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Participatory Action Research (PAR) cum Action Research (AR) in Teacher Professional Development: A Literature Review
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Morales, Marie Paz E.
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…
ARS Biodiesel Research Initiatives
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
Biodiesel activities within ARS are concerned with the production, quality, and properties of this alternative fuel from agriculturally derived fats and oils. Currently, in the absence of tax incentives, biodiesel production when using refined fats and oils and conventional alkali transesterificati...
ARS Grape Quality Research Update
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
In ARS much of the research on grape quality is overseen by National Program 306, entitled Quality Preservation, Characterization and Enhancement and New Processes, New Uses and Value-Added Foods. The mission of the Processed Foods Research Unit at the Western Regional Research Center in Albany, CA...
Integrating CHAT and Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wells, Gordon
The question as to how action research (AR) is related to cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) is not answerable in categorical terms. Both CHAT and AR have been variously interpreted and much depends on the individual biographies of those who pronounce on their relationship. The aim of this paper is to show how action research, conducted…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Milton-Brkich, Katie Lynn; Shumbera, Kristen; Beran, Becky
Defined as "any systemic inquiry conducted by teachers... for the purpose of gathering information about how their particular schools operate, how they teach, and how their students learn" (Mertler, 2009), "action research" is empowering and professional research done by teachers to inform and improves their own practices. Although there are many…
USDA/ARS Organic Production Research
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
For much of its history, USDA/ARS had little to do with research on organic agriculture, however research in organic systems has made considerable gains at the agency over the past decade. In the 1980's and 1990's, as the organic food industry was taking off, ARS researchers who wanted to serve orga...
Action Research Facilitator's Handbook.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Caro-Bruce, Cathy
This handbook is a roadmap for action research facilitators to help groups as they work through the research process. It offers quotations, handouts, strategies, resources, and insights from actual experiences. The sections of the handbook follow the action research cycle, focusing on: "What is Action Research?"; "What is the Action Research…
Participatory Action Research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Walker, Martha Lentz
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…
Conceptualizing Indicator Domains for Evaluating Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Piggot-Irvine, Eileen; Rowe, Wendy; Ferkins, Lesley
The focus of this paper is to share thinking about meta-level evaluation of action research (AR), and to introduce indicator domains for assessing and measuring inputs, outputs and outcomes. Meta-level and multi-site evaluation has been rare in AR beyond project implementation and participant satisfaction. The paper is the first of several…
Language Teacher Action Research: Achieving Sustainability
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Edwards, Emily; Burns, Anne
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…
Lignocellulosic Biofuels: Bioenergy Research at ARS
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The growth and long-term viability of bioenergy production in the Nation are impeded by a number of technical and commercial barriers. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) addresses technical barriers and does so by leveraging its strengths and unique capabilities to (1) pursue technical barriers th...
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
de Gonzalez, Carmen Beatriz; Hernandez, Teresa; Kusch, Jim; Ryan, Charly
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…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Foreman-Peck, Lorraine; Murray, Jane
This article examines the relationship between action research and policy and the kind of confidence teachers, policy makers and other potential users may have in such research. Many published teacher action research accounts are criticised on the grounds that they do not fully meet the conventional standards for reporting social scientific…
Action Research and Response to Intervention: Bridging the Discourse Divide
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Little, Mary E.
The purpose of this article is to define and clarify the process of instructional problem-solving using assessment data within action research (AR) and Response to Intervention (RtI). Similarities between AR and RtI are defined and compared. Lastly, specific resources and examples of the instructional problem-solving process of AR within…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Piggot-Irvine, Eileen
Action research places a powerful tool for school improvement in the hands of teachers. By highlighting the outcomes that are possible and presenting clear steps in the research process, this book is one to encourage anyone who is seeking to implement evidence-based school improvement. Eileen Piggot-Irvine uses her Problem Resolving Action…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Helskog, Guro Hansen
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…
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The USDA-ARS bramble cultivar development program at Beltsville, Maryland has a long history. Perhaps the greatest success from this program has been the development of several thornless blackberry cultivars including Chester, which currently is the most commonly grown blackberry cultivar in the Ea...
National Research Networks Facilitate Mutually Beneficial Research at ARS Locations
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Seyfried, M. S.; Holbrook, W. S.; Fellows, A.; Kormos, P.; Lohse, K. A.; Marks, D. G.; Flerchinger, G. N.
A major benefit of participation in research networks such as the Long Term Agroecosystem Research (LTAR) network is that multidisciplinary research on a broad range of topics is facilitated. The interaction between the Agricultural Research Service long-term experimental watersheds and LTAR exemplifies this. At the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed (RCEW), this is further enhanced by participation in the Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) network. The RCEW has a long history (55 years) of experimentation, modeling and monitoring emphasizing hydrologic processes, which are inevitably related to biogeochemical processes, but rarely linked directly in RCEW research. New research with the Reynolds Creek CZO (RC CZO) emphasizes biogeochemistry. The background research and infrastructure at the RCEW provides an ideal platform for that research. At the same time, RC CZO products are enabling ARS to extend its research activities. We highlight three examples: (i) forcing data sets used to facilitate physical modeling of hydrologic and biogeochemical processes, (ii) linkage of hydrology and geophyscis to extend our understanding of subsurface processes, and (iii) climate/elevation linkages to ecosystem productivity, which are closely related in water limited environments such as the RCEW. The addition of the RCEW to the LTAR is further extended ARS capabilities. For example, the RCEW is now monitoring net carbon balance and productivity at sites along an elevation/climatic gradient. The addition of LTAR research enhances that work by extending the climate gradient and introducing management and land surface change effects. We anticipate that these interactions will grow and that cross-site experiments will be initiated as the results begin to accumulate.
Action Research Facilitated by University-School Collaboration
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yuan, Rui; Lee, Icy
While Action Research (AR) is promoted as a powerful route for teachers' professional development, different contextual challenges may arise during the process; teachers may be helped to overcome these challenges with the guidance of external facilitators. Drawing on data from interviews and the teachers' AR reports, this article explores how two…
Critical Issues in Research Design in Action Research in an SME Development Context
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McGrath, Helen; O'Toole, Thomas
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…
Action Research: Trends and Variations
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Beaulieu, Rodney J.
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…
Using Action Research and Action Learning for Entrepreneurial Network Capability Development
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McGrath, Helen; O'Toole, Thomas
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,…
Action Research Networks: Role and Purpose in the Evaluation of Research Outcomes and Impacts
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zornes, Deborah; Ferkins, Lesley; Piggot-Irvine, Eileen
The focus of this paper is to share thinking about networks in action research (AR) and to consider their role, purpose, and how networks' outcomes and impacts might be evaluated. Networks are often a by-product of AR projects, yet research focused on the network itself as part of a project is rare. The paper is one of several associated with the…
USDA/ARS and dielectric properties research
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
An overview of the research is presented, including RF dielectric heating for seed treatment, insect control, product conditioning, and moisture and quality sensing applications, equipment used, dielectric properties measurement techniques, broad- frequency- range data obtained, and research results...
Making Sense of Teacher Participants' Graphic Organizers in a Second Order Action Research: Reflection of the Voice of an Action Researcher
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hwa, Chuah Kim
Being a facilitator of AR (action research) to a group of secondary school teachers in Kuching, Sarawak provided me the opportunity to engage in a second order inquiry using AR on the two years' AR learning workshops concerned. The teacher participants were asked to illustrate, using suitable GOs (graphic organizers), their understanding of what…
African Primary Care Research: Participatory action research
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
Postharvest treatment research at USDA-ARS: stored product fumigation
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The overall goal of this USDA-ARS research is to ensure the protection and quality of stored product foodstuffs. The results of this research directly enhance production, distribution, and safety of foodstuffs, promote and retain access of United States-grown crops to domestic and foreign markets, a...
USDA ARS research on the screwworm fly
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
Screwworm myiasis is devastating to warm blooded animals. Eradication of the screwworm from mainland North America using the sterile insect technique is an unprecedented achievement; reinvasion is prevented by maintenance of a barrier at the Panama – Colombia border. Here we update research progress...
Lessons Learnt from Applying Action Research to Support Strategy Formation Processes in Long-Term Care Networks
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cramer, Hendrik; Dewulf, Geert; Voordijk, Hans
This study demonstrates how action research (AR) that is aimed at scaling-up experiments can be applied to support a strategy formation process (SFP) in a subsidized long-term care network. Previous research has developed numerous AR frameworks to support experiments in various domains, but has failed to explain how to apply AR and action learning…
Pulsed electric field (PEF)research at USDA, ARS, ERRC
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
This article summarizes the effects of pulsed electric fields on the microbiological safety and quality aspects of various liquid food matrices, obtained at USDA, ARS, Eastern Regional Research Center under CRIS Project No. 1935-41420-013-00D, Processing Intervention Technologies for Enhancing the S...
Action Research in Graduate Management Research Programs.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Perry, Chad; Zuber-Skerritt, Ortun
It is proposed that action research, as distinguished from traditional research, has a role in graduate management education. It is suggested that the former is more appropriate for developing managerial competencies. Differences between master's-level and doctoral-level action research projects are noted, and related issues for curriculum design…
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Alber, Sandra M.
This book facilitates the completion of action research studies by providing a series of tasks that guide action researchers from the beginning of a project and selecting a topic for study, to completion of the project and editing final reports. All too often, students and practicing professionals in professional development schools are…
Action Research Empowers School Librarians
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Robins, Jennifer
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…
Action Research: Theory and Applications
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Jefferson, Renée N.
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…
Action Research and Teacher Leadership
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smeets, Karel; Ponte, Petra
The present article reports on a case study into the influence and impact of action research carried out by teachers in a special school. The action research was an important component of the two-year, post-initial, in-service course in special educational needs, provided by Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Department of Inclusive and…
Philosophy, Methodology and Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Carr, Wilfred
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…
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…
The Concept of Action Research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Altrichter, Herbert; Kemmis, Stephen; McTaggart, Robin; Zuber-Skerritt, Ortrun
Explains why definition of action research is problematic and presents working definitions developed internationally that indicate its nature, philosophy, and methodology. Suggests that pragmatic approaches to definition serve communication purposes without narrowly confining the concept. (SK)
Improving Learning and Teaching through Action Learning and Action Research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zuber-Skeriit, Ortrun
A theoretical framework for action learning and action research is presented, as a basis for better understanding college instruction and learning. Action research is viewed as a philosophy, theory of learning, research methodology, and teaching technique. It is argued that action research both increases knowledge and improves teaching.…
Using Action Research to Investigate Social Networking Technologies
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Worrall, Lisa; Harris, Katy
This article outlines the first cycle of an Action Research (AR) investigation into why professional learners are not using the Social Networking Technologies (SNTs) of their bespoke website. It presents the rationale of how this study came about, the ontological and epistemological stance of the authors and how this led to the particular choice…
Interventions to Combat the Many Facets of Absenteeism: Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cole, Jill Friedman
This paper operationalizes the definition of action research (AR) and the importance of conducting such studies to improve the lives of students and professionals. This paper provides an overview of literature regarding variables related to truancy and absenteeism. The paper discusses the importance of students being present and engaged, negative…
Co-Teaching an Online Action Research Class
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wilson, Brent G.; Linder VanBerschot, Jennifer
Two instructors report our experience co-teaching an action research (AR) required as part of an e-learning master's degree. Adopting a practice-centered stance we focus on the course activities of participants (instructors and students), with particular attention to the careful crafting of course elements with the goal of achieving an…
Peer Observation Action Research Project
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sandt, Fred-Ole
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…
Doing Educational Research: An Action Research Approach.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Otto, Alice; Nkanga, S.
An American teaching anesthesiology in Tanzania sought help from a member of the host culture in order to grasp cultural meanings underpinning medical education practices, using action research to develop and refine research methods and solve problems related to the need to accommodate culturally diverse students' learning needs. (SM)
Principles for Participatory Action Research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McTaggart, Robin
Nine principles of participatory action research (PAR) are identification of individual and collective projects; changing power distribution; changing group and institutional culture; acting and reflecting; unifying intellectual and practical projects; producing knowledge; engaging the politics; using methodological resources; and creating theory.…
Action Research and ICT Implementation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Krumsvik, Rune
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.…
Action Research in Science Education. ERIC Digest.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Feldman, Allan; Capobianco, Brenda
This digest provides an introduction to action research in science education and includes examples of how action research has been used to improve teaching and learning, as well as suggested resources for those seeking to incorporate action research into their own teaching or research. Action research is defined and is examined in science…
Action Research in Rehabilitation Education: Curricular Applications
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kiener, Michael S.; Koch, Lynn; Gitchel, Dent
This paper examines applications of action research to rehabilitation education. An overview of action research is provided, and specific examples of action research in rehabilitation and other professions are illustrated. Emphasis is placed on utilizing action research to evaluate teaching and student learning and develop scientist practitioners…
Action Research and Wikis: An Effective Collaboration
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Burger, Shannon; McFarland, Mary Ann
Action research can be an efficient means for busy library media specialists (LMSs) to assess problems or situations to determine the best course of action in their libraries. According to Jody K. Howard and Su A. Eckhardt, action research is different from traditional scientific research. For example, action research can be used for the analysis…
Social Justice in Practice? Exploring Teacher Candidates' Commitment toward Change Agency through Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Burrell Storms, Stephanie
Scholars have criticized teacher education programs for using action research (AR) to improve candidates' technical skills rather than promote its emancipatory goals. The author argues candidates who conduct critical AR promote its emancipatory goals and indicate a commitment to act as change agents for social justice through education. This…
Action research through stimulated recall
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
O'Brien, John
The emphasis in classroom learning research has moved from process-product models to the mediating process paradigm. The stimulated-recall interview and thik aloud techniques are the two main processes that have been used in attempts to find out what goes on inside students' heads while they are learning. For example, this researcher has used the stimulated-recall interview technique to identify the workplace thinking of a marine science researcher, and the in-class thinking of a year eleven biology student. Such studies as these have produced findings with important implications for the classroom teacher in the role of action researcher. This paper describes how to conduct stimulated-recall interviews and discusses some classroom implications from the two studies.
Action Research: Some Methodological and Political Considerations.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Chisholm, Lynne
Critiques action research from a feminist theoretical perspective, identifying a duality between mainstream and antisexist action research. Argues mainstream researchers' rational distancing fosters self-deception among researchers about what action research can achieve and how it operates. Posits emotional engagement characteristic to antisexist…
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
During 1999-2001, ARS scientists published over 100 papers on biocontrol of 30 insect pests. These papers address issues crucial to the three strategies of biological control: conservation, augmentation, and introduction. ARS scientists have been very active in determining the effects of pesticides...
Developing preceptorship through action research: Part 1.
Hilli, Yvonne; Melender, Hanna-Leena
Clinical preception in practice plays a significant role in both registered and practical nurse studies. As such, the cooperation between the faculty and working life is important to narrow the theory-practice gap, with emphasis being placed on a student-oriented approach promoting self-direction and lifelong learning. The aim of this project was to develop the preceptorship at five different units within the health-care sector in western Finland by implementing an action research (AR) approach. This article is the first of a two-part article on the project, focusing on a cultural analysis and the development of preception models conducted within the project. The five units participating in the study were the following: a long-term care ward in the community, a ward for people with dementia, a geriatric ward, a medical ward and a surgical ward representing specialised care. The starting point of the study was a cultural analysis, which was made in all the five units to obtain a 'bottom-up' perspective. In each of the five units 3-5 nurses were appointed to become members of the core groups. This meant that all the units would start from the perspective of their own working environment when creating a preception model that would fit into their particular workplace. During this process, the participants received continuous support from the researchers. Several workshops and seminars were also arranged to further support the core groups and staff. The models were implemented and tested during the academic year 2010-2011 followed by an evaluation of the project. The evaluation results will be presented in the second part of the two-part article. The project showed that reflective practice and critical thinking can be improved through an AR approach. PMID:25684330
Action Research Methods: Plain and Simple
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Klein, Sheri R., Ed.
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…
Improving Teaching with Collaborative Action Research: An ASCD Action Tool
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cunningham, Diane
Once you've established a professional learning community (PLC), you need to get this ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) action tool to ensure that your PLC stays focused on addressing teaching methods and student learning problems. This ASCD action tool explains how your PLC can use collaborative action research to…
The latest progress in sugarcane molecular genetics research at the USDA-ARS, Sugarcane Research Laboratory
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
In 2005, two sugar molecular genetics tools were developed in the USDA-ARS, Southeast Area, Sugarcane Research Laboratory at Houma, LA. One is the high throughput fluorescence- and capillary electrophoregrams (CE)-based SSR genotyping tool and the other is single pollen collection and SSR genotyping...
Participatory Action Research and the Public Sphere
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kemmis, Stephen
Some action research today lacks a critical edge. This article identifies five inadequate forms of action research, and argues that action research must be capable of "telling unwelcome truths" against schooling in the interests of education. It reasserts a connection between education and emancipatory ideals that allow educators to address…
Post-Colonial Theory and Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Parsons, Jim B.; Harding, Kelly J.
This essay explores connections between post-colonial theory and action research. Post-colonial theory is committed to addressing the plague of colonialism. Action research, at its core, promises to problematize uncontested "colonial" hegemonies of any form. Both post-colonial theory and action research engage dialogic, critically reflective and…
Action Research and Academic Writing: A Conversation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Winter, Richard; Badley, Graham
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…
Research to Action: an evaluation.
Murphy, Gail Tomblin; Alder, Rob; MacKenzie, Adrian; Cook, Amanda; Maddalena, Victor
The evaluation of the Research to Action project was conducted using an Outcome Mapping (OM) methodology (Earl et al. 2001) with a mixed-methods, repeat survey (before/after) study design. This design uses concurrent measurement of process and outcome indicators at baseline and follow-up. The RTA project proved effective at improving work environments and thereby promoting the retention and recruitment of nurses. Nurses involved in the RTA initiatives had a higher perception of leadership and support in their units, improved job satisfaction, increased empowerment and occupational commitment, and a greater intention to stay on the job.The pilot projects were most successful when there were clearly stated objectives, buy-in from nurses, support from the steering committee and management, and adequate communication among stakeholders. Committed coordination and leadership, both locally and nationally, were central to success.Considerable evidence has documented the challenges facing Canada's nursing human resources and their workplaces, such as high levels of turnover, excessive use of overtime and persistent shortages. There is a growing imperative to translate this research into action, and much of the available evidence presents viable policy alternatives for consideration. For example, a recent national synthesis report (Maddalena and Crupi 2008) recommended that, in consultation with stakeholders, processes should be put in place to share knowledge and best practices in nursing management, practice, staffing models and innovations in workplace health and well-being.Nurses across the country report a desire to be more involved in decisions affecting them and their patients (Wortsman and Janowitz 2006). A recent study on the shortage of registered nurses in Canada (Tomblin Murphy et al. 2009) highlighted the need for collaboration among governments, employers, unions and other stakeholders to improve working conditions for nurses. Another report notes the
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
This annual report is a summary of objectives and current research accomplishments of the USDA-ARS Wheat, Peanut and Other Field Crops Research Unit, Stillwater, OK, concerning aphids and cereal aphid resistance. Personnel and recent publications are also listed. ...
Promoting Quality for Teacher Action Research: Lessons Learned from Science Teachers' Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Capobianco, Brenda M.; Feldman, Allan
In this article we explore the concept of quality in teacher action research by re-examining our participation with science teachers in several different collaborative action research projects. We conducted second-order action research and generated a series reflexive conditions for promoting and ensuring quality action research. We assert that a…
Action Research: Informing Professional Practice within Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hine, Gregory S. C.; Lavery, Shane D.
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…
Publishing Action Research in Counseling Journals
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Guiffrida, Douglas A.; Douthit, Kathryn Z.; Lynch, Martin F.; Mackie, Karen L.
The increased use of action research in counseling training and professional publications provides an opportunity to bridge the research-practitioner gap that has plagued the profession for decades. In this article, action research is defined, and special considerations that counselor researchers need to address when designing, conducting, and…
Efficient laser action on the 342-nm band of molecular iodine using ArF laser pumping
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Shaw, M. J.; Edwards, C. B.; Oneill, F.; Fotakis, C.; Donovan, R. J.
Strong laser action on the 342-nm band of I2 has been obtained by transverse pumping I2/SF6 mixtures at 193 nm with an ArF laser. The highest output energy obtained was 230 mJ at an intrinsic energy conversion efficiency of approximately 30% equivalent to a photon efficiency of greater than 50%.
Exposing New Academics through Action Research?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smith, Karen; Fernie, Scott
While collaborative action research is an empowering approach to developing academic practice, it also presents a number of challenges regarding the purpose, nature and consequences of academic development. This research note raises questions and issues concerning how action research exposes new academics to the conflicts and tensions of the…
Teachers in Action Research: Assumptions and Potentials
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Li, Yuen-Ling
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.…
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…
Analyzing Enterprise Networks Needs: Action Research from the Mechatronics Sector
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cagnazzo, Luca; Taticchi, Paolo; Bidini, Gianni; Baglieri, Enzo
New business models and theories are developing nowadays towards collaborative environments direction, and many new tools in sustaining companies involved in these organizations are emerging. Among them, a plethora of methodologies to analyze their needs are already developed for single companies. Few academic works are available about Enterprise Networks (ENs) need analysis. This paper presents the learning from an action research (AR) in the mechatronics sector: AR has been used in order to experience the issue of evaluating network needs and therefore define, develop, and test a complete framework for network evaluation. Reflection on the story in the light of the experience and the theory is presented, as well as extrapolation to a broader context and articulation of usable knowledge.
Action research: what, why and how?
Vallenga, Dineke; Grypdonck, Mieke H F; Hoogwerf, Lucienne J R; Tan, Francis I Y
Action research is a form of research that enables practitioners to investigate and evaluate their own work. It is increasingly used in health care research; it is a research strategy in which the researcher and practitioners from the setting under study work together in projects aimed at generating new knowledge and simultaneously improving practice. This article gives an overview of the theoretical background of action research, its international historical development and explanations of its varied forms and related practical applications. Ethical problems are discussed as are questions of rigour The article shows that action research can be used to bridge the gap between theory and practice by generating knowledge fitting the particular circumstances in the practical setting, thereby avoiding problems of implementation of research findings due to lack of fit or lack of motivation. Action research lastingly increases the capacities of practitioners to solve problems encountered in practice. PMID:19681439
A Teacher's Professional Development through Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sakshaug, Lynae E.; Wohlhuter, Kay A.; Lach, Tisa
Action research is a process that classroom teachers undertake to reflect upon and improve their own teaching. This study followed an elementary teacher's two-year experience with an action research project in which her middle school students played mathematical-related games. Through the teacher's involvement in this project, her core beliefs…
Towards Teachers' Professional Autonomy through Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bustingorry, Sonia Osses
Educational action research was carried out between 2003 and 2006, focusing on developing high-school teachers' professional autonomy belonging to the scientific area in poor communes of the ninth Region de la Araucana, Chile. The research is contextualized in the Chilean educational reality and based on each of the stages of the action research…
Dance Education Action Research: A Twin Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Giguere, Miriam
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,…
Teachers' Classroom-Based Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cain, Tim
Teachers' classroom-based action research is sometimes misunderstood by those who undertake it and support it, in three respects. First, it is wrongly assumed to fall into either positivist or interpretive paradigms (or perhaps a mixture of both) or to be critical. Second, there is little understanding as to why action research is necessarily…
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…
Action Research and the Micropolitics in Schools
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Eilertsen, Tor-Vidar; Gustafson, Niklas; Salo, Petri
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…
USDA-ARS-SPA Wheat, Peanut and Other Field Crops Research Unit annual report
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
A Report on the research activities of the Small Grains and other Crops Research Unit of the USDA-ARS, Plant Science Research Laboratory in Stillwater, Oklahoma, was compiled for WERA-066 Meeting that was held in Ft. Collins, Colorado, September 2010. Research summaries included predicting the impa...
USDA-ARS-SPA Wheat, Peanut and Other Field Crops Research Unit Annual Report
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
A Report on the research activities of the Small Grains and other Crops Research Unit of the USDA-ARS, Plant Science Research Laboratory in Stillwater, Oklahoma, was compiled for WERA-066 Meeting that was held in Stillwater, Oklahoma, February 24-26, 2009. Research summaries included predicting the...
Pacific Northwest USDA-ARS Jointed Goatgrass Research and Extension Activities
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The USDA-ARS weed scientists have conducted research and extension activities on six research projects funded by the National Jointed Goatgrass Research Program (NJGGRP). This poster reviews the objectives and major research findings from these federally funded projects. Most of these projects wer...
USDA-ARS Wheat, Peanut and Other Field Crops Research Unit Annual Report
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
A Report on the research activities of the Small Grains and other Crops Research Unit of the USDA-ARS, Plant Science Research Laboratory in Stillwater, Oklahoma, was compiled for WERA-066 Meeting that was held in Manhattan, Kansas, September 18 - 20, 2006. Research summaries included predicting the...
Operationalizing the Concept of Value--An Action Research-Based Model
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Naslund, Dag; Olsson, Annika; Karlsson, Sture
Purpose: While the importance of measuring customer satisfaction levels is well established, less research exists on how organizations operationalize such knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to describe an action research (AR) case study resulting in a workshop model to operationalize the concept of value. The model facilitates organizational…
Action Research for Educational Reform: Remodelling Action Research Theories and Practices in Local Contexts
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Somekh, Bridget; Zeichner, Ken
This paper explores how action research theories and practices are remodelled in local contexts and used to support educational reform. From an analysis of 46 publications from the period 2000-2008, five "variations" in the globalized theory and practice of action research are identified: action research in times of political upheaval and…
ARS Nursery and Floricultural Crop Research in Ohio
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The Application Technology Research Unit is the largest multidisciplinary research team in the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, conducting studies on floricultural and nursery crops. On-farm research, part of ATRU Mission to conduct fundamental and development...
Action Research: Improving Graduate-Level Writing
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Carter, Nari
I am a doctoral student enrolled in an educational research program. While completing an action research course, I conducted research to improve my academic writing and to develop skills for formulating arguments about educational issues. From this research I developed an appreciation for and an understanding of good writing habits and elements of…
Action Research in Action: Curricular Articulation and Integrated Instruction.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Arnold, Douglas E.
During the 1995-96 school year, the author (a principal) and three teachers developed an action research project at a Virginia high school. The idea was to increase curricular articulation among departments and connections among disciplines (art, physics, and geometry) at the school. Teachers overcame two major barriers: lack of common planning…
Empowering communities: action research through healthy cities.
Flynn, B C; Ray, D W; Rider, M S
The Healthy Cities process uses action research to empower communities to take action for health. Five concepts that link community empowerment and action research are: focus on community, citizen participation, information and problem solving, sharing of power, and quality of life. Two city examples from Healthy Cities Indiana, a pilot program of CITYNET Healthy Cities, provide illustrations of these concepts. The dynamics of community participation in action research and the successes and barriers to community participation are presented. Outcomes that empowered the community are suggested: the extent to which Healthy City projects are initiated, their progress monitored, continued action in health supported, resources obtained, and policies promoted that contribute equity in health. PMID:8002362
Science Teacher Development through Collaborative Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Fazio, Xavier; Melville, Wayne
This article explores the views and actions of four science teachers participating in a collaborative action research project. A qualitative case study approach was used to describe and analyze the development of these teachers. This development initially involved the teachers critically comparing their extant practices to current developments in…
Participatory Action Research: Integrating Community Occupational Therapy Practice and Research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cockburn, Lynn; Trentham, Barry
Projects involving mental health clients receiving occupational therapy and senior citizens engaged in capacity building illustrate steps in the participatory action research (PAR) process: issue identification and planning; investigation and action; action, reflection, and modification cycles; and knowledge creation and change. Challenges and…
Long-term agro-ecosystem research or the southern great plains: The USDA-ARS Grazinglands Research Laboratory partnership
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is coordinating ten well-established research sites as a Long-Term Agro-ecosystem Research (LTAR) Network. The goal of the LTAR is to sustain a land-based infrastructure for research, environmental management testing, and education, that enables understan...
ARS irrigation research priorities and projects-An update
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The USDA Agricultural Research Service focuses on six areas of research that are crucial to safe and effective use of all water resources for agricultural production: 1) Irrigation Scheduling Technologies for Water Productivity; 2) Water Productivity (WP) at Multiple Scales; 3) Irrigation Applicatio...
Participatory Action Research as a Model for Conducting Family Research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Turnbull, Ann P.; Friesen, Barbara J.; Ramirez, Carmen
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…
Traumatic Brain Injury: FDA Research and Actions
... For Consumers Home For Consumers Consumer Updates Traumatic Brain Injury: FDA Research and Actions Share Tweet Linkedin ... top What to Do if You Suspect Traumatic Brain Injury Anyone with signs of moderate or severe ...
Action Research and the School Counselor
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gamsky, Neal R.
Points to need for counselors to be involved in research activities, while at the same time examining reasons why they are not. Suggests that counselors have an obligation to divest themselves of the rigidity that hampers research at the local level, and attempt to conduct action research. (CJ)
Action Research as a Professional Development Activity
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
West, Chad
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.…
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…
A decade of conservation effects assessment research by USDA-ARS: Progress overview and future outlook
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
Ten years ago, the USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) began a series of watershed assessment studies as part of the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP). In this overview, we review a decade of research progress in 14 watersheds dominated by rain-fed croplands, to introduce a special...
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has undertaken a wide variety of research projects dealing with the development of bio-based food and non-food products from waste and underutilized agricultural residues and processes for their utilization. The Na...
Action Research for Developing Social Workers' Research Capacity
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lunt, Neil; Fouche, Christa
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…
Improving Teacher Education through Action Research. Routledge Research in Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hui, Ming-Fai, Ed.; Grossman, David L., Ed.
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…
An Emancipation Framework for Technology Education Teachers: An Action Research Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mapotse, Tomé Awshar
This article reports on how action research (AR) was influential in designing an educational instrument to contribute to emancipating teachers with no formal training to teach technology as a subject in secondary schools. The subject technology is referred to using different names in different countries. Some call it "science and…
Training and Work Organisation: An Action-Research Study in a Sales and Distribution Company
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bernardes, Alda Cristina; Lopes, Albino Pedro
This study seeks to define a method of designing work-linked training, based on day-to-day work practices and the collaboration between all those involved. From diagnosis to evaluation, no training is designed or given without considering the opinions and interests of the parties involved. The method used is based on action research (AR) and on…
Reflecting on Evidence: Leaders Use Action Research to Improve Their Teacher Performance Reviews
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Piggot-Irvine, Eileen
The paper reports on an action research (AR) project with six public high school leaders (reviewers) who volunteered to engage in an 18 month project to overcome their own defensiveness in addressing concerns with teachers (reviewees) whose performance they were evaluating. In the paper I outline how I acted as a coach in a long-term development…
What Can We Take Home? Action Research for Malaysian Preservice TESOL Teachers in Australia
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Neilsen, Rod
Action Research (AR) is recognised as an effective way for language teachers to extend teaching skills and gain more understanding of teaching, learning and the classroom environment (Burns, 2010). It can also be a useful but challenging experience for trainee language teachers. This paper reports on the experiences of Malaysian trainee primary…
Action Research for Educators. Second Edition
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tomal, Daniel R.
This book is a straightforward, no-nonsense guide to a research method that can be used by educators to increase student learning, student self-esteem, and quality of school life in the classroom. This user-friendly book covers the principles and history of action research, ethical and legal considerations, methods for conducting both formal and…
Breakthroughs in Action Research through Poetry
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Barrett, Terry
This paper discusses how major breakthroughs in generating, analysing and disseminating action research about problem-based learning were made through the medium of poetry. I used poetry in three ways: as data, as an interpretive device and as a reflective medium. Poetry helped me to disseminate my research in provocative, memorable and…
Productive Tensions in Youth Participatory Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kirshner, Ben
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…
ARS Research on Harmful Algal Blooms in SE USA Aquaculture Impoundments
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
As part of an EPA sponsored state of knowledge symposium on toxic cyanobacteria, six workgroups were established to assess published literature. A review of ARS research on harmful algal blooms was made by the incumbent. Aquaculture systems have had four types of freshwater toxic algal blooms. De...
Update on the USDA-ARS and HBOI Sustainable Marine Aquaculture Research Program
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
In 2001 the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (UDSA-ARS) and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution (HBOI) began a joint program to develop sustainable marine aquaculture technologies in closed recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) at the HBOI facility in Fort Pierce, F...
Some values guiding community research and action
Fawcett, Stephen B.
The dual purposes of applied research—contributing to understanding and improvement—are only partially served by method systems that encourage studying (with increasing precision) a narrow range of questions of modest societal importance. To optimize contributions to challenging societal problems, a field's cherished standards should be adapted to support more adventuresome forms of community research and action. This paper outlines 10 values for community research and action, based on insights from the fields of behavioral and community psychology. These values—reflect the goals and challenges of establishing collaborative relationships with research participants, determining research goals and methods, designing and disseminating interventions, communicating research findings, and advocating for community change. Critical challenges are outlined, and implications for the field and its clients are discussed. PMID:16795759
Action Research and Organisational Learning: A Norwegian Approach to Doing Action Research in Complex Organisations
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Eikeland, Olav
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 overview nor a…
The Collaborative Action Research Network: 30 Years of Agency in Developing Educational Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Somekh, Bridget
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 activity…
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
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…
Reflective Internet Searching: An Action Research Model.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Edwards, Sylvia Lauretta; Bruce, Christine
Presents an action research model of planning, acting, recording, and reflecting as an approach to Internet searching. Explains how the constantly changing Internet environment requires continuous reassessment of search tools and strategies and development of new techniques. (Contains 14 references.) (SK)
A Synthesis of Action Research on Coaching
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Day, Nicole Kristine
This paper reviews data from 27 final reports of action research projects in the area of instructional coaching undertaken as part of Cycle 4 (2008-2010) of the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI). AISI was an Alberta government programme that provided funding to every school district to allow teachers to create site-based, action…
Using Participatory Action Research to Address Absenteeism
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ferrell, Elizabeth W.; Nance, Cara N.; Torres, Amanda L.; Torres, Selina M.
Many urban high schools serving low-income families have below-average attendance rates, which can indicate that fewer students are prepared to matriculate into college and career opportunities. Through the use of participatory action research (PAR), we--a group of four educators at Wilson High School--have changed school policies and procedures…
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…
Indigenizing Teacher Education: An Action Research Project
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kitchen, Julian; Raynor, Marg
This action research report focuses on a new elective course entitled "Indigenizing Education: Education for/about Aboriginal Peoples" that was developed and taught by two teacher educators--one Euro-Canadian and the other Metis. The purpose of the course was to increase understanding of Indigenous peoples and of the impact of…
Building Capacity through Action Research Curricula Reviews
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lee, Vanessa; Coombe, Leanne; Robinson, Priscilla
In Australia, graduates of Master of Public Health (MPH) programmes are expected to achieve a set of core competencies, including a subset that is specifically related to Indigenous health. This paper reports on the methods utilised in a project which was designed using action research to strengthen Indigenous public health curricula within MPH…
Action Research: Order Out of Chaos.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Geffen, Mitzi
Describes on Israeli English-as-a-Foreign-Language teacher's action research project that focused on how to teach reading comprehension in English to a class of ninth grade boys. Outlines the teacher's goals, implementation of the project, and thoughts on the outcomes. (Author/VWL)
Action Research: Conducting Activities for Third Graders.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
James, Lorinda
Discusses the action research conducted on whether the use of conducting patterns will not only help students understand meter, but also assist them in grasping certain expressive qualities of music. Finds that the posttest showed a 10 percent gain overall in the understanding of meter, tempo, dynamics, and style. (CMK)
Participatory Action Research: A View from Xerox.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Pace, Larry A.; Argona, Dominick R.
Describes the Quality of Work Life (QWL) program at the North American Manufacturing Division of Xerox Corporation and the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union. States that the story of QWL is a description of participatory action research. Notes that the process has become an integral and flexible approach to solving problems and…
USDA-ARS Riesel Watersheds, Riesel, Texas, USA: Water quality research database
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Harmel, R. Daren; Haney, Richard L.; Smith, Douglas R.; White, Michael; King, Kevin W.
The 75 year legacy database including discharge, sediment loss, land management, and meteorological data for the USDA-ARS Riesel Watersheds, Riesel, TX, USA has been available on the web for more than a decade (www.ars.usda.gov/spa/hydro-data) and used in numerous studies and publications; however, only recently have these data been added to the Sustaining the Earth's Watersheds, Agricultural Research Data System (STEWARDS) database (www.nrrig.mwa.ars.usda.gov/stewards/stewards.html). In addition, water quality data including dissolved inorganic N and P compounds measured from more than 1000 storm runoff events, 1300 base flow sampling events (lateral subsurface return flow or seepage flow), and 157 precipitation events through 2012 were added. The objectives of this manuscript are to present relevant background information on these data, summarize the data collection and analysis methodology, present the measured data along with cursory analyses, and convey the commitment of the USDA-ARS Riesel Watersheds to long-term data accessibility and database enhancement for water quality data and research.
Participatory Action Research Experiences for Undergraduates
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sample McMeeking, L. B.; Weinberg, A. E.
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
Challenges to participation in action research.
de Toledo, Renata Ferraz; Giatti, Leandro Luiz
In order to understand and take action in complex health and environmental issues, we intend to analyse the conditions that are needed for those at risk to participate in research and intervention projects. In this study, we describe and discuss an action research experience carried out with an indigenous community in the Brazilian Amazon that suffers from serious sanitary problems, where cultural aspects in the relationship with the environment and health are particularly relevant. Different types of tools were deployed and combined and were subsequently classified according to their dialectic efficacy and ability to both conduct and steer the research and encourage the participation of social actors within a process of feedback. Even tools that were considered to be non-dialectic proved to be important sources of feedback. We present a research flow as a model of analysis and a framework for implementing action research, in which challenges to the participation of social actors are classified according to their priority through a critical review of the methodology developed. These challenges are social mobilization, co-operation, appropriation and a proactive stance. We conclude that a cyclic combination of dialectic and non-dialectic tools can increase participation, which though difficult to achieve is nevertheless necessary. During the development of this process, social mobilization is a prerequisite, whereas a proactive stance, the highest level of participation, requires continuous effort and the successive deployment of a variety of tools. PMID:25239444
The Potential of Deweyan-Inspired Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stark, Jody L.
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…
Using Evidence: How Action Learning Can Support Individual and Organisational Learning through Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dewar, Belinda; Sharp, Cathy
This article discusses the use of action learning as a structured and deliberate learning process to support practitioners to implement change in an action research project. It discusses both action learning and action research before describing the context of the study. The article then goes on to discuss how the process of action learning…
Understanding Participatory Action Research: A Qualitative Research Methodology Option
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
MacDonald, Cathy
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…
Developing Managers as Learners and Researchers: Using Action Learning and Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Raelin, Joseph A.; Coghlan, David
This article takes the view that formal educational programs often miss opportunities to use the rich experiences of working managers to produce both learning and knowledge. Two alternative pedagogical approaches, action learning and action research, are proposed as contributing to management education by their respective capabilities to generate…
Collaborative action research: implementation of cooperative learning.
Smith-Stoner, Marilyn; Molle, Mary E
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. PMID:20210268
An Action Research Study on the Influence of Gangsta Rap on Academic and Behavioral Issues of 5th Grade African-American Males
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lewis, Shaun; Boes, Susan R.; Chibbaro, Julie S.
This small action research study (ARS) began with a review of the literature examining the relationship of gangsta rap in regards to academic achievement, self-esteem, decision-making, identity issues and development of young African American males. The purpose of the ARS was to examine the correlation between gangsta rap and its influence on 5th…
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
Research on switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) as a biomass energy crop is conducted at several USDA-ARS facilities across the USA. At the USDA-ARS Pasture Systems and Watershed Management Research Unit in University Park, Pennsylvania, research on biomass energy focuses on cropping systems, environm...
Notes toward a Philosophy of Action Learning Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Coghlan, David; Coughlan, Paul
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,…
Translational research on rapid steroid actions.
Wendler, Alexandra; Wehling, Martin
Translational research is a burgeoning science that shows potential to improve the transition of research from bench to bedside. This novel science explores all major aspects of preclinical and clinical issues which are relevant for the success of translational pharmaceutical or medical device/diagnostic innovations. This includes target risk assessment, biomarker evaluation and predictivity grading both for efficacy and toxicity, early human trial design adequate to guide stop/go decisions on grounds of biomarker panels, and biostatistical methods to analyze multiple readout situations and quantify risk projections. Representing a comparably novel science, rapid steroid actions have been recognized to carry potential clinical implications in various fields. Findings in this field have not yet been successfully translated into clinically relevant new medicines except for neurosteroids. A promising compound is the membrane estrogen receptor agonist STX, which may be applicable for estrogen withdrawal symptoms. Nongenomic vitamin D analogs may be useful as antiinflammatory, anticancer or diabetes preventing agents. Further the membrane thyroid receptor agonist tetrac may be useful in cancer treatment. Unfortunately lazaroids (membrane-only active glucocorticoids), which have been clinically tested as neuroprotective agents, had to be abandoned because of lacking clinical efficacy. Yet, the hierarchy of antirheumatic glucocorticoid action in regard to their clinical potency may better correlate with their membrane effects than their ability to bind to the classic glucocorticoid receptor. To improve the translational success of the rapid actions of steroids research, scientists should become familiar with major aspects of translational work and always seek for translational dimensions in their research. PMID:19782096
The Confucian View of the Relationship between Knowledge and Action and Its Relevance to Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tsai, Ching-tien
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…
Development of Action Research in China: Review and Reflection
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zhou, Jun; Liu, Katrina Yan
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…
Action Research within Organisations and University Thesis Writing.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zuber-Skerritt, Ortrun; Perry, Chad
Clarifies differences between core collaborative action research in the field and independent action research for theses. Explains how core action research may be incorporated into thesis research in the social sciences, resulting in more useful outcomes for improving practice. (Contains 21 references.) (SK)
Action Research: A Methodology for Change and Development
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Somekh, Bridget
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,…
What Is to Be Done? The Place of Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kemmis, Stephen
Action research concerns action, and transforming people's practices (as well as their understandings of their practices and the conditions under which they practise). Sometimes we may feel that action research works best when it contributes to our understandings. In this paper, by contrast, I want to explore the "happening-ness" of action and…
Action Research: An Approach for the Teachers in Higher Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yasmeen, Ghazala
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.…
Action Research: An Approach for the Teachers in Higher Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Yasmeen, G.
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…
Action Research in EdD Programs in Educational Leadership
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Osterman, Karen; Furman, Gail; Sernak, Kathleen
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…
The Characteristics of Action Research in Music Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cain, Tim
This review article discusses the use of action research in music education and its potential for producing knowledge and improving practice. The discussion is situated in an analysis of action research studies in music education. The review demonstrates that action research in music education focuses on a wide variety of subject matter,…
Action Research and Teacher Thinking: The First Phase of the Action Research on Action Research Project at the University of Wisconsin--Madison.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Noffke, Susan E.; Zeichner, Kenneth M.
This report on action research projects conducted by student teachers as a part of their preservice teacher preparation program focuses on how action research improves the understanding of educational practices by the practitioner-researchers themselves. Two major topics are discussed. First, specific types of claims about the impact of action…
Action Learning Research? Reflections from the Colloquium at the Third International Conference on Action Learning
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Coghlan, David
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…
History of the USDA-ARS Watershed, Water Resources and Climate Research at Chickasha, Durant, and El Reno, Oklahoma
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The watershed, water resources and climate research conducted at the Great Plains Agroclimate and Natural Resources Research Unit at the USDA, ARS Grazinglands Research Laboratory in El Reno, Oklahoma, is rooted in events reaching as far back as the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. In this narrat...
Reinvigorating Multicultural Education through Youth Participatory Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Irizarry, Jason G.
This article explores youth participatory action research as a promising instructional practice with the potential to reverse the depoliticizing and "softening" of multicultural education. It demonstrates how, with its explicit commitment to action, youth participatory action research can help to improve the educational experiences and outcomes…
Action Research: Enhancing Classroom Practice and Fulfilling Educational Responsibilities
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Young, Mark R.; Rapp, Eve; Murphy, James W.
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…
Constructing Intercultural Knowledge and Understanding through Collaborative Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Somekh, Bridget
Action researchers frequently find themselves caught in a tension between the need to generate actionable, useful knowledge as an outcome of publicly funded research and the necessity to recognize that knowledge can only be actionable, and useful in that sense, if it is locally and culturally specific. This paper directly addresses this tension…
Developing preceptorship through action research: part 2.
Hilli, Yvonne; Melender, Hanna-Leena
Clinical preception in practice plays a significant role in the education of both Registered Nurses and practical nurses. This study presents the evaluation of an interprofessional research and development project (2009-2103) on clinical preceptorship between two universities of applied sciences, two vocational institutes and four healthcare organisations in western Finland. The research question was as follows: How did the participants evaluate the process and outcomes of developing preceptorship through an action-research approach? The primary target group consisted of professionals within the healthcare sector and nursing teachers at the universities of applied sciences and the vocational institutes. The five units represented in the healthcare organisations functioned as clinical practice placements for both nursing and practical nursing students, with Registered Nurses and practical nurses acting as their preceptors. Each unit developed a unique preceptorship model to answer their specific needs. The models were implemented and tested during one academic year followed by a quantitative (a 4-point scale) and qualitative evaluation of the process. The models are presented in another article, and the evaluation results are presented in this article. The evaluation showed that preceptorship has become an important and accepted part of work, including the practice of starting any preception at a unit with a thorough introduction. The project's emphasis on critical thinking, reflection and focus on ethics were valued by the staff. Pedagogical further education should be arranged on a regular basis to strengthen the knowledge base of the preceptors. Furthermore, enough time for preceptorship should be allocated, as it is a pedagogical duty. The implication of this project is that more cooperation between different stake holders is needed, in order to narrow the gap between theory and praxis. PMID:25833207
Student Voice in High School: An Action Research Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Termini, Lorraine
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…
Action Research: An Early History in the United States.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Foshay, Arthur W.
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…
Contextualizing Critical Action Research: Lessons from Urban Educators
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Esposito, Jennifer; Evans-Winters, Venus
In this paper, we argue that teacher-researchers, especially those in politically contested school communities, should be encouraged to conduct critical action research that is contextually bound. Such a research methodology includes tenets of critical action research, postmodern and feminist theory, and attention to how oppression manifests in…
USDA-ARS Plant Science Research Unit, St. Paul Alfalfa/Forage Research Program
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The Plant Science Research Unit (PSRU) located at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul receives approximately $1.5 million to fund the research of six scientists who direct their research efforts toward developing new uses and improved traits for alfalfa. Our overarching goal is to develop alfalf...
Introduction to the Special Series on Participatory Action Research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Park, Hyun-Sook; Meyer, Luanna; Goetz, Lori
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)
Interrupting the Silence: An Action Research Study to Transform a Juvenile Justice Culture for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning & Intersex (LGBTQI) Youth
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McRae, Dawn N.
This action research (AR) study explored practitioners' knowledge of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Intersex (LGBTQI) youth issues in a juvenile justice setting. A research and service approach was employed to develop a LGBTQI policy and training. This study was motivated by three research questions. Does sensitivity…
Assessment as Action Research: Bridging Academic Scholarship and Everyday Practice
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Malenfant, Kara J.; Hinchliffe, Lisa Janicke; Gilchrist, Debra
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…
Getting Girls in the Game: Action Research in the Gymnasium
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Robinson, Daniel B.
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…
Care and Concern: An Ethical Journey in Participatory Action Research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Stuart, Carol A.
Reviews the four basic principles of an ethical framework as outlined by the Code of Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans in light of the requirements of a participatory action research approach. Discusses the ethics of participatory action research in regard to care and concern. Argues that the ethics of morality and justice are…
Estimation of (41)Ar activity concentration and release rate from the TRIGA Mark-II research reactor.
Hoq, M Ajijul; Soner, M A Malek; Rahman, A; Salam, M A; Islam, S M A
The BAEC TRIGA research reactor (BTRR) is the only nuclear reactor in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Atomic Energy Regulatory Authority (BAERA) regulations require that nuclear reactor licensees undertake all reasonable precautions to protect the environment and the health and safety of persons, including identifying, controlling and monitoring the release of nuclear substances to the environment. The primary activation product of interest in terms of airborne release from the reactor is (41)Ar. (41)Ar is a noble gas readily released from the reactor stacks and most has not decayed by the time it moves offsite with normal wind speed. Initially (41)Ar is produced from irradiation of dissolved air in the primary water which eventually transfers into the air in the reactor bay. In this study, the airborne radioisotope (41)Ar generation concentration, ground level concentration and release rate from the BTRR bay region are evaluated theoretically during the normal reactor operation condition by several governing equations. This theoretical calculation eventually minimizes the doubt about radiological safety to determine the radiation level for (41)Ar activity whether it is below the permissible limit or not. Results show that the estimated activity for (41)Ar is well below the maximum permissible concentration limit set by the regulatory body, which is an assurance for the reactor operating personnel and general public. Thus the analysis performed within this paper is so much effective in the sense of ensuring radiological safety for working personnel and the environment. PMID:26736180
USDA-ARS Riesel Watersheds, Riesel, Texas, USA: Water quality research database
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The 75 year legacy database including discharge, sediment loss, land management, and meteorological data for the USDA-ARS Riesel Watersheds has been available on the web for more than a decade (www.ars.usda.gov/spa/hydro-data); however, only recently have additional water quality data been added. T...
Research, demonstration, and extension: the ARS area-wide ecologically based invasive plant management project
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The Area-wide project is a collaborative five year effort funded in 2008 by USDA-ARS that has brought together scientists with the USDA-ARS, universities, land managers, and policy makers throughout the Great Basin. A primary goal of the project is to develop and implement a comprehensive, regional...
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
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…
Sharing Control: Developing Research Literacy through Community-Based Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Juergensmeyer, Erik
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…
Teachers' Action Research in a Culture of Performativity
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cain, Tim; Harris, Richard
In a culture of performativity, action research offers teachers an opportunity to step back and reflect on their practice. This paper reports on a collaborative project carried out between a university and a secondary school in England, in which the university staff supported an action research project within the school. Five school teachers…
Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators. Third Edition
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mertler, Craig A.
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…
A Guide to Connected Curriculum and Action Research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Peppard, Judy
Teachers in the Connecting the Curriculum (CTC) Project utilized action research to study curriculum connections. This guide provides basic information on connected curriculum and action research and explains the processes that underlie them. Chapter 1 introduces connected curriculum, including definitions, frameworks, and multidisciplinary and…
Action Research in Higher Education: Examples and Reflections.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zuber-Skerritt, Ortrun
This book presents a series of case studies in higher education which demonstrate how teams of academics have improved their practice, skill and conditions of learning and teaching through "action research." Action research is defined as collaborative critical enquiry by academics themselves into their own teaching practice, into problems of…
Critical Literacy for School Improvement: An Action Research Project
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cooper, Karyn; White, Robert E.
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 ownership of…
Agroecology Education: Action-Oriented Learning and Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Lieblein, Geir; Breland, Tor Arvid; Francis, Charles; Ostergaard, Edvin
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…
Understanding Changes in Teacher Roles through Collaborative Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Subramaniam, Karthigeyan
The purpose of this article is to present the design and findings of a collaborative action research study that involved five secondary science teachers as action researchers and me, as facilitator, collectively articulating the teachers' changing teaching roles when the teachers taught with computer technology. Data included interviews,…
Elementary Teachers' Teaching for Conceptual Understanding: Learning from Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kang, Nam-Hwa
This study reports teachers' learning through action research on students' conceptual understanding. The study examined (a) the teachers' views about science teaching and learning, (b) the teachers' learning about their teaching practices and (c) the conditions that supported the teachers' learning through action research. A total of 14 elementary…
An Action-Research Project: Community Lead Poisoning Prevention
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rajaram, Shireen S.
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…
A Guide to Facilitating Action Research for Youth
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Goldwasser, Matthew
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…
For the Record: It's Time to Spring into Action Research!
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Garrett, Joyce Lynn
Action research is a systematic approach used by practitioners to conceive questions and control methodologies, and to explore classroom or school-based problems. Action research is the perfect marriage of theory and practice. Recent trends in education, such as professional development schools, data-driven decision making, and undergraduate…
Deliberation, Capability and Action Research: Knowledge and Becoming
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gibbs, Paul
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…
Action Research in Urban Schools: Empowerment, Transformation, and Challenges
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Razfar, Aria
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…
The Reflective Teacher Leader: An Action Research Model
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Furtado, Leena; Anderson, Dawnette
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…
Building Action Research Teams: A Case of Struggles and Successes
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Du, Fengning
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…
Participatory Action Research: An Overview--What Makes It Tick?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gaffney, Michael
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…
The Promise, Pitfalls, and Persistent Challenge of Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Higgins, Chris
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…
Middle School Responses to Cyberbullying: An Action Research Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zidack, Astri Marie
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…
How Does Telling the Truth Help Educational Action Research?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Blair, Erik
A number of key constructs underpin educational action research. This paper focuses on the concept of "truth" and by doing so hopes to highlight some debate in this area. In reflecting upon what "truth" might mean to those involved in action research, I shall critically evaluate Thorndike's "Law of Effect" and Bruner's "Three Forms of…
Embodied Learning and Creative Writing: An Action Research Study
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tobin, Jennifer Ann
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…
Overview of the USDA-ARS marine finfish reproduction and larviculture research program at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
As is the case with most marine finfish species, development of captive breeding and larval production methods to ensure a consistent and reliable source of seed stock is essential to industry expansion. In 2004, USDA-ARS began work to establish a research program at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Ins...
Gasification advanced research and technology development (AR and TD) cross-cut meeting and review. [US DOE supported
Not Available
The US Department of Energy gasification advanced research and technology development (AR and TD) cross-cut meeting and review was held June 24 to 26, 1981, at Germantown, Maryland. Forty-eight papers from the proceedings have been entered individually into EDB and ERA. (LTN)
Twenty years of experience in monitoring 41Ar in a research reactor and decrease of its discharge into the environment.
Fukui, M
The radioactive gas 41Ar has been produced at high concentration by neutron activation near the reactor core in the Kyoto University Research Reactor. A pipe line for an exhaust stream, so-called sweep gas, was fabricated at the construction of the reactor in 1964 in order to exhale 41Ar from the facilities above to the environment. Other exhaust lines with decay tanks were established separately from the sweep line for both the cold neutron source in 1986 and the heavy-water tank in 1996, respectively, because a higher amount of 41Ar was thought to be produced from these facilities due to the improvement. As a result, a slight change in the flow rate of the exhaust was found to have a great deal of influence on both the 41Ar concentration in the reactor room and the rate of emission from the stack. By monitoring the exhaust air from the decay tanks, the mechanism for decreasing the emission was clarified together with identifying an obstacle, i.e., the condensate against the steady state flow, formed in the exhaust pipe. By setting the flow rate suitably in the exhaust line, the rate of 41Ar emission from the biological shielding into both the work place in the reactor room and the environment has been controlled as low as reasonably achievable. PMID:15057060
Assessing country-level efforts to link research to action.
Lavis, John N.; Lomas, Jonathan; Hamid, Maimunah; Sewankambo, Nelson K.
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
Ethical Issues in Collaborative Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Locke, Terry; Alcorn, Noeline; O'Neill, John
This article begins by raising issues around the way in which ethical approval for research is managed in university settings, where committees often base their assumptions on a principlist approach making a number of assumptions that we consider to be contestable, such as a neat separation between researcher and researched. However, collaborative…
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 research…
Shaping Action Researchers through a Master's Capstone Experience
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Slapac, Alina; Navarro, Virginia
As two teacher educators teaching two sections of a master's action research capstone course, we analyze (1) course content and pedagogy, (2) evolving beliefs about research, and (3) transformations in question posing as students assume the role of researchers. Our theoretical frame draws on teacher research, social justice advocacy, and the…
Making the Case for Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Saul, Wendy
As any contemporary teacher knows, credit and credibility are showered on those who engage in research-based practices. And not just any research. It must be tied to a study with a large enough number of participants; a clear intervention; control and experimental groups; results that can be scaled up and replicated... Wait! Is this the only kind…
Environmental Research Puts Science into Action
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zaikowski, Lori; Lichtman, Paul
The new paradigm for student research should be articulations and collaborations with local governmental, academic, and civic entities. This will enable students to make lasting contributions to bettering their communities through scientific research, and to better understand the practical relevance of science. This article presents two such…
Forming a Collaborative Action Research Partnership
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Platteel, Tamara; Hulshof, Hans; Ponte, Petra; van Driel, Jan; Verloop, Nico
This article describes the complex nature of collaborative relationships, the difficulties of conducting research with others, and the complications of partnerships in educational research. To create and sustain a communicative space in which participants can collaborate to innovate education and curriculum, time and opportunity to develop trust…
Teachers Are Researchers: Reflection and Action.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Patterson, Leslie, Ed.; And Others
This book, which focuses on the language arts teacher/researcher, is offered as a testament to teachers' expanding participation in collecting data and building theories about teaching, learning, curriculum, and assessment. The book's 24 chapters are grouped into four parts. The first part addresses general issues about teacher research: its…
History and Culture of Alara--The Action Learning and Action Research Association
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zuber-Skerritt, Ortrun; Passfield, Ron
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…
Re-Visioning Action: Participatory Action Research and Indigenous Theories of Change
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Tuck, Eve
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…
Improving Educational Aspirations and Outcomes through Community Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bleach, Josephine
This paper examines how a community action research approach supported the implementation of an educational support programme for children, parents and local educators. The aim was the creation of a learning community that acknowledged, valued and used the expertise and experience of all involved. The action reflection cycle informed the…
Learning through Participatory Action Research for Community Ecotourism Planning.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Guevara, Jose Roberto Q.
Ecologically sound tourism planning and policy require an empowering community participation. The participatory action research model helps a community gain understanding of its social reality, learn how to learn, initiate dialog, and discover new possibilities for addressing its situation. (SK)
Science Learning Environments and Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Martin-Dunlop, Catherine
A learning environment survey can be easily used in the science classroom to evaluate new instructional approaches, to spark enthusiasm, and to produce evidence showing that science teachers are indeed becoming a reflective practitioner. Conducting learning environment research in the classroom is personally rewarding as well. It allows science…
ESL Online Action Research. Final Report.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Strunk, Sandra J.; Fowler-Frey, Jaclyn
The report describes a project designed to meet professional development needs of Pennsylvania's practitioners in adult basic and literacy education by: (1) creating an infrastructure for guiding practitioners through classroom research with support from colleagues; and (2) linking practitioners through telecommunications. The project allowed ten…
Global Networked Learning: A New Form of Collaborative Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mirny, A.; Wiske, M. S.; Joo, J.; Cunningham, G.; Daniels, D.; Farid, A. B.; Gordon, F.; Madani, R.; Nissen, S. C.
A year-long collaborative action research project used networked technologies to connect researchers at a university-based online professional development program and a group of practitioner researchers based in a range of schools and educational agencies in several countries. They studied the process and effects of online professional development…
Affirmative Actions: Designing Educational Policies to Influence Educational Research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Golden, M. Patricia; And Others
The paper focuses on the relationship between educational research and educational policy, specifically the influence that "affirmative actions" in the policy arena can have not only on the nature of educational research but also on the kinds of participants (e.g., minority persons and women) in the educational research enterprise. A description…
Enhancing Students' Creative Writing Skills: An Action Research Project
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nasir, Laraib; Naqvi, Syeda Meenoo; Bhamani, Shelina
This research aimed to improve written expression (composition) skills of 5th grade students of an elite private school. The research was designed under the paradigm of action research. A total sample of 39 students' from the same grade was chosen for the study. The baseline assessment was carried out to explore the pre-intervention writing skill…
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 make exposure to…
Technology Education Research Symposium: An Action Research Approach
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Merrill, Chris; Cardon, Phillip L.; Helgeson, Kurt R.; Warner, Scott A.
This article describes and discusses the broad goals of the research program, "Technology Education Research Symposium Pilot Program: Growing the Research Base in Technology Education," that took place in 2002. This research effort was designed to introduce students to research at an early stage in their academic careers and encourage them to…
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The USDA-ARS Beltsville Farming Systems Project (FSP) is a long-term cropping systems trial established in Maryland in 1996 to evaluate the sustainability of organic and conventional grain-based cropping systems. The five FSP cropping systems include a two-year organic corn (C)-soybean (S) rotation...
Expanding the utility of the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) process bleaching
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The ARS Process for bleaching, biopolishing, and shrinkproofing wool is a novel alternative to chlorination and conventional bleaching. Consumer acceptance of domestic machine-washable, comfortable wool which can be worn next to the skin will lead to niche-market- potential and competitive, increas...
From Research to Praxis: Empowering Trinidadian Primary School Teachers via Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bissessar, Charmaine S.
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.…
Sharing Action Research on Research Day: Students' Perceptions of a Command Performance
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Foulger, Teresa S.; Zambo, Debby
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…
Black Emancipatory Action Research: Integrating a Theory of Structural Racialisation into Ethnographic and Participatory Action Research Methods
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Akom, Antwi A. A.
The central purpose of this article is to introduce Black Emancipatory Action Research (BEAR) as a framework that will allow social scientists to explore the implications that "racing research and researching race" have for methodological practices and knowledge production in the field of education and beyond (Twine and Warren 2003). Drawing on…
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The Sweetpotato Whitefly, Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) Strain B (= Silverleaf Whitefly, Bemisia argentifolii Bellows and Perring), National Research and Action Plans (1992-1997 and 1997-2002) were developed by USDA agencies (ARS, APHIS, and CSREES), state agencies, state agricultural experimental stat...
New Research Program at the Sugar Beet Research Unit (USDA-ARS, Ft. Collins) Focusing on Addressing Plant-Pathogen Interactions
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
Diseases are recognized as a major cause of yield and sugar losses in sugar beet production worldwide. The Fort Collins USDA-ARS Sugarbeet Research Unit (SBRU) mission is to facilitate development of sugar beet germplasm with greater disease resistance and assist in the development of improved and ...
Workplace flexibility: from research to action.
Galinsky, Ellen; Sakai, Kelly; Wigton, Tyler
emphasis on flexibility as one component of effective workplaces that can benefit employers, employees, and communities alike. Galinsky, Sakai, and Wigton conclude by drawing lessons learned from the project and briefly discussing the implications of using research to bring about workplace change. PMID:22013632
The Researcher Reflecting on Her Own Role during Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Postholm, May Britt; Skrøvset, Siw
This article focuses on the challenges and opportunities a researcher may encounter in practice, and presents four narratives that take the reader into situations which may arise when the researcher steps into the practice field. Episodes that challenge the researcher both cognitively and emotionally are depicted in the narratives. The authors…
Formerly incarcerated women create healthy lives through participatory action research.
Parsons, Mickey L; Warner-Robbins, Carmen
The specific purpose of the participatory action research study was to facilitate formerly incarcerated women who participate in Welcome Home Ministries (WHM) to develop their own plans and specific strategies, and to take action to build their own healthy futures. The research had a duel purpose of joint generation of knowledge and intervention relative to women's capacity building. The research intervention was the creation, implementation, and follow-up of a future search conference. The outcomes, conclusions, and implications for practice are discussed. PMID:11845765
Play and Literacy: A Collaborative Action Research Project in Preschool
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Einarsdottir, Johanna
The article describes a collaborative action research in a preschool in Reykjavik. The participants were two preschool teachers who collaborated with researchers at the University of Iceland. The project was set up as a professional development course for the teachers. Emphasis was placed on continuity in children's education, integration of…
Building Community Linkages: Some Thoughts on Community Based Action Research.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mora, Juana
An original goal of Chicano Studies was to promote improvement of social and economic conditions in the community, with Chicana and Chicano scholars at the forefront of community struggles. Within this perspective, research is problem-based and part of the community action process. Chicano community groups want to work with researchers and…
Taking Research into Schools: The West Lothian Action Enquiry Model
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Binnie, Lynne M.; Allen, Kristen; Beck, Elaine
This paper outlines the efforts of an Educational Psychology Service (EPS) to develop its practice in the area of research. It will argue that the Action Enquiry model of service delivery can empower teaching staff and may allow an effective means of change and improvement to take place in schools. This model steers research towards providing…
Strategic Approaches to Practice: An Action Research Project
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Burwell, Kim; Shipton, Matthew
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…
Action Research and the Educational Doctorate: New Promises and Visions
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Zambo, Debby; Isai, Shelley
This case study reveals the development and action research work of a student in a newly designed educational doctorate aimed at preparing scholarly and influential practitioners. Data were gathered from a research journal, field notes, email correspondence, observation, and dissertation work, and analyzed with a constant comparative approach.…
Partnerships for progress in active living: from research to action
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The theme for the 2011 Active Living Research Annual Conference was "Partnerships for Progress in Active Living: From Research to Action." The rationale for this theme was simple: no person is an island. The theme recognizes that partnerships are essential to identify and implement solutions for co...
Professionalize Sudanese Teachers' Conception of Work through Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Bashir, Ishraga
Teacher action research is in the emergent stages in Sudanese schools and needs to be well disseminated and actively supported from the Ministry of education. Although the teacher-as-researcher movement has been in existence for some twenty years, there is a reason to think that the majority if not all, of Sudanese class teachers remain…
Action Research: A Spiral Inquiry for Valid and Useful Knowledge
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Moghaddam, Alireza
This article discusses methodological and philosophical issues linked to action research. The concepts of subjectivity and objectivity--potential sources of bias that mislead researchers in dealing with these concepts--and how to cope with them are discussed. Controversial issues of truth in positivism, postpositivism, and other schools of…
Using Action Research Projects to Examine Teacher Technology Integration Practices
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Dawson, Kara
This study examined the technology integration practices of teachers involved in a statewide initiative via one cycle of action research. It differs from other studies of teacher technology integration practices because it simultaneously involved and provided direct benefits to teachers and researchers. The study used thematic analysis to provide…
Seeking Renewal, Finding Community: Participatory Action Research in Teacher Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Draper, Roni Jo; Adair, Marta; Broomhead, Paul; Gray, Sharon; Grierson, Sirpa; Hendrickson, Scott; Jensen, Amy P.; Nokes, Jeffery D.; Shumway, Steven; Siebert, Daniel; Wright, Geoffrey
This narrative study describes the experiences of a group of teacher educators as they worked together in a collaborative research activity investigating theories of literacy and the preparation of secondary teachers. The collaboration was organized around the precepts associated with participatory action research (PAR). After four years of…
Action Research: An Educational Leader's Guide to School Improvement.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Glanz, Jeffrey
Useful as a classroom text and self-teaching tool, this book outlines the process of designing and reporting action research projects in schools. The underlying assumption of the book is that research is not a domain that belongs only to academics, but is a powerful approach that can be used by practitioners to contribute to school renewal and…
AR-601 anthropomorphic robot modeling and virtualization toolset for research and education purposes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sirazetdinov, R.; Kamalov, A.; Nikitina, D.; Katsevman, E.
A program toolset for modeling and visualization of anthropomorphic robot AR-601 produced by "NPO Androidnaya technika" was implemented, allowing one to test the components of the control system and to debug control algorithms on a virtual model of the robot. The toolset might be used for both scientific and educational purposes. The work is performed according to the Russian Government Program of Competitive Growth of the Kazan Federal University (KFU).
Werner, Ralf; Holterhus, Paul-Martin
Androgens are important for male sex development and physiology. Their actions are mediated by the androgen receptor (AR), a ligand-dependent nuclear transcription factor. The activity of the AR is controlled at multiple stages due to ligand binding and induced structural changes assisted by the foldosome, compartmentalization, recruitment of coregulators, posttranslational modifications and chromatin remodeling, leading to subsequent transcription of androgen-responsive target genes. Beside these short-term androgen actions, there is phenomenological and experimental evidence of long-term androgen programming in mammals and in the human during sensitive programming time windows, both pre- and postnatally. At the molecular level, research into androgen insensitivity syndrome has unmasked androgen programming at the transcriptome level, in genital fibroblasts and peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and at the epigenome level. Androgens are crucial for male sex development and physiology during embryogenesis, at puberty and in adult life. Testosterone and its more potent metabolite, dihydrotestosterone, which is converted from testosterone within the target cell by 5α-reductase II, are the main androgens involved in male sex differentiation. Androgen action is mediated by a single AR. The AR belongs to the nuclear receptor 3 group C, composed of the glucocorticoid receptor (NR3C1), mineralocorticoid receptor (NR3C2), progesterone receptor (NR3C3) and AR (NR3C4), and acts as a ligand-dependent transcription factor. PMID:25247642
Ethical Research Practices: Collaborative Action Research, Part II
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Calvin, Chris
This is part II of a case study involving a large federally funded technology grant program implemented across several central Texas school districts and was followed by the researcher-participant at the university level as well as one of the campus sites. Many ethical research questions were raised during this study such as the use of participant…
Learning from Action Research About Science Teacher Preparation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mitchener, Carole P.; Jackson, Wendy M.
In this article, we present a case study of a beginning science teacher's year-long action research project, during which she developed a meaningful grasp of learning from practice. Wendy was a participant in the middle grade science program designed for career changers from science professions who had moved to teaching middle grade science. An extended action research experience in the second year of induction proved valuable to her in learning how to modify her teaching to reach her goal, using evidence of student learning as her guide. This article closes with reflections on the value of extended action research within science teacher preparation, particularly early in one's career, and explores the promise for ongoing practice-based professional development throughout a teacher's career.
Towards a Reflection Repertoire: Using a Thinking Tool to Understand Tensions in an Action Research Project
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Aas, Marit
Most action researchers agree that action research consists of cycles of planning, acting, reflecting, and taking further action. However, in action research literature, there is something missing. The nature of reflection in the action research process, including its relationship with the tensions that arise while discussing purposes, processes,…
CUDC-101, a Novel Inhibitor of Full-Length Androgen Receptor (flAR) and Androgen Receptor Variant 7 (AR-V7) Activity: Mechanism of Action and In Vivo Efficacy.
Sun, Huiying; Mediwala, Sanjay N; Szafran, Adam T; Mancini, Michael A; Marcelli, Marco
Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is an androgen receptor (AR)-dependent disease expected to cause the death of more than 27,000 Americans in 2015. There are only a few available treatments for CRPC, making the discovery of new drugs an urgent need. We report that CUDC-101 (an inhibitor od HER2/NEU, EGFR and HDAC) inhibits both the full length AR (flAR) and the AR variant AR-V7. This observation prompted experiments to discover which of the known activities of CUDC-101 is responsible for the inhibition of flAR/AR-V7 signaling. We used pharmacologic and genetic approaches, and found that the effect of CUDC-101 on flAR and AR-V7 was duplicated only by other HDAC inhibitors, or by silencing the HDAC isoforms HDAC5 and HDAC10. We observed that CUDC-101 treatment or AR-V7 silencing by RNAi equally reduced transcription of the AR-V7 target gene, PSA, without affecting viability of 22Rv1 cells. However, when cellular proliferation was used as an end point, CUDC-101 was more effective than AR-V7 silencing, raising the prospect that CUDC-101 has additional targets beside AR-V7. In support of this, we found that CUDC-101 increased the expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21, and decreased that of the oncogene HER2/NEU. To determine if CUDC-101 reduces growth in a xenograft model of prostate cancer, this drug was given for 14 days to castrated male SCID mice inoculated with 22Rv1 cells. Compared to vehicle, CUDC-101 reduced xenograft growth in a statistically significant way, and without macroscopic side effects. These studies demonstrate that CUDC-101 inhibits wtAR and AR-V7 activity and growth of 22Rv1 cells in vitro and in vivo. These effects result from the ability of CUDC-101 to target not only HDAC signaling, which was associated with decreased flAR and AR-V7 activity, but multiple additional oncogenic pathways. These observations raise the possibility that treatment of CRPC may be achieved by using similarly multi-targeted approaches. PMID
The South Florida Avocado Breeding Program at USDA-Agricultural Research Service Subtropical Horticulture Research Station (USDA-ARS SHRS)
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
USDA-ARS SHRS is part of the USDA National Germplasm Repository system and houses collections of tropical and subtropical fruit trees such as mango, lychee, and avocado. In addition to maintaining the germplasm collections, our mission is to also identify genetic diversity in the collections, to ev...
Knowledge and Transformative Social Action: The Encounter of Selected Traditions of Participatory (Action) Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Streck, Danilo Romeu
The argument in this paper is that action and participatory research developed within the context of social and political movements aimed at promoting democratic relationships and institutions represents a methodological strategy for deconstructing and reconstructing the hegemonic perspective of knowledge and knowledge production. After a brief…
Beyond You and Me: Stories for Collective Action and Learning? Perspectives from an Action Research Project
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Gearty, Margaret
This paper explores the combination of storytelling and reflective action research as a means to effect change and learning within and across communities and organizations. Taking the complex challenge of "pro-environmental behaviour change" as an example, the paper reflects on the experiences of a pilot project run for the UK government…
Introduction: More than Methods--Reflections on Participatory Action Research in Geographic Teaching, Learning and Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kindon, Sara; Elwood, Sarah
This paper provides an introduction to this symposium issue on participatory action research in geographic teaching, learning and research. It introduces the themes of the symposium and contributions from the participating authors, and also offers additional discussion of the attendant benefits and challenges of using participatory action research…
Action research: a way of researching or a way of managing?
Lilford, Richard; Warren, Rachel; Braunholtz, David
Scrutinising recent systematic reviews both on action research and on the management of change in organisations, we have made two observations which, we believe, clarify a rather amorphous literature. First, by comparing formal descriptions of each, action research cannot be clearly distinguished from many other change methodologies. This applies particularly to total quality management (TQM). Both action research and TQM are cyclical activities involving examination of existing processes, change, monitoring the apparent effects of the change and further change. Both emphasise active participation of stakeholders. The examples used to illustrate action research would serve equally well as examples of TQM and vice versa. Second, the methods used in action research are neither specific to action research nor are they of any particular kind. It therefore follows that action research, in so far as it purports to describe a unique or discrete form of research rather than a change process, is a misnomer. Based on these observations, we make two suggestions. Organisational change should be described in terms of the steps actually taken to effect change rather than in 'terms of art' which, like the various brands of post-Freudian psychotherapy, obscure what they have in common rather than illuminate substantive differences. And the research embedded in any cyclical managerial process can have two broad (non-exclusive) aims: to help local service managers to take the next step or to assist managers in other places and in future years to make decisions. These can be described as limited (formative) and general (summative) aims. Whether, or to what extent, a research finding is generalisable across place and time is a matter of judgement and turns on the form of the research and on its context; it is completely independent of whether or not the research was carried out within a cycle of managerial action currently described by terms such as action research or TQM. PMID
Participatory Action Research: Collective Reflections on Gender, Culture, and Language
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McIntyre, Alice; Chatzopoulos, Nikolaos; Politi, Anastasia; Roz, Julieta
The focus of this article is the experiences of three undergraduate students who engaged in a participatory action research (PAR) project with a group of preadolescent Latina girls attending a public school in Boston, MA, USA. The aim of the 2-year project was to explore how the girls constructed knowledge about girlhood and other gender-related…
Numeracy into Action: Putting Numeracy Research into Practice
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Sellers, Daniel; Byrne, Tina
In 2014 the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) published a research report titled "What Really Counts Next: Action Learning Project with Numeracy Tutors" (Sellers and Byrne, 2014). The report provided an in-depth insight into the way tutors made changes to their practice, and offered practical tips on how to teach numeracy to adult…
Voluntary Affirmative Action and Preferential Treatment: Legal and Research Implications.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kleiman, Lawrence S.; Faley, Robert H.
Reviews recent Supreme Court decisions stemming from implementation of voluntary affirmative action plans (AAPs) that include preferential treatment as a remedy. Evidence and proof required to establish and defend against reverse discrimination claims are identified. Examines research on potential effects of voluntary AAPs on important…
Teaming from Three Perspectives: Interviews with Participatory Action Research Participants
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Cain, Judith
Taking part in the autism spectrum disorder participatory action research (ASD PAR) project was a genuine team effort for the group of people supporting Rose, a primary school student with Asperger syndrome. The following excerpts are from interviews with some of Rose's team. This is a collaborative approach to telling the story of the team's…
Youth Participatory Action Research Groups as School Counseling Interventions
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smith, Laura; Davis, Kathryn; Bhowmik, Malika
Youth participatory action research (YPAR) projects offer young people the opportunity to increase their sociocultural awareness, critical thinking abilities, and sense of agency within a collaborative group experience. Thus far, however, such projects have been primarily the province of educators and social psychologists, and not substantively…
Developing a Model for Continuous Professional Development by Action Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Herbert, Susan; Rainford, Marcia
This paper presents a case study of the work of two teacher educators with an in-service science teacher. This case study forms one cycle of a larger action research study that will eventually lead to a model of how the third-space concept for teacher professional development can be realized in natural school settings. The case study took place in…
Culminating Experience Action Research Projects, Volume 3, Spring 2003.
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
McAllister, Deborah A., Ed.; Moyer, Peggy S., Ed.
This document presents the course syllabus for Education 590 Culminating Experience at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's teacher licensure program. It also includes action research projects from spring 2003: "'To Track or Untrack...That Is the Question'" (Sarah Armes); "Providing Urban Students with the Motivation to Succeed in School"…
Blogging across the Curriculum: An Action Research Project
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Nichols, Andrea
"Blogging across the curriculum: Integrating blogging in the elementary classroom" is an Action Research Project that sought to explore the level of engagement in the writing process by students in grades 3, 4 & 5 while blogging across the curriculum. Blogging took place in homeroom classrooms as well as in the school's math, science and…
Action Research: A Developmental Model of Professional Socialization
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Schoen, Sharon
This article proposes a developmental model to socialize teachers at all levels (preservice, novice, and experienced) and in all positions (general education, special education, elementary school, middle school, and high school) in the methodology of action research. A process for advancing professional understanding is theorized to include the…
Action Research Projects in Pre-Service Teacher Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Clayton, Courtney; Meadows, George
Classroom-centered Action Research Projects are an integral component of the M.S. in Elementary Education Program at the University's (pseudonym) College of Education. This article provides a summary and discussion of the projects completed by students in the Science, Technology, Literacy and English Language Learner Specializations of the…
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
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…
Learning from Action Research about Science Teacher Preparation
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mitchener, Carole P.; Jackson, Wendy M.
In this article, we present a case study of a beginning science teacher's year-long action research project, during which she developed a meaningful grasp of learning from practice. Wendy was a participant in the middle grade science program designed for career changers from science professions who had moved to teaching middle grade science. An…