The study presents a case of a teacher education college which took upon itself the role of providing teachers with an opportunity to study their work as part of their professional development studies in three different frameworks. The objective of the study was to examine the role of the college as promoting research carried out by practicing…

Schools are becoming more inclusive and more students with special needs are accessing general education classrooms than ever. This action research study investigated general education students changing perceptions of students with special needs through the use of various interventions (e.g., classroom discussions, organized games, buddy reads,…

This paper reports on the use of action research in a case study involving two iterations of an online workshop implemented at two universities in late 2007 and early 2009 to prepare teaching staff for using wikis for student group work and assessment. Workshop participants were immersed in the experience of collaborating in a wiki as learners and…

The UK's university sector is seeking to improve its participation in the knowledge economy and meet policy and financial imperatives. This paper reveals some of the opportunities and pitfalls in making that objective a reality in the context of a single university. The findings and organizational development resulting from an action research…

Most educators agree that children learn better in an honoring and respectful culture. They also know that top-down imposed change rarely sticks. In "Transforming School Climate and Learning", Bill Preble and Rick Gordon show how to accomplish lasting results by engaging both teachers and students in the five-step SafeMeasures[TM] process, a…

There is a growing literature about conducting an action research that could help achieving significant changes in teachers' practices. Although an action research can contribute obtaining improvements, this process is not straight-line and without obstacles. The text elaborates three problems the author faced with while dealing with the action…

There is a concern among educators in schools with high levels of poverty that students are lacking certain academic strategies, especially in mathematics. These students struggle to explore data systematically and procedurally. The purpose of this pre-posttest design study is to intentionally teach number sense skills in order to increase…

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…

Experience indicates that the questioning and democratic nature of the community of enquiry can be demanding and unsettling for teachers, presenting unaccustomed challenges and moral dilemmas. This paper argues that such significant episodes in the practice of Philosophical with Children (PwC) offer rich opportunities for wider critical reflection…

In a climate of fiscal constraint and cuts to public spending, it is more important than ever to demonstrate the effectiveness of learning programmes. The author carried out an action research project within Norfolk County Council's adult community learning service, where she works as a tutor, with the aim of increasing the impact of reminiscence…

Action-object phrases (e.g., "lift the bottle") are remembered better if they have been enacted rather than learned verbally. This enactment effect is largest in free recall for phrases with objects (e.g., "bottle") present because these phrases can be interactively encoded with those context objects ("interactive context integration") that serve…

Since education reform efforts have long focused on reading and mathematics, the social studies classroom has been a target of remedial services--with children being removed from social studies to gain additional support in reading and math. As a result, many children spend years in school with little to no exposure to the social studies, despite…

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that it is possible to make major changes in a primary school with limited investment. I wish to present the methods used in this process which enabled me to examine the existing catering, to identify, investigate and research the problems, to explore the literature available and to synthesise my results…

This article reports on the understandings and practice of critical reading in a postsecondary English as a second language (ESL) reading class for mainland Chinese students in Singapore. Despite the challenges of defining critical reading in practice and overcoming assumptions about Chinese students' lack of criticality, as well as the lack of…

Much research has been published that describes the misconceptions students have about gases; however, not much research has been published that suggests how to change these misconceptions. The action research presented in this article examined how using laboratories to contradict students' preconceived ideas would affect their learning. High…