B1. Action research within communities of practice
- 1. Action Research within Communities of Practice: Is it Right and How to do it Right Debby Zambo, Arizona State University and Bryan Maughan, University of Idaho
- 2. Session Overview Reflect on action research’s purpose, design, and fit within your context and CPED Map out the challenges action research brings to students and the organizations that serve them Consider action research’s place within the research community at large - learning from other professions Discuss validity Brainstorm ways to fit action research into programs and responsibilities of tenure
- 3. Action Research’s Purpose To provide scholarly research that will impact organizational change. To promote action rather than theory development. This is the central enterprise and what differentiates action research from traditional research (Herr & Anderson, 2005). To help a practitioner become a researcher who can properly identify a real-time problem of practice, or situation of stress and systematically address that problem or situation and provide evidence and real-time strategies for change—actionable knowledge (Argyris, 1993). To create generative and decision knowledge: knowledge that helps to configure outcomes in complex systems or structures.
- 4. Think about action research’s purpose and look at the various definitions and images of action research and consider whether it is right for your students and for you as a faculty member working to develop scholarly practitioners (see handout for definition). What elements of action research might develop scholarly practitioners and how do these align with CPED’s principles, design features, and notions of CoPs?
- 5. Various Models of Action Research •Self •CPED scholarly practitioner •CoP
- 6. What challenges does action research bring to students and the organizations, situation, programs they want to improve and serve? Students face: •Misunderstanding the problem and perceptions of how others view the problem •Hierarchical structures •Defensive routines •False assumptions about intentions to introduce change • Organizational politics - Finding a committee that understands AR
- 7. “Agent of change” Researcher to Consultant
- 8. “There is no such thing as immaculate perception. “What we see… Depends on what we thought before we looked” (Kosslyn and Sussman,1995 p. 1038).
- 9. The Dynamics of Change Positive and…not so positive people reactions What I do…(Behaviors, What they see (perceptions) how I act/react) Researcher What I see (perceptions) COPYRIGHT © 2007, Sentire Mentoring Organization/ Situation/People What they do/What’s happening? (Behaviors) ?
- 10. So how can we help our students Lead Change…? Lead out and effect positive change? Work and build cooperative teaming? Enlist others to work in responsive ways toward organizational/system/situational/pro gram improvements? Prepare for and discourage potential workplace challenges? Address potential problems and risks during the design phase?
- 11. Action Research’s Place Within the Research Community- an Expanded View of Research Think about the article you read in preparation for this presentation. In public health research spans a continuum from low level to high levels of practical application. Basic research Clinical research Applied research Evaluative research Descriptive research Community research Systems research
- 12. What can we learn about good research from other professions? Goals of Research: move knowledge/theory from research and use it to inform and improve policies and practice (theory applied to practice) critically examine practice examine implicit practices from a moral/ethical stance How do these apply to action research, scholarly practitioners, and CPED?
- 13. Aim for new ideas of Validity Dialogic validity – goodness is monitored through peer review. Outcome validity – extent to which actions lead to resolution of the problem. Catalytic validity – degree to which the research process reorients, focuses, and energizes participants toward knowing reality transformation. Process validity – extent to which problems are framed and solved in a manner that permits learning of the entire system. Democratic validity – extent to which research is done in collaboration with all parties. Sustainability, impact, dissemination how do these relate to DIP?
- 14. What challenges does action research bring to faculty in doctoral programs? • How do we do it in 3 years? • How do faculty coordinate a students’ interests with their own publishing needs and requirements?
Editor's Notes
- #2: Debby 1 min
- #3: Debby 3 min
- #4: Debby5 min
- #5: Debby 10 min open discussion
- #6: On handout.
- #7: (5 minutes) Has the student selected a problem of practice/situation of stressful others also view as a problem of practice or situation of stress? Does the problem lend itself to good research?
- #8: Bryan 5 min —if we do the activity (12 minutes): (Note to Debby) We will not analyze this diagram, but use it to show the interplaying areas that are impacted and potential challenges as the action researcher proposes changes to a program/system/policy/structure: who, what, where, when and why. The slide after this discusses how those changes are often met with resistance and what the researcher can do about it.
- #9: (2-3 minutes--long enough to read it) Because our research is an action statement and it always involves others, we want to encourage our students to be in harmony with those with whom they work. When they encounter problems while trying to implement change, you can provide the help they need to continue in their learning cycles of action research.
- #10: 10 minutes: Note to Debby: This diagram teaches us something about our power of influence as a change agent. This can be an activity: I ask: “Go ahead and draw this diagram on a blank piece of paper. Write your name in the box on the left. Now, write the name of an organization/system/program you believe is either an outright problem, or that could just use some modifications, or enhancements. Now write just two things you consider as a problem in the area below “What they do.” Now in the next area at the left under “What I see” notice what those problems look like. What is it that annoys you about them, or the situation? As a result of what you see and how you perceive the problem, what are you likely to do—what behavior might you exhibit? Now, how might that help/hinder you in your research design and the data you want to gather? In response to what you see and do, how will they perceive you—what will they see as you come to them with your ideas about how they ought to change? I need to check myself and my motives for doing the research because my research may provoke more of what I think should change. Notice, while I’m seeing them with a problem, I may be one with a problem also I need to resolve to produce good research. (Next slide)
- #11: Bryan 2 minutes Mostly rhetorical questions to consider whlie preparing students to do action research
- #12: Debby 5 min for this slide and the next Article Demonstrating Excellence in Practice-Based Research for Public Health page 13 Can we come to accept varied types of research?
- #13: Debby
- #14: Debby 10 min
- #15: Debby 5 min