Qualitative researchers often describe the ambiguities and complexities of extracting meaning from ambiguous and complex data. Although methodological literature provides useful frameworks and heuristics to guide the process of transforming field data into credible findings, learning to analyze and interpret qualitative data also involves a…

Action research can play an important role in institutional research endeavors to improve the quality of organizational performance in higher education. This article outlines how the action research perspective informed a research design that integrated fragmented and isolated student success initiatives at a large urban two-year institution where…

Should political science educators use debate for teaching their undergraduate students? This article argues for incorporation of academic debate into curriculum of undergraduate courses. It demonstrates the process of arriving at a decision favorable of debate through exploration and analysis of competitive reasons, arguments, and evidence for…

The author and preservice teachers in a postbaccalaureate Issues and Reform in Secondary Education course engaged Ernest Stringer's (2004) model of action research to develop generative curricula. They adhered to Walter C. Parker's (1991, 2006) vision of public formation and essential social studies teaching and used student-centered teaching…

This book will help you understand some of the most powerful cultural differences that can lead to classroom conflict for many students and how you can actually capitalize on these differences to make your classroom a harmonious, productive environment. Drawing from a seven-year action research study of elementary classrooms with high percentages…

The purpose of this action research project report was to increase the homework completion rate of middle school students through the use of interventions. The participants in this study came from one public middle school. The participants were thirty-four 6th grade students in language arts, respectively. The intervention took place from…

The article argues that we make best use of learning technologies if we begin with an understanding of educational problems, and use this analysis to target the solutions we should be demanding from technology. The focus is to address the issue from the perspective of teachers and lecturers (the "teaching community"), and to consider how…

This article describes and critically reflects on an action research project used for professional development purposes in a Middle Eastern Gulf State. The aim of the project was to improve professional development experiences for a group of in-service teacher educators, who were English as Second Language advisers. The initial discussion…

This article examines a longitudinal case study exploring the experience of a cohort of part-time, adult, work-based learners, mostly experiencing higher education for the first time. A wide range of instruments, including diaries and interviews, were used to collect data to explore, in some depth, the nature of the learning experience. Data…

This case study investigates how the use of an interactive whiteboard (IWB) leads to pedagogical change within a UK secondary school classroom. A teacher's experiences as recorded in a reflective journal, and the responses of students as recorded in a questionnaire, are set within the context of rhetoric about the value of IWBs. It is argued that…

This paper reviews methods for conducting and reporting teacher research. Through three cases, the paper explores common and diverse methods employed in classroom inquiry. The paper recounts the history of teacher research and discusses common methodological characteristics as well as context-specific features of teacher research. The first case…

A case study of an educational action research oriented project in Quebec--a continuing education project at the elementary level (EPEL)--is described to show the contributions of the case study method to human development, needs assessment, curriculum development, and innovative teaching. The case study method is suggested as a means to pinpoint…

The context of the emergence of action research is explored historically and comparatively. The primary focus is a description of the development of action research in the middle part of this century in the United States. Certain assumptions, intentions, and practices of educational action research as they emerged in the early stages of…

In this paper, action research is examined as a quintessential example of the relocation of the study of teaching from laboratory to classroom. Selected problematics in its practice, including the aims of inquiry, the nature of collaboration, and the anticipated audience for its outcomes are defined as inevitable challenges to be confronted.…

This paper presents a historical overview of the use of action research in education and describes the basic assumptions and expectations that continue to characterize collaborative research projects today. Action research was initiated in the 1930's by Kurt Lewin and adapted by educators in the 1940's. Interest in action research declined between…