with increased student engagement. The quality of narrativity, however, varied widely. Implications of these results for narrative-based prevention interventions and narrative pedagogy are discussed. PMID:26690668

  16. 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…

  17. Gender, Narratives and Intersectionality: can Personal Experience Approaches to Research Contribute to "Undoing Gender"?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cole, Barbara Ann

    2009-11-01

    This paper examines narrative methodologies as one approach to exploring issues of gender, education and social justice and, particularly, insights into "undoing gender". It furthermore examines the possibilities of exploring gender and its multiple intersections in a range of global and policy contexts through the use of personal experience approaches. The "storying" of lived experience is examined as a means of challenging dominant discourses which can construct and other individuals and groups in relation to many aspects of gender and education. Drawing on intersectionality, as a complex and developing feminist theory, the paper considers ways in which narrative can illuminate often hidden complexities while seeking to avoid generalisations and essentialisms. The difficulties of using narrative in relation to these aims are explored in the light of the warnings of feminist writers such as Michele Fine and bell hooks. The paper briefly considers narrative as both methodology and phenomenon, and finally, drawing on critical discourse analysis, discusses the potential of intersectionality and narrative in relation to undoing gender.

  18. 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…

  19. Maternal bond with cardiosurgically treated infant. Qualitative analysis of mothers' narratives.

    PubMed

    Sikora, Karolina; Janusz, Bernadetta

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this work is to describe the experience of being a mother by women who together with their children stay on the ward after cardiac surgical correction of congenital heart defects. The research material consisted of the narratives of mothers whose children were born with a heart defect and surgically treated. Four women aged 21-30 years were participants of this study. The age of the subjects' children ranged from 5 weeks to 1 year and three months. The heart defects with which the children were born were hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS ) or atrioventricular canal defect. The research was carried out using the narrative interview. Qualitative analysis was carried out according to the rules of thematic analysis. The results of the research confirm that cardiac treatment can have a significant impact on maternal care patterns and the mother-infant bonding process. Intermittent contact with an infant can lead to loss of control over what happens to the child and the loss of a sense of competence to care for him. Medical staff face the challenge of supporting the parents of hospitalized children in the process of building relationships with a sick infant. The actions of doctors and nurses to enable parents to care for a baby can help foster their sense of competence and responsibility.

  20. Conducting a narrative analysis.

    PubMed

    Emden, C

    1998-07-01

    This paper describes the process of narrative analysis as undertaken within a nursing study on scholars and scholarship. If follows an earlier paper titled: Theoretical perspectives on narrative inquiry that described the influencing ideas of Bruner (1987) and Roof (1994) upon the same study. Analysis procedures are described here in sufficient detail for other researchers wishing to implement a similar approach to do so. The process as described has two main components: (A) strategies of 'core story creation' and 'employment'; and (B) issues and dilemmas of narrative analysis, especially relating to rigour. The ideas of Polkinghorne (1988), Mishler (1986), and Labov (in Mishler 1986a) are introduced in so far as they impinge upon the analysis process. These relate especially to the development of key terms, and to the analysis strategies of core story creation and employment. Outcomes of the study in question are termed 'Signposting the lived-world of scholarship'.

  1. Storybooks aren't just for fun: narrative and non-narrative picture books foster equal amounts of generic language during mother-toddler book sharing

    PubMed Central

    Nyhout, Angela; O'Neill, Daniela K.

    2014-01-01

    Parents and children encounter a variety of animals and objects in the early picture books they share, but little is known about how the context in which these entities are presented influences talk about them. The present study investigated how the presence or absence of a visual narrative context influences mothers' tendency to refer to animals as individual characters or as members of a kind when sharing picture books with their toddlers (mean age 21.3 months). Mother-child dyads shared both a narrative and a non-narrative book, each featuring six animals and matched in terms of length and quantity of text. Mothers made more specific (individual-referring) statements about animals in the narrative books, whereas they provided more labels for animals in the non-narrative books. But, of most interest, the frequency and proportion of mothers' use of generic (kind-referring) utterances did not differ across the two different types of books. Further coding of the content of the utterances revealed that mothers provided more story-specific descriptions of states and actions of the animals when sharing narrative books and more physical descriptions of animals when sharing non-narrative books. However, the two books did not differ in terms of their elicitation of natural facts about the animals. Overall, although the two types of books encouraged different types of talk from mothers, they stimulated generic language and talk about natural facts to an equal degree. Implications for learning from picture storybooks and book genre selection in classrooms and home reading are discussed. PMID:24795675

  2. Storybooks aren't just for fun: narrative and non-narrative picture books foster equal amounts of generic language during mother-toddler book sharing.

    PubMed

    Nyhout, Angela; O'Neill, Daniela K

    2014-01-01

    Parents and children encounter a variety of animals and objects in the early picture books they share, but little is known about how the context in which these entities are presented influences talk about them. The present study investigated how the presence or absence of a visual narrative context influences mothers' tendency to refer to animals as individual characters or as members of a kind when sharing picture books with their toddlers (mean age 21.3 months). Mother-child dyads shared both a narrative and a non-narrative book, each featuring six animals and matched in terms of length and quantity of text. Mothers made more specific (individual-referring) statements about animals in the narrative books, whereas they provided more labels for animals in the non-narrative books. But, of most interest, the frequency and proportion of mothers' use of generic (kind-referring) utterances did not differ across the two different types of books. Further coding of the content of the utterances revealed that mothers provided more story-specific descriptions of states and actions of the animals when sharing narrative books and more physical descriptions of animals when sharing non-narrative books. However, the two books did not differ in terms of their elicitation of natural facts about the animals. Overall, although the two types of books encouraged different types of talk from mothers, they stimulated generic language and talk about natural facts to an equal degree. Implications for learning from picture storybooks and book genre selection in classrooms and home reading are discussed.

  3. 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.

  4. 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…

  5. 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…

  6. What Every PDS Partner Should Know about Action Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Garin, Eva

    2016-01-01

    This article explores the process of an action research project undertaken by a PDS partnership. Participants in a one day professional development seminar shared their perspectives on action research within a PDS network, and findings indicate that participants valued the collaborative effort and opportunities to share their research efforts.…

  7. 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…

  8. The architecture of visual narrative comprehension: the interaction of narrative structure and page layout in understanding comics

    PubMed Central

    Cohn, Neil

    2014-01-01

    How do people make sense of the sequential images in visual narratives like comics? A growing literature of recent research has suggested that this comprehension involves the interaction of multiple systems: The creation of meaning across sequential images relies on a “narrative grammar” that packages conceptual information into categorical roles organized in hierarchic constituents. These images are encapsulated into panels arranged in the layout of a physical page. Finally, how panels frame information can impact both the narrative structure and page layout. Altogether, these systems operate in parallel to construct the Gestalt whole of comprehension of this visual language found in comics. PMID:25071651

  9. 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.

  10. Eye movements while viewing narrated, captioned, and silent videos

    PubMed Central

    Ross, Nicholas M.; Kowler, Eileen

    2013-01-01

    Videos are often accompanied by narration delivered either by an audio stream or by captions, yet little is known about saccadic patterns while viewing narrated video displays. Eye movements were recorded while viewing video clips with (a) audio narration, (b) captions, (c) no narration, or (d) concurrent captions and audio. A surprisingly large proportion of time (>40%) was spent reading captions even in the presence of a redundant audio stream. Redundant audio did not affect the saccadic reading patterns but did lead to skipping of some portions of the captions and to delays of saccades made into the caption region. In the absence of captions, fixations were drawn to regions with a high density of information, such as the central region of the display, and to regions with high levels of temporal change (actions and events), regardless of the presence of narration. The strong attraction to captions, with or without redundant audio, raises the question of what determines how time is apportioned between captions and video regions so as to minimize information loss. The strategies of apportioning time may be based on several factors, including the inherent attraction of the line of sight to any available text, the moment by moment impressions of the relative importance of the information in the caption and the video, and the drive to integrate visual text accompanied by audio into a single narrative stream. PMID:23457357

  11. 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.

  12. 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…

  13. A Lay Ethics Quest for Technological Futures: About Tradition, Narrative and Decision-Making.

    PubMed

    van der Burg, Simone

    2016-01-01

    Making better choices about future technologies that are being researched or developed is an important motivator behind lay ethics interventions. However, in practice, they do not always succeed to serve that goal. Especially authors who have noted that lay ethicists sometimes take recourse to well-known themes which stem from old, even 'archetypical' stories, have been criticized for making too little room for agency and decision-making in their approach. This paper aims to contribute to a reflection on how lay ethics can acquire more practical relevance. It will use resources in narrative ethics to suggest that in order to be relevant for action, facilitators of lay ethics interventions need to invite participants to engage in a narrative quest. As part of a quest, lay ethicists should be asked to (1) reflect on a specific question or choice, (2) use diverse (imaginative) input which is informative about the heterogeneity of viewpoints that are defended in society and (3) argue for their standpoints.

  14. Understanding personal narratives: an approach to practice.

    PubMed

    Gaydos, H Lea

    2005-02-01

    This paper explores the need for and nature of personal narratives and their relevance to nursing practice. It proposes that the co-creative aesthetic process can be used to understand and co-create personal narratives through an emphasis on self-defining memories and metaphor. Many authors in nursing and other human sciences have recognized the need for and importance of personal narrative, its relationship to aesthetic knowing and its value in qualitative research and in practice. The role of memory and metaphor in the creation of meaning in personal narratives, however, has not been sufficiently explored in nursing literature. The nature of personal narrative is explored, focusing on the way meaning is created from self-defining memories using metaphor. Then, the importance of personal narratives in nursing practice is considered, followed by discussion about how meaning in personal narratives may be co-created between clients and nurses using an aesthetic process developed by the author. The co-creative aesthetic process is an example of nursing as art and can be used to co-create personal narratives in practice. The experience of co-creating a self story with a nurse can be healing, as the self story is heard by a caring person, memories are understood in new ways, and the self story is both confirmed and recreated.

  15. "..., 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…

  16. Understanding Action and Adventure Sports Participation-An Ecological Dynamics Perspective.

    PubMed

    Immonen, Tuomas; Brymer, Eric; Orth, Dominic; Davids, Keith; Feletti, Francesco; Liukkonen, Jarmo; Jaakkola, Timo

    2017-12-01

    Previous research has considered action and adventure sports using a variety of associated terms and definitions which has led to confusing discourse and contradictory research findings. Traditional narratives have typically considered participation exclusively as the pastime of young people with abnormal characteristics or personalities having unhealthy and pathological tendencies to take risks because of the need for thrill, excitement or an adrenaline 'rush'. Conversely, recent research has linked even the most extreme forms of action and adventure sports to positive physical and psychological health and well-being outcomes. Here, we argue that traditional frameworks have led to definitions, which, as currently used by researchers, ignore key elements constituting the essential merit of these sports. In this paper, we suggest that this lack of conceptual clarity in understanding cognitions, perception and action in action and adventure sports requires a comprehensive explanatory framework, ecological dynamics which considers person-environment interactions from a multidisciplinary perspective. Action and adventure sports can be fundamentally conceptualized as activities which flourish through creative exploration of novel movement experiences, continuously expanding and evolving beyond predetermined environmental, physical, psychological or sociocultural boundaries. The outcome is the emergence of a rich variety of participation styles and philosophical differences within and across activities. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (a) to point out some limitations of existing research on action and adventure sports; (b) based on key ideas from emerging research and an ecological dynamics approach, to propose a holistic multidisciplinary model for defining and understanding action and adventure sports that may better guide future research and practical implications.

  17. 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.

  18. Voices of Identity in a Chicana Teacher's Occupational Narratives of the Self

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Galindo, Rene

    2007-01-01

    The research area of teacher narrative inquiry has identified links between the personal and professional identities of teachers. Although teacher narrative inquiry takes narrative texts as its data, insufficient attention has been given to the functions of narratives as forms of discourse that are utilized in the construction of identity. In the…

  19. 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…

  20. Harnessing Storytelling as a Sociopragmatic Skill: Applying Narrative Research to Workplace English Courses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Holmes, Janet; Marra, Meredith

    2011-01-01

    Narratives are often overlooked in workplace talk, but they contribute in crucial ways to relationship building and identity construction in workplace interaction. In this article we analyse narratives told by skilled migrants from non-English-speaking backgrounds during a workplace internship conducted as part of a Workplace Communication course.…

  1. Playing with Mirrors: Narrative Inquiry and Congregational Consultation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yust, Karen Marie

    2009-01-01

    This article proposes that narrative inquiry methods fruitfully shape the role and strategies of persons who consult with religious communities. It suggests that the composition of field texts and transition from research notes to narratives enables consultants to mirror the stories of congregations so congregants can recognize, claim, and…

  2. Re-Conceptualizing Teachers' Narrative Inquiry as Professional Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Golombek, Paula R.; Johnson, Karen E.

    2017-01-01

    We offer a more nuanced characterization of teachers' narrative inquiry as professional development (Johnson & Golombek, 2002) by grounding our definition of and empirical research on teachers' narrative inquiry from a Vygotskian sociocultural theoretical perspective. Our goal is to reaffirm our belief in the educational value of teachers'…

  3. Narratives and gatekeeping: making sense of triage nurses' practice.

    PubMed

    Johannessen, Lars E F

    2018-04-17

    It is well documented that emergency service staff consider some patients to be 'inappropriate attenders'. A central example is 'trivia', denoting patients with medical problems considered too 'trivial' to warrant attention. Although research has repeatedly shown that frontline staff violate guidelines in turning away 'trivial' patients, existing research has paid insufficient attention to why staff are willing to engage in guideline-violating gatekeeping, which may put both themselves and 'trivial' patients at risk. To address this issue, the present article explores nurses' narratives about 'trivial' patients - referred to in this context as 'GP patients' - drawing on fieldwork data from a Norwegian emergency service. The article reconstructs three narrative clusters, showing that nurses' gatekeeping is motivated by concerns for the patient being turned away, for nurses and more critically ill patients, and for the service they work for. Some of the issues embedded in these narratives have been under-analysed in previous research - most importantly, the role of identity and emotion in nurses' gatekeeping, and how patient narratives can function as 'social prognoses' in nurses' assessments. Analysis of these narratives also reveals an antagonistic relationship between nurses and 'trivial' patients that contradicts nurses' ethical guidelines and indicates a need for healthcare reform. © 2018 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.

  4. The Oral Narrative Comprehension and Production Abilities of Verbal Preschoolers on the Autism Spectrum.

    PubMed

    Westerveld, Marleen F; Roberts, Jacqueline M A

    2017-10-05

    This study described the oral narrative comprehension and production skills of verbal preschool-age children on the autism spectrum and investigated correlations between oral narrative ability and norm-referenced language test performance. Twenty-nine preschool-age children (aged 4;0-5;9 years;months) with autism, who obtained an age-equivalent score of at least 36 months on the expressive communication subscale of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Second Edition (Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Balla, 2005), participated. Children listened to an unfamiliar fictional narrative and answered comprehension questions afterward. After listening to the narrative a second time, children were asked to retell the narrative without picture support. Narratives were transcribed and analyzed for length, semantic diversity, grammatical complexity and accuracy, intelligibility, inclusion of critical events, and narrative stage. All children participated in the comprehension task, and 19 children produced an analyzable narrative retell. Compared with published data on typically developing children, significant difficulties were observed in narrative comprehension, intelligibility, and grammatical accuracy. Most of the children told descriptive or action sequences, with only 1 child producing an abbreviated episode. Significant positive correlations were found (a) between performance on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Fourth Edition (Dunn & Dunn, 2007) and semantic diversity and narrative comprehension and (b) between parent-reported receptive communication competence (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-Second Edition) and narrative comprehension. This study provides preliminary evidence of specific difficulties in oral narrative comprehension and production skills in verbal preschoolers on the autism spectrum.

  5. 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

  6. 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.

  7. Routes to diagnosis for men with prostate cancer: men's cultural beliefs about how changes to their bodies and symptoms influence help-seeking actions. A narrative review of the literature.

    PubMed

    King-Okoye, Michelle; Arber, Anne; Faithfull, Sara

    2017-10-01

    To examine the findings of existing studies in relation to men's cultural beliefs about changes to their bodies relevant to prostate cancer and how these affect interpretation of bodily changes and help-seeking actions. We undertook a narrative review of studies conducted from 2004 to 2017 in 6 databases that highlighted men's beliefs and help-seeking actions for bodily changes suggestive of prostate cancer. Eighteen (18) studies reflecting men from various ethnicities and nationalities were included. The belief that blood and painful urination were warning signs to seek medical help delayed help-seeking among men compared to men that did not experience these symptoms. The belief that urinary symptoms such as dribbling, cystitis and urinary hesitancy were transient and related to ageing, normality and infection significantly delayed symptom appraisal and help-seeking. Men also held the belief that sexual changes, such as impotence and ejaculation dysfunction were private, embarrassing and a taboo. These beliefs impeded timely help-seeking. Cultural beliefs, spirituality and the role of wives/partners were significant for men to help appraise symptoms as requiring medical attention thus sanctioning the need for help-seeking. This review underscores a critical need for further empirical research into men's beliefs about bodily changes relevant to prostate health and how these beliefs affect their interpretation of symptoms and subsequent help-seeking actions. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  8. 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…

  9. Problematizing therapeutic assumptions about narratives: a case study of storytelling events in a post-conflict context.

    PubMed

    Cole, Courtney E

    2010-12-01

    Narrative approaches to health communication research have often been characterized by assumptions of the therapeutic and ameliorative effect of narratives. In this article, I call these assumptions into question by critically engaging extant research in narrative health communication research in light of testimony by a participant in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Drawing on his personal narrative, numerous retellings of his story in public and academic discourse, and his responses to his story's appropriation, I demonstrate the importance of conducting narrative research and theorizing with an appreciation of its therapeutic potential, as well as its ability to harm.

  10. Optimising Translational Research Opportunities: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis of Basic and Clinician Scientists' Perspectives of Factors Which Enable or Hinder Translational Research

    PubMed Central

    Sadler, Euan; Fisher, Helen R.; Maher, John; Wolfe, Charles D. A.; McKevitt, Christopher

    2016-01-01

    Introduction Translational research is central to international health policy, research and funding initiatives. Despite increasing use of the term, the translation of basic science discoveries into clinical practice is not straightforward. This systematic search and narrative synthesis aimed to examine factors enabling or hindering translational research from the perspective of basic and clinician scientists, a key stakeholder group in translational research, and to draw policy-relevant implications for organisations seeking to optimise translational research opportunities. Methods and Results We searched SCOPUS and Web of Science from inception until April 2015 for papers reporting scientists’ views of the factors they perceive as enabling or hindering the conduct of translational research. We screened 8,295 papers from electronic database searches and 20 papers from hand searches and citation tracking, identifying 26 studies of qualitative, quantitative or mixed method designs. We used a narrative synthesis approach and identified the following themes: 1) differing concepts of translational research 2) research processes as a barrier to translational research; 3) perceived cultural divide between research and clinical care; 4) interdisciplinary collaboration as enabling translation research, but dependent on the quality of prior and current social relationships; 5) translational research as entrepreneurial science. Across all five themes, factors enabling or hindering translational research were largely shaped by wider social, organisational, and structural factors. Conclusion To optimise translational research, policy could consider refining translational research models to better reflect scientists’ experiences, fostering greater collaboration and buy in from all types of scientists. Organisations could foster cultural change, ensuring that organisational practices and systems keep pace with the change in knowledge production brought about by the

  11. Optimising Translational Research Opportunities: A Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis of Basic and Clinician Scientists' Perspectives of Factors Which Enable or Hinder Translational Research.

    PubMed

    Fudge, Nina; Sadler, Euan; Fisher, Helen R; Maher, John; Wolfe, Charles D A; McKevitt, Christopher

    2016-01-01

    Translational research is central to international health policy, research and funding initiatives. Despite increasing use of the term, the translation of basic science discoveries into clinical practice is not straightforward. This systematic search and narrative synthesis aimed to examine factors enabling or hindering translational research from the perspective of basic and clinician scientists, a key stakeholder group in translational research, and to draw policy-relevant implications for organisations seeking to optimise translational research opportunities. We searched SCOPUS and Web of Science from inception until April 2015 for papers reporting scientists' views of the factors they perceive as enabling or hindering the conduct of translational research. We screened 8,295 papers from electronic database searches and 20 papers from hand searches and citation tracking, identifying 26 studies of qualitative, quantitative or mixed method designs. We used a narrative synthesis approach and identified the following themes: 1) differing concepts of translational research 2) research processes as a barrier to translational research; 3) perceived cultural divide between research and clinical care; 4) interdisciplinary collaboration as enabling translation research, but dependent on the quality of prior and current social relationships; 5) translational research as entrepreneurial science. Across all five themes, factors enabling or hindering translational research were largely shaped by wider social, organisational, and structural factors. To optimise translational research, policy could consider refining translational research models to better reflect scientists' experiences, fostering greater collaboration and buy in from all types of scientists. Organisations could foster cultural change, ensuring that organisational practices and systems keep pace with the change in knowledge production brought about by the translational research agenda.

  12. 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…

  13. 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…

  14. From Ethnography to Social Action through Oral History in Performance.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carlin, Phyllis Scott

    The staged performance of oral history narratives scripted by interpreters/ethnographers has significant potential for instigating social change. Recent articles by Dwight Conquergood and Kristin Langellier provide the basis for merging ethnography, oral history and social action projects. Narratives from a 1984 farm crisis project illustrate this…

  15. The evolutionary nature of narratives about expansion and sustenance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Raupach, M. R.

    2014-12-01

    The 200 years since the start of the industrial era has been a period of rapid and almost unbroken economic growth in much of the world, based upon exponentially increasing use of energy and water resources and the atmospheric commons. It is axiomatic that exponential growth cannot continue forever on a finite planet, leading to an emerging collision between the presently irresistible force of economic growth and the immovable reality of the finitude of Planet Earth. This has led to the a contest between two broad narratives about humans and their planet in the 21st century, an "expansion" narrative framed around the paramount need for economic growth, and a "sustenance" narrative framed around the paramount need to protect an increasingly fragile natural world. Many features of recent public discourse, including the acceleration of the news cycle and the echo-chamber effect of interactive social media, have driven these narratives to become progressively more mutually antagonistic and incompatible. Here I explore the idea that narratives (in the sense of stories that empower actions) are meme sequences that evolve through diversification, selection and adaptation. This memetic evolution can be understood and, to some extent, influenced. An analogy might be with the influence exerted by human selection over centuries on the gene pool of domesticated animals and plants. In shaping our shared future, the evolutionary contest between "expansion" and "sustenance" narratives is just as important as the dynamics of the natural world. The future therefore depends upon the evolution of more subtle and resilient narratives about human-earth interactions. A selection test for these narratives is their ability to empower a transition to a society that lives within the means of a finite planet and improves global wellbeing at the same time. My own recent experience is that scientists alone are not very good at shaping narratives to pass this fitness test, and the participation

  16. Enabling narrative pedagogy: inviting, waiting, and letting be.

    PubMed

    Ironside, Pamela M

    2014-01-01

    This article describes how teachers enable Narrative Pedagogy in their courses by explicating the Concernful Practice Inviting: Waiting and Letting Be. Narrative Pedagogy, a research-based, phenomenological approach to teaching and learning, extends conventional pedagogies and offers nursing faculty an alternative way of transforming their schools and courses. Using hermeneutic phenomenology, interview data collected over a 10-year period were analyzed by coding practical examples of teachers' efforts to enact Narrative Pedagogy. When Narrative Pedagogy is enacted, teachers and students focus on thinking and learning together about nursing phenomena and seek new understandings about how they may provide care in the myriad situations they encounter. Although the Concernful Practices co-occur, explicating inviting experiences can assist new teachers, and those seeking to extend their pedagogical literacy, by providing new understandings of how Narrative Pedagogy can be enacted.

  17. Characterizing donation behavior from psychophysiological indices of narrative experience

    PubMed Central

    Correa, Kelly A.; Stone, Bradly T.; Stikic, Maja; Johnson, Robin R.; Berka, Chris

    2015-01-01

    Research on narrative persuasion has yet to investigate whether this process influences behavior. The current study explored whether: (1) a narrative could persuade participants to donate to a charity, a prosocial, behavioral decision; (2) psychophysiological metrics can delineate the differences between donation/non-donation behaviors; and (3) donation behavior can be correlated with measures of psychophysiology, self-reported reactions to the narrative, and intrinsic characteristics. Participants (n = 49) completed personality/disposition questionnaires, viewed one of two versions of a narrative while EEG and ECG were recorded, completed a questionnaire regarding their reactions to the narrative, and were given an opportunity to donate to a charity related to the themes of the narrative. Results showed that: (1) 34.7% of participants donated; (2) psychophysiological metrics successfully delineated between donation behaviors and the effects of narrative version; and (3) psychophysiology and reactions to the narrative were better able to explain the variance (88 and 65%, respectively) in the amount donated than all 3 metrics combined as well as any metric alone. These findings demonstrate the promise of narrative persuasion for influencing prosocial, behavioral decisions. Our results also illustrate the utility of the previously stated metrics for understanding and possibly even manipulating behaviors resulting from narrative persuasion. PMID:26379488

  18. 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

  19. Storytelling/narrative theory to address health communication with minority populations.

    PubMed

    Lee, Haeok; Fawcett, Jacqueline; DeMarco, Rosanna

    2016-05-01

    To explain the development and application of storytelling/narrative theory in health disparities intervention research as a way to promote health communication and behavior change among racial, ethnic, and minority populations. The proposed storytelling theory helps explain that storytelling affects changes in attitude and health behavior of the viewer through realism, identification, and transportation. The proposed storytelling/narrative theory can be a guide to develop culturally grounded narrative interventions that have the ability to connect with hard-to-reach populations. Narrative communication is context-dependent because it derives meaning from the surrounding situation and provides situation-based stories that are a pathway to processing story content. Although storytelling is grounded in nursing practice and education, it is underutilized in nursing interventional research. Future efforts are needed to extend theory-based narrative intervention studies designed to change attitude and behaviors that will reduce health disparities among minorities. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. 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

  1. 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.

  2. Hearing voices: re/presenting the findings of narrative research into patient experience as poems.

    PubMed

    Stenhouse, R

    2014-06-01

    The study aimed to understand the experience of being a patient on an acute psychiatric inpatient ward. A further aim was to open up spaces for the voices of participants to be heard. Contemporary government policy places patient experience at the centre of healthcare policy and service development. Despite this, those who occupy marginalized discourses struggle to be heard within the dominant discourse of health care. A qualitative approach was used, and narrative was conceptualized as representing experience. Sociolinguistic theories informed the development of the analytic framework treating meaning as contextual and arising from both content and structure of narratives. Concepts of representation, voice and authorship were problematized. Thirteen people who had been inpatients on an acute psychiatric inpatient ward participated. Narrative data were gathered using unstructured interviews. The data were analysed holistically using a method that attended to both the structure and content of the narrative. The product of these holistic narratives was the development of a poem representing each participant's experience. This paper focuses on the development of these poems as a method of decentring the authorial voice and opening up spaces for the voices of the participants to be heard. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. 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.…

  4. The Narrative Worlds of "What Is" and "What if"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Engel, Susan

    2005-01-01

    This paper advances the hypothesis that young children use narrative play and stories to construct two types of fiction, the worlds of "what is" and "what if." Heinz Werner's conceptualization of children's spheres of reality, in which actions, symbols, and events are constructed in particular ways, is used as a theoretical framework for…

  5. Narrative means to manage responsibility in life narratives across adolescence.

    PubMed

    De Silveira, Cybèle; Habermas, Tilmann

    2011-01-01

    Adolescence is a passage from dependence to adult responsibility. Alongside identity development, social-cognitive development, and the ability to construct a life story, adolescents become increasingly aware of both their potential responsibility in an expanded sphere of life and of complex, contextual influences on their lives. This was partially tested in a cross-sectional study, both in terms of linguistic means and content expressed in life narratives. Indicators were defined for narrative agency, grading of responsibility, serendipity, and turning points, and tested for age differences in relative frequencies in 102 life narratives from age groups of 8, 12, 16, and 20 years, balanced for gender. Narrative grading of responsibility, serendipity, and turning points increased throughout adolescence. The relative frequency of narrative agency, in contrast, remained constant across age groups. Results are interpreted in the context of adolescent development of narrative identity.

  6. 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…

  7. Narratives of Classroom Life: Changing Conceptions of Knowledge

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nelson, Cynthia D.

    2011-01-01

    Narratives of classroom life--the type that blend analysis with artistry, in the form of plays, poems, stories, and the like--remain relatively uncommon within language education research. Yet such narratives have the potential to make a significant and timely contribution to the field, given the ways in which knowledge is being reconceptualised…

  8. Transportation into narrative worlds: implications for entertainment media influences on tobacco use.

    PubMed

    Green, Melanie C; Clark, Jenna L

    2013-03-01

    A growing body of research suggests that smoking portrayals in movies influence adolescent tobacco use. However, the mechanism for this influence remains unclear. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of research on narrative transportation theory, particularly as applied to movies and smoking. We propose that this theory can provide a valuable framework for guiding research on the role of entertainment media in smoking and other addictive behaviors. We review empirical work on transportation theory and highlight the psychological mechanisms underlying transportation effects. 'Transportation into narrative worlds' refers to cognitive, emotional and imagery engagement into a narrative (including movies and entertainment media). We link this work with research on the effects of movie smoking. Research suggests that individuals who are more highly transported into narratives show greater attitude, belief and behavior change. Transportation effects work through reducing counterarguing, creating connections (identification and liking) with characters and increasing perceptions of realism and emotional involvement. We propose several future directions and research challenges for applying a transportation framework to the issue of entertainment media effects on smoking and tobacco disparities. Understanding factors contributing to transportation may provide a more nuanced view of who will be affected by movie smoking, and understanding the psychological processes underlying narrative persuasion may guide intervention efforts. Narrative transportation theory suggests that individuals' cognitive, emotional and imagery immersion in a narrative is a key mechanism of attitude, belief and behavior change. This theory provides a potentially generative and psychologically grounded framework for increasing knowledge about the boundary conditions and processes underlying the effects of entertainment media on tobacco use. © 2012 The Authors, Addiction © 2012 Society for

  9. 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…

  10. 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

  11. 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.…

  12. 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…

  13. Narrative spaces between intractability outside the clinic.

    PubMed

    Wiederhold, Anna M

    2014-01-01

    In this essay, the author reflects on her experience conducting field research outside an abortion clinic amid volatile protests and counterprotests. She identifies moments of convergence in the oppositional groups' narrative explanations for participating in the weekly protests, and contemplates the possibilities for dialogue in these sorts of intractable conflicts. She concludes with reflections on communication scholars' roles in engaging with polarizing health narratives.

  14. A narrative review of research impact assessment models and methods.

    PubMed

    Milat, Andrew J; Bauman, Adrian E; Redman, Sally

    2015-03-18

    Research funding agencies continue to grapple with assessing research impact. Theoretical frameworks are useful tools for describing and understanding research impact. The purpose of this narrative literature review was to synthesize evidence that describes processes and conceptual models for assessing policy and practice impacts of public health research. The review involved keyword searches of electronic databases, including MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, EBM Reviews, and Google Scholar in July/August 2013. Review search terms included 'research impact', 'policy and practice', 'intervention research', 'translational research', 'health promotion', and 'public health'. The review included theoretical and opinion pieces, case studies, descriptive studies, frameworks and systematic reviews describing processes, and conceptual models for assessing research impact. The review was conducted in two phases: initially, abstracts were retrieved and assessed against the review criteria followed by the retrieval and assessment of full papers against review criteria. Thirty one primary studies and one systematic review met the review criteria, with 88% of studies published since 2006. Studies comprised assessments of the impacts of a wide range of health-related research, including basic and biomedical research, clinical trials, health service research, as well as public health research. Six studies had an explicit focus on assessing impacts of health promotion or public health research and one had a specific focus on intervention research impact assessment. A total of 16 different impact assessment models were identified, with the 'payback model' the most frequently used conceptual framework. Typically, impacts were assessed across multiple dimensions using mixed methodologies, including publication and citation analysis, interviews with principal investigators, peer assessment, case studies, and document analysis. The vast majority of studies relied on principal investigator

  15. 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…

  16. Culture Tales: A Narrative Approach to Thinking, Cross-Cultural Psychology, and Psychotherapy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howard, George S.

    1991-01-01

    Discusses the narrative, or storytelling, approach to understanding human action and character. Cites several authors who view identity as life-story construction, psychopathology as life stories gone awry, and psychotherapy as exercises in story repair. (DM)

  17. 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…

  18. 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…

  19. 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,…

  20. Returning to Work after Cancer: Quantitative Studies and Prototypical Narratives

    PubMed Central

    Steiner, John F.; Nowels, Carolyn T.; Main, Deborah S.

    2009-01-01

    Objective A combination of quantitative data and illustrative narratives may allow cancer survivorship researchers to disseminate their research findings more broadly. We identified recent, methodologically rigorous quantitative studies on return to work after cancer, summarized the themes from these studies, and illustrated those themes with narratives of individual cancer survivors. Methods We reviewed English-language studies of return to work for adult cancer survivors through June, 2008, and identified 13 general themes from papers that met methodological criteria (population-based sampling, prospective and longitudinal assessment, detailed assessment of work, evaluation of economic impact, assessment of moderators of work return, and large sample size). We drew survivorship narratives from a prior qualitative research study to illustrate these themes. Results Nine quantitative studies met 4 or more of our 6 methodological criteria. These studies suggested that most cancer survivors could return to work without residual disabilities. Cancer site, clinical prognosis, treatment modalities, socioeconomic status, and attributes of the job itself influenced the likelihood of work return. Three narratives - a typical survivor who returned to work after treatment, an individual unable to return to work, and an inspiring survivor who returned to work despite substantial barriers - illustrated many of the themes from the quantitative literature while providing additional contextual details. Conclusion Illustrative narratives can complement the findings of cancer survivorship research if researchers are rigorous and transparent in the selection, analysis, and retelling of those stories. PMID:19507264

  1. 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…

  2. 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…

  3. 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…

  4. 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…

  5. 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)…

  6. 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…

  7. 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…

  8. Narratives of Deservingness and the Institutional Youth of Immigrant Workers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gleeson, Shannon

    2015-01-01

    This article speaks to the special issue's goal of disrupting the deserving/undeserving immigrant narrative: 1) the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which provides temporary deportation relief and work authorization for young adults who meet an educational requirement and other criteria, and 2) current and proposed…

  9. Reflections on Pedagogy and Place: A Journey into Learning for Sustainability through Environmental Narrative and Deep Attentive Reflection

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tooth, Ron; Renshaw, Peter

    2009-01-01

    Narrative is fundamental to our diverse capacities to remember, to provide an account of self, and to represent our actions, motivations and place in society. The narrative mode is concerned with central aspects of the human condition--commitments and personal agency; motivations and emotions; collective experiences and cultural histories and…

  10. 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…

  11. Narrative as a Teaching Strategy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Butcher, Susan E.

    2006-01-01

    Research shows that those who are incarcerated, as a whole, have come from difficult past environments. This leads to having a different way of learning than most others who have had successful educational experiences. Because of this, my research project focused on exploring storytelling/narrative, as a teaching strategy, and how it influences…

  12. Translating Interviews, Translating Lives: Ethical Considerations in Cross-Language Narrative Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Li, Yi

    2011-01-01

    Through two narrative inquiries, in this article I explore the challenges for qualitative researchers in working with multiple languages in capturing, translating, analyzing, and representing narratives. I discuss the effect on research when we engage in these processes considering what was happening as we translated both texts and experience from…

  13. 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…

  14. Narrative in Exergames: Thoughts on Procedure, Mechanism, and Others

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Narratives are stories with a beginning, middle, and end that provide information about the characters and plot. Exergames are videogames that require players to move or exercise. Narratives and exergames have seldom been examined together. Based on my review of the literature, there are five potential opportunities narratives could bring to exergames: Enhanced engagement with characters and with the plot, increased motivation, repeated play sessions, and better behavioral consequence. However, the rewards offered by these possibilities may be offset by the challenges they pose. These challenges include the difficulty in fully integrating narratives into the gameplay, the players' limited information processing capacity, difficulty in measurement, the lack of full understanding of the player–character identification process, and the narrative saturation effects. Innovative research is needed to bridge the two potentially important domains. PMID:26181676

  15. A Manifesto for Critical Narrative Research and Pedagogy for/with Young Children: Teacher and Child as Critical Annalist

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Loughlin, Michael

    2016-01-01

    In this essay I pose the question of whether it might be possible to articulate a collaborative, critical narrative mode of research in which teachers and students come together using a critical and analytic epistemology to engage in adventurous pedagogy. This approach has echoes of Freire's "teachers-as-students and…

  16. Transformative Learning and the Form That Transforms: Towards a Psychosocial Theory of Recognition Using Auto/ Biographical Narrative Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    West, Linden

    2014-01-01

    In this article, I interrogate the changing forms that may be fundamental to transformative learning and how these are best chronicled and understood. Drawing on auto/biographical narrative research, I challenge the continuing primacy of a kind of overly disembodied, decontextualized cognition as the basis of transformation. Notions of epistemic…

  17. 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…

  18. 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…

  19. Clarifying the Narrative Paradigm.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fisher, Walter R.

    1989-01-01

    Replies to Rowland's article (same issue) on Fisher's views of the narrative paradigm. Clarifies the narrative paradigm by discussing three senses in which "narration" can be understood, and by indicating what the narrative paradigm is not. (SR)

  20. Negotiating Narrative Inquiries: Living in a Tension-Filled Midst

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clandinin, D. Jean; Murphy, M. Shaun; Huber, Janice; Orr, Anne Murray

    2010-01-01

    The authors explore the place of tension in understanding narrative inquiry as a relational research methodology. Drawing on a narrative inquiry into children's, teachers', and families' experiences in schools shaped by achievement testing practices that flow from accountability policies, the authors show how attending to tensions is central to…

  1. Exploring Second-Language Teachers' Identities through Multimodal Narratives: Gender and Race Discourses

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vitanova, Gergana

    2016-01-01

    This article has several interconnected goals. First, it foregrounds the role of narratives and narrative inquiry in the research of second language teaching practices. It illustrates how multimodal narrativity could be used in analyzing the formation of personal and professional identities of several female teachers of English. Specifically, it…

  2. Narrative, Poststructuralism, and Social Justice: Current Practices in Narrative Therapy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Combs, Gene; Freedman, Jill

    2012-01-01

    This paper is a review of current practice in narrative therapy with a focus on how it is attractive and useful for therapists who wish to work for social justice. The authors describe narrative therapy's roots in poststructuralist philosophy and social science. They illustrate its major theoretical constructs, including the "narrative metaphor,"…

  3. The Real/Ideal Research Project: Fostering Students' Emotional Literacy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Martorana, Christine

    2016-01-01

    The Real/Ideal Research Project is comprised of three components, ordered in purposeful succession, designed to emphasize the interconnectedness of emotion, reason, and action. In the first component, students compose a personal narrative focused on a specific inequity they (have) experience(d) or witnessed. Here, students are encouraged to…

  4. Autism as Metaphor: Narrative and Counter-Narrative

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Broderick, Alicia A.; Ne'eman, Ari

    2008-01-01

    In this paper we explore the significance of metaphor and dominant cultural narratives in current autism discourse. We briefly explore the history of metaphor in autism discourse, and outline the contemporary struggle between the culturally dominant metaphor of autism as disease and the emergent counter-narrative of autism within neurodiversity.…

  5. Integrating Journalism Into Health Promotion: Creating and Disseminating Community Narratives.

    PubMed

    Brown, Louis D; Berryhill, Joseph C; Jones, Eric C

    2018-06-01

    Media coverage of mental health and other social issues often relies on episodic narratives that suggest individualistic causes and solutions, while reinforcing negative stereotypes. Community narratives can provide empowering alternatives, serving as media advocacy tools used to shape the policy debate on a social issue. This article provides health promotion researchers and practitioners with guidance on how to develop and disseminate community narratives to broaden awareness of social issues and build support for particular programs and policy solutions. To exemplify the community narrative development process and highlight important considerations, this article examines a narrative from a mental health consumer-run organization. In the narrative, people with mental health problems help one another while operating a nonprofit organization, thereby countering stigmatizing media portrayals of people with mental illness as dangerous and incompetent. The community narrative frame supports the use of consumer-run organizations, which are not well-known and receive little funding despite evidence of effectiveness. The article concludes by reviewing challenges to disseminating community narratives, such as creating a product of interest to media outlets, and potential solutions, such as engaging media representatives through community health partnerships and using social media to draw attention to the narratives.

  6. Engaging research with policy and action: what are the challenges of responding to zoonotic disease in Africa?

    PubMed

    Bardosh, Kevin Louis; Scoones, Jake Cornwall; Grace, Delia; Kalema-Zikusoka, Gladys; Jones, Kate E; de Balogh, Katinka; Waltner-Toews, David; Bett, Bernard; Welburn, Susan C; Mumford, Elizabeth; Dzingirai, Vupenyu

    2017-07-19

    Zoonotic diseases will maintain a high level of public policy attention in the coming decades. From the spectre of a global pandemic to anxieties over agricultural change, urbanization, social inequality and threats to natural ecosystems, effectively preparing and responding to endemic and emerging diseases will require technological, institutional and social innovation. Much current discussion emphasizes the need for a 'One Health' approach: bridging disciplines and sectors to tackle these complex dynamics. However, as attention has increased, so too has an appreciation of the practical challenges in linking multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral research with policy, action and impact. In this commentary paper, we reflect on these issues with particular reference to the African sub-continent. We structure the themes of our analysis on the existing literature, expert opinion and 11 interviews with leading One Health scholars and practitioners, conducted at an international symposium in 2016. We highlight a variety of challenges in research and knowledge production, in the difficult terrain of implementation and outreach, and in the politicized nature of decision-making and priority setting. We then turn our attention to a number of strategies that might help reconfigure current pathways and accepted norms of practice. These include: (i) challenging scientific expertise; (ii) strengthening national multi-sectoral coordination; (iii) building on what works; and (iv) re-framing policy narratives. We argue that bridging the research-policy-action interface in Africa, and better connecting zoonoses, ecosystems and well-being in the twenty-first century, will ultimately require greater attention to the democratization of science and public policy.This article is part of the themed issue 'One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being'. © 2017 The Authors.

  7. Engaging research with policy and action: what are the challenges of responding to zoonotic disease in Africa?

    PubMed Central

    Scoones, Jake Cornwall; Kalema-Zikusoka, Gladys; de Balogh, Katinka; Bett, Bernard; Welburn, Susan C.; Mumford, Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    Zoonotic diseases will maintain a high level of public policy attention in the coming decades. From the spectre of a global pandemic to anxieties over agricultural change, urbanization, social inequality and threats to natural ecosystems, effectively preparing and responding to endemic and emerging diseases will require technological, institutional and social innovation. Much current discussion emphasizes the need for a ‘One Health’ approach: bridging disciplines and sectors to tackle these complex dynamics. However, as attention has increased, so too has an appreciation of the practical challenges in linking multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral research with policy, action and impact. In this commentary paper, we reflect on these issues with particular reference to the African sub-continent. We structure the themes of our analysis on the existing literature, expert opinion and 11 interviews with leading One Health scholars and practitioners, conducted at an international symposium in 2016. We highlight a variety of challenges in research and knowledge production, in the difficult terrain of implementation and outreach, and in the politicized nature of decision-making and priority setting. We then turn our attention to a number of strategies that might help reconfigure current pathways and accepted norms of practice. These include: (i) challenging scientific expertise; (ii) strengthening national multi-sectoral coordination; (iii) building on what works; and (iv) re-framing policy narratives. We argue that bridging the research-policy-action interface in Africa, and better connecting zoonoses, ecosystems and well-being in the twenty-first century, will ultimately require greater attention to the democratization of science and public policy. This article is part of the themed issue ‘One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being’. PMID:28584180

  8. 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…

  9. 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…

  10. Attributions of Responsibility for Obesity: Narrative Communication Reduces Reactive Counterarguing among Liberals

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Niederdeppe, Jeff; Shapiro, Michael A.; Porticella, Norman

    2011-01-01

    Informed by theory and research on attributions and narrative persuasion, we compared the effectiveness of narrative and nonnarrative messages in changing attributions of responsibility for causes and solutions related to obesity in the United States. We randomly assigned 500 adults to view one of three messages (narrative, evidence, and a hybrid…

  11. Narrative reflective practice in medical education for residents: composing shifting identities

    PubMed Central

    Clandinin, Jean; Cave, Marie Thérèse; Cave, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    As researchers note, medical educators need to create situations to work with physicians in training to help them attend to the development of their professional identities. While there is a call for such changes to be included in medical education, educational approaches that facilitate attention to the development of medical students’ professional identities, that is, who they are and who they are becoming as physicians, are still under development. One pedagogical strategy involves narrative reflective practice as a way to develop physician identity. Using this approach, medical residents first write narrative accounts of their experiences with patients in what are called “parallel charts”. They then engage in a collaborative narrative inquiry within a sustained inquiry group of other residents and two researcher/facilitators (one physician, one narrative researcher). Preliminary studies of this approach are underway. Drawing on the experiences of one medical resident in one such inquiry group, we show how this pedagogical strategy enables attending to physician identity making. PMID:23745070

  12. Narrative reflective practice in medical education for residents: composing shifting identities.

    PubMed

    Clandinin, Jean; Cave, Marie Thérèse; Cave, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    As researchers note, medical educators need to create situations to work with physicians in training to help them attend to the development of their professional identities. While there is a call for such changes to be included in medical education, educational approaches that facilitate attention to the development of medical students' professional identities, that is, who they are and who they are becoming as physicians, are still under development. One pedagogical strategy involves narrative reflective practice as a way to develop physician identity. Using this approach, medical residents first write narrative accounts of their experiences with patients in what are called "parallel charts". They then engage in a collaborative narrative inquiry within a sustained inquiry group of other residents and two researcher/facilitators (one physician, one narrative researcher). Preliminary studies of this approach are underway. Drawing on the experiences of one medical resident in one such inquiry group, we show how this pedagogical strategy enables attending to physician identity making.

  13. 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

  14. 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.

  15. Listeners as co-narrators.

    PubMed

    Bavelas, J B; Coates, L; Johnson, T

    2000-12-01

    A collaborative theory of narrative story-telling was tested in two experiments that examined what listeners do and their effect on the narrator. In 63 unacquainted dyads (81 women and 45 men), a narrator told his or her own close-call story. The listeners made 2 different kinds of listener responses: Generic responses included nodding and vocalizations such as "mhm." Specific responses, such as wincing or exclaiming, were tightly connected to (and served to illustrate) what the narrator was saying at the moment. In experimental conditions that distracted listeners from the narrative content, listeners made fewer responses, especially specific ones, and the narrators also told their stories significantly less well, particularly at what should have been the dramatic ending. Thus, listeners were co-narrators both through their own specific responses, which helped illustrate the story, and in their apparent effect on the narrator's performance. The results demonstrate the importance of moment-by-moment collaboration in face-to-face dialogue.

  16. Modeling Narrative Discourse

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Elson, David K.

    2012-01-01

    This thesis describes new approaches to the formal modeling of narrative discourse. Although narratives of all kinds are ubiquitous in daily life, contemporary text processing techniques typically do not leverage the aspects that separate narrative from expository discourse. We describe two approaches to the problem. The first approach considers…

  17. Slave Narratives as Polemic.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heglar, Charles J.

    Although slave narratives have enjoyed critical attention as literature and autobiography, when presenting them to undergraduates, there is some confusion--usually centering on the dissimilarities between the narratives and traditional autobiography. The narratives are not as linear, not as focused on personal development; the narrators are not as…

  18. 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)

  19. 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…

  20. Causal Coherence in the Oral Narratives of Spanish-Speaking Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gutierrez-Clellen, Vera F.; Iglesias, Aquiles

    1992-01-01

    Forty-six Spanish-speaking children ages four, six, or eight years viewed a short silent film and told what happened in the film. The stories of older children included more narrative actions, more mental state/goal causes, more three-clause causal sequences, and a lower proportion of unrelated statements than those of younger children.…

  1. Exploring outcomes and evaluation in narrative pedagogy: An integrative review.

    PubMed

    Brady, Destiny R; Asselin, Marilyn E

    2016-10-01

    To identify narrative pedagogy learning outcomes and evaluation methods used for pre-licensure nursing students. Recommend areas for expanding narrative pedagogy research. An integrative review using a modified version of Cooper's 1998 framework, as described by Whittemore and Knafl (2005). A computer-assisted search of the literature from 1995 to 2015 was performed using the search terms narrative pedagogy and nursing. Databases included the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, Academic Search Premier, Educational Resources Information Center, Educational Research Complete, Medline, PsychArticles, PsychINFO, and the Teacher Reference Center. Ancestry searches led to the inclusion of additional articles. Twenty-six texts met the criteria for full review and were evaluated for methodological rigor and relevance to the review aims. Nine articles achieved an acceptable quality score and were used for thematic analysis. Learning outcomes associated with narrative pedagogy were grouped into five themes: thinking, empowerment, interconnectedness, learning as a process of making meaning, and ethical/moral judgment. Multiple methods of evaluation are necessary to evaluate these learning outcomes. Narrative pedagogy may be a beneficial philosophical approach to teaching. However, at this time, there is insufficient evidence to recommend its universal adoption. It is too broad in its approach to reliably measure its effectiveness. Future research should examine the effectiveness of specific teaching strategies to promote desired learning outcomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. 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

  3. 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…

  4. Core story creation: analysing narratives to construct stories for learning.

    PubMed

    Petty, Julia; Jarvis, Joy; Thomas, Rebecca

    2018-03-16

    Educational research uses narrative enquiry to gain and interpret people's experiences. Narrative analysis is used to organise and make sense of acquired narrative. 'Core story creation' is a way of managing raw data obtained from narrative interviews to construct stories for learning. To explain how core story creation can be used to construct stories from raw narratives obtained by interviewing parents about their neonatal experiences and then use these stories to educate learners. Core story creation involves reconfiguration of raw narratives. Reconfiguration includes listening to and rereading transcribed narratives, identifying elements of 'emplotment' and reordering these to form a constructed story. Thematic analysis is then performed on the story to draw out learning themes informed by the participants. Core story creation using emplotment is a strategy of narrative reconfiguration that produces stories which can be used to develop resources relating to person-centred education about the patient experience. Stories constructed from raw narratives in the context of constructivism can provide a medium or an 'end product' for use in learning resource development. This can then contribute to educating students or health professionals about patients' experiences. ©2018 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be copied, transmitted or recorded in any way, in whole or part, without prior permission of the publishers.

  5. 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…

  6. Listening through narratives: using a narrative approach when discussing fertility preservation options with young cancer patients

    PubMed Central

    Roher, S.I.G.; Gibson, J.; Gibson, B.E.; Gupta, A.A.

    2017-01-01

    Despite clinical practice guideline recommendations mandating that fertility preservation be discussed with young cancer patients, many providers fail to initiate such discussions with adolescents. Researchers and clinicians often focus on system-level changes to improve access to fertility preservation for adolescents and young adults in Canada. However, little of the available information considers the way in which health care providers approach those discussions. Research has shown that, even when fertility preservation options are broached with adolescents, survivors often report dissatisfaction with those conversations, thus raising additional concerns about their content and quality. Here, we consider how a narrative approach—and the Frank narrative typology in particular—could improve the quality of such conversations by helping providers to more accurately and thoughtfully respond to the needs of adolescent patients when discussing the possibility of fertility preservation. Based on findings from a qualitative research project, we provide concrete suggestions for how to more sensitively approach fertility preservation conversations with male adolescent cancer patients and survivors. PMID:28270719

  7. Music as Method: Musically Enhanced Narrative Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bolden, Benjamin

    2017-01-01

    While artist-researchers have been productive within the domains of the literary arts, visual arts, dance and drama, there is little musical arts-based educational research reported in the literature. This article introduces a research methodology to address this deficit: musically enhanced narrative inquiry (MENI). The article describes the…

  8. Quantifying Narrative Ability in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Computational Linguistic Analysis of Narrative Coherence

    PubMed Central

    Losh, Molly; Gordon, Peter C.

    2014-01-01

    Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is characterized by difficulties with social communication and functioning, and ritualistic/repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). While substantial heterogeneity exists in symptom expression, impairments in language discourse skills, including narrative, are universally observed (Tager-Flusberg, Paul, & Lord, 2005). This study applied a computational linguistic tool, Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), to objectively characterize narrative performance in ASD across two narrative contexts differing in interpersonal and cognitive demands. Results indicated that individuals with ASD produced narratives comparable in semantic content to those from controls when narrating from a picture book, but produced narratives diminished in semantic quality in a more demanding narrative recall task. Results are discussed in terms of the utility of LSA as a quantitative, objective, and efficient measure of narrative ability. PMID:24915929

  9. 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…

  10. 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…

  11. Evoking and Measuring Identification with Narrative Characters - A Linguistic Cues Framework.

    PubMed

    van Krieken, Kobie; Hoeken, Hans; Sanders, José

    2017-01-01

    Current research on identification with narrative characters poses two problems. First, although identification is seen as a dynamic process of which the intensity varies during reading, it is usually measured by means of post-reading questionnaires containing self-report items. Second, it is not clear which linguistic characteristics evoke identification. The present paper proposes that an interdisciplinary framework allows for more precise manipulations and measurements of identification, which will ultimately advance our understanding of the antecedents and nature of this process. The central hypothesis of our Linguistic Cues Framework is that identification with a narrative character is a multidimensional experience for which different dimensions are evoked by different linguistic cues. The first part of the paper presents a literature review on identification, resulting in a renewed conceptualization of identification which distinguishes six dimensions: a spatiotemporal, a perceptual, a cognitive, a moral, an emotional, and an embodied dimension. The second part argues that each of these dimensions is influenced by specific linguistic cues which represent various aspects of the narrative character's perspective. The proposed relations between linguistic cues and identification dimensions are specified in six propositions. The third part discusses what psychological and neurocognitive methods enable the measurement of the various identification dimensions in order to test the propositions. By establishing explicit connections between the linguistic characteristics of narratives and readers' physical, psychological, and neurocognitive responses to narratives, this paper develops a research agenda for future empirical research on identification with narrative characters.

  12. 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.

  13. Performing Narrative Medicine

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Langellier, Kristin M.

    2009-01-01

    In this article, the author weaves narrative medicine and performance together to consider what might it mean to call narrative medicine a performance. To name narrative medicine as performance is to recognize the texts and bodies, the stories and selves, that participate in its practice--patients' and physicians' embodied stories as well as the…

  14. 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…

  15. The Role of Narrative Writing in Improving Professional Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Attard, K.

    2012-01-01

    The use of narratives in the social sciences has drastically increased throughout recent decades. They are mainly used as a way of collecting data and as a way of promoting professional development. This article sheds light on how a practitioner-researcher engaged in narrative writing and how this helped in what is hereby termed a reflective…

  16. 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.

  17. Narrative Means to Preventative Ends: A Narrative Engagement Framework for Designing Prevention Interventions

    PubMed Central

    Miller-Day, Michelle; Hecht, Michael L.

    2013-01-01

    This paper describes a Narrative Engagement Framework (NEF) for guiding communication-based prevention efforts. This framework suggests that personal narratives have distinctive capabilities in prevention. The paper discusses the concept of narrative, links narrative to prevention, and discusses the central role of youth in developing narrative interventions. As illustration, the authors describe how the NEF is applied in the keepin’ it REAL adolescent drug prevention curriculum, pose theoretical directions, and offer suggestions for future work in prevention communication. PMID:23980613

  18. 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…

  19. 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…

  20. 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…

  1. RAMESES publication standards: meta-narrative reviews

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Meta-narrative review is one of an emerging menu of new approaches to qualitative and mixed-method systematic review. A meta-narrative review seeks to illuminate a heterogeneous topic area by highlighting the contrasting and complementary ways in which researchers have studied the same or a similar topic. No previous publication standards exist for the reporting of meta-narrative reviews. This publication standard was developed as part of the RAMESES (Realist And MEta-narrative Evidence Syntheses: Evolving Standards) project. The project's aim is to produce preliminary publication standards for meta-narrative reviews. Methods We (a) collated and summarized existing literature on the principles of good practice in meta-narrative reviews; (b) considered the extent to which these principles had been followed by published reviews, thereby identifying how rigor may be lost and how existing methods could be improved; (c) used a three-round online Delphi method with an interdisciplinary panel of national and international experts in evidence synthesis, meta-narrative reviews, policy and/or publishing to produce and iteratively refine a draft set of methodological steps and publication standards; (d) provided real-time support to ongoing meta-narrative reviews and the open-access RAMESES online discussion list so as to capture problems and questions as they arose; and (e) synthesized expert input, evidence review and real-time problem analysis into a definitive set of standards. Results We identified nine published meta-narrative reviews, provided real-time support to four ongoing reviews and captured questions raised in the RAMESES discussion list. Through analysis and discussion within the project team, we summarized the published literature, and common questions and challenges into briefing materials for the Delphi panel, comprising 33 members. Within three rounds this panel had reached consensus on 20 key publication standards, with an overall response rate

  2. 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…

  3. 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…

  4. 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…

  5. Spain's magic mountain: narrating prehistory at Atapuerca.

    PubMed

    Hochadel, Oliver

    2016-09-01

    The Sierra de Atapuerca in northern Spain is ranked among the most important excavation sites in human origins research worldwide. The project boasts not only spectacular hominid fossils, among them the 'oldest European', but also a fully fledged 'popularization industry'. This article interprets this multimedia industry as a generator of different narratives about the researchers as well as about the prehistoric hominids of Atapuerca. It focuses on the popular works of the three co-directors of the project. Juan Luis Arsuaga, José María Bermúdez de Castro and Eudald Carbonell make deliberate use of a variety of narrative devices, resonant cultural references and strategies of scientific self-commodification. All three, in different ways, use the history of science and of their own research project to mark their place in the field of human origins research, drawing on mythical elements to tell the story of the rise of a humble Spanish team overcoming all odds to achieve universal acclaim. Furthermore, the co-directors make skilful use of palaeofiction - that of Björn Kurtén and Jean Auel, as well as writing their own - in order to tell gripping stories about compassion and solidarity in human prehistory. This mixture of nationalist and universalist narratives invites the Spanish audience to identify not just with 'their ancestors' but also with the scientists, as objects and subjects of research become conflated through popularization.

  6. 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…

  7. 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…

  8. 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,…

  9. Risk, suffering and competing narratives in the psychiatric assessment of an Iraqi refugee.

    PubMed

    Savy, Pauline; Sawyer, Anne-Maree

    2008-03-01

    This paper highlights the problem of "place" for an Iraqi refugee who, for years, had been tortured and imprisoned in his home country. Specifically, the paper presents a case study of a clinical encounter with this refugee, who had come to the attention of an Australian Crisis Assessment and Treatment Team. Drawing from narrative theory, the paper describes the chaotic nature of the encounter to show how the diverse motives, claims and actions of those present expose the struggle involved in the emplotment of an emerging narrative. The case study is constructed and analysed to illustrate the interpretive machinery of "clinical reasoning" and, in particular, the tension and play between "paradigmatic thinking" and "narrative thinking." More generally, this analysis follows the work of social scientists who seek to expand methodologies for writing about human suffering.

  10. 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.

  11. Marathon maternity oral history project: Exploring rural birthing through narrative methods.

    PubMed

    Orkin, Aaron; Newbery, Sarah

    2014-01-01

    To explore how birthing and maternity care are understood and valued in a rural community. Oral history research. The rural community of Marathon, Ont, with a population of approximately 3500. A purposive selection of mothers, grandmothers, nurses, physicians, and community leaders in the Marathon medical catchment area. Interviews were conducted with a purposive sample, employing an oral history research methodology. Interviews were conducted non-anonymously in order to preserve the identity and personhood of participants. Interview transcripts were edited into short narratives. Oral histories offer perspectives and information not revealed in other quantitative or qualitative research methodologies. Narratives re-personalize and humanize medical research by offering researchers and practitioners the opportunity to bear witness to the personal stories affected through medical decision making. Eleven stand-alone narratives, published in this issue of Canadian Family Physician, form the project's findings. Similar to a literary text or short story, they are intended for personal reflection and interpretation by the reader. Presenting the results of these interviews as narratives requires the reader to participate in the research exercise and take part in listening to these women's voices. The project's narratives will be accessible to readers from academic and non-academic backgrounds and will interest readers in medicine and allied health professions, medical humanities, community development, gender studies, social anthropology and history, and literature. Sharing personal birthing experiences might inspire others to reevaluate and reconsider birthing practices and services in other communities. Where local maternity services are under threat, Marathon's stories might contribute to understanding the meaning and challenges of local birthing, and the implications of losing maternity services in rural Canada.

  12. Unsolicited written narratives as a methodological genre in terminal illness: challenges and limitations.

    PubMed

    O'Brien, Mary R; Clark, David

    2012-02-01

    Stories about illness have proven invaluable in helping health professionals understand illness experiences. Such narratives have traditionally been solicited by researchers through interviews and the collection of personal writings, including diaries. These approaches are, however, researcher driven; the impetus for the creation of the story comes from the researcher and not the narrator. In recent years there has been exponential growth in illness narratives created by individuals, of their own volition, and made available for others to read in print or as Internet accounts. We sought to determine whether it was possible to identify such material for use as research data to explore the subject of living with the terminal illness amyotrophic lateral sclerosis/motor neuron disease--the contention being that these accounts are narrator driven and therefore focus on issues of greatest importance to the affected person. We encountered and sought to overcome a number of methodological and ethical challenges, which is our focus here.

  13. 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…

  14. The Contribution of Mixed Methods Research to the Field of Childhood Trauma: A Narrative Review Focused on Data Integration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boeije, Hennie; Slagt, Meike; van Wesel, Floryt

    2013-01-01

    In mixed methods research (MMR), integrating the quantitative and the qualitative components of a study is assumed to result in additional knowledge (or "yield"). This narrative review examines the extent to which MMR is used in the field of childhood trauma and provides directions for improving mixed methods studies in this field. A…

  15. 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

  16. Systemic therapy and attachment narratives: Attachment Narrative Therapy.

    PubMed

    Dallos, Rudi; Vetere, Arlene

    2014-10-01

    This article outlines an integration of attachment theory with narrative theory and systemic theory and practice: Attachment Narrative Therapy (ANT). This integration offers a more powerful explanatory formulation of the development and maintenance of human distress in relationships, families and communities, and gives direction to psychotherapeutic intervention. © The Author(s) 2014.

  17. Self-defining memories, scripts, and the life story: narrative identity in personality and psychotherapy.

    PubMed

    Singer, Jefferson A; Blagov, Pavel; Berry, Meredith; Oost, Kathryn M

    2013-12-01

    An integrative model of narrative identity builds on a dual memory system that draws on episodic memory and a long-term self to generate autobiographical memories. Autobiographical memories related to critical goals in a lifetime period lead to life-story memories, which in turn become self-defining memories when linked to an individual's enduring concerns. Self-defining memories that share repetitive emotion-outcome sequences yield narrative scripts, abstracted templates that filter cognitive-affective processing. The life story is the individual's overarching narrative that provides unity and purpose over the life course. Healthy narrative identity combines memory specificity with adaptive meaning-making to achieve insight and well-being, as demonstrated through a literature review of personality and clinical research, as well as new findings from our own research program. A clinical case study drawing on this narrative identity model is also presented with implications for treatment and research. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. Visualization rhetoric: framing effects in narrative visualization.

    PubMed

    Hullman, Jessica; Diakopoulos, Nicholas

    2011-12-01

    Narrative visualizations combine conventions of communicative and exploratory information visualization to convey an intended story. We demonstrate visualization rhetoric as an analytical framework for understanding how design techniques that prioritize particular interpretations in visualizations that "tell a story" can significantly affect end-user interpretation. We draw a parallel between narrative visualization interpretation and evidence from framing studies in political messaging, decision-making, and literary studies. Devices for understanding the rhetorical nature of narrative information visualizations are presented, informed by the rigorous application of concepts from critical theory, semiotics, journalism, and political theory. We draw attention to how design tactics represent additions or omissions of information at various levels-the data, visual representation, textual annotations, and interactivity-and how visualizations denote and connote phenomena with reference to unstated viewing conventions and codes. Classes of rhetorical techniques identified via a systematic analysis of recent narrative visualizations are presented, and characterized according to their rhetorical contribution to the visualization. We describe how designers and researchers can benefit from the potentially positive aspects of visualization rhetoric in designing engaging, layered narrative visualizations and how our framework can shed light on how a visualization design prioritizes specific interpretations. We identify areas where future inquiry into visualization rhetoric can improve understanding of visualization interpretation. © 2011 IEEE

  19. Research on Social Networking Sites and Social Support from 2004 to 2015: A Narrative Review and Directions for Future Research.

    PubMed

    Meng, Jingbo; Martinez, Lourdes; Holmstrom, Amanda; Chung, Minwoong; Cox, Jeff

    2017-01-01

    The article presents a narrative review of scholarship on social support through social networking sites (SNSs) published from 2004 to 2015. By searching keywords related to social support and SNSs in major databases for social sciences, we identified and content analyzed directly relevant articles (N = 88). The article summarizes the prevalence of theory usage; the function of theory usage (e.g., testing a theory, developing a theory); major theories referenced; and methodologies, including research designs, measurement, and the roles of social support and SNS examined in this literature. It also reports four themes identified across the studies, indicating the trends in the current research. Based on the review, the article presents a discussion about study sites, conceptualization of social support, theoretical coherence, the role of social networks, and the dynamic relationships between SNS use and social support, which points out potential avenues for shaping a future research agenda.

  20. Narrative Language and Reading Comprehension in Students with Mild Intellectual Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Barton-Hulsey, Andrea; Sevcik, Rose A.; Romski, MaryAnn

    2017-01-01

    Past research shows positive correlations between oral narrative skill and reading comprehension in typically developing students. This study examined the relationship between reading comprehension and narrative language ability of 102 elementary students with mild levels of intellectual disability. Results describe the students' narrative…

  1. What are narratives good for?

    PubMed

    Beatty, John

    2016-08-01

    Narratives may be easy to come by, but not everything is worth narrating. What merits a narrative? Here, I follow the lead of narratologists and literary theorists, and focus on one particular proposal concerning the elements of a story that make it narrative-worthy. These elements correspond to features of the natural world addressed by the historical sciences, where narratives figure so prominently. What matters is contingency. Narratives are especially good for representing contingency and accounting for contingent outcomes. This will be squared with a common view that narratives leave no room for chance. On the contrary, I will argue, tracing one path through a maze of alternative possibilities, and alluding to those possibilities along the way, is what a narrative does particularly well. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Developing nursing research in the United Arab Emirates: a narrative review.

    PubMed

    McCreaddie, M; Kuzemski, D; Griffiths, J; Sojka, E M; Fielding, M; Al Yateem, N; Williams, J J

    2018-03-01

    This article identified, critically analysed and synthesized the literature on international nursing and midwifery research capacity building and standards. The United Arab Emirates is heavily dependent up on expatriate nurses. Only 4% of nurses working within the country are Emirati. The nation is therefore committed to developing nurses and nursing as a profession. The United Arab Emirates' Nursing and Midwifery Council was formed in 2009 and initially focused on regulation, education and specialization. This review was undertaken to inform the work of the Council's newly established Scientific Research Sub-Committee. A rapid narrative review was conducted using the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature database, key words, Boolean operators, parameters and a journal-specific search. An inclusion/exclusion criterion was identified. The search provided 332 articles with 45 included in the final review. The literature on nursing research 'standards' and 'capacity building' is diverse and inconsistent across continents and in approaches. Nursing research has evolved to varying degrees across the globe. Nevertheless, irrespective of the locale, there are similar problems encountered in growing research, for example nursing faculty shortage, lack of collaborative research, funding. There are also specific challenges in the Middle East and North Africa region. The review was constrained by time and access. There are specific challenges for the United Arab Emirates. However, the country is well placed to learn from the experiences of colleagues elsewhere. Time and commitment is required to build the solid foundations necessary to ensure robust, sustained growth. Identifying research capacity as both a process and outcome at the outset may also assist. Further, it may be prudent to consider initiating a Gulf Coast Countries' collaborative approach to building research capacity to harness scare resources and create a larger critical mass. © 2017

  3. Conversations outside the Comfort Zone: Identity Formation in SME Manager Action Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Anderson, Lisa; Gold, Jeff

    2009-01-01

    In this paper we consider the construction of narrative identity and particularly how managers of small businesses may construct new narrative identities within the activity of the action learning situation. We build on recent work to suggest that the "world" of managers can be explored through a consideration of Vygotsky's socio-cultural theory…

  4. 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…

  5. Pedagogical Dramas and Transformational Play: Realizing Narrative through Videogames Design

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Barab, Sasha A.; Dodge, Tyler; Ingram-Goble, Adam; Volk, Charlene; Peppler, Kylie; Pettyjohn, Patrick; Solomou, Maria

    Whereas traditionally stories involve an author, a performer, and an audience, much of the power of videogames as media for advancing narrative springs from their affordance for the player to occupy more than one role—and sometimes all three—simultaneously. In the narratively-rich videogames that we design, players have the opportunity to perform actions, experience consequences, and reflect on the underlying social values that these situations were designed to engage. Here, our focus is on the use of these games to engage children in experiencing ideological struggles associated with realizing social commitments. Toward this end, we will present our theoretical argument for the power of games as a contemporary story medium, grounding this discussion in the demonstration of three game design projects and their implementations.

  6. 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…

  7. 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…

  8. 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…

  9. Narrating positive versus negative memories of illness: does narrating influence the emotional tone of memories?

    PubMed

    Fioretti, C; Smorti, A

    2017-05-01

    Psychoncological studies have recognised a reduced autobiographical memory in cancer patients, furthermore cognitive studies have found that narrative is an effective instrument to re-elaborate memories. However, it is still unclear whether narrating positive versus negative events can have a different impact on autobiographical memory. The present study aims to explore the emotional experience of autobiographical memory before and after having narrated negative or positive events related to the illness. Of 63 oncological patients, 35 were selected for the present study. Participants completed a Memory Fluency Task twice, before and after having selected and narrated a positive (PN group) or a negative (NN group) memory of illness. They also had to attribute one or more emotions to each memory and to the narrative. The number of emotions and the percentage of emotional tones in both narrated and non-narrated memories were assessed. Narrated memories were more emotionally re-elaborated than non-narrated ones. Negative group participants, more than positive group ones, decreased negative emotions and increased complex ones. Authors discuss these results claiming that narrating works as a rehearsal of autobiographical memories in oncological patients and narrating negative memories eases the emotional re-elaboration of illness. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. Essential competencies in global health research for medical trainees: A narrative review.

    PubMed

    White, Mary T; Satterfield, Caley A; Blackard, Jason T

    2017-09-01

    Participation in short-term educational experiences in global health (STEGHs) among medical trainees is increasingly accompanied by interest in conducting research while abroad. Because formal training in both global health and research methods is currently under-represented in most medical curricula, trainees are often unfamiliar with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to design and conduct research successfully. This narrative review identifies essential global health research competencies for medical trainees engaged in STEGHs. The authors searched the literature using the terms global health, competency, research, research methods/process/training, scholarly project, medical student, and medical education/education. Because articles directly addressing global health research competencies for medical trainees were limited, the authors additionally drew on the broader literature addressing general research competencies and global health competencies. Articles yielded by the literature search, combined with established guidelines in research ethics and global health ethics, were used to identify six core domains and twenty discrete competencies fundamental to global health research at a level appropriate for medical trainees enrolled in STEGHs. Consideration was given to diverse research modalities, varying levels of training, and the availability of mentoring and on-site support. Research may provide important benefits to medical trainees and host partners. These competencies provide a starting point; however, circumstances at any host site may necessitate additional competencies specific to that setting. These competencies are also limited by the methodology employed in their development and the need for additional perspectives from host partners. The competencies identified outline basic knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary for medical trainees to conduct limited global health research while participating in STEGHS. They may also be used as a

  11. "I need you to listen to what happened to me": personal narratives of social trauma in research and peace-building.

    PubMed

    Chaitin, Julia

    2014-09-01

    This article explores the uses of personal narratives of massive social trauma in conflict, most specifically as they relate to the Palestinian-Israeli context. It is asserted that there are types of narratives, fixated on persecution, hatred, and fear, that can obstruct peace, and different types that encourage peace and reconciliation. The article discusses the impacts of sharing personal narratives on the victims and others in society, the connections between personal and master narratives, and ways in which dialogue that incorporates personal narratives can encourage peace. A theoretical categorization of 4 types of personal narratives of massive social trauma is proposed: narratives of vengeance, victimhood, confusion, and embracing the other. Examples from Israelis and Palestinians that reflect this conceptualization are discussed. It is concluded that a more nuanced understanding of types of personal narratives is needed when engaged in peace-building endeavors in an ongoing conflict.

  12. 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:…

  13. Effective Strategies for Global Health Research, Training and Clinical Care: A Narrative Review

    PubMed Central

    Walker, Rebekah J.; Campbell, Jennifer A.; Egede, Leonard E.

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this narrative review was to synthesize the evidence on effective strategies for global health research, training and clinical care in order to identify common structures that have been used to guide program development. A Medline search from 2001 to 2011 produced 951 articles, which were reviewed and categorized. Thirty articles met criteria to be included in this review. Eleven articles discussed recommendations for research, 8 discussed training and 11 discussed clinical care. Global health program development should be completed within the framework of a larger institutional commitment or partnership. Support from leadership in the university or NGO, and an engaged local community are both integral to success and sustainability of efforts. It is also important for program development to engage local partners from the onset, jointly exploring issues and developing goals and objectives. Evaluation is a recommended way to determine if goals are being met, and should include considerations of sustainability, partnership building, and capacity. Global health research programs should consider details regarding the research process, context of research, partnerships, and community relationships. Training for global health should involve mentorship, pre-departure preparation of students, and elements developed to increase impact. Clinical care programs should focus on collaboration, sustainability, meeting local needs, and appropriate process considerations. PMID:25716404

  14. A Narrative in Search of a Methodology.

    PubMed

    Treloar, Anna; Stone, Teresa Elizabeth; McMillan, Margaret; Flakus, Kirstin

    2015-07-01

    Research papers present us with the summaries of scholars' work; what we readers do not see are the struggles behind the decision to choose one methodology over another. A student's mental health portfolio contained a narrative that led to an exploration of the most appropriate methodology for a projected study of clinical anecdotes told by nurses who work in mental health settings to undergraduates and new recruits about mental health nursing. This paper describes the process of struggle, beginning with the student's account, before posing a number of questions needing answers before the choice of the most appropriate methodology. We argue, after discussing the case for the use of literary analysis, discourse analysis, symbolic interactionism, hermeneutics, and narrative research, that case study research is the methodology of choice. Case study is frequently used in educational research and is sufficiently flexible to allow for an exploration of the phenomenon. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  15. Why National Narratives Are Perpetuated: A Literature Review on New Insights from History Textbook Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grever, Maria; van der Vlies, Tina

    2017-01-01

    National narratives have often served to mobilize the masses for war by providing myths and distorted interpretations of the past, while conversely wars were major sources for producing national narratives. Because national history is very likely to remain a central topic in history education, albeit in ways that differ from how the topic was used…

  16. What Is Adolescence?: Adolescents Narrate Their Lives in Lima, Peru

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bayer, Angela M.; Gilman, Robert H.; Tsui, Amy O.; Hindin, Michelle J.

    2010-01-01

    This study explores the lives of Peruvian adolescents in a low-income human settlement outside of Lima. Twenty 12-17 year olds were asked to narrate their own life stories using the life history narrative research method. Holistic content analysis was coupled with a grounded-theory approach to explore these data. Intergenerational responsibility,…

  17. 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)

  18. Evoking and Measuring Identification with Narrative Characters – A Linguistic Cues Framework

    PubMed Central

    van Krieken, Kobie; Hoeken, Hans; Sanders, José

    2017-01-01

    Current research on identification with narrative characters poses two problems. First, although identification is seen as a dynamic process of which the intensity varies during reading, it is usually measured by means of post-reading questionnaires containing self-report items. Second, it is not clear which linguistic characteristics evoke identification. The present paper proposes that an interdisciplinary framework allows for more precise manipulations and measurements of identification, which will ultimately advance our understanding of the antecedents and nature of this process. The central hypothesis of our Linguistic Cues Framework is that identification with a narrative character is a multidimensional experience for which different dimensions are evoked by different linguistic cues. The first part of the paper presents a literature review on identification, resulting in a renewed conceptualization of identification which distinguishes six dimensions: a spatiotemporal, a perceptual, a cognitive, a moral, an emotional, and an embodied dimension. The second part argues that each of these dimensions is influenced by specific linguistic cues which represent various aspects of the narrative character’s perspective. The proposed relations between linguistic cues and identification dimensions are specified in six propositions. The third part discusses what psychological and neurocognitive methods enable the measurement of the various identification dimensions in order to test the propositions. By establishing explicit connections between the linguistic characteristics of narratives and readers’ physical, psychological, and neurocognitive responses to narratives, this paper develops a research agenda for future empirical research on identification with narrative characters. PMID:28751875

  19. Analyzing Irregular Warfare (IW) using a Narrative Approach

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-06-01

    culture, and perceptions about the status and character of the other people. •THE test of narrative rationality is based on the probability...values for over 1000 different actions, emotions and people, led by David Heise, Department of Sociology, Indiana University 11 Effect Of Other...1.86Condemn 1.621.632.15Applaud -0.84-0.48-2.28Abandon APEAction/ Emotion 11.85Embrace -5.98Denigrate -7.25Condemn 10.45Applaud -7.00Abandon

  20. 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…

  1. 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…

  2. Narrative abilities, memory and attention in children with a specific language impairment.

    PubMed

    Duinmeijer, Iris; de Jong, Jan; Scheper, Annette

    2012-01-01

    While narrative tasks have proven to be valid measures for detecting language disorders, measuring communicative skills and predicting future academic performance, research into the comparability of different narrative tasks has shown that outcomes are dependent on the type of task used. Although many of the studies detecting task differences touch upon the fact that tasks place differential demands on cognitive abilities like auditory attention and memory, few studies have related specific narrative tasks to these cognitive abilities. Examining this relation is especially warranted for children with specific language impairment (SLI), who are characterized by language problems, but often have problems in other cognitive domains as well. In the current research, a comparison was made between a story retelling task (The Bus Story) and a story generation task (The Frog Story) in a group of children with SLI (n= 34) and a typically developing group (n= 38) from the same age range. In addition to the two narrative tasks, sustained auditory attention (TEA-Ch) and verbal working memory (WISC digit span and the Dutch version of the CVLT-C word list recall) were measured. Correlations were computed between the narrative, the memory and the attention scores. A group comparison showed that the children with SLI scored significantly worse than the typically developing children on several narrative measures as well as on sustained auditory attention and verbal working memory. A within-subjects comparison of the scores on the two narrative tasks showed a contrast between the tasks on several narrative measures. Furthermore, correlational analyses showed that, on the level of plot structure, the story generation task correlated with sustained auditory attention, while the story retelling task correlated with word list recall. Mean length of utterance (MLU) on the other hand correlated with digit span but not with sustained auditory attention. While children with SLI have

  3. Narrative medicine in surgical education.

    PubMed

    Pearson, A Scott; McTigue, Michael P; Tarpley, John L

    2008-01-01

    Narrative medicine is a patient-centered approach to the practice of medicine that rescues the patients' stories and integrates what is important to them into decisions regarding their health care. Our hypothesis is that narrative understanding enhances the patient-provider relationship and contributes to optimizing patient care. We propose to use written narrative reflection to capture and measure the general competencies of systems-based practice, practice-based learning, communication skills, and professionalism. DEVELOPMENT/METHODS: The development of this narrative-based project is based on a pilot study that we conducted at our institution with third-year surgical clerkship students. In the pilot, students produced in-depth narrative write-ups on a patient they had had the opportunity to "know." We plan a similar approach for surgical resident education. After a brief discussion of narrative medicine during our scheduled didactic conference, the residents are asked to initiate a written narrative reflection on a patient of their choosing. The narratives will be collected 1 week later. Our plan is to repeat this assessment quarterly so that 4 narratives will be generated annually from internship through the chief resident year. The narratives will be analyzed for content and recurring themes that capture the resident's communication skills, professionalism, as well as self-critique (practice-based learning) and value attributed to health-care teams (systems-based practice). After completion of the narratives, a 5-point Likert response survey will be given to the residents to assess their experience and the perceived value of written reflection. The written narratives will become part of the resident's ongoing portfolio. IMPLEMENTATION/EXPERIENCE TO DATE: Feedback from the medical student pilot study was favorable. When asked in a follow-up questionnaire, most students reported the experience to be valuable and recommended the use of narrative reflection in

  4. Reducing Stigma and Punitive Attitudes Toward Pedophiles Through Narrative Humanization.

    PubMed

    Harper, Craig A; Bartels, Ross M; Hogue, Todd E

    2016-12-01

    Stigmatization and societal punitiveness about pedophilia have a range of potential consequences, such as the social isolation of people with sexual interest in children, and the formation of policies that are not consistent with empirical research findings. Previous research has shown that people with pedophilic sexual interests use societal thinking to self-stigmatize, which in turn may actually serve to increase their risk of committing a sexual offense. In this study, we compared two attitudinal interventions (first-person narrative vs. expert opinion) using a student sample ( N = 100). It was hypothesized that both interventions would lead to reductions in stigmatization and punitive attitudes about pedophiles on an explicit (self-report) level but that only the narrative intervention would lead to reductions of these constructs at the implicit level. Our findings supported both hypotheses. We further discuss the role of narrative humanization in this area and offer suggestions for further research based upon the theoretical and methodological implications of the findings.

  5. Hospital Board Oversight of Quality and Patient Safety: A Narrative Review and Synthesis of Recent Empirical Research

    PubMed Central

    Millar, Ross; Mannion, Russell; Freeman, Tim; Davies, Huw TO

    2013-01-01

    Context Recurring problems with patient safety have led to a growing interest in helping hospitals’ governing bodies provide more effective oversight of the quality and safety of their services. National directives and initiatives emphasize the importance of action by boards, but the empirical basis for informing effective hospital board oversight has yet to receive full and careful review. Methods This article presents a narrative review of empirical research to inform the debate about hospital boards’ oversight of quality and patient safety. A systematic and comprehensive search identified 122 papers for detailed review. Much of the empirical work appeared in the last ten years, is from the United States, and employs cross-sectional survey methods. Findings Recent empirical studies linking board composition and processes with patient outcomes have found clear differences between high- and low-performing hospitals, highlighting the importance of strong and committed leadership that prioritizes quality and safety and sets clear and measurable goals for improvement. Effective oversight is also associated with well-informed and skilled board members. External factors (such as regulatory regimes and the publication of performance data) might also have a role in influencing boards, but detailed empirical work on these is scant. Conclusions Health policy debates recognize the important role of hospital boards in overseeing patient quality and safety, and a growing body of empirical research has sought to elucidate that role. This review finds a number of areas of guidance that have some empirical support, but it also exposes the relatively inchoate nature of the field. Greater theoretical and methodological development is required if we are to secure more evidence-informed governance systems and practices that can contribute to safer care. PMID:24320168

  6. 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…

  7. The Northern Experience of Street-Involved Youth: A Narrative Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    George, Serena D.; O'Neill, Linda K.

    2011-01-01

    This research explored the experiences of 8 street-involved youth (4 male, 4 female) between the ages of 20 and 27 living in north-central British Columbia. The analysis was carried out in 3 phases based on the narrative approach developed by Lieblich, Tuval-Mashiach, and Zilber (1998). The narratives represented the holistic experiences of the…

  8. 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…

  9. Family experiences of living with an eating disorder: a narrative analysis.

    PubMed

    Papathomas, Anthony; Smith, Brett; Lavallee, David

    2015-03-01

    Families are considered important in the management and treatment of eating disorders. Yet, rarely has research focused on family experiences of living with an eating disorder. Addressing this gap, this study explores the experiences of an elite 21-year-old triathlete with an eating disorder in conjunction with the experiences of her parents. Family members attended interviews individually on three separate occasions over the course of a year. In line with the narrative approach adopted, whereby stories are considered the primary means to construct experience, interviews encouraged storytelling through an open-ended, participant-led structure. Narrative analysis involved repeated readings of the transcripts, sensitising towards issues of narrative content (key themes) and structure (overarching plot). Family difficulties arose when personal experiences strayed from culturally dominant narrative forms and when family members held contrasting narrative preferences. Suggestions are forwarded as to how an appreciation of eating disorder illness narratives might inform treatment and support. © The Author(s) 2015.

  10. 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…

  11. Adolescent Summaries of Narrative and Expository Discourse: Differences and Predictors.

    PubMed

    Lundine, Jennifer P; Harnish, Stacy M; McCauley, Rebecca J; Blackett, Deena Schwen; Zezinka, Alexandra; Chen, Wei; Fox, Robert A

    2018-05-03

    Summarizing expository passages is a critical academic skill that is understudied in language research. The purpose of this study was to compare the quality of verbal summaries produced by adolescents for 3 different discourse types and to determine whether a composite measure of cognitive skill or a test of expressive syntax predicted their performance. Fifty adolescents listened to, and then verbally summarized, 1 narrative and 2 expository lectures (compare-contrast and cause-effect). They also participated in testing that targeted expressive syntax and 5 cognitive subdomains. Summary quality scores were significantly different across discourse types, with a medium effect size. Analyses revealed significantly higher summary quality scores for cause-effect than compare-contrast summaries. Although the composite cognitive measure contributed significantly to the prediction of quality scores for both types of expository summaries, the expressive syntax score only contributed significantly to the quality scores for narrative summaries. These results support previous research indicating that type of expository discourse may impact student performance. These results also show, for the first time, that cognition may play a predictive role in determining summary quality for expository but not narrative passages in this population. In addition, despite the more complex syntax commonly associated with exposition versus narratives, an expressive syntax score was only predictive of performance on narrative summaries. These findings provide new information, questions, and directions for future research for those who study academic discourse and for professionals who must identify and manage the problems of students struggling with different types of academic discourse. https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.6167879.

  12. 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.

  13. 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…

  14. Making Sense of HIV in Southeastern Nigeria Fictional Narratives, Cultural Meanings, and Methodologies in Medical Anthropology

    PubMed Central

    Winskell, Kate; Brown, Peter J.; Patterson, Amy E.; Burkot, Camilla; Mbakwem, Benjamin C.

    2018-01-01

    Fictional narratives have rarely been used in medical anthropological research. This article illustrates the value of such narratives by examining how young people in southeastern Nigeria navigate the cultural resources available to them to make sense of HIV in their creative writing. Using thematic data analysis and narrative-based methodologies, it analyzes a sample (N = 120) from 1,849 narratives submitted by Nigerian youth to the 2005 Scenarios from Africa scriptwriting contest on the theme of HIV. The narratives are characterized by five salient themes: tragedy arising from the incompatibility of sex outside marriage and kinship obligations; female vulnerability and blame; peer pressure and moral ambivalence; conservative Christian sexual morality; and the social and family consequences of HIV. We consider the strengths and limitations of this narrative approach from a theoretical perspective and by juxtaposing our findings with those generated by Daniel Jordan Smith using standard ethnographic research methods with a similar Igbo youth population. [HIV, Igbo, youth, narrative, methodology] PMID:23804317

  15. 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…

  16. Musical Maps as Narrative Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blair, Deborah V.

    2007-01-01

    This study explores the metaphorical relationship between the process of narrative inquiry and the process of "musical mapping." The creation of musical maps was used as a classroom tool for enabling students' musical understanding while listening to music. As teacher-researcher, I studied my fifth-grade music students as they interacted with…

  17. Project Narrative

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

    Driscoll, Mary C.

    2012-07-12

    The Project Narrative describes how the funds from the DOE grant were used to purchase equipment for the biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics departments. The Narrative also describes how the equipment is being used. There is also a list of the positive outcomes as a result of having the equipment that was purchased with the DOE grant.

  18. 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…

  19. Coherence of Personal Narratives across the Lifespan: A Multidimensional Model and Coding Method

    PubMed Central

    Reese, Elaine; Haden, Catherine A.; Baker-Ward, Lynne; Bauer, Patricia; Fivush, Robyn; Ornstein, Peter A.

    2012-01-01

    Personal narratives are integral to autobiographical memory and to identity, with coherent personal narratives being linked to positive developmental outcomes across the lifespan. In this article, we review the theoretical and empirical literature that sets the stage for a new lifespan model of personal narrative coherence. This new model integrates context, chronology, and theme as essential dimensions of personal narrative coherence, each of which relies upon different developmental achievements and has a different developmental trajectory across the lifespan. A multidimensional method of coding narrative coherence (the Narrative Coherence Coding Scheme or NaCCS) was derived from the model and is described here. The utility of this approach is demonstrated by its application to 498 narratives that were collected in six laboratories from participants ranging in age from 3 years to adulthood. The value of the model is illustrated further by a discussion of its potential to guide future research on the developmental foundations of narrative coherence and on the benefits of personal narrative coherence for different aspects of psychological functioning. PMID:22754399

  20. Developing the personal narratives of children with complex communication needs associated with intellectual disabilities: What is the potential of Storysharing® ?

    PubMed

    Bunning, Karen; Gooch, Lynsey; Johnson, Miranda

    2017-07-01

    Sharing personal experience in narrative is challenging for individuals with intellectual disabilities. The aim was to investigate the potential of Storysharing ® (Storysharing is an innovative communication method based on personal narrative, which has been developed to support conversations with people who have severe difficulties in communication) intervention. The study involved eleven pupil-educational supporter dyads at a special school. Storysharing ® was implemented over a 15-week period. Personal narratives were captured on video pre- and post-intervention. The data were analysed for discourse and narrative. Significant differences revealed a decline in 'query-answer' sequences and an increase in supporter use of 'prompts'. After intervention, there were fewer story episodes. Narrative structure showed gains in action sequences leading to climax, and in closing elements, indicating a more complete narrative. The Storysharing ® intervention appears to be associated with changes to the dyadic, personal narratives illustrating its potential. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Game narratives among adolescents of different game-play and socio-demographic backgrounds

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Digital games hold great potential for health interventions. Their narratives may influence game engagement, enjoyment and players' behavioral determinants. Research is needed on which narratives are appealing to target groups of health interventions that make use of a serious digital game for healt...

  2. Opportunities and Challenges in Representing Narrative Inquiries Digitally

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Craig, Cheryl J.

    2013-01-01

    Background/Context: Within the context of four locally funded research projects, the researcher was asked to disseminate the findings of her narrative inquiries not to the research community, which had previously been the case, but to the practice and philanthropic communities. This, in turn, created a representational crisis because practitioners…

  3. 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…

  4. Aristotelian Action Research: Its Value for Studying Character Education in Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sanderse, Wouter

    2016-01-01

    This article explores what it means for teachers to engage in and evaluate students' character education, by examining the connections between action research and Aristotelian virtue ethics. These connections are explored in two ways. Firstly, the article examines what perspective action research has on how moral education, understood in an…

  5. 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…

  6. The influence of narrative v. statistical information on perceiving vaccination risks.

    PubMed

    Betsch, Cornelia; Ulshöfer, Corina; Renkewitz, Frank; Betsch, Tilmann

    2011-01-01

    Health-related information found on the Internet is increasing and impacts patient decision making, e.g. regarding vaccination decisions. In addition to statistical information (e.g. incidence rates of vaccine adverse events), narrative information is also widely available such as postings on online bulletin boards. Previous research has shown that narrative information can impact treatment decisions, even when statistical information is presented concurrently. As the determinants of this effect are largely unknown, we will vary features of the narratives to identify mechanisms through which narratives impact risk judgments. An online bulletin board setting provided participants with statistical information and authentic narratives about the occurrence and nonoccurrence of adverse events. Experiment 1 followed a single factorial design with 1, 2, or 4 narratives out of 10 reporting adverse events. Experiment 2 implemented a 2 (statistical risk 20% vs. 40%) × 2 (2/10 vs. 4/10 narratives reporting adverse events) × 2 (high vs. low richness) × 2 (high vs. low emotionality) between-subjects design. Dependent variables were perceived risk of side-effects and vaccination intentions. Experiment 1 shows an inverse relation between the number of narratives reporting adverse-events and vaccination intentions, which was mediated by the perceived risk of vaccinating. Experiment 2 showed a stronger influence of the number of narratives than of the statistical risk information. High (vs. low) emotional narratives had a greater impact on the perceived risk, while richness had no effect. The number of narratives influences risk judgments can potentially override statistical information about risk.

  7. Do Live versus Audio-Recorded Narrative Stimuli Influence Young Children's Narrative Comprehension and Retell Quality?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kim, Young-Suk Grace

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: The primary aim of the present study was to examine whether different ways of presenting narrative stimuli (i.e., live narrative stimuli versus audio-recorded narrative stimuli) influence children's performances on narrative comprehension and oral-retell quality. Method: Children in kindergarten (n = 54), second grade (n = 74), and fourth…

  8. Drama and Imagination: A Cognitive Theory of Drama's Effect on Narrative Comprehension and Narrative Production

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mages, Wendy K.

    2006-01-01

    This article proposes a cognitive theory of how drama affects two aspects of language development: narrative comprehension and narrative production. It is a theoretical model that explicitly posits the role of the imagination in drama's potential to enhance the development of both narrative comprehension and narrative production. (Contains 2…

  9. Teaching thoughtful practice: narrative pedagogy in addictions education.

    PubMed

    Vandermause, Roxanne K; Townsend, Ryan P

    2010-07-01

    Preparing practitioners for this rapidly changing and demanding health care environment is challenging. A surge in knowledge development and scientific advancement has placed a priority on technical skill and a focus on content driven educational processes that prepare students for evidence-based practice. However, the most difficult health care scenarios require thinking-in-action and thoughtfulness as well as didactic knowledge. It is our contention that interpretive educational methods, like narrative pedagogy, will promote judgment-based practice that includes use of evidence and delivery of thoughtful care. In this article, we describe and interpret a narrative approach to addictions content and teaching thoughtful practice. We present our pedagogical process, including observations and field notes, to show how interpretive pedagogies can be introduced into nursing curricula. By presenting this process, the reader is invited to consider interpretive methods as a way to inspire and habituate thoughtful practice and judgment-based care. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. 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)…

  11. Narrative, Preaching, and Formation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Finney, Mark David

    2017-01-01

    This dissertation focuses on the place of narrative in the transformational encounter that can take place between hearers of sermons and God. Chapter 1 surveys the history and development of contemporary scholarship related to narrative preaching. It argues that most homileticians consider narrative either as a way of structuring sermons, or as a…

  12. Narrative Inquiry: Theory and Practice

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Savin-Baden, Maggi; Van Niekerk, Lana

    2007-01-01

    This article offers an overview of the method of narrative inquiry and explores competing trends in the use of the approach. It not only examines the theories relating to the method but also offers practical guidance on using narrative inquiry, including an exploration of what might count as a narrative and ways of analysing narrative data. The…

  13. Physician Assistant Job Satisfaction: A Narrative Review of Empirical Research.

    PubMed

    Hooker, Roderick S; Kuilman, Luppo; Everett, Christine M

    2015-12-01

    To examine physician assistant (PA) job satisfaction and identify factors predicting job satisfaction and identify areas of needed research. With a global PA movement underway and a half-century in development, the empirical basis for informing employers of approaches to improve job satisfaction has not received a careful review. A narrative review of empirical research was undertaken to inform stakeholders about PA employment with a goal of improved management. The a priori criteria included published studies that asked PAs about job satisfaction. Articles addressing PA job satisfaction, written in English, were reviewed and categorized according to the Job Characteristics Model. Of 68 publications reviewed, 29 met criteria and were categorized in a Job Characteristics Model. Most studies report a high degree of job satisfaction when autonomy, income, patient responsibility, physician support, and career advancement opportunities are surveyed. Age, sex, specialty, and occupational background are needed to understand the effect on job satisfaction. Quality of studies varies widely. Employers may want to examine their relationships with PAs periodically. The factors of job satisfaction may assist policymakers and health administrators in creating welcoming professional employment environments. The main limitation: no study comprehensively evaluated all the antecedents of job satisfaction. PAs seem to experience job satisfaction supported by low attrition rates and competitive wages. Contributing factors are autonomy, experienced responsibility, pay, and supportive supervising physician. A number of intrinsic rewards derived from the performance of the job within the social environment, along with extrinsic rewards, may contribute to overall job satisfaction. PA job satisfaction research is underdeveloped; investigations should include longitudinal studies, cohort analyses, and economic determinants.

  14. 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…

  15. Forensic historiography: narratives and science.

    PubMed

    Drukteinis, Albert M

    2014-01-01

    Psychiatrists function, in part, as historians who rely on patient narratives to help them understand presenting mental disorders and explain their causes. Forensic psychiatrists have been skeptical of using narratives, raising concerns about their lack of objectivity and potential for bias. They also have criticized narratives as being more performative than scientific. Recent authors, however, have pointed out that narratives may be helpful in forming forensic opinions and supporting oral testimony, while stressing that their use must be consistent with the ethics espoused by forensic psychiatry. This article reviews the role of narratives in understanding human events and the ubiquitous presence of narratives in the judicial process. It delves into the inescapability of using explicit or implicit narratives in the course of forensic practice, as well as how they may be meaningfully incorporated into evaluations and find expression alongside scientific principles. © 2014 American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.

  16. 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…

  17. How Do Catalan Students Narrate the History of Catalonia When They Finish Primary Education?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sant, Edda; González-Monfort, Neus; Fernández, Antoni Santisteban; Blanch, Joan Pagès; Freixa, Montserrat Oller

    2015-01-01

    In this article we analyze how a group of Catalan students (aged 11-13, N = 245) narrate the history of Catalonia and we compare their narratives with the official Catalan narrative. From an interpretative approach, we collect data by requiring the students to write down what they remember about the history of Catalonia. The research is conducted…

  18. "Honey, You're Jumping about"--Mothers' Scaffolding of Their Children's and Adolescents' Life Narration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Habermas, Tilmann; Negele, Alexa; Mayer, Fernanda Brenneisen

    2010-01-01

    Research on mother-child reminiscing as a socializing practice for autobiographical memory is extended from early childhood and the narrating of single events to adolescence and the narrating of an entire life story. To explore whether the development of the life story in adolescence depends on qualities of the narrator or on the brevity of the…

  19. From Story to Analysis: Reflection and Uptake in the Literacy Narrative Assignment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alexander, Kara Poe

    2015-01-01

    The literacy narrative assignment is popular with composition instructors because of the reflection it encourages in students. Previously, scholars have claimed that students demonstrate reflection in literacy narratives when they critique dominant ideologies. Largely absent, however, is research on what other elements might indicate reflection…

  20. The Rise of the Life Narrative

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Goodson, Ivor

    2006-01-01

    In this article, the author discusses how narratives, which are part of the common currency of the day, have dramatically changed over the years. Grand narratives, which grew exponentially in the mid-nineteenth century, have now been replaced by two different narratives: life narratives and small-scale narratives. He also discusses how small…