E-learning is becoming a major component in academia today. Therefore, the success of e-learning online communities is crucial in order to ensure their permanency and effectiveness. There is a need for formalized guidelines in e-learning that instruct the designer (course instructor) on how to design, maintain, and manage a course. Some research…

In a recent review of school grounds research, Dyment (2004a) highlights a lack of studies on the "process" of school grounds improvement, particularly in the secondary school context. This paper seeks to respond to this gap in the literature by reporting emerging findings from a three-year action research study of six English secondary…

Purpose: This paper describes and analyses an attempt to engage in transformational learning, oriented to the development of a culture of innovation, at a medium-size software development organization in Australia. Design/methodology/approach: An action research methodology was used whereby continuous cycles of strategic social learning were…

This paper describes an action research project undertaken to look into the effectiveness of tasks designed to raise learner awareness of conversational strategies. The goal was to test whether tasks and direct instruction aimed at promoting learner awareness of conversational language at the discourse-level had any impact on the students'…

Teacher preparation requires exemplary teaching that illustrates the systematic reflection encouraged among preservice teachers. This article provides an investigation of an innovative model for integrating action research into a preservice teacher education program. Through a self-study, one teacher educator presents reflections on action…

The purpose of this study was to introduce an AR approach to a group of science teachers during an in-service AR course program and learn its contributions to their professional development. Data were gathered through an AR project by working with a group of eight science teachers throughout a four-week period. In the content of the course,…

Purpose: The paper presents a new paradigm for implementing action learning in a key subject area in a program. Design/methodology/approach: An action research-based course evaluation methodology was linked to course design and development at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Involving students via effective communication provided a sense of…

Many attempts at bringing successful educational programs and products "to scale" as part of school reform, particularly in urban districts, have been disappointing. Based on the experiences of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and reviews of literature addressing implementation failures, observations about…

The reflections developed in this text on the reconstruction of professionalism in teaching are located within a historical and social dimension, given that it is only within the boundaries of the coordinates of the spirit of historic time and the present culture ("Zeitgeist") that proposals for professional reconstruction can be fully understood.…

The relevance of action research to organisational change within contemporary health services in the United Kingdom is discussed in this article. Two examples of collaborative community-based studies are presented: one exploring ways to encourage community participation within a health and regeneration programme and the other considering the types…

The human capabilities approach developed by the economist Amartya Sen links development, quality of life and freedom. This article explores the key ideas in the capability approach of: capability, functioning, agency, human diversity and public participation in generating valued capabilities. It then considers how these ideas relate specifically…

As higher education and universities become a more mainstream interest in society, pressures mount to invent new curricula and new and more appropriate ways to support the curriculum invention process. This article offers an account of the experiences of one such double-barrelled invention process associated with a Graduate Diploma in Legal…

This project responded to the concerns of experienced community health workers who worked with people who had mental illness and resided in Supported Residential Facilities (SRFs) in South Australia. They had identified that urinary and faecal incontinence was common for this group of people and yet it was an issue that had not previously been…

The qualitative educational research literature is increasingly advocating the use of literary/artistic techniques. This article describes and evaluates educational action researches by three art teachers, and questions why they have not capitalised methodologically on their artistic expertise. Analysis of commonalities in practitioner-based…

Multiple interpretations of art also yield multiple versions of art education, and what looks like learning in one context may not be the same learning in another. How is it then that art educators can come together to do more than read another article and apply what is relevant to their particular, isolated situation? What might happen if a group…