Improving retention and identifying "at risk" learners are high profile issues in higher education, and a proposed solution is to provide good learner support. Blending of online learning with classroom sessions offers the potential to use a virtual learning environment to deliver learning activities, and to support learners using a…

This article considers the value of collaborative forms of educational action research in higher education and the difficulties involved in implementing such forms of research. It is argued that educational action research represents an opportunity for improving teaching and learning and developing the knowledge and skills of those participating…

Purpose: The feasibility of a community-level drug prevention intervention based upon the principles of motivational interviewing within a further education college was investigated in a pilot study. Design/methodology/approach: The implementation over the course of a single term of "Let's Talk about Drugs" was studied with both action…

In Flanders, action research as a means of enhancing quality in initial teacher training and in teaching practice is not as widespread as in some of the neighbouring countries. In this article the authors argue for trainees and qualified teachers setting up and conducting research in their teaching practice. Rather than perceiving this as an…

This paper reports on a formative evaluation study of 10 practitioner research projects linked together under the title "Better Communication Skills as a Means of Reducing the Barriers to Learning", which aimed to identify conditions through which practitioner research could help teachers to improve the quality of pupils' classroom talk.…

A recent evaluation of a students-as-researchers project in Brisbane, Australia found that the use of participatory action research offers a means by which marginalised students, teachers, and university researchers can work collaboratively towards positive outcomes for the participants and their schools. In discussing the relevant theory and the…

This article describes a research project undertaken as part of a Master's degree drawing on the author's recent professional experience as a primary teacher and headteacher. It explores the possibilities and benefits of supporting the development of social research skills with a class of seven- and eight-year-old (Year 3) children in one English…

This collaborative piece written by a philosopher/action researcher and an action researcher/philosopher explores the use of practical philosophy as a tool in action research. The paper explores the connection to be made between what we refer to, roughly, as "theory" and "practice" (while never losing hold of either). The…

This paper engages with some of the specific issues that challenge critical practice. My argument is related to the Carr and Kemmis debate on "staying critical" and to ideas expressed in my current book, "Community Development: A Critical Approach." I refer to critical practice as any practice that has a transformative social justice intention,…

The purpose of the current article is to examine the impact of laboratory demonstrations and computer visualizations on learning in a third-year fluid mechanics course at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). As a first step, on entering the course, students were exposed to a laboratory demonstration focusing on the nature of…

Universities have long practiced data collection techniques to gain insights and direction from their graduates, but public high schools are just now beginning to use this process to gather input from those who know the system the best--their alumni. Because past students' reflections on their high school education can indicate the level of…

This study reports teachers' learning through action research on students' conceptual understanding. The study examined (a) the teachers' views about science teaching and learning, (b) the teachers' learning about their teaching practices and (c) the conditions that supported the teachers' learning through action research. A total of 14 elementary…

While both the causes and effects of students' language learning anxiety have been a frequent focus of many investigations, few have explored anxiety in the context of upper-level language classrooms. Through a qualitative analysis of questionnaire data obtained from 21 advanced students of Spanish, this study found that, indeed, many of these…

In this paper we present findings from an empirical study-in-progress that investigates how a teacher integrates technology, specifically an Interactive Whiteboard (IWB), to teach multiliterate practices when reading multi-modal texts. This research was a collaboration between a teacher and a team of university-based researchers as they used…

The article illustrates the hopes and challenges evident in my attempt to use action research as an approach to engage student teachers in reflective processes. The data was systematically generated from the student teachers themselves and from the diaries I noted through out the inquiry. The study suggested that while lack of previous experience…