Purpose: This study aims to explore the effectiveness of action learning (AL) in PA education through the action research (AR). Public administration (PA) requires training paths for its officials aimed at developing managerial skills. Training designers must construct pathways that identify goals and results to be obtained. Most importantly, they…

Purpose: Although there is a large body of literature available on the foundations of workplace learning (WPL), little is known about designated research methods that systematically combine intervention, design and learning at work. The purpose of this study is to propose action design research as an alternative method for organizing WPL in…

This action research study implemented an intervention, the Learn at Work program, for operational employees in facilities management at William & Mary earning less than $19 an hour. One of eight dimensions in the Workplace Inclusion Scale, developed by Lennox et al. (2022), is "access to opportunity" (p. 27). This study's…

Industry demands highly skilled, work ready and adaptable graduates who can solve complex problems. Work integrated learning (WIL) offers educators an authentic assessment that approximates future performance requirements. Often this would include workplace placements or internships for a selected number of students. In this paper, we evaluate the…

This article reflects on analyzing and understanding the articulation between creative processes in art education and the development of training for a culture of social and cultural citizenship. The methodology of projects developed in Workplace Training over two academic years involved two 12th-grade secondary specialized art classes. The…

Aim/Purpose Work-based learning has been identified in the literature, and is established in academia and in the global worlds of work; however, an examination of work-based research, particularly at the doctoral level, has been less well articulated. Moreover, a paucity of published literature on either work-based research or Professional Studies…

Site-based education development now constitutes a common approach to preparing learners for particular occupations, enabling them to secure employment and at the same time achieve broader social, economic and personal outcomes. New forms of partnerships, other than traditional vendor-client relations, are necessary to achieve such multi-faceted…

Social competences are crucial parts of vocational education and training (VET) competences. As part of a development project preparing unskilled young people for VET, an action research project was conducted with the aim of developing a schema for assessing and grading social competences. The development included defining the social competences…

Increased graduate employment is an aspiration of Australian universities who are adopting new and innovative approaches to ensure that all students have opportunities to develop the employability skills much sought after by employers. Placements have been a traditional means for developing such skills but because these are not available to all…

This research investigates learners' responses to the use of literature as a means of literacy learning in level 2 Functional Skills in English. Data were gathered by way of observation, questionnaire and informal dialogue with learners. Teaching and learning was underpinned by the philosophy of critical pedagogy and was therefore learner-centric.…

In this paper, we explain how our individual PhD enquiries (Farren, 2006; Crotty, 2012) have informed the philosophical underpinnings of our postgraduate programmes. The approach used to ensure validity and rigour in the research process is presented. We report on the development of the International Research Centre for e-Innovation and Workplace…

This article proposes that professional education programmes can help promote the development of professional judgment by the use of a well-designed professional practice portfolio as an assessment tool. An explanation of the portfolio process is followed by evidence from a four-year action research study, demonstrating how compiling a…

This paper presents the results of a 9-month ethnographic and action research study of rural technology workers where computer support for collaborative learning through workplace technologies was introduced to a US-based technology firm. Throughout the implementation of this support and participation, issues related to geographic isolation are…

This article aims to show how Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) can recognise and best respond to a disruptive innovation. A disruptive innovation creates a new business model using a new process and usually a new technology to offer a product or service with new features and/or lower cost and initially addresses a group of people who are…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of action design research (ADR), a combination of action research and design science research, when conducting research where both practical relevance and academic rigor are required. Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents ADR in action in order to motivate its use when…