Includes sections written by seminar participants: "Prologue,""Participatory Action Research (PAR)--What Is It?" and "Overall Narrative" (Greenwood); "Gender and Issues of Power" (Matthews, Strubel); "Issues in PAR Pedagogy" (Greenwood); "Participatory Evaluation" (Thomas);…

Discusses and defines participatory or user-design in the fields of instructional design and performance technology and describes systemic change as a context for user-design. Topics include stakeholder involvement, ethnographic field methods, cooperative design, action research-based user-design, user-design decision guidelines, and leadership.…

Addresses methods of assessing social validity in interventions with individuals having behavioral disorders. Discusses three areas: (1) specific behavioral goals; (2) the social appropriateness of the procedures; and (3) the social importance of the outcomes. Issues of validity and utility are also raised. The paper concludes that application of…

This paper describes development of a study that includes participatory action research, specifically the establishment of a family advisory committee. The study involved a survey of Massachusetts families of children with disabilities. Suggestions for establishing and integrating the committee into the research enterprise are offered, as are…

Suggests that Spanish teachers consider a new role as researchers of their own professional environment through a number of successful research techniques and strategies. The process of teacher-initiated research begins with the description of realistic teaching and learning situations in which a teacher could conduct research in the Spanish…

This volume reflects the impact of postmodern critical thinking on models of human service practice. It demonstrates the values of practice informed by critical theory but does not present adequate empirical support for its effectiveness and Stringer's model is not illustrated through a case study. (SLD)

The ideological divide in adult education extends to the issues of knowledge production and the authority to conduct research. Action research is a collaborative method involving practitioners in knowledge production. It can demystify research and help bridge the basic-applied gap. (SK)

Investigates whether student interviews provide teachers with a more detailed, accurate, and complete picture of children's mathematical understanding and whether this knowledge helps teachers improve the way they teach mathematics. Shows how to use student interviews as a guide to further instruction. (KHR)

This action research project targeted teacher absenteeism at professional development events, findings no significant patterns in time of day, location, workshop topic, and teaching level. Instead, a pattern of chronic absenteeism for some individuals was noted. An action plan included increased marketing, communication with individual no-show…

Explores the theoretical strands being combined in community-based research--charity service learning, social justice service learning, action research, and participatory research. Shows how different models of community-based research, based in different theories of society and different approaches to community work, may combine or conflict. (EV)

Reports on action research regarding hybrid courses, defined as Web-based courses where the students and instructor actually meet for half or less of the regular scheduled meeting time. Investigates instructional design strategies as well as students' opinions towards the courses and the impact of using different strategies on online communities.…

Illustrates the differences between participatory action research (PAR) and action science by exploring Xerox Corporation's participatory action research (PAR) efforts. Points out practical limitations and conceptual gaps of PAR. Emphasizes that the key to valuable research is to meet the standards of appropriate rigor without sacrificing…

Discusses five basic issues that teachers should address as they begin an action research project: (1) the main question to be answered; (2) relevant data; (3) specific data, and its collection method; (4) data analysis; and (5) interpretations or implications to be drawn from the data. (RS)

Two collaborative inquiry groups share their processes and findings, such as coresearchers' lived experience is equal in importance to formally collected data; knowledge created in the group belongs to the group; and coresearchers must be equal in contribution and commitment. (SK)

Involving teachers in classroom research can result in improved instruction, more reflective learners, professional growth, and collegial sharing. A seventh-grade teacher-researcher, weighing various strategies for mainstreaming learning-disabled students into her science classes, also ponders the implications of more reflective political practice…