As one of the contributors to the first issue of the "Australian Journal of Environmental Education" (AJEE) in 1984 (and to a further seven issues between 1991 and 2009), and as a sometime member of its editorial board (1991-1994) and the editorial collective that edited four issues (1999-2002), Noel Gough has been privileged to witness…

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…

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…

This article explores a minor work by Adrian Rifkin, a work which focuses primarily on his research method of parataxis, but which this article reads for what it offers to a reconsideration of pedagogy, or "teaching and learning". The article argues that Adrian Rifkin has long been a "Rancierean" within UK cultural studies, and…

Educational research developed initially using the natural science model based on the positivist tradition. Education was then seen as an application of the positivist science thus produced. This research could predict some effects but not explain the processes through which these effects came about. This exclusively numerical representation of…

Some of the most enduring, and engaging, questions within academic librarianship are those about students and research skills. The vocabulary employed for discussion has evolved, but essential questions--what skills do students need to be taught, who should teach them, and how?--have persisted from the nineteenth century into the twenty-first.…