Documentation of ideas and the engineering design process is a critical, daily component of a professional engineer's job. While patent protection is often cited as the primary rationale for documentation, it can also benefit the engineer, the team, company, and stakeholders through creating a more rigorously designed and purposeful solution.…

Project-based learning and action research are powerful pedagogies in improving science education. We implemented a semester-long course using project-based action research to help students apply biotechnology knowledge learned in the classroom to the real world. Students had several choices to make in the project: working individually or as a…

Educator Excellence Innovation Program (EEIP) is a Texas Education Agency (TEA) grant program that funds innovation in teacher supports and leadership opportunities. This report describes feedback from teachers at the six EEIP schools and summarizes implementation in the third year of the program.

Last September ten Australian educators set out to explore how the Paradise Valley School District in Phoenix Arizona cultivates world class thinkers and leaders. Over the course of a week, study Tour delegates were immersed in K-12 schools where a district-wide approach fosters equity and empowers teachers and students to use technology…

This account charts my progress in becoming an action learning set facilitator through a part-time course which was delivered over one year. My development and understanding owes much to my work with groups of colleagues involved in transformation projects at Derby City Council, who willingly took part in this learning experiment. It is a…

Collective decision making is an increasing requirement in organizations where the emphasis is on team work at every level. It is, however, very complex and difficult to achieve in practice. Too frequently, important discussions are bypassed or, while the majority of the meeting participants remain mute, decisions are being made by a vocal few. In…

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

In the Scaffolded Apprenticeship Model (SAM), a school improvement strategy in place in New York City; Boston, Massachusetts; and Oakland, California, teacher teams improve their schools by studying and closing high-leverage learning gaps for small groups of struggling students as a strategy for systemic change. SAM's goal is for each school to…

This paper reflects on the challenges and benefits of multidimensional collaboration in an action research study to evaluate and improve preoperative education for patients awaiting colorectal surgery. Three cycles of planning, acting, observing and reflecting were designed to evaluate practice and implement change in this interactive setting,…

Six young deafblind adults took a 1-week course on civic engagement and advocacy, which provided the focus for a participatory action research study with a collective case study design. They selected advocacy topics, were briefed on these policy issues, and were paired with experienced mentors for meetings with legislators in Washington, DC. Eight…

Many instructors teach courses that prepare students to do research individually or in teams. These instructors also supervise their students' research projects. Continuous and systematic use of action research principles can help instructors prepare for problems that may develop when students encounter unfamiliar issues at research sites due to…

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…

Much has happened since nine teams across New Zealand engaged in a Ministry of Education-funded participatory action research project looking at effective practice for supporting children and young people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in education. Building on earlier discussions, the project ran from 2002 to 2004, and until now the story…

Participatory action research advocates for teachers, parents and others to engage in practical inquiry as part of their everyday work for the purpose of improvement. Findings from this project affirm that a collaborative community of researchers, one in which the participants can critically analyse and transform their own situations, can have a…

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…